Page 16 of Rush of Jealousy

“You didn’t.”

“I can pause your account.”

“My account?”

“Hmm?” She looks down, playing with her hair. “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”

“My account?! Claire!” I shake her shoulders. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind? I am not your pet project! There are real emotions involved in this! You have got to stop.”

“Okay, fine. After today, I will stick to my lane.”

“And what lane is that, Claire? I would love to know myself.”

“The one where I stop throwing hot men your way and save them for myself in case Ethan breaks my heart.”

I frown. “Why do you say that? Is something wrong?”

“No, but I just…”

“Waiting for a shoe to drop?” I finish, knowing the feeling all too well.

“Basically.”

“Well, don’t. That is a horrible way to live. Let my mistakes be your warning.”

“Look at you, turning a page and giving me life advice.”

Her words are meant to be lighthearted but still portray some truth. She is right. I have come a long way since she first met me. And over the course of those four years, we have both grown so much and learned some hard lessons from the curveballs that life throws.

“Who would have thought,” I say with a chuckle. “For what it’s worth, I would be reluctant about taking anything I say right now seriously. It is like I am living in a fog and can’t be trusted with my own words.”

“You’ll get through this, Angie, I promise you. I know you’re in pain right now. But you are way stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

I wipe at a tear rolling down my cheek and wrap Claire into a big hug. She really is the best kind of friend. Her phone vibrates my hand with an incoming call, and I glance down to see it’s Graham. I jerk my hand away as if the device is burning my skin, making it fall into my lap.

“Oh, the nerve of him,” Claire snaps. She snatches the phone from my thighs and slides the bar to answer. “Listen here, you lying asshat, she is fine.” There is a pause and she shifts in her seat. “Leave her alone. Leave me alone.” She exhales and huffs. I can hear Graham’s bellowing voice through the speaker despite being a couple of feet away from Claire. “Just enjoying a double date. Oh, and Angie’s super-hot date is super-hot with hot bulging…” She looks at me, rolling her hand in a frantic circle, desperate for help completing her asinine statement. “Clavicles.”

I make a face. “Clavicles?” I mouth.

“Buh-bye now,” she says while hitting the end button and shutting off her device.

“Oh no. Why did you tell him that? He’s going to go ballistic.”

“Too late. It really did sound better in my head than actually saying it in reality.”

“Don’t most things?”

Claire gives a nod of her chin. “We better go back to our dates just in case Graham tracks us down and storms in before we actually eat anything.”

“Shit.” That is something he would do. Despite having over 600,000 people living in the metropolitan area, Portland is starting to feel claustrophobic. It is only a matter of time before I’m going to run into Graham on accident, and there is going to be a scene. And right now, I do not need any more scenes.

Claire grabs my hand and pulls me back toward the booth where the guys are chatting. Six empty beer bottles are lined up along the back edge of the table, and I wonder just how long we were gone.

“Sorry to keep you boys waiting,” Claire says. “Girl talk is a religion to us.”

I force a smile and slide in next to Adam. I am not in the mood for small talk, and I have no intention of getting to know him on any level. I pass the time by shoving skewers of food dipped in sauces and cheese into my mouth to avoid having to initiate conversation.

Ethan is as smitten with Claire as he ever was before. He has spent the majority of the dinner trying to get her to blush by feeding her himself. When Adam attempts to mimic the same gesture, I just grab the mini fork from his hands and shovel the food into my mouth on my own. I guess, in a way, this dinner was a success for me to go from having zero appetite to wanting to stuff my mouth with everything within an arm’s radius. Silver lining, I suppose.

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