Page 46 of Rush of Jealousy

When the music changes to “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas, Blake leads the group into a cool suggestive dance with a lot of hip thrusting and shimmying. Everyone laughs at his endless energy. At the end of the mix, he lets us go freestyle for fifteen seconds, and I simply try to mimic whatever shake-shift-swivel thing that Claire does—feeling completely out of my exercising element. At least in the twerk class, the room was dimly lit. Zumba is like a neon light block party. I can’t even fake it when there’s a spotlight permanently on me.

Upon Blake’s request, he switches places with Claire and gives her the stage for an LMFAO number, which she rocks and releases a layer of stress that she still carries from the weekend.

“No more Ethan,” I inform Blake, as he eyes me questioningly about Claire’s attempt to mask her emotions. “It was a bad night. I’m trying my best today to keep her together.”

He gives me a lopsided frown and a nod. “He’s not good enough for her.”

“I know.”

I have to agree, but I am biased when it comes to her. For her sake, I hope she is able to move on, but not rebound. However, I am not entirely convinced it is over. Claire has a history of overreacting to situations like this. And she is an expert at self-sabotage.

“Please tell me she’s not going to do the twenty-day vegan thing again,” he says with a groan, knowing that her food choices sometimes carry over into our entertainment parties. We all suffer as one.

“I’ll do my best to defer her from that line of thinking. But we both know how she gets when she’s upset. And needs to gain control.”

“At our expense.”

“Yuppers.”

“We should all go out guy hunting. It’ll be fun.”

My change of facial expressions must give everything away, because Blake eyes me knowingly and nods his head slowly. “Teddy Graham got to you, didn’t he?”

I giggle at Graham’s new nickname that Claire must be using often enough that Blake is adopting it. “We aren’t really together.”

“Perfect, so you’re game for the man hunt.”

The two of us groove and move to the beat and try our best to follow Claire’s high energy moves. She’s in her element, and I know that with time, she will be back to herself. Although, angry and single Claire is pretty fun—from the entertainment aspect only.

“See you tonight? We are hosting again.”

“Hell to the yes!”

After sweating my face off, I use the gym’s shower and get dressed into a fresh set of clothes that Claire had stored in her locker. Despite it now being dark out, I feel rested and rejuvenated. Maybe doing this more often is the way to go.

Straight from the Graham Hoffman Security 101 Protocol textbook, Parker is waiting in the lobby of the gym and greets Claire and me with a professional nod. He looks the polar opposite of rested and rejuvenated. Something tells me that he would rather do anything right now than tote our butts around Portland.

We arrive in front of our townhouse, and I notice that Claire’s car is already parked safely in her numbered spot. We slide out of the backseat, and Parker unloads all of the snacks and feminine hygiene products out of the trunk. He carries them into our entranceway and exits quietly. We wave goodbye—well, Claire blows kisses—and shut the door.

“So,” she says, “you want to try the Werewolf Diet with me?”

“Come again?” I ask, flopping down onto the couch.

“It is an amazing cleansing and fasting diet that goes in accordance with the lunar phases of the moon.”

I just stare at her, trying to read her body language to see if this is a serious topic or a bullshit topic. I silently pray for the latter.

She plops down on the couch opposite me. “Only the cool celebrities do it.”

“Obviously.”

The sound of the doorbell makes me jump. I glance at the clock on the TV and see it’s time for the show to start. Wow, time really flew today. Claire skips to the kitchen to set up the food, and I open the door to find Zander arriving first.

“Hey, Angie.”

I give him a hug. “Hey you.”

“Everything okay?”

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