Page 29 of Forever Your Touch

“Harder than I thought.” Jo shook her head ruefully. “The coursework is drowning me. Makes me miss my old school. We never had this much to do.”

“NYU is a better university than the small college you went to in California. It’s bound to be harder, babe.”

“I guess.”

A loud group came in, and Jo turned to look. She spotted Mason right away. He and a group of friends had just entered. Jo started to wave but froze when she saw him slip his arm around a very pretty brunette. The girl giggled at whatever he said. Jo quickly turned back around.

It bothered her. It shouldn’t, but it did. Seeing him with another girl, all hugged up and laughing, caused a pain in her chest. One she knew shouldn’t be there, especially with her boyfriend sitting across from her. As hard as she tried to push the feeling away, it stubbornly clung to her.

“Hey, isn’t that your brother’s friend?” Ray asked, finally looking up from his phone. He gestured behind her.

She looked again, and sure enough, Mason and the brunette Barbie were still attached at the hip. This time Mason saw her. He grinned and waved. She tossed her hand in the air and waved back but couldn’t force a smile.

“Yeah, that’s Mason. Be nice if he comes over. He’s been really good to me.”

“You okay?” Ray asked, concerned. “You look ready to hurl.”

“I’m fine.” Her reply came out short and a little harder than she’d meant. “I just have a queasy stomach. Haven’t eaten in hours.”

Mason and his friends were seated two booths down from them, Mason facing her. She didn’t look at him. Instead she focused on Ray. Like she should. He was her boyfriend, after all, and she loved him.

“Can I use the car while you’re gone? I need to go grocery shopping and do some errands.”

“No.” He put his phone down on the table. “I don’t want more miles put on it than necessary.”

“But, Ray…”

“No buts, Jo. I mean it. The less we use it, the less likely we’ll need to fix it.”

That made no sense. Things went bad on cars all the time, whether you drove them or not. Parts rusted. She wasn’t going to push the subject, though. It wasn’t worth the fight.

“Is there anything you need to pick up for the week before we head home?”

“Nah, I got everything.” He toyed with the napkin.

“What time do you leave?”

“Josh is picking me up at eight. We’re driving down to the hotel we’ll be staying in. We start work at nine in the morning. We’re building it from the ground up.”

“It sounds like a big job.” She risked a glance at Mason. He had his head buried in Barbie’s neck. Her stomach cramped. This should not be affecting her like this, but it was.

The arrival of their food pulled her attention away from Mason. Her appetite seemed to have fled as well. She picked at her food while she listened to Ray tell her all about the apartment complex and how excited everyone was to have a steady gig for the fall.

“You should eat more than that, Jo.” Ray nodded to her almost untouched meal. “It’ll settle your stomach.”

“I know, I just can’t bring myself to. I’m afraid I really might hurl.” Lies, but it was easier than admitting the truth, even to herself.

“You ready to go home?”

“Please.”

Ray called for their check and a to-go box for her food, saying she might get hungry later. She nodded, not really paying attention. All she wanted was to get out of here.

She felt him before she saw him. It was a sensation she’d gotten used to over the last few weeks. It was odd, really, to know the moment when someone walked into a room or to feel them before they came into one’s line of sight. She’d never experienced this with Ray, but it was like breathing when it came to Mason.

“Josephine, Ray.”

“Mason.” Ray’s smile was tight, and she rolled her eyes. Ray did not like Mason and hated that she spent time with him. She wasn’t too fond of Josh either, but she wasn’t rude to him like Ray tended to be toward Mason.

---