Page 18 of Lovesick
An almost-romance was exhausting.
As I turned to go, I hoped for a classic romantic ending to this highly romantic situation. A hand on my wrist, maybe. He’d stop me. Nervously lick his lips, then ask me to stay. Maybe laugh about his brashness and say it’s just not like him to ask that. Or tell me he’d never opened up like that before, and he felt something. Wanted to see what would happen if we indulged in it.
But no touch on my wrist followed.
Instead, I climbed into the ancient truck that groaned under even my paltry weight. Out of sheer pride, I refused to look back. He called out a cheery farewell. I thought I saw him wave from the corner of my eye as I managed a blind wave back.
I didn’t want to see him standing there in the winter brilliance, as far from me as any person had ever been.
* * *
“Don’t let him scare you off. He’s a total teddy bear.”
Mark made that announcement as he plowed a narrow path down the road. Snow scraped the side with an intense grating sound. I held onto a bar above my head as we bounced along, and thanked the goddess of winter storms that JJ, rather than Mark, had found me.
“Wh-what do you mean?” I called.
“JJ.” Mark glanced at me for a second. “He’s like a freaking acorn. Hard as hell on the outside, but the goodness is really inside.”
Awful metaphor aside, he couldn’t be more wrong.
“JJ is the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. He’s not hard on the outside.”
“Sure. Unless you’re interested in him, like you are. Then he’s a nightmare.”
Mark chuckled when my eyes widened, then he downshifted and shaved off a healthy chunk of snow as we turned a sharp corner. The back wheels slid into a snowbank, and the entire truck shuddered. Although I braced myself for the inevitablecrunchof whipping into the bank, it never came. The reliable old monster just kept eating up the snowy road.
“Who said I’m interested?” I managed to choke out.
Mark scoffed. “Right, Lizbeth. As if your entire heart isn’t written on your face. You’ve always crushed on him. You light up like a Christmas tree when he walks into the Frolicking Moose.”
I scowled. He laughed. I folded my arms over my chest, and my cheeks flared with heat. This situation had always been way funnier in the books. Novels never emphasized the pure mortification of being read so easily.
Of course, I could deny it, but what was the point? Mark already knew. And if he’d seen it, JJ might know. That explained his very normal goodbye. Maybe he’d intentionally interrupted me earlier and made it look like an accident.
Friend-zoned.
“Well,” Mark called over the rumble of the truck. “At least you aren’t denying it.”
“No. I’m not going to deny it. JJ is ... special.”
“You’re in good company. Women flock to him. It’s the most aggravating thing. He’s got those great eyelashes, the sexy hair. Then women talk to him and he’s gentle, cares about animals and people’s emotions, then,bam! Walks away, leaving broken hearts in his wake.”
“Why?” I asked, shivering and pulling my sweater tighter around me. The Zombie Mobile wasn’t any better at producing heat today.
Mark shrugged. “To be fair, he doesn’t do it on purpose.”
“Doesn’t he want a relationship?”
“Nope.”
“Who broke his heart?”
Mark chuckled as he downshifted. The bridge loomed ahead. Flashbacks of two nights ago raced through my mind. I dug my fingers into the seat.
“He broke his own heart. Kind of. JJ used to be a wild romantic. Flowers. True love. Sparkle lights, or whatever that crap is.”
My heart thudded as we rattled over the old bridge, but it had nothing to do with the river frothing below.Sparkle lights? I wanted to say.Are you five? It’s twinkle.
