Page 4 of Unfriend Me
I swung the door open and nearly went down with the violent movement. As it was, I had to push off the wall to get back to upright. Titus frowned. I frowned back.
“What?” I barked by way of greeting.
He looked up and down the hall before zeroing in on my face. “Can I come in?”
I backed up and he came in, his cologne following him like a cloud. I followed my nose and nearly hit the backside of him. He’d stopped, his hands going to his hips as he surveyed my room.
“What?” I asked again, telling myself to quit sniffing him.
“Is all the alcohol because the breakup went bad or good?” He spun around and I had to back up a step to look at him. Dude was tall. And surprisingly good-looking for a guy who sported a mullet. Whoa. Where did that thought come from?
“What?”
A thick blond eyebrow lifted, and if I wasn’t imagining it, one side of his lips tilted into a smile. “How many times can you ask the same question, Amelia?”
I frowned, not following. “What?”
Titus cracked up at that, reaching out to pull me into a hug. “How drunk are you, sweetheart?”
“Mmm,” I muttered, my face plastered against a solid, granite chest. Drunk enough to moan over my best friend’s pecs, I guess. “Very.”
Titus rubbed my back and I curled into him, willing to purr if he’d keep going. Instead, he put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back. “What did Daire say when you broke up with him?”
I slumped, not really wanting to talk about it. “Wait. How do you know I broke up with him?”
Titus shrugged and had a seat on my recliner, making himself at home. “Lucy told Bain, who told Rip, who told me. You, Amelia, could have just told me yourself, you know.”
I sagged onto my bed, that guilt from last night barreling back in. “I know. I guess I felt bad about how we’ve been since Daire came along and…” I trailed off, not able to put into words what I was feeling.
Titus leaned forward, putting me out of my misery like the nice guy he’d always been. “I know. So how did he react?”
I tilted my head to the side and figured it was a good sign when the whole room didn’t tilt and lurch. “I don’t know. I haven’t looked at my phone all day.”
Titus sighed, standing up to grab my phone off the floor, almost under my bed, where I’d kicked it during one particularly fun dance move. You never know what you’re capable of on the dance floor until your favorite jam comes on.
He put in my code, which I hadn’t changed in years, and scrolled to my message string from Daire. I looked away and tried to suck in some oxygen. I’d been putting this off all day in favor of White Claw and Drake. Avoidance for the win, baby!
Titus made a choking noise.
“What?” I stood up to look at my phone screen, but he moved out of the way and held the phone above my head.
His face was turning a weird shade of red. Almost had a pretty purple hue to it.
“You okay?” I’d had many years to categorize the many expressions of Titus Jackson and this one wasn’t one I’d ever seen before. “Your nostrils are flaring. Like actually spreading, dude.”
“I’m gonna kill him,” he growled.
I gave him my best mom look, the one I’d seen Lucy give Roxy. “That’s a bit extreme, hon. I’m sure he’s just angry and shocked and lashing out.”
Titus turned that scary face on me. “Don’t defend him, Amelia. He’s an asshole who doesn’t know how to treat women. He doesn’t deserve defending.”
I put my hands up in surrender. “Okay, sorry.” I grabbed the last White Claw—a huge gift considering I’d lived off these babies all day—extending it to Titus like a peace offering. “Want a chick beer?”
Instead of accepting my magnanimous offering, he slammed my phone down on my desk and headed to the door. “I don’t get you. I really don’t.”
“What?” I followed him, not at all understanding why he was so upset. Maybe I would have figured it out without an entire day of drinking under my belt, but as it was, he’d have to spell it out for me.
At the door, he spun back around, ninja-quick, and I skidded to a halt, nearly face planting in his chest for the second time tonight. Maybe if he wasn’t so mad, I could get him to stay and rub my back again. That had felt extra good. Maybe even better than the taste of the single bag of mixed salted nuts I’d consumed today.
