Page 47 of The Virgin
“You’re pouting.”
Spencer had no rebuttal for that. He was pouting and he knew it.
“So, my question to you is, if you’re so upset about Jonah being on this date, what are you doing here?”
“Moral support?” Spencer blinked at Damon, who only shook his head.
“You’re about as swift as a puddle, Spencer. I love you, but you should be crashing Jonah’s date. Go get your man.”
“You want me to crash his date?”
“Or you could wait until he gets home. See if his date walks him to the door and kisses him goodnight.”
Spencer wasn’t sure what his face did, but whatever it was, it made Damon bark out a laugh. “Do you know where this date was supposed to take place?”
Spencer nodded. Disbelief rose in him like a tidal wave. Was he actually considering crashing Jonah’s date? That would probably make him a bad friend. But Spencer wasn’t so sure he cared. This week, he’d experienced a taste of what it would be like to not have Jonah, and he wasn’t a fan. At all. His heart was walking around outside of his body, and he was two beats away from crumpling at any given moment.
So, yes, Spencer was considering crashing Jonah’s date.
He pulled his phone out and checked the time the event let out. “If I leave now, I can probably catch him on his way out.”
“Then you should do that.” Damon shifted his weight, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Damon wasn’t a convincing liar, but Spencer let it go. Damon walked Spencer to the door. “Go get your man, Spence.”
Spencer’s determination waned the moment he wasn’t around Damon, who had always been good at egging him on. Jonah had bad luck when it came to dates, so if he was on one and it was going well, Spencer didn’t want to fuck things up for him. He could wait an hour or two to call Jonah and have his say then.
Spencer took the long way home. The more direct route would have taken him straight past the venue and the temptation to crash Jonah’s date. Because despite Damon’s advice, Spencer couldn’t do that to Jonah. He deserved the chance to have a good time. Even if it wasn’t with him.
Spencer was nearly home, and he thought of turning around and looking for Jonah after all. His dark, quiet house held little appeal. Usually it was his solace, but this week it had been filled with the ghost of Jonah. Memories assaulted him from every corner of his house. From before they’d started anything and Spencer realized that he and Jonah had always been an eventuality. At least, Spencer let himself believe they always would have ended up together.
Ever since that first kiss, Jonah had felt like fate. Like every wrong thing in Spencer’s life was suddenly made right. Jonah’s presence in his life had always made it brighter, and maybe Spencer had been an idiot for not being able to see the forest for the trees, but he was done being stupid. The minute he got home, he was going to call Jonah and find out where he was.
The sight of a familiar car in his driveway filled Spencer with tentative hope, but also insurmountable worry.
Spencer parked next to Jonah’s vehicle, and a shadowy figure stood up. After sucking in a deep breath, Spencer got out of the truck and shut the door. “You’re here.”
He’d had a whole speech prepared that he’d thought of on the drive home, but it was all gone now. Erased by the surprise of Jonah’s presence.
Jonah slowly made his way down the steps. His hands were tucked into his pockets. He’d dressed like he was on a date, in a pair of jeans that would look better on Spencer’s floor and a shirt that could stand to lose some buttons.
“I never wanted to go out with Grant. I should’ve said no to begin with.”
Spencer opened his mouth to respond, but Jonah was there suddenly, covering it with his hand. “Let me talk, Spencer, please. I’ve been sitting here for a while, and there’s some things I need to say.”
Spencer nodded.
Jonah removed his hand and tucked them both in his pockets again. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, looking down into the dirt, then finally he lifted his gaze to meet Spencer’s.
“I didn’t want to go out with Grant. And I was stupid to believe that it wasn’t a date. His nephew wasn’t even there like he said he was going to be.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“Don’t interrupt.”
“Sorry.”
