Page 57 of Thanks for the Friendship
Unbelievable.
“Is there anything else I can get for you?” I ask coldly.
“Besides a date with you?”
Not a chance.
“I’m flattered, but I’m not sure we’re compatible,” I say with a shrug.
He runs his hand through his hair. I have a feeling that’s one of his trademark moves that make the women fall at his feet. “How do you know?”
“Just a feeling.”
He slides closer to me. “You won’t know until you give it a try.”
“I don’t think so, but thanks for coming tonight,” I say sweetly. “I hope you had a nice evening.”
I walk outside to join my friends, leaving AJ to question himself why a woman turned him down and the meaning of life.
It doesn’t take long after my rejection for AJ to take the hint. He says his good-byes and leaves abruptly. Once he’s gone, we’re free to talk about what went down during the dinner party from hell. We all share our own observations, but I think Jeremy has the most likely scenario.
“That was all her,” he says. “AJ couldn’t care less, but I’m sure if she put it out there, he wasn’t going to turn it down.”
“I don’t understand. How could he do that to Cal?” Reagan wonders aloud.
Theo sighs. “AJ doesn’t think. He lives in the moment.”
“That’s terrible,” Reagan adds.
“I agree,” Theo says.
“He asked me out, and I turned him down flat.”
“Good,” Theo says. “That’s probably why he left so quickly.”
We talk for a while. Jeremy finally leaves a little after midnight, and Gabby walks Theo home.
“You okay?” Reagan asks.
“Yeah, just tired.”
“That was an eventful dinner party,” she says.
I laugh. “It was your idea.”
“Yeah, next time I have an idea like that, you should remind me of this.”
We say good night, and I head to my bathroom to get ready for bed. As I wash my face, I keep checking my phone with the hopes that Cal might text me. I’m sure sending me a message is the last thing on his mind tonight. I just want to know that he’s all right, and there’s a part of me that’s feeling guilty for hosting the nightmare get-together. I finally crawl into bed and stare up at the ceiling.
I have a lot of other things to think about that have nothing to do with Cal Sims’s personal life. I’m done living in the past, and its time move on, starting with this house. Tomorrow I will officially begin the search for my new home. It’s time.
I’m about to doze off when there’s a knock on my door. Gabby sticks her head in my room.
“Hey, are you still awake?”
“Barely.”
“Cal’s here.”
