Page 30 of Rematch
Hearing my voice say his name finally caught Max’s attention and he glanced at me. “Yeah, something like that.”
Tony chuckled. “You two haven’t changed a bit,” he murmured.
“This is my friend, Gianna,” I said as I moved back around to the other side of the counter. “She’s one of the psychiatrists on our department team.”
Gianna offered a polite smile. “It’s nice to meet both of you.”
I jutted my thumb to my other side. “And this is Carter.”
“Her boyfriend,” he added. He threw his arm over my shoulder and pulled me against him.
Max’s eyes tracked Carter’s hand like it was a bug he wanted to stomp. “Really?” He asked. “When we hung out the other night, she said she was single.”
Gianna’s brows raced to her forehead, and Tony coughed to hide his laugh.
One of Carter’s jaw muscles jumped as his arm tightened around my neck. The cordialness he was trying to uphold fell, and he unleashed a glare that would send shivers down anyone else’s spine.
Max smirked underneath it, silently challenging Carter to back the look up with his fists.
“Well, we just wanted to say hi,” Tony said. He clasped his hand on Max’s shoulder and started shoving him back in the direction from which they’d come. “Good seeing you, Audrey.”
“You too, Tony,” I replied.
Unease swished through my stomach as Carter yanked his arm from around my neck. “What the hell was he talking about?” He snapped. A shade pulled over his eyes, darkening them as his glare fell on me.
“He and his mom came over for dinner not too long ago, and-”
“And you didn’t tell him you had a boyfriend?”
“I told him I was seeing someone.”
He scoffed. “So, you’re just ‘seeing’ me? Not dating?”
“It means the same thing.”
“Not to guys like him. If they think you’re unclaimed, they’re going to think you’re free game.”
It was my turn to scoff. “Unclaimed? Free game? I am not an animal to be kept on a leash.”
“I’m not saying you are, but-”
I crossed my arms. “Then what are you saying? Because we don’t need titles for me to respect what we have going on.”
“It’s notyouI’m worried about.”
I averted my eyes. Max might test my boundaries, but he’dnevercross them. He knows good and well where the line is right now. But, Carter wasn’t going to understand that. Right now, he was too absorbed with nursing the bruise on his ego. And I wasn’t going to help him.
“Thank you for helping with the banner,” I said. “I think we’re good now.”
“Audrey,” he murmured. His face fell as he realized his mistake. “Audrey, I didn’t mean-”
“She said we’re good now,” Gianna reiterated. She took a few steps forward, standing a few inches in front of me like a shield. “Thank you.”
Scoffing, Carter shook his head and stormed away from our booth.
“Thank you,” I told Gianna.
She waved me off. “Girl, please. He was being an asshole. But…” Her lips curled into a mischievous smile. “Why were you hanging out with your ex? The real answer - not the bullshit you told him.”
