Page 53 of The Crush Next Door

In the meantime, my mood was getting the best of me. Between suppressing my little crush, missing Devon, and not enjoying my day job, I was definitely not my best self.

And it kind of came out one Friday afternoon in August while Josh fought the traffic on Wilshire as we headed from the studio back to our apartments in Santa Monica.

"Well, I think we hit it out of the park with that one," Josh said. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, I guess." After he slammed on the brakes yet again, I shot him a glare. "Why do you follow so closely? You always do that."

"Do what?" he asked, giving me his own glare.

"Give me a fucking heart attack that we're going to crash into the car in front of us. You're the worst tailgater."

"Hey, I've never been in an accident," he argued, defending himself. "Can you say the same?"

Shit. He had me there. "Just minor ones. At least I know to leave a little distance between me and the vehicle in front of me."

"Yeah, I remember driver's ed. But if you do that, then someone always cuts in."

He certainly had a point, but I wouldn't admit it. Sighing, I looked out the window at some construction workers on a side street.

"What are you so grumpy about anyway?" Josh asked.

"I'm not grumpy. You're grumpy." Okay. Maybe I was a little bit grumpy.

Josh surprised me by laughing. "Yeah, I'm the grumpy one."

"Hmmph," I mumbled.

"You've been cranky for weeks now," he challenged me. "What is it? Are you not liking the podcast anymore?"

"That's not it," I admitted. That was the only thing that didn't make me cranky.

"You sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure," I said, kind of in a bitchy tone.

"Okay, then. Sheesh."

For a moment, we were quiet, and the traffic finally cleared. Then Josh started up his line of questioning again.

"Do you miss your fiancé?" he asked.

The way he said that word always ground on my nerves, like with such disdain, as if Devon was gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

"Why do you always say it like that?"

"Say what?"

"Say fiancé like he's an obnoxious bug you want to squish."

Once again, Josh laughed which only annoyed me more. "Oh, sorry. Just..."

He stopped talking suddenly, making me wonder what on earth he was going to say. "What? Just what?"

Shaking his head, he sped up to cruise through a very yellow light. "Nothing."

"That's such crap, and you know it," I challenged him. "Say whatever it is you want to say."

"Okay. Fine," he huffed. "The thing I don't get is why you're even apart. I mean, what guy leaves his fiancée willingly to go work on the other side of the country?"

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