Page 38 of Mr. Big Shot

He nods, looking anywhere but at me. “Good, yeah. You?”

His blond hair is a little disheveled, like he just rolled out of bed a few minutes ago.

“It was fun. My parents asked about you…”

“Yeah, same,” he says defensively.

Right.

“Didn’t you tell them I had my company party?”

The waitress comes back with his coffee, and he thanks her before topping it off with enough cream and sugar that it’s about to spill over the rim.

“Jasper?”

“Yeah, I told them.” He has no patience for me this morning. “It just doesn’t really matter, Scarlett. They were disappointed you couldn’t make the time to see them, especially after what happened a few weeks ago.”

This is getting a little ridiculous. “I think you’re being unreasonable.”

“I don’t feel like arguing about this.”

I swallow my retort as he rubs his temples.

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Whatever.”

He still hasn’t looked at me.

“What’d you end up doing last night?”

He shrugs. “Just hung with the guys. We went to a bar in Uptown.”

“Cool.”

He doesn’t ask about the Elwood Hoyt party and I don’t feel like continuing to ask him questions about his night, so we revert to browsing the menu in silence. Once the waitress leaves with our breakfast orders, Jasper finally glances over at me, and I see the end is there for him too.

It’s obvious to me now that everything I’ve been feeling in the last few weeks, he’s also been struggling with. In a way, I’m glad. Jasper isn’t a terrible guy. I’d prefer if our breakup was amicable rather than one-sided. It’s better for everyone.

“Jasper…”

He shakes his head. “Yeah, I know.”

“I really needed you at that party last night.”

“And I really need to feel like a priority for you.”

I sigh.

“It’s not just the work stuff. I feel like we could figure it out if that was the only issue…” He winces and shakes his head like he doesn’t want to go down that road.

“I mean, I agree it doesn’t feel like we’ve been on the same page lately.”

I’m trying to help him out, but he doesn’t look relieved. “It’s not really that. I mean, I guess it is…in a way.”

I’m so lost.

“Is this about last night? About your parents?”

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