Page 12 of Not Friends

“But you hadn’t met the guy, so you were in no position to give your opinion.”

“And you’ve met him?”

“Yes. Her ex is a terrible, manipulative man-child. I’ve worked like crazy to get her to forget about him, and then one movie night with you. Bam. Over. Done.” Emotion was starting to creep into my voice, and I took a moment to regroup. I needed Sadie to understand so she could fix this. Makayla liked her for some reason. Looked up to her even.

Sadie stared back at me, her expression moving from confusion to sympathy, and then quickly to disgust. “So, Makayla was some kind of pity project for you? Is that what you do? Is that what your interest in Jenny was all about?”

“Keep your voice down.”

The desk clerk lady was definitely giving us side-eye, and if I got kicked out of here, we wouldn’t get to finish our conversation. “What does Jenny have to do with this?”

Sadie waved her water bottle at me. “You date project women. And don’t you dare quote me on calling Jenny that, but you befriended her when she was vulnerable. She had that nightmare roommate, and she was stressed about Noah being back in carpool. Apparently, you found all that irresistible. You’re sick, you know that?”

I ran a hand through my hair. Just wow. “Are you done willfully misunderstanding me?”

“No. Yes. Wait, are you quotingPride and Prejudice?” Her eyes narrowed. “You’re no Darcy.”

“And you’re no Elizabeth.” I held no shame about being a dude who likedPride and Prejudice, but it did bother me that Sadie was also a fan. She had no right to like the same stuff as me.

We glared at each other, and then I stared past her to the game highlights on the big screen. In part to irritate her, but also because I’d missed the Cardinals game last night while Makayla was breaking up with me. From the looks of it, I’d missed an epic game.

“So, was your relationship real?” Sadie asked in a quieter tone.

I glanced back at her. “Every relationship is real. I think what you’re asking is, was I in love with Makayla? No. I liked her. She liked me. We kept it casual.”

“Gross.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant we both knew it wasn’t serious. I knew she’d eventually get back together with her ex. They’ve been on and off since high school. I just hoped I could show her what it was like to date a real gentleman for once.”

That earned me an eye roll, which I’d totally expected.

Sadie leaned forward. “Denver, what do you want from me? An apology? I’m sorry what I said to her got in the way. I didn’t know I’d be making all these waves by reminding her the truth was her friend. But I didn’t change her mind. She just hadn’t told you yet what was going on in her head.”

“Well thanks. For your apology.”

Based on her frown, she didn’t miss my sarcasm.

I got up, knowing that was about as much understanding as I’d get out of Sadie. She didn’t get it at all. She didn’t get me. Did she not think it was possible to be drawn to someone, even with only a small glimmer of hope it would end well? Not all of us could be eternal pessimists, crunching the numbers and tallying out a pros and cons list before deciding to date someone. So yes, maybe I’d gotten my hopes up about Makayla, against my better judgement. I wasn’t heartbroken, but I was definitely bummed out.

At least now Sadie had a heads up about Makayla’s ex-boyfriend, and she could stop encouraging her to take him back. Maybe Sadie’s influence would be stronger than mine.

Hope was a pesky thing. Even after all this, I still hoped Makayla would figure out how to live without the guy. Maybe I did have a rescue complex, after all. There were worse things in life.

Out of habit, I got out my phone and checked my email inbox for the thousandth time.

“Have you heard from GoWithFriends?” I asked.

“No. You?”

“Nothing.”

We stared at each other, and I swear I saw the same emotions cross her face that were going on in my head. Disappointment, but also relief. This was a parting of the ways, especially now that Makayla wouldn’t be dragging me over to see her neighbors ever again.

“Okay. See you around.” Or hopefully not. My pivot was as crisp as any boy band dance move, that’s how ready I was to be out of Sadie’s presence. Also, her gym was stupid. They didn’t even have a pool.

My parents called three seconds after I left the gym parking lot. Because my day wasn’t complicated enough. Okay, technically it was my mom calling, but it didn’t matter. No matter which one called me, my parents always put it on speaker and talked over each other.

Sure enough, Dad was the one to say hello over the sound of Buster barking in the background.

---