Page 26 of A Little Harmless Sex

He shook his head. “No one calls me that these days but my mother. My friends call me Fred.”

“How unfortunate for you.”

He chuckled good-naturedly, but she sensed a tension beneath the veneer. Something that had worry settling between her shoulders. She’d learned long ago just how nasty good-boy Freddy could get. She took a sip of her drink, not really tasting it, and attempted to come up with a way to leave graciously. She was pretty sure telling him to fuck off wouldn’t be considered professional.

“Mom said you attend every month so I thought I would pop in and see how you’ve been.”

Apparently ignoring his repeated phone calls at her restaurant hadn’t explained her position to him. But then, boy kings usually didn’t accept the truth if it bothered them. They liked their bubble world where people really cared they’d won the state championship ten years ago. Still, she would not make a scene.

“I’ve been well.”

“I was wondering if you were free Friday night. I understand there’s a new Italian restaurant that opened in Valdosta, thought you would want to pop in, catch up.”

She couldn’t find her voice to answer. This was the one guy in high school she mooned over, wanted, and gave her virginity to. Then he tossed it all away, telling her she wasn’t good enough for him. Now he thought they’d…date?

Before she could answer though, the sound of shoes scraping on the patio caught her attention. She didn’t have to look to know who it was. Every sense went on alert from the amount of testosterone he was exuding as he walked toward her. When she could see Max’s face, she knew from his dangerous look he’d heard Freddy ask her out. In the mood Max had been in, that could prove dangerous for Freddy’s well-being. Wanting to avoid any kind of scene, she stepped around Freddy and up to Max.

“Max, you remember Freddy, don’t you?”

Max’s gaze moved from her to Freddy, his jaw twitching. Casually, he slipped his arm around her and turned her so she was standing next to him, both of them facing Freddy as a couple.

“Yeah, I think I do. You graduated with Anna, didn’t you?”

When Anna saw Freddy’s face, she didn’t laugh but it was a near thing. The ready smile dissolved into a scowl that resembled a three-year-old’s pout. All his charming personality dimmed when faced with Max’s dominating nature.

“Yes, Anna and I graduated together. We did date for a while, also.”

Anna glanced at Max to see how he took the news. One eyebrow rose and his lips curved in a smile that if Freddy were smart—which he wasn’t—he would be wary of.

“Interesting. And I am assuming that she broke it off?”

“No. I believe it was mutual.”

Mutual? Calling her easy and cheap, and saying he would never take someone like her to the prom, that wasmutual? Jesus, she didn’t want to know what a nasty breakup was like with Freddy. Max sensed her irritation because his fingers moved over her shoulder as if to soothe her.

“Oh, then your loss. I guess.” Max looked back over his shoulder. “I believe your mother’s looking for you, Freddy.”

Freddy shot Max a sour expression, then smiled at Anna. “I was thinking about popping into that little restaurant of yours this week.”

She didn’t say anything but nodded and with another irritated look at Max, Freddy left them in search of his mother. As soon as they were alone, Anna walked to the edge of the patio.

“Just what the hell was that about?”

“Now, Anna, I know you’re mad at me, but—”

She turned and faced a chagrined Max, who apparently thought she was mad at him. “Not you.”

He looked nonplussed. “You’re not mad at me?”

Wasn’t that just like a man? Every little thing in her life was supposed to be about him. She settled her hands on her hips. “Listen, Max, the whole world doesn’t revolve around you. I do have other things I worry about. This is about Freddy.”

“Freddy?” His tone had turned downright grumpy, but she ignored it.

“First, asking me on a date, as if!” She crossed her arms over her breasts, her temper finally letting loose. “Then to say, ‘your little restaurant’. The nerve! He went bankrupt and I’m opening another place. He had to come home to work for his parents because he couldn’t find a job anywhere else.”

There was a beat of silence as Max cocked his head and studied her. “So, you’re mad he asked you out and then belittled your business?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. I don’t really care about what he thinks, but I resent that tone.”

---