Page 20 of Mr. February

“Okay, good. Be safe, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Better yet, do more of the things Iwoulddo.”

Jenny snorted as her friend disconnected. Even though nothing was resolved between her and Wade, she was a little less stressed about the awkwardness of their situation. As soon as she had that thought, Wade cleared his throat.

“We should talk about this before it becomes a thing.”

“That’s not necessary, because there’s nothing to talk about. Nothing happened. Everything’s fine,” Jenny spoke rapidly, her breath coming in short bursts.

Was she having a panic attack? No, no, no. She could not have a panic attack. Not right now. She’d never had a panic attack before, but her heart was beating way too fast, and she couldn’t breathe. Oh, God, was this a panic attack?

“Jenny, it’s not that big a deal, but you’re freaking out about it. It’s just a book. I already knew you read romance books, so, you know. It’s fine.”

“I’m not freaking out, and everything’s fine. See? Nothing to talk about.”

Wade turned sideways in his seat so he could face her, and Jenny wished they were driving so he would have to stare straight ahead. If they absolutely had to have this conversation, she’d prefer it to happen without him looking at her.

“Jenny, it’s not a big deal. It was a little… unexpected, but you shouldn’t let it upset you. We’re friends, right?”

Jenny’s heart sunk, but her head nodded in a jerky fashion.

“It’s cool. You’re not even the first friend I’ve had whose, uh, fictional liaisons I’ve interrupted.”

“You have another friend whose raunchy audiobook played over Bluetooth when you turned the car on?” she asked with skepticism.

“Not romance audiobooks, no. That would have been better. You’d be surprised how easy it is to walk in on your college roommate when he’s watching porn in the living room,” he laughed.

Jenny’s eyes widened, and Wade laughed harder.

“Yup. More than once. Like I said, you’re fine. We can get past this, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll try.” Jenny still couldn’t look at him, but some of the tension in her shoulders fell away.

“Good. Because you promised to rescue me from Suzanne, and it won’t work if you’re too embarrassed to look at me.”

“I did not!” she replied indignantly.

“I know.” He winked at her and put the car in reverse. “Hey, do you want to listen to an audiobook while we drive? No? Then can you put on some more music after you bring up the route?”

Jenny choked on a laugh.

Chapter 6: No One Would Think He’d Ever Date Someone Like Me

WADE

Wade chuckled at Jenny’s story involving Gloria, the drunk guy who hit on her, and the beer she accidentally-on-purpose spilled on him when he wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.

Wade was glad things were back to normal. It had been touch-and-go for a few minutes after he brought up the audiobook, but it would have been worse to ignore it and let it build up into more.

Damn. That audiobook. He couldn’t let himself think about it now though, not when he couldn’t do anything about it. For at least the fifteenth time today, he was grateful he’d worn his favorite heavyweight jeans. He chose them because they were comfortable, but the boner he sported non-stop was less noticeable.

They stopped for another break so he could stretch his legs and give Jenny an excuse to use the bathroom. Her confusion athis relaxed driving habits ate at him. Guys could be dicks about that kind of thing, but her anxiety surprised him.

It made him want to find her various exes and have a little chat. He wasn’t a big guy, but he spent more time in the gym than people expected. He’d help them see the error of their ways. Jenny deserved to have someone stand up for her, not stress her out about bodily functions.

This time when they took their break, there were no surprise guests, work issues, or audiobook snafus to delay them. As a result, they were back on the road within fifteen minutes.

After another long silence, this one more comfortable than an hour ago, he felt rather than saw Jenny gear up to ask him something. She squirmed, fidgeted, and wiggled as she worked through it.

While he couldn’t claim a deep understanding of her psyche, the past couple of hours had taught him a lot about her. There was clearly something she wanted to know, but she wasn’t sure how to ask. He liked that about her.

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