Page 84 of I Saw Her First

I smile tentatively, flicking my gaze over his shoulder to make sure Wes is still in the bathroom. “Oh, I don’t know if I’m the reason—”

“You are,” Rex assures me. “You, and his boss. If it weren’t for the two of you, he wouldn’t have gone back home. I think it’s good he did.”

I nod. “They need each other.”

“For sure.” Rex nods in agreement, rocking on his heels. “And no doubt therapy is helping him to work through everything.”

My lips part in shock. “Jess is in therapy?”

Rex tilts his head to the side. “He didn’t tell you?”

“I… no.”

He cringes. “Shit, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it then. He’s been going for about a month now, after I drove him back from the beach. I could tell he was in a really bad place, and I pushed him to go see someone my shrink recommended.”

I reach for my near empty glass to cover my shock, draining the last dregs of wine.Rexis in therapy? Somehow, that’s almost harder to believe than Jess.

“I think it’s really helping,” Rex adds. “I felt bad about kicking him out last week, but I’d already agreed to the sublet at my place. Anyway, I was hoping it would make him reach out to his dad. He’s lucky to have a father who cares as much as Mr. Abbott.”

I set my glass down and assess him carefully. My mind flashes back to that moment in his car when Jess used the restroom, leaving me alone with Rex. He’d told me he was worried about Jess’s partying, worried he might lose his job if Jess didn’t settle down. In that moment he’d seemed like a completely different guy, but I’d dismissed it.

I think of Weston’s disdain for him, for how I’ve felt every other time I’ve been around him. But it dawns on me now that’s when he was with his friends, when he was “one of the boys.” If that’s all Weston has seen of him too, no wonder he doesn’t like him.

It’s clear now, though, that we’ve been missing another side to him—the side he showed me briefly on that car ride. The side who has his buddy’s back, who wants to make sure his best friend is okay. The side who goes to therapy and dresses up to take his dates to fancy restaurants.

Is it possible that Rex is… mature? That he only acts like a dickhead around his friends, becausethey’redickheads? Because the guy standing in front of me now is nothing like the guy I thought I knew.

Realization flashes through me as I recall the way my parents spoke so poorly of Beth and her family, because they didn’t really know them. Because they didn’twantto know them.

And I bet, if Weston saw this side to Rex, if he knew the lengths Rex had gone to, to take care of Jess, he’d feel differently.

I see a flash of salt-and-pepper hair behind Rex, and my stomach capsizes. If I’m not careful, that moment could come about a lot sooner than I’d like.

“Well, it’s been great to see you, Rex,” I say, my voice coming out in a ridiculously high pitch. I try to signal with my eyes to Wes over Rex’s shoulder, but he turns and heads to the hostess to settle the bill, buying me another moment.

Thank God.

Rex makes no move to leave, so I rise from the table, grabbing my purse. “I should be off…”

“Who are you here with, anyway?”

“Just, um, a girlfriend.” It’s a blatant lie, because it’s really not that kind of restaurant, and I pray my scarlet complexion doesn’t give me away. “And I should, uh, go now.”

His forehead wrinkles with amusement. “Where are you rushing off to?”

Over Rex’s shoulder I see Wes head in our direction, and my insides plunge.Look at me, Weston!I silently plead.Do not come this way! Abort!I try to surreptitiously catch his eye, but he’s gazing down as he walks, smiling to himself, lost in thought. Panic floods through me as Rex begins to turn, as if to follow my gaze.

“I need the bathroom,” I blurt, and Rex’s eyes swing back to mine. “I, um, have afeminineproblem.” I touch my lower belly and grimace, knowing this is the one thing that will make any guy freak out.

It works like a charm, and just in time; Wes glances up as he approaches the table, his gaze landing on Rex, and hiseyes widen in alarm. He glances about frantically, looking for somewhere to hide, before ducking behind a large ficus.

“Oh.” Rex seems to catch my drift, raising his hands and taking a step back, as if whatever is plaguing my womanly parts is somehow contagious. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Thanks,” I say, turning toward the bathroom, but as soon as his back is turned, I scurry across the restaurant and slip out into the parking lot, my heart jackhammering in my throat.

That waswaytoo close.

I slink behind Wes’s Audi, peering over the roof into the restaurant. From here I can see Rex with his date, pouring her a glass of water from the pitcher on the table, taking her hand and listening intently as she speaks. I really had the wrong idea about him.

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