Page 60 of Actually Yours

“Is that Amelia?” Steven asks as he plants himself next to me at the bar, where I will remain for the foreseeable future. “What’s she doing here?”

I shrug. Torturing me, is my guess. “Don’t know.”

“Is all of Melbourne here tonight?”

We look around, taking in the swarms of people surrounding us. “Feels like it.”

“Still, that’s some bad luck. You come out to get away from your thoughts of her, and here she is. The irony.”

I glare at him. “Yes, and because I live for irony, I’m thrilled to be caught up in it.”

“Calm down, grumpy. I’m just pointing out the obvious.”

I pinch the skin between my eyes. “Well, don’t. I can see her perfectly well without you pointing it out. I can see her and the men she’s with. Men. Plural.”

He squints in their direction. “Can we have another two of these? And keep them coming,” he says to the bartender, indicating to the whiskey in my hand.

The bartender nods, giving me a sympathetic glance. My misery is on full display tonight.

When his drink arrives, Steven takes a sip and hums in appreciation. I don’t blame him; itisgood whiskey.

After a long silence in which we fully concentrate on appreciating our brews, Steven returns to the topic at hand. “So, what are you going to do about it?”

“Nothing.” I stare into my half-finished glass and contemplate having one more before going home. “She’s never not with someone else. First my brother”—a sour taste fills my mouth—“then the dating plan, now those two buffoons. She’s not available. For me.”

He pats my shoulder and wisely chooses not to respond. Because what is there to say? I met Amelia before Robby, before the ABC of men, before those two men standing over there with her now even knew of her existence—and yet despite what I feel when I’m with her, what I feel when I think about her, I just don’t think she feels the same. If she did, we’d be here tonight together. And we’re not.

“To be fair,” Steven speaks up, deciding he’s held his tongue long enough, “you’ve never come out and told her how you feel. You’ve never even asked her out.”

My body rumbles and I clench my fist. “When was I supposed to do that? Before or after she had a relationship with Robby? Or while she was on the date with the biomedical physicist, whatever that is. Even last week, after I almost kissed her, after we had amoment, she still went on a date with an electrician. Just because her friends asked her to. Is that the actions of a woman who wants me to ask her out?”

He shakes his head sadly, finishing the rest of his whiskey in one gulp.

“I have to face it, this thing between us, it’s all in my head.”

“Well, don’t look now, but the woman who you believe feels nothing for you is making her way over to see you. And that’s not ‘nothing’ I see written on her face.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention as I feel her before I see her. Steven drifts away and with my stomach in knots, I steel myself to turn around and face her, hoping for a blank expression on my face.

“Hey Jake.” Her husky voice has my blank face twitching. Not off to a good start.

“Amelia.”

“Did you not see me earlier? I said hello?” Her lower lip, so full and painted a soft pink, trembles and my heart sinks. I’ve made her sad, and I never want to do it again.

“You seemed busy.” I give her a half-smile to lighten the mood. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”

She grimaces. “I would’ve welcomed an interruption…from you.” Her emphasis on the wordyoupropels me closer to her. Against my will.

“Were those guys bothering you?”

“Not in the traditional sense of the word.” She shrugs, turning to order herself a glass of champagne. “It was just royally bad timing,” she elaborates once she’s been served.

“Tell me.” I want to know in equal amounts as I don’t want to know.

“The tall one, the one that looks like a mountain?”

I laugh at her description. It’s spot on. The man had to be carved out of stone. There’s no other way to explain it.

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