Page 41 of Tenderfoot

I spoke over him. “Yes, it hurts. Because you’re a good guy. But not everyone likes everybody, and eventually, I’ll get used to it. We’re both adults. We could figure it out. Even if we share friends, we’d figure it out.”

“Har—”

“And okay, so I was chicken and wiggled out of our dinner by leaving early to buy porn.”

He sounded like he was strangling when he asked, “Porn?”

“For Mr. Stupidhead, the receptionist at the hotel. We bribe him with porn.”

I watched him grin at the windshield as he muttered, “Gotcha.”

“But I also brought some of Willow’s cupcakes, and he really liked him, so I think we can wean him off porn and get him onto baked goods.”

“I wouldn’t hold a lot of hope for that, lil’ mama,” he advised.

Whatever.

“Anyway, it’s debatable I stood you up,” I continued. “Seeing as I didn’t agree to go to dinner in the first place.”

He hesitated a beat before he replied, “No comment.”

Again.

Whatever.

“But you showed up while we were talking to Jinx, and I had to admit to them that I kinda, but not really, depending on how you look at it, stood you up. And Jessie and Raye got mad at me because they look at it the way I don’t.”

“They got mad at you?”

At his frightening tone, I clicked out of my hurt and fully into the cab.

Oh boy.

“Not that you want me,” I started cautiously, “but say you did, this is why we can’t go there. Because we’re dragging everyone along with us. So if things didn’t work out, people would pick sides and someone would get left out.”

“They got mad at you?” he repeated.

Oh dear.

“Javi—”

He was hitting buttons on his steering wheel as he declared, “What’s up with us is none of their fucking business.”

Man, I wish there could be an us.

I couldn’t focus on that.

The car started ringing and the dash said he was calling Jessie.

“Javi!” I cried.

“Dude, let me talk to Harlow,” Jessie demanded as an answer to the call.

“You aren’t fuckin’ talkin’ to her,” Javi stated irately, even if she was since she was on his dash line, and I could hear and speak to her. “And you aren’t in our shit, woman. Stay out of our shit. Or better yet, back your girl, no matter what.”

“That’s what I want to talk to her about,” Jessie said.

I opened my mouth, but Javi was speaking again.

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