Page 21 of Keeping it Casual
His grin fades as we head past the bar. A tall, beautiful redhead turns around, and her face lights up when she sees him.
“Jeremy!”
“Hey, Em,” Jeremy says softly.
Oh, holy shit, I can see why Jasper and Beau felt the need to run interference between Jeremy and his ex. If she looks at him like this two years after they broke up, what was she like in the immediate aftermath?
She glances over at me, and her smile wilts.
I shuffle uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” she asks Jeremy.
“Uh…this is Dustin. He’s new in town. Dustin, this is Emily.”
I hold out my hand, and she shakes it, her slender hand feeling delicate in mine.
“Nice to meet you,” I say.
“You’re in the O’Neilly’s old place, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“I’ve heard about you.” She’s managed to rummage up a smile, but it’s definitely forced. Her gaze continues to flick between Jeremy and me
“Don’t believe the rumors. They’re not true,” I say, trying desperately to inject some lightheartedness into the awkward atmosphere we’ve got going.
“Well, I heard rumors that you two had to be kicked out of Kelly’s because all the staff wanted to get home, and you were interfering with everyone getting a good night’s sleep.”
I can see she’s trying to be upbeat, but it only adds to the awkwardness. Because Jeremy can’t exactly resort to his ‘no sexual chemistry between us’ line when he broke up with Emily because he literally had no sexual chemistry with her.
“That was us. You know how much I love to interfere with people having a good night’s sleep. It’s a mission of mine,” Jeremy says.
Emily smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Yeah, I remember a few times when we stayed up the whole night,” she says softly.
Jeremy looks down at his feet, a flurry of emotions racing across his face. “I remember that too.”
There are another few heartbeats of silence. I have no idea what to say to break it.
“I better get back to the girls,” Em says finally.
“Say hi to everyone from me,” he says.
“I will. Nice to meet you, Dustin.”
“You too.”
As soon as Emily departs, Jeremy takes off abruptly, speeding through the crowd. I have to quicken my pace to keep up with him.
“So…that’s your ex,” I say once we’re outside in the chilly air.
Jeremy runs his hands through his hair. “Yeah.”
“She seems nice,” I say.
“She is nice.” There’s so much misery in his voice that it hurts my heart.
We start to walk in the direction of our houses.
