Page 52 of When We Were More
“No, Ruthie, you’re aware that Jake has been here.”
“I thought you two were a thing now.” The grin on Ruthie’s face says she’s having a good time with this.
“We’re not a thing?—”
“I’d like to be Aunt Ruthie, but I haven’t been able to convince Tills here. Yet.” Jake thinks he gave me a new nickname, but Shannon beat him to it, and I don’t like hearing itfrom him. He’s acting too familiar for someone I don’t know well and someone whom I’ve already turned down for a date.
Fortunately, Sally taps me on the shoulder and interrupts us. “Sweetie, I want you to meet someone.”
I turn around, and my jaw drops when I see Henry standing before me. He looks delicious in dark jeans and a light sweater that makes his eyes pop. His hair is slightly messy, but in a way that’s absolutely fucking sexy. It causes an unwanted visceral response in me that it shouldn’t. We’re only friends, after all.
Sally looks between us and, for a second, she looks confused. I suspect it’s because I’m caught off guard, and Henry looks almost… angry. That’s odd.
As Henry and I stare at each other, a hand wraps around my upper arm, and I turn to see Jake standing there. I glance back over at Henry, and his gaze is fixed on Jake’s hand. I pull my arm away.
“Tills, I’m gonna go talk to some other people, but I’ll catch up with you in a bit.”
I lean away from him a little because I don’t want him to get the impression that it’s okay to kiss me on the cheek again. It absolutely is not. I don’t answer Jake because I don’t know what to say. It doesn’t seem to faze him, and he walks away.
“Anyway, sorry for that interruption,” Sally says. “Sometimes my grandson lacks manners. Tillie, this is Henry. I babysit his adorable little girls. You’ll have to meet them.” She turns her gaze to Henry. “Henry, this is our Tillie. I’ve known her since she was a kid, and she’s a special one. If you’re trying to make friends in Aron Falls, she’s a good one to start with.”
I’m unsure what else to do or if I should mention to Sally that Henry and I have already met, so I give him a slight wave. Henry smiles at her.
“We’ve already met, Sally. I did the remodel on Matilda’s kitchen, remember?” Henry is talking to her, but he’s looking at me. “We’refriends.”
“Oh, well, that’s great. Then I’ll leave you two to catch up.”
Sally gives me a sly smile and a wink and walks away.
Henry looks back over his shoulder, I assume to check on Lena and Layla while they play with some of the other kids who are here. They’re fine and appear thrilled to be playing with other children.
“Can I speak with you? Over here.” He doesn’t wait for an answer before he walks over to an area where Sally and Ruthie have a punch bowl set up. Because he’s acting strange, I follow him without questioning it.
He doesn’t say anything while he dips the ladle into the punch and fills a cup, which he hands to me. Then he fills one for himself and steps off to the side. No one else is around, and I assume if anybody comes, they’ll pour some punch and leave. He takes a sip of his while he looks around the room.
“Why are you acting weird? We’d already established the connection we both had with Sally and Ruthie. They were good friends with my grandmother.”
“Did you go on a date with Jake?” His eyes bore into me, and his jaw clenches.
“Why would you ask that? And why do you even care?”
“I care because that’s the type of thing someone would talk to their friend about. Remember, we’re friends. I care because he looks awfully comfortable with you, or he wouldn’t touch you like that,Tills.”
I roll my eyes at him. This is ridiculous. We’ve only become friends in the last few weeks, and yes, there is chemistry between Henry and me, but that’s all it is. His getting peeved because a man talks to me is absurd. Still, I don’t want to cause issues by arguing with him here at the party.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I didn’t go out with Jake. I’m not going to. He seems to be struggling to understand that, but I’ll make that clear again with him because I’m also not a fan of the touching and kissing.”
“Kissing? You kissed him?”
“That came out wrong. I didn’t kiss him, but he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek when I got here. I wasn’t expecting it, and I’ll make sure that he knows not to do it again. But not because you don’t like it, because I’m in charge of my body and I decide who touches it and who doesn’t.”
Henry looks around the room and then says, “Follow me.” He takes a few steps and looks back to see that I haven’t moved. “Please. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be whatever it is I’m being.”
He looks flustered, so I follow him, and he walks over to Sally.
“Sally, can you watch the kids for a few minutes? I have to talk to Matilda somewhere quiet.”
“Sure can. You guys can use my bedroom. It’s the first one on the right when you go up the stairs.”
