Page 21 of Fight for Me
“Just remember to leave me out of it,” he said, reaching for his soda again. He took another swallow as a bat swooped low, chasing a moth that fluttered around the outdoor light.
Conner grunted in agreement.
They sat in companionable silence while the last of the day’s light faded, until Conner moved as if to stand.
“Lexie is seeing someone,” Jake blurted, feeling some of the tension drain out of him.
Conner settled back into his chair. “She tell you today?”
“Nope,” Jake said, letting the word pop from his lips. “I was in the middle of asking her to dinner when some guy waltzed into the office and tried to swallow her face.”
Conner winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah. The rich frat-boy type; a real piece of work, from what I can tell.”
“And you didn’t know?”
“Does it look like I knew?” Jake said, lolling his head to one side so he could look at his friend head-on.
“So, she’s never said anything?”
“Not a single thing.” Jake drained what was left of his Coke and leaned forward to set the bottle on the porch railing. “I mean, how hard would it have been to give me a heads-up? Just a simple ‘my boyfriend and I’ would have done it, you know? Anything to tell me not to make a fool of myself like an overeager puppy dog.”
“Maybe it isn’t serious,” Conner said, rolling his drink between his palms.
“Well, I don’t thinkColtwould agree,” Jake spat. Just saying the guy’s name left a bitter taste in his mouth.
There was a long silence, broken only by the cooing of a nearby dove and the slam of a car door down the road.
“In my experience, a woman who’s happy in her relationship will find a way to mention it,” Conner said, tilting his head back to stare at the sky. “And a woman who isn’t... won’t.”
Jake considered this, his mouth pressed into a hard line. Lexie certainly hadn’t been pleased to see her boyfriend, at least not in an obvious way. But then again, maybe she just didn’t enjoy public displays of affection.
Or being treated like property.
Or maybe Jake just didn’t know her at all.
He grunted, feeling agitation rising in his chest again. If it were simply about Lexie not wantinghim, he thought he could get over it. But why would she want a guy likethat?
Conner cleared his throat. “I wasn’t going to mention this, but one of Jasmine’s friends has actually been asking about you.”
Jake puffed out a breath, leaning his chair back on two legs and trying to remember Conner’s latest fling.
“Yeah? Which one?” he asked.
“Macy, the redhead from that barbecue we went to.”
Jake searched his memory and came up blank.
“She brought the watermelon?” Conner supplied.
That did it. This was the girl who found out Jake liked watermelon and spent the rest of the evening hovering nearby to make sure he never ran out. He’d almost had to beg her to stop.
He stifled a groan.
“I know, I know, she was a bit over the top, but I promise she’s usually cool,” Conner reassured him. “I think you just made her nervous.” He waggled his eyebrows, and Jake laughed skeptically.
“I highly doubt that.”
