Page 38 of Signed, I'm Yours!
“It wasn’t like that. She was trying to start over.”
“With your shit,” Zeke snaps.
“He can’t see it,” Annie whispers to me. “Just like Brandon can’t see he’s loved.”
I’m thoroughly intrigued, but I’ve already opened my mouth more than I should, so I’m keeping it firmly shut for the rest of the evening.
“Right. Got it. Bad bitch. See? That’s why we haven’t talked about the past. Just…the future. Now, what movie are we watching?”
I don’t know how I’ve ended up with a group of strangers and a fake fiancé, but the sooner this is over, the better.
Annie shakes a plastic bag for show and puts her hand inside. When she takes it out, she retrieves a VHS tape.
“13 Going on 30!” she announces.
“My favorite movie!” I screech. “How did you know?”
Okay, I have no clue how she found a VHS and, most importantly, why and how there even is a VHS version of Jennifer Garner’s best movie to date—other thanElektra, of course—but I’m gagging for a rewatch.
“Oh, perfect,” Annie says and…puts her arms around me to hug me.
What the fuck? Why would she do that?
“I’ll put it on.” Robin snatches the tape from Annie’s hand, who in turn lets go of me and sits back on the couch.
“I guess I’m making popcorn?” Zeke says with an eye roll and walks to the kitchen.
Everyone settles soon enough, and I feel trapped, smack dab right in the middle, smothered with icky things like love and acceptance, as if I’m a wildcat that’s been involuntarily domesticated, when pain shoots all over my body.
“Are you okay?” Brandon asks when I fold in two.
I shake my head and look behind me. Jack is also on the floor.
“Come back!” I shout, and everyone turns to him, but before they can see him wince, he steps backward and smiles at everyone. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“The bathroom.” He points behind him to a door.
I take a deep breath and compose myself.
“I’ll come with.” I spring off the couch and walk around so I’m close to him.
“To the bathroom?” Jack asks me before anyone else has the chance to.
“Yes, darling. To the bathroom. Or did you forget I can’t be apart from you wherever you go?” I mutter the last bit.
“I thought you don’t do number ones or twos.” Jack has the nerve to chuckle, and I glare at him.
“I don’t. But clearly, you do.” I drag him away toward the bathroom, shaking my head.
I can’t believe I’m still stuck to him. What happens if I want to take a shower, and I most definitely will want to after such a long day? Or what happens if I need to…brush my teeth in the bathroom. I can’t brush my teeth in front of someone else.
“Oh my God, you guys! They’re inseparable!” Annie coos, and I throw my evil smile at her before I open the bathroom door and nearly gag. It’s tiny. But at least that means I won’t have to go in with him.
“You can go,” I whisper to him. “But just so you know, I’m not sleeping here tonight.”
Jack looks around as if taking in his apartment for the first time and frowns.
Wait, he can do that? I thought he was a happy chappy twenty-four-seven. What the hell? Does that mean I can hurt his feelings?
