Page 28 of Running Into You
“What?” That’s the vibe he got? “No. Never. Never ever.”
“Really? I’m sorry.” He laughs like he’s relieved. “It’s just you two have a lot of…” I wait for him to continue. “Energy.”
Energy? Yeah, I have a lot of energy toward Josh right now. So much so that I’d like to find a way to convert it into some sort of laser with which to disintegrate him.
“We’ve known each other a long time. Since we were kids.” Images of a young, trouble-free Josh come to me, and I let them play out in my memory. He’s in the Pine’s backyard throwing a ball to the family dog, Leroy, laughing because the loveable mutt proudly brings back something other than the ball every single time. Then he’s lying on his back on the basement couch reading his worn-out copy of Animal Farm. Next, he’s driving us somewhere with the windows down, belting along with the Celine Dion song on the radio in entirely the wrong key.
“Did you get along back then?” he asks. There are a lot of people out and we weave around some teenagers taking up most of the sidewalk. I shrug.
“He mostly ignored me.” I know it’s not true as soon as the words are out of my mouth. He didn’t ignore me at all. He just couldn’t give me the kind of attention that I wanted from him, so I felt ignored.
“He certainly doesn’t ignore you now. He barely took his eyes off you.”
“I think he’s just being protective of me.”
“I don’t know. I’ve got four sisters, remember? I’ve never ‘looked out’ for one of them like that.”
He’s right. Josh wasn’t acting like a concerned friend; he was acting like a jealous boyfriend. Or just plain jealous, as he certainly is not my boyfriend.
“This is me,” I say when we come to my building.
“Thanks for coming out with me,” he says quietly. “It was nice to get to know you better. Maybe next time don’t tell your ‘not boyfriend’ where we’re going?” I can tell he’s teasing me, but I still feel bad. I don’t say anything but make a little cross with my fingers over my heart. He smiles, then slowly leans in and gives me a very soft kiss on my left cheek. “I’ll see you Monday.”
“You will. Have a good weekend.” I jog up the stairs to my building and give Andrew a final wave before I go inside. I spend the time it takes to climb the two flights of stairs to my apartment wishing that I had felt something when his lips touched me.
Chapter 16
Josh
“Iwant to thank you again for inviting me to witness that car crash, man.” Callum grins like an idiot. “My face actually hurts from smiling so much.”
“I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I growl back.
It wasn’t supposed to have gone this way. Yes, I’d planned on running into Betty and her coworkers, but I hadn’t thought she’d be on a goddamn date. My blood ran cold when I walked into O’Malley’s and saw them at the bar, heads together, laughing. She was telling him something and motioning with her hands when she spoke, which she only does when she is excited or nervous. I needed to find out which one it was. I hadn’t meant for it to go so poorly. I thought I’d get an introduction, then maybe the four of us would find a table, get to talking, have a nice time. I really had wanted her to meet Callum, not that he’d minded the spectacle. But the last thing I wanted to do was upset her. She looked furious when she left. Correction: when she left with him.
Andrew’s got me covered.The words had been haunting me since she’d walked out.
“So, how are you going to fix this?” Callum looks at me through his beer glass.
“Fix what?”
“The absolute mess of things you just made with your girl.”
“She’s not my girl.”
“No shit. I mean, not now anyway.” He laughs breezily. “Do you have a plan to fix that, too?”
“We’re friends. Nothing more,” I lie.
“You sure about that?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Very.”
“All right, man.” Callum holds up his phone. “Can you text me her number then?”
“What?”
“She’s cute as hell, and I like how she knocked you on your ass. I respect that. If you’re not interested, I want to ask her out.” Callum is the most personable guy I’ve ever met. I had once watched him convince a girl to leave her boyfriend at a basketball game to go get waffles with him at an all-night diner. People love him on sight and the thought of him pursuing Betty leaves me feeling physically ill. “I’m guessing by the way all the color just left your face that you don’t want to give me her number.”
