Page 66 of Change My Mind
“Her thirtieth birthday is today?” I knew I sounded like a broken record. But this morning, I had given hertoastfor breakfast, like I always did. If I had known what today was, I would have made her…literally anything else. I wouldn’t have even done anything more to acknowledge it if she didn’t want me to. But her thirtieth birthday deserved a breakfast more special than crunchy peanut butter with a sprinkle of sea salt on top.
Jesse blew out a slow breath through pursed lips. “Fuck, when Clo said Addie hated birthdays, I thought she was being hyperbolic. I didn’t think she meant that you have to be blood to know her date of birth.”
“She hates them?”
Jesse hummed. “Clo says she hates being the centre of attention, and that is basically all a birthday is—people insisting on paying you attention. She does, however, have allowances for milestone birthdays. Xander wanted it to be a full surprise, but, well, the Henrys reminded him that there was no way anybody was getting Addie to any kind of location without a valid reason. So she knows about it, although I am unclear if we are still pretending that it’s a surprise. I cannot see it going over well that a bunch of people are going to jump out and shout ‘surprise’ at her. But we shall see. I do think that she would want you there.”
“It’s probably best that I don’t.”
“And why is that?” Jesse asked gently.
I didn’t have a good enough reason other than my feelings being slightly hurt that Addie wasn’t the one inviting me to her birthday party herself.
“I have to work lunch tomorrow,” I said. A lie. I was doing dinner, but Jesse didn’t know that.
Jesse ran a hand along the back of his neck and gave me a look that let me know he knew I was lying.
Fuck.
“Xander mentioned that you weren’t working until dinner tomorrow.”
“We’ve been having sex,” I blurted out instead of trying to find another excuse. Jesse blinked slowly. I felt heat rise up the back of my neck as the silence stretched between us. He definitely didn’t need to know that.
“Relevance?” Jesse eventually said.
“There isn’t any, really. Forget I even mentioned it.” Although I didn’t want him to forget about it. I’d brushed off the idea of telling someone about Addie’s and my…arrangement, but now that I’d said it out loud, I realised that I needed to talk to somebody about it. Someone neutral. Someone who might be able to remind me that it was stupid to develop actual feelings for your fuck buddy. Especially when they told you not to.
Thankfully, Jesse didn’t let it go.
“Is it a situationship that has ended badly?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, it’s still ongoing as far as I know.”
Jesse nodded as he moved to the freezer and immediately pulled out a bottle of vodka like he was expecting it to be there. Addie kept her vodka in the freezer because ‘there is literally nothing worse than a lukewarm martini, Eli’and mixing with ice wasn’t enough.
I couldn’t say I disagreed with her.
That didn’t explain how Jesse knew it was in there.
“Clo does the same thing,” he explained. “Glasses?”
I walked over to the cupboard and pulled out two shot glasses. Jesse poured vodka into both. We clinked them together and knocked them back.
“You want to start at the beginning?” Jesse asked once we set them back down.
“Addie and I have been friends with benefits since earlier in the summer. But we haven’t used those benefits for a couple of weeks now.”
“Okay, but you’re still friends, right? That hasn’t changed? She hasn’t iced you out or anything?”
“No. Nothing has changed in terms of the way we interact with each other. We’re still friends.”
Jesse started tracing the rim of his shot glass with his finger. “But?”
“I think I am in over my head.”
Jesse laughed. It was a deep, scratchy sound. “Yeah, the Henry sisters have a way of making you feel that way sometimes. Why are you in over your head?”
“Oh, you know, a tale as old as time. Girl thinks boy is the worst person to ever exist, and boy thinks girl is the highlight of his day. It never goes beyond arguing about Poe and white whales, but it also kind of feels like everything.”
