Page 23 of Heartstruck at Dawn
Was I losing my mind? How can someone be so moved by two different people at the same time? Ugh, but they were twovery sexy, charming, hot, interesting guys. And seeing Caleb’s interactions with Nina was driving me nuts. But not as much as William and Erin’s did.
It didn’t help, though, that I’d bumped intothis imageof such an unadulterated display of flirtation, having had an internal tantrum about seeing the premiere photographs just before arriving for dinner.
The soggy feeling of jealousy merged into a two-headed monster, and it was staring back at me, whispering about its plans to stick around.
A swarm of seconds elapsedwhile I took in and analyzed the scene before me. I could’ve been mugged right in front of them, and no one would’ve noticed. They were fully immersed in their interactions.
I cleared my throat. “Sorry to interrupt.”
Caleb and David immediately straightened themselves up. Caleb opened the door for me, and I offered my friends a ride as I always did, to which they usually declined.
“That would be great, Billie. Thanks!” Nina said, her reply too fast for my liking. I said theyusually declined. She was already sitting in the car beside me before I could even sigh from the restrained exasperation.
CJ jumped in the front seat with David, which resulted in Caleb and me making a sandwich out of Nina, who sat between us.
Suddenly I learned about the paranoid tendencies within me because it all seemed too planned. As if they were hoping I’d offer a ride to keep the conversation going as long as possible. And that’s what they did. Talk.
I distracted myself by replying to Ren’s texts instead of blocking out Nina and Caleb’s conversation by counting stop signs. I lost count fairly quickly.
Nina glanced at me for a second. I felt her gaze prying into my phone’s screen. “Are you talking to Ren?” she asked loudly. She then whispered, “Is he hot or what? You never told me how the date went.”
Nina! But having knowledge of Caleb’s pristine eardrum calibration, I knew he’d heard her.
This is the part where I wished she would turn around and resume her chit-chat with Caleb, who now seemed very interested in our conversation, by the way.
“We’re just friends,” I replied. Fast. And kept typing.
“Why don’t you invite him to the party? I’m sure he’d love to come,” she suggested.
“Could work,” I said, still focused on my screen.
Nina was getting on my nerrrrrves.
I love her, but my sullen mood got the best of me. CJ and Nina didn’t know a thing about my priorsituationwith Caleb. And Nina was still in a relationship with Juan Pablo, but she couldn’t help herself around Caleb, and I didn’t blame her.
No one could.
It’s not like I didn’t understand where she was coming from, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed looking at how comfortable they seemed talking to each other.
Nina was so outgoing and—touchy. She even ran a hand through Caleb’s shorn, dark brown hair, and that’s when I started counting stop signs again.
We arrived at their apartment, and Nina and CJ stepped out of the SUV.
“Thanks, Billie!” CJ yelled. “I hope to see youbothat my party next week.” He swayed his finger from side to side between David and Caleb. They laughed. I didn’t know who would be on duty that night, but something told me they were both going to be there.
“Say hello to Juan Pablo for me, will ya?” I said to Nina with a wry smile. Maybe she’d forgotten that she had a boyfriend. It didn’t do Caleb any harm to remember that either.
“Oh. Ah—of course, Billie! I will,” she replied, noticeably taken aback, increasing her pace to catch up with CJ.
Acting this way was so unlike me. I was out of control. And honestly, I felt like a world-class bitch.
I went back to texting with Ren, trying to get my mind off things. We discussed a book he was reading, and I promised to add it to my to-be-read list.
And I wouldn’t say I wasangryat Caleb. I think. It wasn’t his fault that girls found him irresistible. But I was having a shitty day, and I didn’t want to see him flirting with Nina, of all things. I’d prefer it if he did that in his free time. It wasn’t easy for me not to feel jealous, and I didn’t think it would ever be.
Caleb walked me up to my apartment and asked me again if I was okay.
“I’m okay.”
