Page 24 of Half-Hearted
The problem was I couldn’t not show up to this party. Marta had been more of a mother to me and my brothers than Tanya Milani ever was. There were very few scenarios in which I could forgive myself for missing the birthday celebrations of the woman who’d practically raised me, and unfortunately, crippling heartbreak over her son was not one of them.
So I’d resorted to avoiding Joel as much as humanly possible, afraid to even look at him, knowing it would likely send me into another blubbering spiral.
The good news was it was almost over. We’d gotten through the introductions, the small talk, the cake, the gifts, and now I was just… waiting, counting down the seconds until we could leave. And then I could probably get away with not seeing Joel until Thanksgiving.
The worst part? Even after all this, after the rejection and the heartbreak andknowingnothing would ever happen between us, the thought of not seeing him for that long sent another sharp pang straight through my chest. I hated everything.
“So,” Raj started with a small sip of his soda. We were standing alone in the corner, watching as the middle of Marta’s backyard transformed into a mini dance floor in response to the Beyoncé song that had just come on. “Can I guess who the guy is? It’s a tough one, to be sure, but I think—Ithink—I’ve skillfully figured it out.”
I sucked on my cheek. Sarcasm ran thick through the Khatri bloodline. “Be quiet.”
He laughed. “He’s charming, really. Not to mention thefantasticbone structure. It’s a shame he wants me dead.”
“You’re reading into it, Raj,” I assured him again. Joel’s weird mood had had nothing to do with him. I was almost sure of it.
He sighed wistfully. “Do you think we could be friends if I told him I liked his bones?”
And, for what felt like the first time in weeks, I let out a small (albeit reluctant) chuckle. Bringing Raj with me to this thing had turned out to be a better decision than I’d originally anticipated. He’d been somewhat of a lifeline to me over the last few hours. The guy was… distracting, if nothing else.
“I’m being quite serious,” he jested, inspired by my reaction. “The mere fact that he dislikes me means Ineedto win his approval. There’s simply no other option. A lot of my self-esteem is now riding on it. He’s unknowingly activated all of my thinly suppressed daddy issues.”
I bit down on my lip, but the huffed laugh slipped out anyway.
“Speaking of the devil himself—the one that’s not my daddy—look at who’s glaring right at me.” And then he grinned and started waving at Joel, like the absolute muppet he was.
“Stop saying ‘daddy’ like that. And he’s not glaring at you,” I said without looking. “He doesn’t have anything against you, Raj. He’s just… upset, I think, because I’ve been ignoring his messages.” And calls. And emails. And flowers and notes and visits and… him.
“He almost broke my hand,” Raj claimed, flexing his fingers. “The important one. The one I perform surgery with.”
“Don’t you typically use both hands for surgery?”
“Alright, I’ll bemorefrank, then. Remember our earlier conversation regarding bones? It’s the hand I use to—oof.” The air rushed out of him with a chuckle when I elbowed his side. He recovered quickly. “I wonder what this would have been like had you arrived with an actual date. Like, what do you suppose he’d do if we kissed?”
My eyes thinned at his suspiciously curious tone. “Raj. Donotkiss me.”
“D’you reckon he’d let me live? He’s certainly not looking at me like he’d let me live.”
“If you kiss me,I’llkill you.”
“He’s looking at me like he’s well preparedto choose violence. And also like he’s exhaling rather noisily. I can’t believe you’re missing this.” Raj waved again with the broadest, looniest grin I’d ever seen on a person.
“Stop that!” I hissed, yanking his arm down. Good lord. “And stop staring at him!”
“He’s staring atus,” Raj argued. “All jokes temporarily aside, Alexis, I thought you said this thing was one-sided.”
Warmth skimmed my cheeks, the sensation trickling quickly down to my neck. “Trust me, it is,” I managed with a bumpy swallow. “Now, can we please talk about literally anything else?”
He frowned down at me. “It’s too late—I’m far too curious now. What’s the story? How are you so certain he’s not interested when everything I’ve witnessed over the last four hours heavily suggests otherwise?”
I ran a smoothing hand over the skirt of my dress. “It’s personal.”
“We’re close.”
“We’restandingclose. It’s not the same.”
“Rubbish. You are, by far, my fifth most favorite of all of Priya’s six friends. I consider you a very dear acquaintance, and I care about you a greatly moderate, room-temperature amount.”
I smiled again, and it morphed into another small laugh.
