How to Fail at Flirting(73)
“All right, I’m not fine, but it’s too late now, right? I screwed it up.”
“Did you try to call him?”
“No,” I answered simply, though I had begun to call him a bunch of times. My pride stopped me from hitting the button to dial. I didn’t think I could handle hearing him say the things he’d texted me, no matter how much I missed his voice.
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Fel.” I sighed, exasperated. “Can I just get that sleeping bag I asked to borrow?”
Her slow sigh told me she was debating whether to let me get away with the subject change. Her audible inhalation communicated that I was off the hook for now. “C’mon. It’s in the living room.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you going camping or something?” Aaron asked from the floor of the living room, where he was building Lego towers with the kids.
“We’re going to this retreat site in the woods, and we’ll be in cabins. It’s for that committee I’m on.” I settled into an armchair across from my friends, pulling the sleeping bag to my chest.
Aaron cocked an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “The president has a thing with being out in nature.” We were supposed to be giving feedback and answering questions the consultants had come up with during their review. That won’t be at all awkward.
“Maybe it’ll be fun. I’d have fun watching all you nerds trying to survive while roughing it.” Aaron planted himself on the other end of the sectional.
Felicia, perched on the arm of the couch, scrubbed her fingers through Aaron’s hair playfully. “You realize you’re a high school math teacher and not a cattle rancher, right, honey?”
“Yes, but I go outside, sometimes.” Aaron laughed, propping his feet on the coffee table. “Will your guy be there? John?”
“Jake—why do you never say his actual name?”
“Because it bugs you. Will he be there?”
“Yes.” Two days in the woods with a man who’s seen me naked. Scratch that, two men who have seen me naked. “Davis, too.”
“Naya!” Felicia sat upright, concern coloring her expression. “You never said he was going to be there. Are you okay being that close to him?”
Aaron shot me a pointed look from across the room, and I knew he’d kept his promise to not tell Felicia about the texts, but he wasn’t happy about it.
I tucked my knees to my chest, choosing to stare at the kids and not my best friend. “I don’t really have a choice.”
Thirty-nine
I searched the parking lot for Jake before climbing out of my car, but I didn’t see him or Carlton in the assembled group outside the main administration building. I did see Jill across the lot and hoped I could stand with her while we waited. Since we were both on this committee, I’d hoped Jill and I might get to know each other better. At thirty-three, I found myself adding make new friends to my list, which was humiliating, but throwing myself into work and hiding out had also meant not making time to socialize. I hadn’t sunken to googling how to make friends as an adult yet, but I saw the search in my future, especially since I was single again.
I stretched for my tote, which had shifted in my trunk.
“I still can’t believe you’re here.” Davis’s voice behind me was like a bouquet of dull knives and tin foil, and set my nerves on edge.
I took a moment to close my eyes and collect my nerves before turning to face him and instinctively taking a step backward. Breathe.
“Well, you knew I would be . . .”
“It’s cute when you trail off like that. It’s wonderful that you don’t care if people see you as inarticulate.”
I felt exposed standing so close to him in this wide-open space. The flashy red sports car parked nearby with the custom license plates—NO1DR—was his. I’d been so busy looking for Jake, I’d missed it. He used to tell people it was a joke, him nearing middle age—no wonder he’d drive such a flashy car. He actually chose it to read “number one doctor.” The car had changed in the years since we broke up, but the plates remained the same.
He chuckled, a grating sound. “I meant since news about you screwing the consultant is out. I figured you’d slink off somewhere.”
I clenched my jaw and remained silent, my heart tripping to get out of my chest, and I hoped my shock didn’t show.
His lip curled in a half smile. “Oh, Flip asked my opinion on it. He really trusts my judgment.” His eyes trailed down my body, and goose bumps rose on my skin. “You’re smart enough to know where your strengths are. It’s a bold move, I’ll give you that. I just didn’t know you had it in you to be so calculating.”
He reached across me and plucked the tote from my hands before I could stop him, his forearm grazing my breast, making me recoil. “Allow me.” He leaned against my car, my bag over his shoulder. I stepped back, but unsure who in the milling crowd knew what, I was desperate to avoid a scene.
“It won’t work, though, pretty girl. He can’t save your job. I could, though, if I was so inclined.” His voice held the same rogue confidence it always had. He laid a hand gently on my shoulder, and I flinched and shrugged it away. “It’s been a long time.”