More Than Friends (Friends, #2)(77)

“He kissed me on the cheek. It wasn’t a big deal.” Pretty underwhelming actually, not that I’d ever say that out loud.

“Well, it was a big deal to him,” Liv says, worry filling her eyes. “He’s telling everyone he made out with Tuttle’s ex in Tuttle’s bathroom.”

“Crap.” I rub my forehead and glance around the kitchen. They’re all watching me, looking away quickly when I catch them staring. They’re probably all talking about me too.

This is…not good.

“I can kick his ass for you if you want me to,” Ryan volunteers. “I’ll gladly do it.”

“Thanks, but I’ll pass,” I say sarcastically, then reconsider. “For now.”

This makes Ryan laugh, and Livvy too.

“There she is. Where’d you go, babe?” Eli is beside me, slipping his arm around my waist, like we’re a couple. “I missed you.”

“Cut the shit Eli,” I tell him, making him immediately drop his arm. “This is not a thing.”

“But the kiss…”

“It was nice.” I spare his feelings and reputation by not bringing up that the kiss was on the cheek. I’m setting myself up for countless rumors, but I don’t care. I’m over all of this. “You know it would never work out between us,” I tell him softly. “We’re too different.”

“So you’re breaking up with me?” He’s shouting. I guess he wants everyone to hear our conversation?

“I’m afraid so,” I tell him.

The entire kitchen has gone quiet. As in, they’re all listening. This is nuts. And by the wild look in his eyes, Eli is loving every minute of it.

“Well, that fucking sucks, Amanda. I thought we had something real between us, but I guess not.” He grabs hold of me one last time and presses his mouth to mine in a fierce, quick kiss. “See ya,” he murmurs with a smirk and a wink.

Yes. He just kissed me. And winked at me.

Eli saunters out of the kitchen and I swear, ten girls follow after him, every one of them calling his name.

“You just gave him tremendous street cred,” Ryan says, shaking his head. “Now all the girls will want him.”

“I don’t get boys. At all.” This I tell Livvy, who’s totally laughing at the spectacle Eli just made.

“Join the club,” she says, offering her hand up for a high five. I give her a weak one, but this time, I can’t muster up the energy to laugh with her.

It’s either I laugh or burst into tears though. And I definitely don’t want to cry. Then everyone will think Eli was the one who made me cry, when he had nothing to do with it.

It was all Jordan. Jordan and his bossy demands, not letting me leave the bathroom, acting like such a complete jerk I started hitting him and telling him I hate him.

I don’t hate him.

God, I think I’m in love with him.

Yes. That’s my problem. I’m in love with Jordan Tuttle. I’m madly in love with him, and he doesn’t love me back.

“What’s wrong?” I jerk my head up to find Livvy climbing off of Ryan’s lap and coming over to grab hold of my arm. She’s frowning, her eyes full of concern. “You all right?”

“Why do you ask?” My voice is shaky and my knees are wobbly. I need to sit down.

“You look like you just saw a ghost. Or got sucker punched.”

“The last one. Definitely,” I mumble, feeling faint. “I think I need to sit.”

She leads me over to a chair and I fall into it, leaning my head back so I can close my eyes. I cover my face with my hands and sit like that for a while, running over everything that just happened in my head.

“You look traumatized over the entire Eli scene,” Livvy says. “I hope you know you’re just making him look that much more desirable.”

I lift my head and start laughing. I can’t help it. “This night is surreal.”

Liv grabs a chair and sits in front of me. “Tell me what happened.”

So I do. I tell her about Eli dragging me to the bathroom. How we really didn’t kiss, it was just on the cheek—and then how Tuttle interrupted us.

“And he thought you were kissing Eli, right?” Liv’s eyebrows practically shoot up into her hairline.

I nod. “He was so pissed.”

“I’m sure,” she murmurs, her gaze growing distant. “Not like he has any room to feel anything, considering how he’s been ignoring you.”

That exact thought ran through my head again and again. It still does. Worse, I feel guilty for what happened between Eli and me—and nothing happened. I didn’t do a thing, yet it feels like I somehow cheated on Tuttle.

I absolutely, one hundred percent didn’t. He rejected me. He kicked me to the side like I meant nothing to him and he forgot all about me. No explanation, no nothing. Just…one night he’s got me naked in his bed and a few days later, we’re acting like strangers.

His rejection still hurts. It hurts so much.

“What happened after that?”

“He kicked Eli out, and then we—got into a fight.”

“Oh my God, Amanda! He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No! He would never do that. It was a stupid argument. I totally overreacted.” I shake my head. “And then after I overreacted and cried all over his shirt, he—he kissed me.”