Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“I thought you guys wanted to party,” I said, feeling more energetic than I had in weeks. “Let’s go. I need a drink.”
I didn’t have to tell them twice. Everyone was stuffed into Braden’s car within sixty seconds, and we were on our way. The club was standing room only, but within minutes a group got up to leave, and we commandeered their table.
“I’m buying first round,” Braden announced, and we all stared at him.
“Did Hell freeze over or something?” I asked. “First you wanna act all concerned back at the apartment, and now you’re buying drinks. Did something happen to you over the summer? Because I don’t even feel like I know you.”
“Yeah, well the feeling is mutual.” He frowned, and for the first time I saw that maybe I actually mattered to Braden. He’d always seemed about ninety percent narcissist, ten percent decent guy. His caring side was something I’d never seen, even after three years of rooming with him.
Maybe I was actually the narcissist. I hadn’t given much thought to how my actions might affect the people I called friends. Hell, the only person I’d really been talking to over the past two weeks was Dr. Washburn, and most of our conversations had been strictly work-related.
He’d debriefed me on my Vegas experience, told me that my performance review from Mr. Santori had been “satisfactory,” but that Kage had emailed him a glowing letter of recommendation to be added to my file. I’d smiled and thanked Dr. Washburn, and after that it had all been about homework.
Twice he had asked me if everything was okay. I’d pasted on a big smile and assured him that it was.
I was getting good at pasting on that smile when I was cornered, and it didn’t get much more cornered than sitting at a table full of well-meaning people in the Collegiate when all I wanted to do was go home and read. Unfortunately, I knew I was in for hours of this torture. Braden ordered beers all around. I said I wasn’t in the mood to drink, then proceeded to finish every drop of my beer in under five minutes. Then Trey had the waitress set another in front of me. As soon as I’d drained that one, Miranda brought me another on her way back from the restroom.
Everyone besides Braden seemed wary of me, reluctant to speak more than a couple of words. I felt like the guest of honor at a leprosy fundraiser. Everyone wanted to help, but no one wanted to get too close. Layla was especially quiet, and I began to wonder what she had said to everyone. I also began to wonder why she was sitting next to Trey, and why they got up to dance when one of Layla’s favorite songs came on.
As they twisted and hopped around each other on the dance floor, I turned to Braden. “Am I missing something?”
Braden looked sheepish and took a deep pull from his beer bottle. “Yeah, I figured you would have noticed before now. If you’d come out of your room at all—”
“Layla and Trey?” I interrupted.
“Well, yeah. They’ve been talking for weeks.”
Miranda reached over and covered my hand with her own. “You’re not upset, are you, Jamie? We weren’t sure how you’d react.”
I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh.
“So this is why everyone has been tiptoeing around? You guys thought I’d find out my ex is dating my roommate and go all suicidal?”
Braden shrugged and smiled. “Or homicidal. I mean two exes in one week getting with another guy…”
I slid my hand out from under Miranda’s and finished off my third beer. Then I shook my head, watching Layla laughing and dancing with Trey. “They look happy,” I said. “She needs a real solid kind of guy, and that’s exactly what Trey is. They’re perfect for each other.”
“Really?” Miranda looked back and forth from the couple to me, as if trying to figure out what she was missing. “Most people would be a little pissed if their roommate went out with their ex, even if they weren’t still carrying a torch for them.”
“I’m not most people.” I waved at the waitress and indicated my empty beer bottle, then turned back to Miranda. “Layla didn’t think I’d be upset, did she?”
“Actually, no,” Miranda admitted. “She said you’d be cool with it, but the rest of us weren’t sure. You’ve been acting so distant. We thought it might be because of that.”
Braden said, “Jamie’s got a lot more on his mind than that.”
I chuckled, thinking what a messed up situation it was that I couldn’t confide in anyone about what was really bothering me. Everyone thought they knew, and the only person who had any idea what was going on with me was the actual ex I was pining away for in secret.