“I’m not going out tonight.”
“Yeah you are. I’m tired of your mopey ass this week.”
I walk around, picking up my room. “I would think you’d be as pissed as I am.”
“Why, because Kylie’s staying with Jack?”
I eye her. “You know that for a fact?”
“Confirmed it earlier today. I had lunch at the bar with Logan.”
“How does Logan know?”
“He’s a bartender. He listens for a living.”
I toss a tub of putty into the crate a little too hard.
Tori rolls her eyes. “Jack swears nothing’s happening.” She puts air quotes around the words. “This is according to Easton, who was at the bar having a beer last night, chatting Logan up.”
“This place is as gossipy as a barber shop.”
“Come on. That bowl of tortilla soup I had at noon has faded.”
“I think I’ll stay here and get caught up on some continuing education.”
“That’s not much of a Friday night,” comes Robert’s voice from the doorway.
“Hey, man,” I say. “What are you doing here?”
“You two are just the people I’ve come here to see. I was hoping I could talk you both into coming over for dinner tonight. I know you probably have plans later but I’m talking early. Like six o’clock?”
Tori shrugs. “Okay.”
“I’ve met someone,” Robert says with a smile.
This takes me completely off guard. “Seriously?”
“Her name is Catherine. She teaches high school English.”
“How did you meet her?” Tori asks.
He lowers his chin. “Online. Don’t judge.”
“You do know that’s how people meet these days, right?” Tori says.
“I know. It’s just that it’s my first time meeting someone this way. But I think it’s working out okay.”
“That’s great,” I say, realizing I need to say something. I’ve just never known Robert to settle into a relationship.
“Can you make it?” Robert asks.
“Yeah, of course,” I say.
“What can we bring?” Tori asks.
“Just bring yourselves. See you in”—he looks at his watch—“a couple of hours?”
“Yep,” Tori says, then Robert’s out. After he’s down the hall, Tori and I look at each other, and she shrugs. “At least somebody’s getting laid.”
Tori and I stop and get a bottle of wine, though neither of us drinks it or knows really what to get. We’ve been to dinner at Robert’s house a few times, but we never seem to remember to find out what kind of wine to get. Tori says we don’t want to know, because it would be more than we could afford.
When we pull up in the driveway, my stomach turns as I see goddamn Jack Massey’s car sitting there. “I should’ve fucking known.”
“Come on, teacher’s pet. Share the glory.”
I meet her gaze. “Are you okay with this?”
“Like I have a choice. The boss has invited us to his house. Do you think I’m gonna act like a child and say I can’t be in the same room with a guy I dated for less than a month?”
I exhale a deep breath. I have no idea if Robert knows that Jack and I can’t stand each other. He probably does, but it’s not like he would make any concessions for us, or that I would want him to.
We head up the sidewalk, dread bearing down on me with each step. I ring the bell, and Robert answers the door, smiling like a sucker in love. “Come on in.”
We follow Robert into the kitchen, where a woman around his age stands at the stove, stirring something. Jack and Kylie sit at the bar facing the woman, who is talking a hundred miles a minute.
I meet Kylie’s gaze, and she gives me a nervous smile. I look away and focus on the lady at the stove, a rope tightening around my heart.
“Catherine,” Robert says, “I’d like you to meet Brett and Tori. They both work at Kids Company. Brett’s an OT and Tori’s a recreational therapist.”
“It is so nice to meet you both. Robert talks about you guys and Jack all the time.” She looks over at Jack and then back at me like she’s doting on children.
Catherine launches into a narrative about what she’s making for dinner and where she got the recipe, and I nod, my whole body fueling up like a gas tank on fire. I’m not even looking at Kylie or Jack, but feeling their presence together right here, inches away, taunts me like a massive fuck you.
Robert takes the bottle of wine from Tori and says, “This is a great brand. Look, Catherine, it’s a Pinot Noir. We had this one last week.”
“Yes, we love that one,” Catherine says, handing him a corkscrew.
“I’ll pour everyone a glass,” Robert says.
“I’m good,” Jack says, “but thanks.”
Motherfucker’s too good for my wine, huh?
“Why don’t you four head out to the patio, and we’ll be there in just a minute with the wine and some appetizers,” Robert says.
We all play along, padding to the patio. Once we get out there, no one sits. We all just mill around awkwardly.
Tori pulls out her phone and starts flipping through it. Jack follows suit. I start to pull my phone out, but Kylie says, “Can we please talk just a minute?”
“We won’t listen,” Tori says, not looking up from her phone.
I glance at Jack, but he’s completely engrossed in his phone, frowning and typing into it like he’s working.
“This isn’t the place,” I say.
“Please. You can show me the pool,” she says, pointing at it.
I glance at Tori, I guess for some sort of permission. I don’t want to leave her alone with Jack. I know she can handle herself, but I also know being alone with him can’t be comfortable for her.
Not looking up from her phone, she gives me a shooing motion. I roll my eyes and walk down the steps toward the pool.
When we get far enough away that no one can hear, I stop and face Kylie, but I don’t look at her.
“I tried to text you a dozen times this week,” she says. “Well, not a dozen, but probably like five or six at least.”
I
