She keeps going on and on about how hot he is, and it’s making my cheeks warm. Making me frown.
Is this what being jealous feels like?
“And that accent! I swear I must have masturbated to the thought of it at least a dozen times. I named my vibrator Pippa Middleton.”
I put a hand to my face. It must be a thousand degrees in here.
“Can we please not talk about Jack and jerking off?”
“Anyway.” Kaylee harrumphs loudly, glancing around to see if anyone’s noticed. “Mostly I wanted to date royalty.”
“He’s not royalty.” I find it impossible not to point this out; Jack’s dad is something or other fancy whatever, but Jack is not.
“Close enough.”
I’m not going to argue with her. I suppose Jack is the closest she’ll ever get to the royal family, unless by some miracle she meets a prince when she’s out of the country. Which is also not likely to happen.
She hates flying as much as I hate storms.
Kaylee puts a hand on the table and leans over, speaking softly. “I really am sorry, Eliza. You should come home.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“We regret kicking you out.”
The royal we.
Lilly told me she had nothing to do with my being forced out, but she also didn’t do anything to prevent it, either, and didn’t reach out after the fact.
Yes, yes, I know—she and Kyle were on a break and going through a rough patch.
Still.
Kicked out is kicked out and now I’m butthurt about the entire thing, so the idea of moving back to that house? Ha.
Not bloody likely, as Jack would say.
“Come home? As in, move back?”
Kaylee shrugs, as if that’s answer enough. As if she doesn’t actually want to admit she was wrong.
“Guys aren’t worth it,” she states, tapping her hot pink nails against the tabletop with a grin.
Well, this is where it gets complicated, because not only do I have feelings for Jack, I’ve gone and slept with him! We haven’t discussed where to go from here, but it would certainly complicate things with my former roommates if Kaylee is under the impression I’ve washed my hands of any affectionate feelings toward him simply because I’m living with him now.
Wait a minute.
Unless…
“Do you just not want me living with Jack?” Why this thought entered my mind, I do not know, but it makes perfect sense. “You would rather have me move back in with you than have me live with him?”
Because if she can’t have him, neither can I.
I could live with anyone else and she wouldn’t be standing here asking me back, but because I’m living with Jack, she wants me out of his house and back into hers where she can keep an eye on me.
What the heck.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kaylee says, but she can’t look directly at me. She’s not looking me in the eye, which isn’t a definite sign that someone might be lying, but it’s pretty darn close.
“Please—Kaylee please don’t tell me the reason you want me to move back home is because you don’t want me living with Jack. I thought we were better friends than that.”
“Better friends? We’ve only known each other for two years.” Her chin tilts defiantly as she backtracks and backpedals, dismissing my claim of friendship.
I put my palms on the table as if bracing myself and take a deep breath. A steadying breath. One to calm my nerves. “Listen, I don’t want to argue with you any more than we already have—I don’t think I technically did anything wrong considering Jack and I weren’t dating when you kicked me out of the house.”
“Does that mean you’re dating now?”
“No, that doesn’t mean we’re dating now, it just means we weren’t dating at the time I moved out. To be honest, I don’t know what we are right now, and I don’t know if we’re going to try to figure it out. I’m just not sure this whole asking me to move back in thing is because you miss me.”
I’m sure parts of her do, just not the jealous part.
“I know you think I’m a jealous bitch—and maybe that’s a little true, but I’ve gotten over it.” She gives her hair another flip. “Just so you know, I started dating Connor Rutherford—we’ve been on a few dates and I really like him, so it’s not like I’m going to try to steal Jack back from you.”
Steal him back from me? She says it as if he was hers for me to take. I take another steadying breath, fighting for a little bit of self-control so I don’t say something I will regret later.
“I think it’s wonderful that you want me to move back in, but I’m really happy where I’m at. Maybe it’s better for our friendship if I’m not living in the same house with you.”