Sidelined (Game On 3)

“Are you okay, honey?” Freya asked.

I had to stop letting every emotion show on my face.

“Yeah, I’m good. Sorry, I…never mind. I-”

My sentence ended when Radleigh and Will walked through the diner door. How sweet, they’d come to see their women before they had to get back to work. I wasn’t offended Jude hadn’t joined them. He wasn’t crazy about Radleigh; another awkward side effect of Leah cheating on Miguel. Even so, I hoped they would at least learn to tolerate each other again for the sake of us all hanging out

I moved aside so Radleigh could take my seat beside Leah while Will slipped in beside Freya, leaving me somewhat on the outside. I sat down in the seat at the end of the table, and watched the newly-ish formed couples with interest.

Freya and Will were adorable together. Their friendship meant they could easily goof around without losing any of the romance between them. Their friendship made the romance stronger. Leah and Radleigh had an entirely different kind of relationship. They weren’t friends first, not really. They learned everything they needed to know through a battle of wills. They would never be the types for cutesy pet names. They were too fiery. The way they looked at each other probably made outsiders either jealous or horny because it seemed like the only thing they wanted to do was go home and jump each other’s bones.

I wonder what people think when they look at me and Jude. Not a tough one to answer. According to those who didn’t take the time to get to know us, I was a tramp and he was a pervert. Age gaps, even ones that aren’t glaringly obvious, make people talk. Like with everything else, I let it glide over me. I’d proved I cared about more than his money, and if he wanted someone pretty hanging off his arm there were millions of better candidates than me.

Chapter 3 - I Was More On Track With The Pet Hamster

After hanging out with the girls, I’d intended to spend a little time with Leah when Freya went back to work. Instead I made up an excuse and went home. What was I rushing back to? I didn’t have so much as a pet hamster to take care of. Even if I did own a pet hamster, it would have been taken care of by our housekeeper like everything else. I’d told Jude over and over we didn’t need to employ outside help. Or we could at least give her a couple days off. I probably didn’t have it in me to clean our entire five bedroom, four bathroom, plus a million other rooms - including a panic room, a freaking panic room! - house alone. Jude wouldn’t hear of me trying, though. Aside from cooking, he insisted I let someone else do the work.

I’d known him since I was seventeen and he’d always treated me like a princess. I loved him for it. I’d needed someone like him, someone who cared about me unconditionally. When I first moved in with him, we didn’t start dating right away. In fact, he made sure to keep his distance. He didn’t want to be like the other guys in my life who used me then threw me away. Not Jude. He moved me into his biggest guest room, allowing me to wander around his house, not even slightly worried I’d steal his shit while he was out. Not that I would have; I liked how he knew that.

I shouldn’t have blown Leah off. Maybe she could have helped me figure out why someone with everything would feel so empty.

What’s happening to me? Where’s the happy?

Jesse had called me “sunshine”. Lots of people viewed me that way. Sunny to the point of being irritating. Inside, I still sort of felt sunny because I had so much to look forward to. Freya and Will were moving in together, Leah and Radleigh had a baby on the way. Two reasons to celebrate right there. But they weren’t my celebrations.

I sank into our enormous L-shaped sofa, running my hands through my hair.

The phone rang, forcing me out of my funk until I saw Taylor’s number. Again.

“What do you want?” I asked, not even bothering with hello.

“Oh, thank you so much for answering!” The sigh of relief she let out almost made me feel guilty. Almost.

“Taylor, seriously. You need to stop this.”

“I miss you, Bree. I miss spending time with you.”

Did it make me a terrible person for the fleeting thought that I missed her, too? In some ways, I did. With her being a little younger than me and only working a part time job, we’d gotten close. She could be so sweet, but then she turned out to be a stalker and… well, I discovered she was more bitch than anything else.

“You should have thought about that before you called me a worthless, useless, fake-boobed skank.”

For the record, I don’t believe in surgery. Every part of me is natural, sculpted by hours in our home gym.

The line went quiet for a minute. Literally, a full minute. “I was upset with you.”

“You had no reason to be upset with me.”

“I thought you’d understand!”

“Understand what? That you strung Jesse along because you were trying to get close to Radleigh? Why would I understand?”

Another pause. “Because… well, you did what you needed to do to get Jude, didn’t you?”

Her words stung. I didn’t do anything to get Jude. She’d heard only what she wanted to hear about me. She hadn’t changed in the last few months; she still didn’t mind making nasty digs to get her point across.

“Goodbye, Taylor.”

She took a deep breath. I ended the call before she spoke. She hadn’t missed me; she wanted to worm her way back into the group. I figured she’d pegged me as an easy target and since I had been the closest to her, I was the most obvious person to work on. Well, too bad for her, I was done.