“Why are we friends again?”
“Because you beat up Jonas Whistler when he called me fat, and I never let you go?” That was the gist of the story, at least from Hannah’s perspective.
“Is that all? You should really get past all that.” My lips twitched with the effort to hold back my laugh. Hannah was the sister I’d never had but had always wanted, growing up with five brothers.
“No way, you’re my protector and I’m your conscience when you need it.”
“Except when it comes to punching grabby ex-boyfriends.”
Hannah laughed. “Okay, sometimes I play the role of devil on your shoulder. I’m multi-faceted.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
She nodded. “Yep, and no take-backs.” Hannah sighed and her smile slowly faded into a serious expression. “I know Cal can be a jerk sometimes, but that was a long time ago, Teddy. He’s different now, and maybe after this job, you’ll stop avoiding him.”
“Maybe,” I told her because that was what she wanted to hear, but the truth was that Cal was more than a jerk.
I had been in love with him as a girl and a teenager, and he’d been mean. He’d been a bully of sorts, and worse. He’d made me believe he returned my feelings only to turn around and devastate me. He’d treated me like I didn’t matter, like I was nothing. It wasn’t something you just got over to make other people comfortable, even if that other person was your best friend.
I wouldn’t forgive him. I wouldn’t be nice to him.
Nice, no, but I could be civil. Indifferent and civil, for the sake of my business.
And my friendship with Hannah.
Cal
I loved having the weekends off, but that happened once, maybe twice a month. If I wanted a social life I had to work around my days off, which I did, when I felt like being social. Today, I was enjoying a rare solitary day off. I’d gotten up early and went for a long run before enjoying a hot shower without any interruptions. I even took my time for breakfast, making a spinach and feta omelet with bacon on the side. It was nice and relaxing, which was my goal when I wasn’t at the hospital.
It was late morning, and instead of patching up emergencies, I was sprawled out on the sofa watching a movie. Sure, there were more productive things that I could be doing, but the day was still young. I’d get around to that stuff… later. For the moment, I paused the movie to make a sandwich with the remaining bacon from breakfast and settled back onto the sofa, ready for the big fighting climax that every action flick is required to have.
The first punch was thrown when my doorbell rang. The sound startled me because I wasn’t sure the bell even worked. My best friend, Antonio, usually knocked, and my sister entered without warning. When I didn’t hear anyone jiggle the doorknob, I knew it wasn’t one of them so I paused the movie, reluctantly set down my sandwich, and went to see who had the audacity to show up unannounced on my day off.
“Alana?” Seeing her on my doorstep was a bit of a shock. We saw each other when our schedules permitted, usually in Eugene or Salem, but never, ever in Jackson’s Ridge. “What’re you doing here?”
Her red lips pulled into a tight smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes and I knew what was happening. I knew this moment well, had lived it dozens of times in my life. “I came to talk about the state of our relationship, Cal.”
I blinked at her words. “What relationship?” We met up once or twice a month, for a nice dinner with bland conversation before we found a decent hotel to burn up the sheets in for the rest of the weekend. That was it.
Alana only laughed at my question before rising on her toes to kiss my cheek. “Such a jokester, Cal.”
Then, without an invitation, she stepped inside my home.
A home she had never been inside—never invited to, either, I might add. That should have told her everything she needed to know about our so-called relationship, but it clearly didn’t. After a few minutes of looking around, taking in the details of my half-finished, half-decorated house, she turned to me and smiled.
“I want more Cal. I want to see you more often and spend more time with you.”
“Alana, that’s not what we do.”
She was beautiful and smart, and hot in bed, all things that appealed to me. And now, as of this moment, she was also delusional.
She pushed on as if she hadn’t heard me. “I have a work party coming up, an awards ceremony of sorts, and I’d like you to escort me for the evening.”
“No, thanks.”
Alana sucked in a breath and narrowed her green eyes at me. “That’s it? Just no, and that’s all?”