Relapse

“Nathan would have a heart attack if he saw these,” Emmet says with a laugh as he holds up the package of ramen noodles. “He thinks they’re offensive to pasta.”

I roll my eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

Chase laughs. “He used to go around the house throwing all of Emmet’s in the dumpster until he stopped buying them all together.”

Emmet shakes his head, moving a stray strand of hair out of his face. “I tried to tell him it was where my main sustenance came from, but he insisted he’d cook for me instead of letting me eat those.” He lowers his voice to a dramatic whisper. “And don’t tell him, but yeah, his homemade pasta is better, so his plan backfired, because now he has to fix it for me all the time.”

I let out a small laugh, rolling my eyes at his antics. “He’d have to pry them from Tanner’s hands,” I say. “I do think that he likes them so much because it means he doesn’t have to eat my cooking.” I pull my bottom lip into my mouth. “He did stop eating them when Grandma was here though and she was doing all the cooking.”

“Yeah, he may have whispered to me once or twice that he doesn’t enjoy the food you fix for him,” Chase says with a devilish grin as he closes the now full refrigerator.

My mouth parts slightly. “You’re lying.” When his grin only widens, I know he isn’t.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, not everyone was meant to be a chef.” He pats me on the shoulder and I slap his hand, only making him laugh.

“What are you two doing here anyway?” I ask, eyeing them.

“We’re taking you to an early lunch,” Chase says.

“Why?”

“Because we want to take our…” Emmet looks at Chase, at a loss for the correct word to use and Chase just shrugs. “Our Ivy,” Emmet finally settles on. “Out for lunch, which is totally a normal thing to do.”

I don’t tell him that in the past it was rare for someone I was dating to take me out for anything other than a drunken night on the town. Considering I didn’t mind it at the time, it really wasn’t a bad idea on the others’ side, but now I realize how useless it seems in the eyes of the way these three treat me.

Like a princess.

“Okay.” I decide not to argue and stand, smoothing out of my pants. “Where are y’all taking me?”

* * *

I feel a little giddy as we walk into Spice Works, looking around because I know that Nathan is at work.

“How man- oh, hey Chase, Emmet,” the hostess smiles at the two men accompanying me as her professional demeanor lessens a bit. “How are you guys doing today?”

“Good,” Chase says as he offers her a hug and I feel a pang in my chest. There’s no reason to be jealous, it’s obvious it’s just a friendly hug. Yet, I still don’t like how the woman’s eyes light up and she smiles up at the man who’s just naturally charming as he smiles back at her. “Where’s the old man?”

“Oh.” She brushes a stray piece of hair back and I decide that while Chase may not be, she is most definitely flirting and I don’t like it.

An arm wraps around my shoulder and I look up to find Emmet looking down at me in amusement and I know that my jealousy must be clear as day. He doesn’t comment though, only pulls me closer and I sink into his warmth.

“I’ll go grab him after I get you guys seated.” Even though she acknowledges that there’s more than just Chase here, that doesn’t keep her from only speaking to him as she leads us to a booth. When she places a hand on his arm, I force myself to look away.

I slide into the booth and cross my arms as Emmet slides in next to me and Chase sits across from us.

The hostess finally disappears and Chase looks across the table at me, going to say something before his lips snap shut. He looks over at Emmet before looking back to me and I can practically see the question burning in his eyes. Finally he asks, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” It comes out a lot sharper than I expect and I know that I’m being ridiculous which makes things much worse.

Not only was the flirting harmless and one-sided, but I have no right. We’ve only been dating for a couple of weeks and I’m also dating his two best friends, which he has no complaints about. Plus I’m the one who decided we wouldn’t put any actual labels on this.

Yet, a part of me that’s used to the train wreck relationships that were nothing but toxic wants to pick a fight and I hate myself for it.

Chase continues to study me and it’s the first time I’ve seen the man at a loss for words and it makes me feel bad.

Stop being a bitch.

“Hey guys,” Nathan’s voice brings our attention to him as he slides in the booth next to Chase.