“You finally telling her you’re head over heels in love with her?” Lucy teased me, her eyes saying she knew more than she was letting on.
I smirked, tapping the side of my nose. “Well don’t tell everyone, Lucy!”
She laughed, jumping when Tom slapped her ass. “Woman, leave them alone and do something useful.”
Tom winked at me, and I left, shaking my head. I stepped to the side on the sidewalk and pulled my phone out to call Shelby on the off-chance she’d answer. I wouldn’t be that lucky because I knew she’d have her head buried in the sand right now, but I had to try.
Before I could, I had a message from Brie.
Brie: …What did you do?
I frowned and hit the reply box.
Me: What are you talking about?
I only had to wait a minute for her reply.
Brie: Sean got home from work and found Shelby camped out on our sofa. What did you do?
Shit. Of course. So fucking obvious. Why hadn’t I thought of their place?
Me: She was at yours? Is she still there?
Brie: Let me find out.
I tapped my foot as I stared at the screen, willing her to text again. It felt like forever until her name popped up once more.
Brie: Sean said yes. What did you do?
Me: Tell him I’m on my way.
Brie: I’ll meet you there, then, since nobody will tell me. Hmph.
I pocketed my keys and tore off toward my truck.
Bingo.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – SHELBY
Seriously, Personal Space Is A Thing
Three loud knocks hammered on the door and Sean paused his game. He got up and stepped over my legs since my feet were resting on the coffee table and went to answer it.
I hummed along to “Sucker” by The Jonas Brothers as I typed. It’d been a nice afternoon, actually. My noise-canceling headphones had blocked out Sean’s shouting at the idiots he was playing some shooting game with, and he’d only side-eyed me three times for singing out loud.
It was an introvert’s match made in heaven. Socializing without talking. Perfect.
Until it wasn’t.
My headphones were pulled off my head, making me wince as my ears almost went with them. “Hey! What the—” My protest died on my tongue as my eyes found the green ones that belonged to the perpetrator.
Jay.
I licked my lips and turned to Sean, putting my computer on the table. “You said you wouldn’t tell him I was here!”
Jay’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked at Sean.
He took a step back, holding his hands in the air. “I didn’t tell him a thing, Shelbs, I swear.”
“Then who did?”
“Me!” Brie wheezed as she stumbled against the doorframe of the living room. “Phew. That was quite the run.”
“You told her?” I rounded on Sean. “You know I want some space!”
“What’s—hoo,” Brie breathed. “What’s going on?”
I covered my face with my hands. “Great. Apparently, personal space doesn’t exist anymore!”
“Hold on.” Brie held up a finger as Jay worked his jaw in frustration. “I get the impression I wasn’t supposed to tell Jay you were here.”
“Ya think?” I was almost shouting now.
“Deep breath, Shelby,” Sean said.
I took a deep breath all right, making sure he got the full extent of my annoyance in my glare.
“What is going on?” Brie demanded now that she had her breath back. “Will someone tell me why I was apparently harboring my best friend in my apartment before I ratted her out?”
I looked at the carpet, saying nothing. When Jay didn’t say anything either, Sean sighed.
“They kissed last night, and Shelby is here hiding out so she doesn’t have to face up to what happened.”
My jaw dropped. “I’m here to think!”
“For the love of God,” Jay said, finally wading into the conversation. “Shelbs, this is ridiculous. We need to talk. Come home so we can.”
“I just wanted some space.” I turned to look at him. “We don’t have that at home. I wanted to think without worrying I’d say something stupid. I’m still not at that point.”
“You can’t hide here forever. We’re going to talk about this, and we’re going to do it today.”
I stood and put my hands on my hips. “Oh, we are, are we?”
Jay squared up to me and gripped my chin in his hand. “Yes. Because you have three choices. One: come home nicely. Two: I carry you out of here on my shoulder with you kicking and screaming. Or three: we do it right here, right now, and everyone will know just how badly I want to fuck you.”
Well.
That was quite the turn of events.
“Three!” Brie piped up. “Pick—”
Sean cut her off by clamping his hand over her mouth, and I was very grateful for that.
“You wouldn’t dare carry me out of here.” I batted his hand away from my chin. “I’m not a child or a ragdoll.”
“I don’t care. We’re going to talk about this right now. You’re the one who stood in front of me last night and told me that I could tell you anything. You can tell me anything, and you’re going to, just like I will you. But you’re leaving this apartment with me, one way or another.” His bright green gaze never budged.