“Something came up,” Chris says, getting to his feet. “I won’t be staying.”
“Chris—’
“Call me when you’ve come to your senses,” he says sharply.
Then he stalks off. I can’t even follow him with Marianne in the way. I look after him helplessly, feeling my stomach drop into my shoes as he disappears out of the café.
Marianne ignores the tension and puts down three plates loaded with brunchy goodness. It smells heavenly, but I no longer have an appetite for any of it.
“Enjoy!” she says with false brightness before she retreats. Waitresses are trained to avoid these kind of awkward landmines, and Marianne has been in the game for a long time.
“Shit,” I groan, dropping my head into my hands.
“Hey now,” Freya says quietly. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“He did get to me. He’s my best friend, Freya!”
“I know, but he’s wrong about this. Giving up that phone is a bad idea.” She pauses for a beat, then adds, “It’s obvious why he wants you to do it, though.”
I frown. “It is?”
Freya looks at me with an amused expression and reaches for the bright orange mocktail between us. “Oh, honey, don’t tell me you don’t see it?”
“See what?”
She giggles a little and takes a long drag of her drink before she deigns to answer. “Your surly best friend has feelings for you. Probably has for some time now.”
I stare at her for a long time. “That’s… crazy.”
“No, it’s not,” she says confidently. “I know when a man is interested in a woman. And that boy thinks you’re the hottest thing walking. He thinks that if you give up the phone, then Evil Mr. Bond won’t be paying you any more visits. He’s just clearing the way.”
“No. No, that’s not it. Chris is looking out for me.”
“Oh goodness, don’t be naive. Open your eyes, Jessa. Why do you think he got his panties in a twist when the kiss got brought up?”
“He’s protective. Thanks for that, by the way.”
She shrugs. “You told me he was your best friend. I assumed he knew. And even if he didn’t, I assumed you wouldn’t mind telling him.”
Sighing, I fall back against my chair. “I still don’t think you’re right about this.”
“Did he have a problem with any of your other exes?”
“Well… yeah. But that was different. He was right about all of them.”
“Or maybe he was just jealous?” she suggests.
I think back to all my previous boyfriends and Chris’s reaction to each and every one. He’d never exactly been crazy about any of them. Not even the ones that turned out to be mostly decent.
“You’re seeing it now, aren’t you?” she presses, as relentless as ever.
I shake my head. “I can’t deal with that right now.”
“No, no, of course not. You’ve got hotter fish to fry.”
I glare at her. “It’s not like that.”
“Don’t worry, honey,” she croons reassuringly. “It’s our little secret.”