My smile feels more like a baring of teeth. The asshole always did have a way with words. “I’m that forgettable, huh?”
“Nah, it’s just been so long. Once school was done, you disappeared completely, when I thought we had a good thing going.”
Good thing for him. I found out near the end of senior year he suddenly had a girlfriend—and I’d been regulated to his side piece. I told him I didn’t want to see him anymore and that was the end of it.
“I broke up with you,” I tell him. “Remember?”
“Sure. But we made some good memories, Jenny.” His gaze becomes thoughtful, like he’s in full-on reminiscing mode. “Remember that time I stole my dad’s bottle of Grey Goose and we got drunk off our asses?”
I do. And at the time, it had felt fun. An escape, which was what Mike always provided me. “Yeah.”
“And then you got scared when we parked on Old Man Larson’s property and you ran out of my truck buck naked?” He starts to laugh. “I had to chase you down.”
He chased me down all right. Caught me in his arms, pressed me into the grass, and we had sex right there. I hadn’t protested, though. No, I pretty much begged for it, because that last year of high school, I’d turned into a full-blown nympho. Always looking for someone to make me feel good about myself. Always wanting that escape from my bleak reality, even if it only lasted for a few minutes.
Now when I think back on it, all I feel is shame.
“Right. Listen—” I start, but Rhett magically appears with our tray of sandwiches, his expression thunderous when he catches sight of Mike.
“Who’s your friend?” he asks tightly.
Mike smiles at Rhett, completely oblivious. “Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Mike. Jenny’s ex.”
Rhett sends me a look, one that’s wondering at the nickname, I’m sure, before he resumes his attention on Mike. “Rhett. Jensen’s current.”
Mike frowns, confusion written all over his face when his gaze meets mine. “Jensen? What the hell? You go and change your name or what?”
“It was nice seeing you,” I tell Mike, my voice final, my eyes full of meaning. But is Mike getting it?
I don’t think so.
“Nice seeing you too,” he says confusedly, rubbing his forehead as if I hurt his brain. Maybe I did. He was never what I’d consider especially bright. “Best go get in line before it’s out the door.”
Rhett doesn’t say a word after Mike leaves. Just plops the tray onto the table, hands me my sandwich, sets his in front of him, and starts eating.
The silence lasts no longer than two minutes, but it feels like two hours. I stare at my sandwich, my appetite evaporating with every second that ticks by, and finally, I can’t freaking take it. I have to say something.
“I went out with Mike in high school,” I tell Rhett, lifting my head to meet his gaze, but he’s not really looking at me.
“That’s nice,” he says, his mouth full, his expression…void. Oh man, he looks pissed. Wait. Worse, he looks—indifferent. Like he doesn’t care about what just happened.
And I want him to care. I want him to care a lot. I may have had a lot of sex with Mike back in the day, but none of it was near as meaningful as what Rhett and I share.
How can I tell him that, though, without sounding like some sort of sex-crazed maniac?
“We were never serious.”
“What you’ve done in your past means nothing to me,” Rhett says, still eating his sandwich.
And now I want to throw my sandwich at him. “Seriously? You don’t care that Mike and I were together?”
Rhett shrugs, damn him. “You have a past, I have a past. It shouldn’t matter because we’re together now, right?”
“Right,” I say weakly, dropping my gaze to my turkey sandwich on sourdough. Just the thought of trying to put that sandwich in my mouth makes me want to gag.
“Or are we?” When I scrunch my brows in confusion, he explains, “Together.”
My heart feels like it’s lodged in my throat. “I think we are,” I admit softly.