“How come?”
He pushes the plate to the side and gulps water, his eyes trained on me.
“Harper hooked up with him.”
His eyebrows lift in surprise.
“How did that happen?” he asks.
“Same party.”
“Okay... Am I missing something?”
I lower my eyes.
“It wasn’t such a good story,” I say, no longer smiling. “But in the end, something good came out of it.”
The growing silence makes me raise my eyes.
“I’m not proud of it,” I finally say.
“I’m not the one to judge. Life is messy, most of the time, anyway, but once in a while––as you just said––something good comes along.”
His gaze dips to his phone.
“I need to go,” he says, pushing his chair back.
I follow his example, and we both walk inside.
He collects his car keys in the foyer while I hold the door open for him. Hesitantly, he stalls for a moment, his eyes roving over me.
“I’ll see you then,” he says.
Silently, I nod.
He spends a few more seconds on me before pulling away and striding to his car.
“It’s Harper’s birthday next Friday,” I toss behind his back.
He stops and turns around.
“I’d like you to come with me. We go out to a restaurant.”
He ponders.
“Sure.”
“You can pick me up.”
“We’ll talk before then. I hope.”
I smile.
“Yes, we will,” I say.
* * *
JADEN