Betting on You(95)

“No,” I said, pasting on a whatever expression when just the mention of his name made my heart hurt. “But you don’t need to worry about that right now.”

“Please? Please let me think about something other than my own mess.”

I shrugged, even though apathy was the opposite of what I was feeling. I rotated between wanting to sob because I missed my friend, and wanting to track him down and junk-punch him because I was so angry. I kept my voice casual when I said, “Okay. Yeah, still no word. I think he’s officially someone I used to know.”

“What the hell, man?” Nekesa said, looking irritated. “I can understand you two being on different pages about romantic feelings, but he was your best friend. How can he just bail?”

I scrunched my nose. “You are my best friend.”

“I know,” she said, “but so is he. You two have that insta-friend chemistry.”

“Had,” I corrected, clearing my throat in an attempt to clear away the tightness.

“Had,” she agreed with a sigh. “God, we’re pathetic.”

“Truth.”

“Want to order a pizza?”

We ordered a large pepperoni pizza and ate it straight from the box as we binge-watched Ted Lasso. It was total comfort TV and actually made us feel better. So much better, in fact, that when Dana texted both of us, asking if we would join her and Eli that night for their birthday dinner at Applebee’s (those two actually shared a birthday—so adorable, right?), we were all in.

After confirming that Charlie wouldn’t be there, of course.

We took our time getting ready, curling each other’s hair and paying far too much attention to details like winged eyeliner and perfect fingernail polish. I borrowed her red-and-black plaid skirt and fluffy sweater, and she wore a bright orange dress.

By the time we walked into the restaurant, we felt pretty damn good.

Until we saw them.

Dana and Eli were laughing, sitting across from each other, along with a few other people I didn’t know. They all looked like they were having a blast, with a few presents piled on the table’s center.

But also at the table, in work clothes, like they’d just left Planet Funnn, were Charlie and Theo.

I instantly felt like I couldn’t breathe, and I hated him for making me feel that way. I wanted to not care, but the buzzing in my ears and the heat in my cheeks told another story.

“Son of a bitch,” Nekesa said to me out of the side of her mouth. “Is the universe fucking kidding with this?”

I barely heard her, because my traitorous eyes were drinking in the sight of Charlie. God, I just missed him so much—and it had barely been a week. As much as I’d said that it was fine, the truth was that he’d left a gaping hole in my life.

Not the kissing Charlie—I didn’t know that guy all that well.

But my coworker/friend Charlie, the one I’d texted thirty times a day and talked to on the phone more days than not, had left me with an aching void.

Had it really only been a week?

“Let’s do this,” Nekesa said, giving me her I’m a badass look. “Let’s just sit our asses down and try to have fun.”

“That’s a tall order,” I muttered.

“Just try,” she said, and then she walked around the table and took the empty chair between Dana and Theo. The only other vacant chair was the one next to Charlie, and I wasn’t sure I was mentally strong enough to force my legs to move in that direction.

Dammit.

It was like he heard my mental curse, and his eyes landed on me. But instead of doing the right thing and looking away—or at least looking awkward—he gave me a smirky smile.

Seriously?

I channeled my inner Nekesa and went over to the vacant seat, even though I would’ve rather sat in the white-hot flames of hell. I immediately turned my attention to Dana and Eli.

“Happy birthday, you guys,” I said, pushing my lips up into a perky smile. “Did I miss the karaoke?”

I could hear Theo saying something to Nekesa about his car being in the shop and Charlie giving him a ride, which explained why he was there when he didn’t even know the birthday couple.

“You wish,” Dana said, looking so incredibly happy that I was glad Eli hadn’t been interested in me. “Starts in five.”

“Lovely,” I muttered.

I looked across the table, and Nekesa was talking intensely to Theo. I was trying to lean a little closer, not being obvious, when I heard:

“You’re going to fall out of your chair if you lean any harder, Glasses.”

I glanced at Charlie, and he was giving me the amused grin he’d given me a thousand times before. Which pissed me off. How dare he act like everything was normal? I gave him a very fake smile—the baring of teeth—and turned away from him in my chair.

I was about to say something to Dana when Charlie said, “Are you going to sing?”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “What?”

He gave a nod toward the bar. “When karaoke starts. You singing, Mitchell?”

“Doubt it,” I said, wishing he’d just leave me alone.

I heard Eli say something to him, and then Nekesa, Charlie, and Eli exploded into a conversation. So I just sat there, wedged in between two conversations like a loner loser. I desperately wanted to go home, but I was also so happy to see Nekesa not crying that I was going to shut up and deal for a while in the name of her happiness.