Plus, Jillian was prettier. She could admit that stung. Shallow as it may be.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” she said, politely. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long day and I want to eat my pie in peace.”
She juggled her pie in one hand as she unlocked her door.
“Noel…” he whined like a child.
Her annoyance got the best of her and she sniped, “Hey, didn’t you get a girlfriend? Shouldn’t you be spending your first Thanksgiving together? Feeding each other dessert and sitting around the table talking about how thankful you are to have found each other?”
“No. She left yesterday to visit her dad.” He squared his shoulders, all the vulnerability erased from his expression. “You can’t be mad at me about Jillian. We weren’t even really together.”
Noel left her keys in the doorknob and turned all the way around to face him. “I am not mad at you. I was irritated when I found out you’d been seeing her for three weeks and still sleeping with me, but I’m over it. Bygones.”
“Because you’re dating Nick Winters?” His tone dropped to a growl.
Oh my God, is this a male pride thing? He didn’t want me, but no one else can either?
“No, because like you said, we weren’t really together.” Then, because she couldn’t help needling him, she added, “Having Nick home is a bonus.”
“A lot of people are talking about you two. Saying that you’ve been waiting for him and that’s why you never get serious with anyone. Were you just using me because he was gone?”
“Why do you care?”
“Nobody likes to be used.”
“People also don’t like to find out their fuck buddy replaced them via Instagram, but here we are.”
“I didn’t replace you. Jillian and I shared a connection, but I was going to tell you.”
“Were you? Or were you going to date her, screw me, and hope neither one of us said anything?”
His expression actually brightened. “See, you sound jealous.”
“I’m not. At all. I never tried to lock you down and now we’re both with other people. Happy. So, no harm no foul. You can go on with your life knowing I am not secretly constructing a voodoo doll in your image and planning to extract bloody revenge.”
“But about Nick…were you planning on dropping me all along as soon as he got back?”
Noel didn’t bother to answer, too tired and frustrated to deal with Trip’s bruised ego tonight. Or any other time. “Good night, Trip.”
Trip touched her shoulder, staring at her earnestly. “I miss you, Noel. We had fun together, right? Couldn’t we still be friends?”
“Sure, we had fun. But we were never friends. You’re with Jillian and I’m with Nick. Let’s leave things where they belong.”
Noel closed the door on his crestfallen face. The nerve of him showing up here, looking for attention when his girlfriend was out of town.
Noel snorted. As if this behavior really surprised her. She hadn’t started hooking up with Trip because he was a good guy. She’d picked him because he wasn’t the type you got attached to.
Unlike Nick.
Over the last few days, this whole situation between the two of them weighed heavy on her mind. It was one thing to play couple for the Brews and Chews crowd, but what did they tell his sisters? His parents? That it was all make-believe to save both their pride?
Once word made its way around, Noel had a sneaky suspicion it wouldn’t be that simple.
She went into the kitchen of her one-bedroom apartment and grabbed a fork from the drawer. The place was so quiet at night, giving her too much time to think. It had been the same at her childhood home after her parents passed. The Winterses offered to keep the house up for her until she was ready to live on her own since it was paid off, but she didn’t want to live in a place with so many memories of her family. After living in the Winters home, which was boisterous and fun, then the barracks, it had been hard being all alone. But she couldn’t move back in with the Winterses after she was discharged, and while she was in school she’d hardly been home anyways. Work was consuming, but she still found herself struggling to keep busy so she wouldn’t get lost in her thoughts.
Maybe she should get a pet. She could afford the deposit and then at least she’d have someone to come home to. Something that was hers.
Noel slipped a bite of store-bought pumpkin pie past her lips just as someone knocked on the door.
“Geez, Trip, I swear.” She dropped her fork onto her plate and stomped into the other room. What in the hell did he think would happen? That if he waited long enough he’d wear her down and she’d let him in?