Of course, I don’t think I ever felt the way about him that I felt about Dean the other night.
God, I’m confused.
This has nothing to do with getting back together with him. I care about him, and I need to warn him about his girlfriend. That’s absolutely the only reason why I’m here.
“Joel?” I feign surprise as I casually walk by his table. “Hi!”
He lifts his eyes from his phone. His lips form a straight line. “Oh. Hi.”
Well, it’s clear I’m not his favorite person right now. But still, it’s a shock to see him looking at me with such obvious distaste. I mean, we used to be…
Well, never mind. This is important. I’m not going to be deterred that easily. “How are you doing, Joel?”
“Fine…” He heaves a breath as he forces out the barest nicety: “And you?”
“Good!” I say. “But, um… I was hoping we could talk…”
He averts his eyes, looking at the garbage can behind me. “I don’t think that’s a great idea.”
“Just for a minute?”
He sighs and his shoulders sag. “Fine.”
He doesn’t tell me to have a seat, but I take one anyway. I sit across from him, wondering how in less than a year we could go from practically engaged to… this.
“It’s about your girlfriend,” I say.
He lifts his eyes sharply. “No. We are not talking about her.”
“This has nothing to do with me. I swear.”
“I don’t understand. What could you possibly have to tell me?”
He’s getting really upset. I wonder if on some level, he already knows.
“Listen,” I say. “I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but you deserve to know. She’s been keeping things from you.”
“Keeping things from me?”
“She’s in debt,” I push on, before he can walk out on me. I sense he’s about five seconds away from marching out of here. “Like, really deep in debt.”
He frowns and shakes his head. “So what? She’s got a business… it’s natural to have to borrow some money…”
“She doesn’t just owe money to banks,” I blurt out. “She owes it to… you know, bad people. Money she can’t pay back. Joel, your life is in danger.”
His jaw drops open. “What?”
“She’s in really deep,” I say again. “They might try to kill you.”
His eyes flash. “That is,” he says, “the most ridiculous lie I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth… and I’ve heard some whoppers from you. Are you joking? Do you hear yourself?”
“It’s true!” I insist. “I swear to you.”
“Uh huh.” He folds his arms across his chest. “And how, pray tell, do you know this?”
“Because…” I chew on my lip. I didn’t want to tell him this part, but it’s the only way to get him to believe me. “My cousin Nick investigated her. He’s a private detective.”
Joel’s eyes are bulging. “You got your cousin to…”
Hmm. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him that part.
“Jesus Christ…” He rakes a hand through his chestnut hair. “This is… I mean, I knew you were having issues with jealousy, but… this goes above and beyond…”