Not that how attracted I was to him mattered, because it didn’t. I had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who I’d turned my whole life upside down for because I thought we could have a real future together.
Our two best friends had started dating our sophomore year of high school, and they were actually the reason why Josh and I got together in the first place, and were getting married soon. And not that I was thinking about marrying Josh, at least not yet, but it was definitely a possibility. Once we were both graduated, I pictured us planning out our lives together.
Resting my chin on my hand, I worked to focus on what the professor was saying and pushed all my other thoughts aside. Things would all work out. I just needed to give it more time.
* * *
I am so bored.
I’d been listening to Josh and his friends talk about soccer and some video game for the last forty-five minutes. This was the lunch when I was supposed to get to know Josh’s friends better—when I was supposed to be totally okay with how he changed our plans.
Yeah, not so much.
I’d barely said two words since I sat down, not because I was being anti-social, but because his friends could not care less about getting to know me. I wasn’t even sure if they remembered I was still here.
I couldn’t even sneak away because we were sitting in a booth and I was currently scrunched up against the wall. My only option would be to slide down under the table and crawl through everyone’s legs.
I bet that would get their attention.
But I wasn’t a five-year-old, so I continued to sit there, waiting for an opportunity to tell Josh I needed to go.
After five more minutes, I realized there was never going to be a good time.
Placing my hand on Josh’s leg, I leaned over to him. “Hey, I need to get going.”
Josh looked over at me. “Oh, okay. Where do you need to go?”
“I have another class.” I tried not to sound annoyed. “Remember? When I sat down earlier, I told you that I couldn’t stay too long.” Gosh, it was like I really wasn’t there.
“Of course I remember. I just forgot,” he said, but I knew that wasn’t true. “Do you want me to walk you to class, or are you cool with me staying here to hang out with my friends?”
How was I supposed to answer that? I totally wanted him to walk me to my class, but with all his friends looking at me, waiting to hear what I was going to say, I didn’t want to be the needy girlfriend. It was obvious he was having a good time and wanted to stay but was also trying to play the good boyfriend role as well.
I forced a smile. “Uh, no, you don’t need to walk me. Stay and have fun with your friends.”
“Thanks, baby. You’re the best.” He leaned down and kissed me.
I had assumed it would be a chaste peck on the lips, but he pressed his mouth more firmly against mine.
Was he showing off to his friends? What was up with him?
I wanted to push him away but didn’t want to embarrass him in front of his friends. When he tried to slip me his tongue, I finally pulled back. No way was I making out with him surrounded by his friends in a small booth in the campus dining hall.
I tried to not look upset and gave a small smile. Josh and I would definitely be talking about this later.
Finally, Josh and the guy sitting next to him stood up to let me leave.
“It was nice to meet you all,” I said as I slid out of the booth.
They all gave generic responses back, but I wasn’t listening.
I was about to walk away when Josh grabbed my hand.
I turned back to look at him as he said, with a smug smile on his face, “I’ll meet you at your place tonight.”
I clenched my teeth and nodded, knowing that if I said anything right now, it was not going to be nice.
Pulling my hand free, I walked away, but their voices still carried.
