She mouthed a silentoh. Damn. “Man, Penny is really bad at keeping secrets.”
Lucas ignored her words. “What the hell, Anna?” he repeated stonily. He looked incredibly angry, but didn’t raise his voice. He never raised his voice. That was one of the things she liked most about him.
“It’s nothing, Lucas,” she replied angrily, glancing at her phone watch. She was running late. “Can we talk about this another time?”
“No! What’s going on? We agreed on no further drama, and now I have to beat up a third guy? Not just your brothers, but a boyfriend too?”
“Nobody fights anyone around here. God, you hockey players really are way too violent.” She clicked her tongue. “There’s no boyfriend.”
“Then why did Penny tell Jack there was?”
“Well, because I told her that.”
“What?”
She sighed heavily. “Lucas, I have an important meeting I don’t want to be late for.”
“I don’t care. What the hell…?”
“Fine! Then get in.” She jerked open her passenger door. When he just stared at her silently, she added, “I want to drive,you want to talk – God, I never thought I’d say this, but Lucas Moreau wants to talk! – so I’ll give you a ride and explain.”
Without waiting for an answer, she walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. She wasn’t going to dance to his tune. If he wanted to talk, he’d have to follow her instructions for once.
Lucas kept standing where he was for a second, but finally, with a sigh, he got in too. Meanwhile, Anna had programmed her navigation system and fastened her seatbelt.
“So, the boyfriend…” he began.
She started the engine. “You’re the boyfriend, Lucas. My goodness.”
“What?”
“That’s your new favorite word, isn’t it?”
In short, concise sentences, she explained to him what had happened that evening at happy hour. Why Penny thought she had a boyfriend. With every word that came out of her mouth, Lucas’ eyebrows furrowed more.
“You talked to them about me,” he finally concluded five minutes later.
“Yes. Is that forbidden? I wanted to know if you can or should be friends with an ex-lover.”
“And what conclusion did you arrive at?”
“That, in our case, it’s perfectly fine,” she said hesitantly. “Because we have no feelings for each other whatsoever and it’s simply a physical chemistry thing between the two of us.”
Lucas remained silent. She wanted to look at him, but she had to focus on the road.
After another minute of frustrating silence, she asked, “Is that all? Should I drop you off at the next intersection? You could take an Uber back. Or walk. We’re not that far away.”
For a few more minutes, Lucas played the silence game they were all trying to teach Leon before muttering, “Where are you going?”
She rolled her eyes. Naturally, he decided to speak up at that moment instead of nodding and leaving her alone. “None of your business.”
“Tinder date?”
“Why the hell is everyone so interested in my Tinder life?”
“We’re friends. Friends ask what the other is doing.”
“Yes, and friends accept it if the other person doesn’t want to talk about it.”
