Jack didn’t respond, so I tried again. “You said you were looking for me. Was it anything in particular you needed?”
“You seriously think I want to talk to you? Like you could possibly matter to me,” he snapped.
“You literally said you were looking for me,” I told him.
With a humorless smile, he responded, “Trust me, Jennifer, you don’t want to hear what I have to say.”
He’d said my name that way on purpose. To mark the distance. To tell me there was nothing between us. And there was defiance in his expression. He was daring me to say something. To keep from breaking, I announced, “I’m going to take a shower. Whenever you want to talk, come find me.”
That sounded bitchy, but it made me feel better about myself. He never had a problem trying to irritate me, and he deserved a taste of his own medicine, even if it was just a small dose. I could tell it had worked by the way his eyes followed me to the bathroom.
What I hadn’t expected was that he would take the wordscome find meso seriously, and so soon. I was still pulling off my pants in the bathroom when he opened the door. It scared me so bad I almost fell over backward, and to right myself, I had to step out of them. So there I was in a T-shirtand panties, wondering what Jack wanted. Strangely, he didn’t even seem to notice.
“I need to talk to you,” he burst out.
“Now?!”
“Yes, now.”
“Do I not have a right to privacy? Get out of here!!!”
“Let me get this straight. You move into my house, take over my couch, leave me hanging like I was no one, then I come in and the first thing I see is you hugging up on some guy in my living room!”
He had come closer and closer to me as he said this, and I tried to shout, “Ross, get out!” But he interrupted me: “What the hell is going on with you? Is this who you always were? Because the Jen I remember was a decent person.”
“Wait! I’m not a decent person? What the hell makes me not a decent person? The fact that I have a friend?! I need your permission for that now?”
“If you’re going to bring them to my house, you damn sure do!”
“Fine! From now on, I’ll go to his place instead.”
That was mean, maybe. Inappropriate, maybe. But I couldn’t help myself. And it was nothing compared to what Jack said next. Clenching his teeth, with a vein throbbing in his neck, he hissed, “Fuck you.”
“Fuck me? Have I said anything about you and your female friends? Did I ever burst in on you in the shower?”
“Oh, please! You didn’t even turn on the water yet!”
“Ross, I’m almost naked. Get out!”
Confused and angry, he looked me over and said, “It’s not like it’s anything I’ve never seen before.”
Now I was pissed. I could feel myself turning red as I grabbed my pants and threw them in his face. He ducked, and I screamed, “You have no right to invade my privacy, and you have no right to stare at my body without my permission.”
“Ross,” Will interrupted us. “There’s got to be a better time…”
“This is a great time,” Jack cut him off.
“It is not!” I reprimanded him. “Now get out! And for your information, if I want to hang out or date people or whatever, I’ll damn well do it, and I don’t owe you a single explanation!”
He hadn’t liked that. “Date? What do you mean by date?”
“JUST GO!”
I got him out the door and shut it behind him. Since I didn’t hear anything more, I assumed he’d left. But no. A few seconds later, he tried to open it up again, and in a reflex, I threw my whole body into it and felt it slam into something.
“Shit!” I called out, realizing I had probably hit him in the face, then opened it back up and told him, “I’m sorry! Are you OK?”
He was rubbing his forehead but he seemed fine. Not hurt, just angry.
