I just couldn’t imagine why he would suddenly need to talk to me, alone, face-to-face, before the wedding. It wasn’t like anyone had gotten pregnant or contracted something; Selena definitely wasn’t pregnant and we’d all had STI tests before the threesome. So what the hell was going on?
I fought back an exasperated sigh and texted him back.
Fine. Can you meet me tomorrow on my lunch break? 1pm?
I included the address of a coffee shop near my office.
He responded almost immediately that he’d see me there, and that again, he was sorry.
I replied with a thumbs-up.
And I doubted I’d be able to relax at all between now and then.
I didn’t usually come to this coffee shop. It was closer to my office than the one I preferred, but it wasn’t nearly as good. That was exactly why I’d picked it—my gut said this conversation was going to be unpleasant somehow, and I didn’t want it tainting a place I frequented.
I had to give Jesse credit, too—he didn’t keep me waiting.
I’d barely sat down at a table by the back wall with a mediocre cup of coffee and a stale pastry when he walked in. My heart skipped. I briefly registered that he was still as sexy as he’d been a year ago, and some very hot, naked memories flashed through my mind. Otherwise, my focus snapped to wondering again why we were doing this. Especially when I saw how clearly nervous he was as he crossed the room.
Jesse was a little taller than me—around six foot,maybesix-one—with broad shoulders that had made my mouth water after his shirt had come off. He wasn’t a huge guy, but the way he was folded in on himself—as if both cringing and bracing for something—made him seem a lot smaller than he was. He was fair-skinned to begin with, and the lack of color in his face had alarm bells clanging in my head. That got even worse when he took the chair across from me and met my gaze, his pallor emphasizing the dark shadows under his hazel-leaning-green eyes.
He wrung his hands beneath the table as he studied me. Then he cut his eyes away from mine and swallowed hard. “I, uh… Thanks for?—”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved a hand and let some irritation slip into my voice. “Any chance we can cut to the chase? Because I’mstressed as hell about this wedding, and now I’ve got a sleepless night on top of it all.”
He winced, lips pulling tight as he avoided my gaze. I felt a little guilty for the bitchy comment, but what could I say? This was weird and Iwasbitchy about it. Did he haveanyidea how much his texts had?—
“Selena told me you guys split up.” The words came out evenly and so quietly they barely carried across the table.
I blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
Jesse gulped. Then he took a deep breath and looked at me across the table. “About a month after—after we all met, she texted me. Told me you two had broken up.”
I stared at him. What the fuck was he…
He dug into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen a few times. Then he slid it across the table.
Blood pounded in my ears as I picked it up.
“There’s about a dozen screenshots,” he murmured, gesturing for me to swipe through them.
My mouth went dry. Somewhere deep in the pit of my stomach was the realization of what he was getting at and where this was going, but shock and denial held fast. With my heart slamming into my ribs, I read the screenshots.
Selena
Just wanted to let you know Eric and I broke up. (crying emoji)
What? That sucks!
I know. He couldn’t handle the threesome.
Oh shit. It was because of that?
Yeah. He said watching me with another guy was too much. (crying emoji)
I slid the phone away as acid rose in my throat. I didn’t need to read any more. I couldn’t. Between the texts and this whole weird meeting, I could put the pieces together. I’d probably puke if I did read them, and that had nothing to do with the crap coffee I’d been drinking.
Jesse picked up the phone and turned it between his fingers as if he needed something to do with his hands. “I swear to God, I had no idea you two were still together. I definitely had no idea you were getting married.”
