“We live in the same building,” I tell him without looking away from Max.
Max’s jaw clenches. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m positive,” I tell him quietly.
Max nods and takes all of my bags from me, with the exception of my purse, and walks away without saying another word.
Fuck. He’s mad. Why is this so hard?
Sighing, I shut my eyes. God, how freaking embarrassing.
“Sorry about him,” I tell Clint.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Now come on, let’s get you some food.” He reaches out and takes my hand in his.
We leave the airport and head to a little diner that’s not far from either of our places.
“So…” He trails off after we get our food.
“So…”
“Is that the guy?” he asks as he takes a bite of hash browns.
“Who?” I pretend I don’t know what he means.
“The one you are hung up on. The one you said wasn’t interested,” he says bluntly.
We didn’t exchange much information about our mutual unrequited love, but I did tell him that much.
“It is,” I admit, taking a small bite of my own food.
Clint whistles under his breath. “And you really think that guy isn’t interested in you?”
“He’s not,” I say vehemently.
“Babe, he wanted to kick my ass. The last thing he wanted was for you to leave with me. He wanted to take you home himself.”
“He was just being protective. It’s like a big brother act. That’s all. Trust me, it’s not like that between us,” I tell him, but I’m starting to question it myself. Max has never acted like that before.
“Are you sure?” he probes.
“I’m positive. It’s been like this between us for years, and it’s not going to change now. I told him I was dating, and he never once spoke up.”
Clint studies me for a minute before he nods. “Okay, I believe you. We can drop that subject. How about you tell me all about London? How was it?”
I relax at the change of subject. “Glorious.”
We fall into idle chit-chat, catching up, but the entire time I’m with him, I can’t help but wonder if he’s right.
Was Max really jealous? Did he really want to kick Clint’s ass?
This entire time I’ve thought that Max was the one who was missing my subtle hints that I wanted him, but maybe, just maybe, I was missing his.
MAX
Days.
It’s been days since that asshole picked Iris up and took her away from me, and I’m still pissed about it. Everything feels out of control. She’s dating, keeping secrets, and pulling away.
