“Okay,” they say in unison.
I take a few steps away when one of them yells, “If anything changes, come find us. We’ll be around.”
I wave a hand over my shoulder not bothering to turn and meet their gazes.
That is so not going to happen.
I catch a glimpse of Noah across the room talking with a few of the guys from the team. Since there’s safety in numbers, I join them. The sharks are always circling after a win. The last thing I need is for Daisy to find me in a precarious situation. Not that she’s the jealous sort, but I know how I’d feel if there were guys hanging all over her.
Everyone is still talking about the play in the middle of the third quarter that turned the tide for us. As soon as we made that touchdown, the other team lost its steam and we were able to widen our lead. After about ten minutes, a few of the guys head to the kitchen for refills. Noah and I hang back.
“Where’s Ashley?” I ask.
Normally those two are joined at the hip. Although, now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her hanging around the apartment lately. I’ve been so wrapped up in Daisy that a bomb could go off and I wouldn’t notice.
He shrugs and takes a pull from his beer. An immediate answerdoesn’t seem forthcoming. Which is odd. Obviously, he doesn’t want to discuss it. And I can respect that.
So, moving on…
“We’re taking a break,” he mumbles.
“Oh. Sorry to hear that.”
His gaze sharpens as he straightens. “Are you?”
Something tells me to proceed with caution and I’m wise enough to follow my instincts.
“Sure. I don’t have a problem with Ashley.” I glance around for Daisy. Where the hell is that girl? “If you’re bummed about it, then I’m sorry.”
His shoulders droop and he jerks his head into a tight nod before taking another drink. “Thanks,” he says. “I told her that we needed some space.” He pauses for a beat. “You might not have noticed but she can be kind of a pain in the ass.”
The beer goes down the wrong pipe and I sputter, thumping my chest a couple of times as my eyes water. There’s no way I’m touching that statement. Odds are they’ll get back together in a few days. “Nope, never noticed.”
He nods. “Yeah, Ashley definitely has her moments. I’m not saying that she’s a bad person or anything, but I’m just not sure if we’re good together.” His eyes narrow. “That whole thing with the salad…that was BS, right?”
Does he seriously need confirmation?
“Ummm, yeah.” It was complete crap.
Plus, I don’t like the way she treats Daisy.
Guess what, girl? Just because you sweeten some nasty words with a smile, doesn’t make them any less nasty.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.”
We fall silent again until Noah clears his throat. “So, you and Daisy, huh?”
This conversation has just gone from bad to worse. We haven’t discussed the Daisy situation. I mean…what’s there to say?
We’re dudes. We’re not about to sit around and have a Dr. Philmoment where we open up and share our feelings using “I” statements.
When you screw my cousin, I feel…
The thought of that is enough to make me queasy. But the fact remains that Noah is a good friend. The best, actually. I don’t want my relationship with his cousin to sit between us. So, I guess if he needs to hash it out and come to a resolution, that’s what we’re gonna do.
Right here.
In the middle of this party.
