She knew lots of women dated around. She honestly didn’t see anything wrong with that.
But thisfeltwrong. To be caught between two men. Two good men, both of which had obvious feelings for her.
It would be one thing if she were to see them individually. Date them separately. But each time the three got together, it was as though she was caught in the middle of the most awkward love triangle, each man vying for her attention.
Thankfully, today was less combative.
Honestly, Josh and Cal got along quite well. Both were agreeable to each other’s suggestions. At one point, they even shared a laugh, although Edie couldn’t be sure what it was over. She’d spaced out, her thoughts carrying her away from the coffeehouse completely. It wasn’t until Josh repeated her name several times that she yanked herself out of her daze, zeroing back in on the men sharing her table.
“Edie, what do you think?”
She looked between them, wide eyed. “About?”
“Have you been paying attention at all to what we’ve been discussing?” Cal leaned his upper body over the table, hands folded.
“I have.”
“Then what were we just talking about?” Josh cocked his head.
The men shared a look, and an exchange that bordered on a smirk.
Were theybonding? Bonding over the fact that Edie had been completely absent for the entire duration of their conversation?
“You were talking about the gala.”
“We werenottalking about the gala.” Arms slinking over his chest, that smirk deepened on Josh’s lips, dimpling his cheeks.
“Not even close,” Cal chimed in. The two men laughed.Laughed.
Edie began to sweat. Her sweater felt like a corset, this wooly constriction that made it difficult to breathe.
“You weren’t talking about the gala?”
“Nope.” Somehow, both Cal and Josh said this in complete unison.
What was happening? Had her wayward thoughts whisked her away from this reality into some other dimension? One where Josh and Cal not only got along but were actuallyfriendlywith one another.
Her palms filled with moisture, her throat clogging with apprehension.
“Should we tell her?” Cal looked at his new buddy.
“I think we should let her sweat this one out.”
Oh, she certainly was. “I honestly have no idea what you two were—andare—talking about.”
“Because you haven’t been present for the last fifteen minutes,” Josh offered.
“More likely twenty,” Cal quipped and again, the two roared the most shocking laugh. Edie actually jumped in her seat.
“I should probably get going.” She fumbled with her purse, suddenly feeling the need to flee. “I’m meeting Camille and Tabitha at my place for dinner.”
Cal rolled his wrist over. “It’s two o’clock in the afternoon.”
“Gotta primp. You know how women are.” She waggled her shoulders. It was an obvious lie. Edie wore little makeup, and she certainly wouldn’t be dolling herself up for a casual meal with her best friends. But she needed an out. Some way to extricate herself from this bizarre interaction.
“Let us know your thoughts on everything we talked about today,” Josh said cryptically, keeping up the gig.
“Yeah, I’m really curious to hear what you think.” Cal thumbed his chin.
