“Scrambled tofu,” Antonio said. “I mean, it ain’t half bad. I tasted it before you came out the shower. Could use some seasoning, though. I added hot sauce and salsa to mine.”
Jackie put her plate down and rubbed her eyes with her palms. This was going from bad to worse. She just wanted to eat something that didn’t taste like a rabbit had chewed it and spit it back onto her plate.
“It’s not bad. I mean, look! At least they have real syrup.” Antonio picked up the bottle and frowned as he read. “Well, it’s agave syrup.”
Hand it over, Jackie motioned. She poured it onto her pancakes and dug in. They were surprisingly good, as was the syrup. Antonio was also right about the scrambled tofu, though texture-wise, it was something to get used to. She was starting to think breakfast wasn’t going to be terrible. One bite of the carrot bacon nullified that thought as she spit it into her napkin. She swore she was going to report this restaurant to the Michelin people.Take that star away!
Antonio’s shoulders shook with laughter. “You’re a trip, you know that?”
Something about Antonio’s laugh made Jackie’s insides flip, but she ignored it.
They ate in silence for a while until Antonio cleared his throat. “So…uhm, last night was…”
Jackie looked up, bracing herself for whatever he was about to say.
Antonio rolled his eyes as he scooped up more tofu. “First of all, if you think I’m tripping about not having sex, you’d be wrong. You and I both know it wasn’t about sex last night. Lucky, I felt…we felt….”
Hormones. Horniness. A basic human urge, Jackie thought. That is what it was—what it had to be. The surge of energy they’d shared when they touched was just a figment of her sexual fantasies. But she couldn’t say all of that. Instead, she just waved off whatever Antonio was about to say next.
“Stop it, Jackie.” Antonio’s voice went hard. “I hate when you do that shit.”
Jackie’s eyes widened at his tone.
“You’re so dismissive of me. You always jump to the negative when it comes to me.” Antonio wiped his mouth and tossed his napkin onto the table. “For once, I’m being honest about everything, and you’re just like it’s whatever.”
Jackie put down her fork. Maybe that lady at the animal hospital had been right. She talked too damn much. But this morning she hadn’t said a word, and yet Antonio felt judged by her. She began aggressively cutting again at the last of her pancakes. Who was she mad at? Antonio or herself? She wasn’t sure.
Antonio stood up, his chair scraping the floor. “I’m going to finish getting ready. Enjoy your breakfast, Jacqueline.”
Jackie watched him walk back into the bedroom. Her stomach felt queasy. She stared down at the food that remained on her plate, then pushed it away.
Could this day get any worse?
CHAPTER 24
The day had, in fact, gotten worse.
There were very few things Jacqueline Angelica Miles Jr. feared. She hated spiders. She despised dry pound cake. Most of all, she hated heights. She’d thought the group was going for a casual hike in the jungle. She didn’t think it was going to end with her dangling from a string of death.
Dear God, if you get me down in one piece, I swear I’ll never skip church for football ever again! Not even during playoffs!
