“We’re picking her up.”
No wonder Sadie was in a hurry. Going to Jenny’s apartment would require some backtracking through heavy traffic. But why were we picking her up?
“Is she okay?” I ducked into the back seat of the Jetta and put my seatbelt on as Sadie peeled out of Dan’s yard. She turned up the volume on her phone, and the pleasantly monotone voice of her GPS app told her to turn left at the corner.
“She’s fine. I think. I don’t totally get why she is where she is, but she seemed fine. I don’t know. There was a lot she wasn’t saying, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t know what you mean. Could you stop being cryptic and explain?”
Sadie frowned and gripped the steering wheel. “I don’t like talking and navigating at the same time. Dan, tell him.”
Dan turned around in his seat. “She’s at a guy’s house in Glendale. Coming all the way back here to ride with us wouldn’t make a lot of sense, so we’re just picking her up on the way.”
“A guy’s house in Glendale?”
“He had a Texas name. Dallas or Austin or something.”
Sadie shook her head. “It wasn’t a Texas name.”
“Then what was it?” Dan asked.
I had a sinking feeling as I offered up, “Denver?”
“Yep, that was it.” Sadie glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “What do you know about him?”
“He’s her old roommate’s ex-boyfriend.”
“Well, that’s plucky,” Sadie said.
I knew what she was insinuating, and it was none of my business. But my heart wasn’t getting the memo. It was beating out a panicked rhythm that felt a lot like it was rolling faster and faster down a hill with an inevitable crash at the bottom. Was Jenny dating him now? No wonder she just wanted to be friends. And I was the idiot sending her notes and flirty texts. The guy with a business plan to win over someone who had clearly already moved on from me.
“Sorry, Noah.” Sadie reached behind her seat. Not to take my hand or anything. Just to, I guess, acknowledge that I was sitting here feeling like a total loser.
“It’s fine.” I fidgeted the entire drive there, listening to my dread being narrated by the turn-by-turn GPS lady. Denver lived in an older neighborhood not unlike Dan’s. The trees were gigantic, and a lot of people had horses and goats that ambled over to the edge of their properties to watch us drive by.
We passed a park, and then Sadie slowed in front of a rambling one-story house with no-nonsense desert landscaping, exactly what I’d expect for a single guy with other priorities.
“Your destination is on the left,” the GPS voice repeated until Sadie shut it off and got out. She walked at a brisk pace up to the front door, but stopped in her tracks when the door suddenly opened and Denver walked out—barefoot, shirtless, and smiling.
I hadn’t allowed myself to really think about the specifics of the situation until that moment, and I didn’t like my thoughts. At all. It felt like my skin was on fire. Coming back to Arizona had been a mistake. Quitting my job had been a mistake. Actually, I needed to go back farther than that. Helping HR. Mistake. Joining Carpool. Mistake. Buying the Chilivan from that couple with the billion kids. Mistake.
“Where’s Jenny?” Sadie asked Denver, sounding even grumpier than usual. She hugged herself and then dropped her hands, only to pick them up again and put them on her hips. When she glanced back at us, I noticed how much color had creeped into her skin. She could be awfully protective of Jenny. I’d seen glimpses of it before, but I’d never seen her look so off-kilter. It was almost like… Oh, good grief. It was because ofhim. She was attracted to him.
Denver smiled back at her like he knew exactly what kind of effect he was having. “Jenny will be out any second. Thanks so much for coming by to grab her.”
“What is she doing here?” Sadie growled, stepping closer.
Denver put his hands up. “Hey, now, spunky. There’s no need for that.”
Clearly, he’d never dealt with someone like Sadie because he wasn’t prepared for her to shove him out of her way while she stalked into his house and slammed the door behind her.
Denver went to the door and jiggled the handle. She’d locked him out of his own house. Dan snickered. I was too numb to be amused.
It seemed like several minutes went by, though it was probably only seconds before Jenny, clutching a blanket again, stepped out with Sadie. I stopped watching when Jenny reached up to hug Denver goodbye with her blanket sandwiched between them.
Not looking didn’t matter, because I knew the moment she got in next to me. I couldn’t exactly turn my other senses off. I knew her hair was down because that vanilla cupcake scent was tempered by the scent of her shampoo. Was it weird I knew the difference between the two? Maybe. A little weird and a lot sad.
“Why didn’t you just drive separately?” The question flew out of my mouth before I could stop it.
