“I was tired.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.”
Sadie and Dan, who had been murmuring to each other seconds before, suddenly went quiet.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” There was an edge to Jenny’s words I totally deserved.
I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry. Never mind.”
Jenny shuffled next to me, and I felt her arm brush against mine. She’d moved to the middle seat. Her hand, when it landed on my arm, did not feel affectionate. When I turned to look at her, I saw the hurt and anger to match.
“Go ahead and say it, Noah. What are you assuming?”
“What am I supposed to assume?” I said, leaning forward and running my hands through my hair.
“I hate your jealousy,” she said in a fierce whisper. “I hate it. Because it’s not…” She paused.
“It’s not what friends do,” I said, looking back at her.
“Yeah. And you’re being a bad friend right now.” Jenny pulled her blanket around her shoulders and had the audacity to rest her head against my shoulder. She was killing me. I loved having her near, but I also wanted to launch myself out of this car.
“I’m not dating Denver,” she murmured. “I’m not sleeping with him. I’m not having pajama parties with him. He’s just a friend, dummy. He came to get me last night when my roommate…. Well, let’s just say I’m having roommate problems and leave it at that.”
“What kind of roommate problems?” I tried to sound gruff, but the stupidest grin was trying to overtake my face, and I was doing my best to keep it out of my voice. I wasn’t too late. She wasn’t with Denver.
Jenny sat up and leaned over to see my expression. “I knew it. You’re happy the reason I was at Denver’s was because my roommate attacked me in the middle of the night. Of course. You’re such a dude.”
“Your roommate attacked you?” My relief immediately turned to concern as I studied Jenny’s face. She’d done her makeup, but I could see the shadow of what looked like a bruise on her cheek. I reached out and carefully ran my thumb across it.
Jenny’s eyelashes dipped down. “I’m fine. I’m making it sound more dramatic than it was. She wanders at night. And she’s got a strong, sleepy right hook.”
“You could have called me.”
“I didn’t want to.” Jenny pulled away from me and rested her head back against the seat, closing her eyes. “If I fall asleep and my head starts lolling around, just let it be, okay?”
She’d gone from warm to cold in an instant, but I got it. She didn’t trust me. I was still the jerk with the jealousy issues, and when it came to changing temperature, I was the king of it, having once been flirty and then back to just friendly and distant with no explanation. I had so much explaining to do, but I had to wait for the right moment, a moment that would never come if I couldn’t even get Jenny to talk to me. How many chances was I expecting to get? I had to stop being an idiot and just be the friend she’d asked for. Everything else could wait.
“What can I do to help?” I whispered. “I’ll do anything you want, and I won’t ask questions. Are you moving out?”
Jenny cracked one eye open. “That’s a question.”
I smiled at her, loving it when I coaxed a smile from her in return.
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to my roommate. I figured when she woke up in my bed, she’d call me. But she hasn’t. Maybe she’s still asleep.”
There were a lot of missing pieces to this story, all of which were raising my blood pressure, but she looked so tired and worried. I wasn’t even tempted to tease her about not bringing a sleep mask today.
“Get some sleep. We’ll talk later.”
“Okay.” She closed her eyes and was out in minutes with her legs curled under her. When her head slid to rest against my shoulder, I didn’t adjust it. After all, she’d told me not to.
Chapter 12 – Jenny
“How long will you be at Denver’s house? I need to know for carpool.” Sadie shifted her feet in the elevator, switching her weight from one side to the other.
“I don’t know yet.” I didn’t mean to sound snippy, but informing carpool of my schedule was a little low on my priority list at the moment. “I’m not staying there permanently, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“So you think you’re staying in your apartment?” Sadie cleared her throat.
