“Really?”
I laughed. “No. I’m a friend of Sadie’s.”
“Ah, Sadie showed. All I know about her is that my mom and Robert have lots of whispered conversations about her.”
“Don’t cross Sadie,” I warned.
He put a hand to his heart. “Message received. I’m Justin, by the way.”
“Noah.”
We shook hands, and then I followed him back to the kitchen. He stopped short in the doorway, and turned back to me with a look full of mischief. “Okay, who is the hot redhead? Please tell me that’s not Sadie, because with any luck, I’ll be taking her home with me tonight.”
“She’s not like that.”
He smiled. “We’ll see. A lot of girls think they’re not like that until they meet me.”
Over my dead body. I knew exactly what his play would be. Because he was obviously very charming. I’d thought he was a decent guy up until the moment he mentioned Jenny like that. But unlike him, I wasn’t above completely embarrassing myself tonight. It wasn’t like Jenny could despise me more than she already did.
Chapter 26 – Jenny
Noah’s cool and calm demeanor had been infuriating. I had told him to drop dead. Didn’t that merit at least a little bit of irritation? Instead, he’d barely glanced in my direction, too busy talking to people with Sadie and looking like he was having the best time ever.
But maybe I should have been careful what I wished for because the second Gina’s sons arrived, Noah was back to watching me like he thought I might hatch. It made me feel stupid for ever wishing for his attention at all. Having his eyes on me kicked up feelings I’d sworn were dead. And they had to be dead. I would not be handing him the key to my heart just because he really wanted it.
It was a relief when Dan and Sadie’s dad clinked on his glass with a spoon and announced it was time for dinner, because when dinner ended, I could go home. Well, sort of go home. To our room in Denver’s house, which was a pretty good substitute, actually. Denver could pretend he hadn’t waited up for us, and Sadie and I could listen to Stare-ton practice his harmonica through the wall while getting ready for bed. I’d held Sadie back from chewing him out about it. He only practiced for a regimented ten minutes nightly, and he was getting pretty good at Stevie Wonder’sIsn’t She Lovely.
We followed Robert into the dining room, which was all table at the moment. There was enough room to maneuver around each side, but that was it. Sadie had told me they’d rented the table just for tonight in order to fit everyone.
I filed in behind Sadie and turned to see that her cute, dateless step-brother was suddenly behind me.
“Hey, I’m Justin.”
“Jenny.”
“Do you mind if I sit by you?”
“Not at all.”
He pulled out my chair for me and tucked me in, which I would have appreciated more if Noah hadn’t at that exact moment practically pushed people aside to be the next one in line. He took the chair next to Justin and leaned forward with his elbows on the table. “Hey, guys.”
What. Was. Going. On?
Justin looked annoyed for a second, but he quickly covered it. “Hey, dude. You hungry or something?”
“Starving.” Noah’s eyes met mine, and I had to drop my gaze. His intensity was definitely back, but with a side of recklessness I’d never seen before. Not that it mattered. I didn’t want his jealousy interest in me, or guilt interest, or even temporary insanity interest. I’m not sure which one it was just now, nor did I care.
I turned to Sadie, determined to ignore both guys for the moment until my heart stopped beating so fast. And it was only beating fast because I was annoyed. Not because seeing Noah like this did anything to me. No, it did not. “What exactly is the question game?”
Sadie motioned the jar in the middle of the table full of folded up strips of paper. “They’re just conversation-starters. Weird, weird conversation starters only my dad could come up with. Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll just go around the table once and be done with it.”
An acquiescent Sadie was new to me, but I saw the wistful way she’d watched her dad. She really did want to please him. And if that meant playing a conversation game for a few minutes, I guess that wasn’t so bad.
The homemade rolls came around in a crystal bowl, and I took one before passing them to Justin. Our hands brushed, and he gave me a sheepish smile. “Do you think they’ll mind if I take two?”
“I’m sure they won’t.” It was cute that he thought my opinion on it mattered.Hewas cute.
Unlike Denver, who I could admit was attractive in a detached sort of way, interacting with Justin stirred up butterflies I hadn’t felt since… well, I wasn’t going to compare him to Noah, who I knew was watching us even though I refused to let him know that I knew. Besides, which Noah would I compare him to? There were so many versions to choose from.
