Page 27 of Snowed

He arched a brow. “Based on what?”

“Well, for one, she’s clearly not over that guy Davis. She’s still keeping up this façade. If she didn’t give a shit, wouldn’t she just tell him the truth? Or at least break up with me?”

Break up with me? I sounded like a lunatic.

“So she’s trying to make him jealous. What’s your excuse for feeding into this charade?”

“I told you, I’m just doing it to entertain her at this point.”

Tim smirked. “Because you like her…”

“Well, yeah. But I don’t expect anything to come of it.”

I did like her—a lot. If I were being honest, there was more to my hesitancy than I was letting on. I was afraid to get involved with someone who was still hung up on someone else. Engaged or not, it was only a matter of time before that idiot Davis came to his senses and begged her to take him back. The woman really seemed like the full package. And if she jumped on that, where would it leave me?

He chuckled. “Well, too bad it’s not real. She’s freakin’ smokin’, man.” He tilted his head. “If you’re not technically dating her, you mind setting your boy here up? I mean, I have no qualms about her still being hung up on that dork we just met. I’d snap her out of that real fast.”

My face felt hot. “Yeah. Not gonna happen.”

Damn. What was up with my reaction? Tim’s suggestion had made me feel flat-out jealous. I did really like Joy.

***

Later that night, I’d finished getting ready for my date with Kylie and had some time to kill before I had to meet her downtown.

I’d made sure to block Kylie from my posts on social media so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea about Joy and me—not that Kylie and I were even seriously dating. This would only be our second get together, the first of which was the night I’d met Joy. I remembered being totally distracted, thinking about the woman I’d met at Davis’s party rather than the one right in front of me that night.

I decided to log on and check my page to see if Joy had posted anything new or liked any of my posts. She’d done neither. Was she over the whole thing or just busy? Since she hadn’t said anything about the last few doctored photos, I decided maybe they weren’t good enough. I needed to up my game.

I found a photo of a couple sitting in a horse-drawn carriage in the middle of Times Square. After inserting Joy’s and my heads onto the respective people, I made up an elaborate story to go along with the post. It was all about how our horse had gotten spooked by a loud noise, veering off its path to end up in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of Times Square. In the next photo, we were ice skating at Rockefeller Center, followed by an image of us standing in front of Radio City Music Hall. Boy, we’d been busy—and really getting into the holiday spirit.

I sent her a quick message.

Nolan: Check out what we’ve been up to lately. ;-)

I exited out before calling a ride to head downtown.

Just as the car was about to drop me off at my destination, I checked to see if Joy had written.

My message had been seen a half hour ago—but no response.

CHAPTER 5

Nolan

It was really bugging me that Joy had read my messages and didn’t respond.

As soon as A Christmas Carol was over, I dug my phone out of my pocket. My date noticed.

“Is everything okay? You checked your messages a half dozen times before the show started.”

Shit. I hadn’t meant to be rude about it, especially since Kylie had treated me to the play we’d just watched. She’d refused to let me give her any money for the tickets. I shoved my phone back into my pocket, intent on giving her the attention she deserved.

“Sorry. Bad habit. Just a work thing going on.”

“No problem. I’m guilty of it, too. Especially when a patient I get friendly with isn’t doing well.”

“A patient?”