Page 70 of Dr. Sexypants

“No, it’s not,” Jade interjected. “He was way out of line.”

“He was just sticking up for his friend,” I countered—not believing I was defending the prick. “You guys would do the same.”

She shrugged. “I guess.”

Teresa touched my hand. “Word of advice: get in front of this. Don’t let someone else dictate the narrative.”

I knew she was right—yet, I didn’t immediately reach out to Justin, making the excuse that he was sleeping, and I didn’t want to disturb him.

Then, I went to the wedding and put off texting him because I wasn’t sure how to explain the situation over text.

By the time the reception rolled around, I figured it was too late. That Rob had already inflicted the damage.

That’s when I panicked.

I considered going to see him in the ER and even asked Jade what she thought.

Her eyes got wide and she shook her head. “Oh, no. That’s the last thing you should do. He would hate conflict while he’s at work.”

So, I fretted the rest of the time at the reception.

Needless to say, I slept like shit. And since I wasn’t sure what time he was going to be home from the hospital, I was up and out the door as the sun came up.

After an hour waiting at his house, my butt fell asleep sitting on his cement steps. At the ninety-minute mark, I considered going home and driving the Mazda over so at least I could wait in my car.

Fortunately, he pulled into his driveway before I left.

Except now that Justin was standing in front of me, the speech I’d been preparing in my head for the last twelve hours flew out the window. I felt like a deer in the headlights when I looked at him, and I spit out the first thought that popped in my head.

“I’m not dating Jonathan!”

He was quiet as he studied me for a minute before gently closing the driver’s door and opening the rear passenger door to retrieve his backpack.

Finally, he spoke. “That’s not what I heard.”

“I know what you heard, which is why I’m up at this ridiculous hour to tell you in person that it’s not true.”

“You could have called. Or texted. Although it was probably hard to get away from the wedding, huh?”

“Look, I’m not even going to pretend that I don’t deserve that. I should have talked to you about the wedding. My only defense was I didn’t know what to say. I thought asking you to be my date would give off mixed signals and telling you about it and not inviting you would be rude.”

“Jesus, Kristy. Mixed signals are all you’ve been giving me!”

“That’s not true! I’ve been upfront about not wanting a relationship. I—”

He cut me off. “Then why are you here?”

“I told you, I needed to make sure you knew the rumors about Jon and me aren’t true.”

Justin took a step closer. “If we’re not in a relationship, then why would it matter?”

I opened my mouth to reply, then closed it with a frown.

Finally, I mumbled, “I—I don’t know.”

His next steps were slow and deliberate—like he was giving me an opportunity to bolt before he wrapped an arm around my waist and looked down into my eyes.

“I think you do, beautiful. You just don’t want to admit it.”