My Scorned Best Friend, page 8
“Emelia is jealous?” Xavier asks, concern in his tone.
“Afraid so. She doesn’t like Jed giving my stomach any attention. Every time he uses the phrase ‘when the baby comes,’ she changes the subject. I have to find a way for her to bond before the baby is born.”
“Mind if I stop by later?” Xavier asks.
“You’re always welcome. Why?”
Xavier shrugs. “Something I need to talk to my niece about.”
Molly shoots him an expression of appreciation, then moves her gaze around the table. “Okay, what can I get you all?”
I order an iced tea, Xavier orders a water, and Ben orders Lucy’s Flight.
After Molly’s gone, the table is quiet, and I search my mind for something to talk about and settle on the weather. How lame.
“How is the weather in San Francisco?”
“Foggy,” Xavier says at the same time Ben says, “Rainy.”
I concentrate on the menu as though I don’t know by heart everything they serve here. Awkward doesn’t even come close to describing this situation.
“I thought Coach wanted you in San Francisco today?” Ben asks Xavier, and I tilt my head.
“I told him I need a few mental health days.” Xavier doesn’t look up from the menu. “He doesn’t have to worry about me.”
What the hell are they talking about?
“Is something wrong?” I ask.
“No. My knee took a beating last Sunday, so Coach wants me with the trainers, but it’s fine.”
The pit in my stomach says Xavier isn’t feeling one hundred percent physically. I’m shocked he’s going against his coach’s wishes. That’s not like him at all.
“So where are you staying?” Xavier asks Ben.
Ben looks my way. I suppose I should offer to repay the favor of him letting me stay at his place when I went to visit him.
“Oh. I have more than enough room,” I say.
Xavier clears his throat, and before Molly even gets a chance to put down his water, he takes it from her and gulps a large swig.
“Great,” Ben says. “I’m only here until Sunday. We have practice on Monday, so I have to be back for that. I did some research on the plane and there’s a restaurant in a neighboring town called Terra and Mare. It’s supposed to be the fanciest one around here, so I made us reservations for tonight.”
My eyes catch Xavier’s across the table. One side of his lips tips up as though he’s happy we were already there yesterday. As if this is a game we’re playing. Arrogance shines bright on him, and I can’t quite determine what that means.
Molly returns to the table, and we order our lunch. Xavier has his usual quesadilla, me a BLT, and Ben orders a quesadilla and a burger with fried pickles.
“And another flight,” Ben says, raising his hand to her before she leaves. “It was a bumpy flight and I’m not the best flyer.”
I almost spit out my iced tea. “Really?”
“Why do you find that so funny?” Ben looks offended, so I extend my hand across the table to touch his forearm.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You’re just… you’re a big guy and I can’t picture you scared of anything.”
“Oh, Ben’s scared of plenty.” Xavier smiles over the rim of his water. “Is that more like date five material, or are you going to tell her now? Maybe just get it out of the way.”
“It’s, like, after marriage material, but…”
I lean back in my chair, waiting for Ben to enlighten me.
“Spiders for one.” Ben’s body racks in shivers.
Xavier and I laugh, our eyes catching across the table for a moment. That nonverbal language between us alive and well once again.
“Heights. Which accounts for the whole airplane thing. And I absolutely hate any being that flies.”
“That’s not that bad.” I smile across the table at Ben.
“Wait until you see a pigeon fly at him.” Xavier laughs. “Flails like a little girl.”
Ben shakes his head and finishes off another one of the beers on his flight.
I point at Xavier. “Let’s remember who ran out of that haunted house screaming when we were nine.”
Xavier shudders. “I told you a ghost grabbed my arm.”
I playfully roll my eyes. “Likely story.”
“And you’re always making fun of me?” Ben asks Xavier, shaking his head.
“You’re the Hulk. It’s funny that you’re always scared of stuff.”
Molly brings our food over and we all eat. The awkwardness from earlier eases and it just feels like three friends getting together and making conversation.
“How long have you two been friends?” Ben asks.
We both look up from our meals. “Kindergarten,” we answer in unison.
“Seriously? I don’t even remember the names of the kids I went to elementary school with, let alone still talk to them. But it must help with the trust issues you have.” He elbows Xavier.
I tilt my head, and Xavier peers up through his thick eyelashes for a beat before looking back down at his plate.
“You have a big mouth,” he murmurs and takes a bite of his quesadilla.
“I thought you two weren’t just friends, you were best friends? She doesn’t know about that?” Ben takes a big bite out of his burger.
“There are some things only other players understand.” Xavier shoots him a look as though he’s telling Ben to shut the fuck up.
But Ben doesn’t seem to clue in. “You know the women who only want us for our status and money? Scares Xavier.”
He’s never discussed that with me. I wish it didn’t feel like a dagger to the heart. I’ve always told him everything.
“Mind your own business, Ben.” Xavier looks across the restaurant. “Jed!”
Jed, his stepbrother, walks over and turns the empty chair beside me around, straddling it. “What’s up? I heard you were back in town for a bit.”
“Yeah, I’m picking up Dad from treatment.” Xavier lifts his wrist to check his watch. I recognize it as being from the watch company he does ads for.
“He’s doing great from what Mom says.” Jed looks from me to Xavier and back to me. Jed’s never been subtle, and he wags a finger between the two of us. “What’s with you two being at the same table?”
I look at Xavier to answer the question and he shrugs a shoulder. “We made up.”
“You were fighting?” Ben looks at Xavier in confusion.
Molly arrives with the next flight for Ben, and Jed snags her by her waist and brings her to his side. “How’s my baby?” He presses his lips to her stomach.
A pang of jealousy cuts me. I can’t deny I want that too.
“How far along are you?” Ben asks. Thank goodness for him not staying on one topic very long.
Molly laughs. “Not too far along yet.” She looks at the clock. “Speaking of… the oldest needs to be picked up from school and I’m thinking maybe her daddy should be the one to do it.”
Jed stands and sighs. “Did you hear? Emelia is going apeshit about this baby. Thinks it’s replacing her because it’s a full part of us and she’s only half of us.” He shakes his head, and there’s real concern in his eyes. It’s rare to see Jed not carefree and fun loving.
“Maybe have Rylan talk to her,” I suggest. “He’s a Greene but not from either one of the original Greene families.”
“If I can find that little fifteen-year-old, that’s not a bad idea.” Jed rubs his stubble with his palm.
“Hey,” Xavier says. “Is he dating Calista Bailey now?”
Jed laughs and peers down at Molly, who snickers and says, “You know that was just a ploy to get you two together, right?”
“I knew that was the story, but I wasn’t sure if that was actually the truth.” Xavier shrugs.
“They still act like they don’t like each other,” Jed says.
“Kind of like you two,” Molly says, waving her finger between Xavier and me.
Ben coughs, quickly grabbing his beer to wash down the food lodged in his throat. “Am I missing something?”
“Gotta go,” Molly singsongs and walks away.
“People have been thinking we’re secretly together for years. It’s just a rumor. We’re just friends. Right, X?”
He nods but doesn’t say anything. Usually, he’d be the first one to point out that we’re just friends.
Ben smiles. “Good. I was gonna ask if I’m just wasting my time here?”
“No.” I give him a wan smile I hope appeases him. Although deep down I think the answer is yes, but not because of Xavier. Try as I might, my feelings for Ben just aren’t moving in the direction of romance. Maybe I’m still too messed up about Xavier to allow someone else in.
“Then I can take you to dinner tonight? That Terra and Mare place.”
I know Ben means well, but I don’t want him to spend the night in a fancy restaurant he surely doesn’t want to be in. “I have a better idea. How about we head to this bar on the outskirts of town? We can play pool and darts. I’ll show you the spots off the beaten path of Sunrise Bay.”
Ben’s lips spread in a huge smile, revealing his perfect white teeth. “Sounds fun.”
“Great. But now I have to get back to work. Um… my place?” I look at Xavier. “Would you mind showing Ben where I live? You have your key.”
He doesn’t make eye contact with me. “Sure.”
“Okay, I get off at five, so I’ll be home shortly after.” I get up and put on my coat. “See you then.” I open my purse to leave some money on the table.
“I got it,” Xavier mumbles.
“I’ll pay you back.”
He nods.
This wasn’t at all how I saw our lunch panning out, but I have no time to dwell on that. Fran and her crew made an appointment with me to discuss the extension and what they hope it will include, should they decide to donate money.
“Bye, guys.” I walk off but turn around. “It’s great that you came, Ben. Really.”
I mean it. It was a nice thing for him to do, and if I was more into him, I’d be swooning right now. But his visit might be a blessing in disguise and let me really figure out whether there’s anything between us.
His face brightens with a smile as though he never expected me to say that. “I’m glad I came then.”
“Bye, X,” I say and walk out the door.
Once I’m in the library and out of the public eye, I lock myself in my office for a moment to catch my breath and gain my equilibrium. Why do I feel as if I’m in some weird sort of love triangle when there’s technically only one man who’s interested in me?
“Does this house suit her or what?” Ben asks the minute I use the key she hides in a rock garden by the front door to let us in. He should be staying at my place, but I wasn’t gonna make some big deal about it and get Clara pissed at me again.
“It was her childhood home.” I set the key on the table near the front door.
“Really? Where are her parents?” He leaves his suitcase in the front foyer and starts looking around. For some reason, it irks me that he’ll be here alone. Then again, I’ve known Ben for many years—it’s not like he’s gonna steal her panties.
“She hasn’t told you?” I stand inside the door, checking my watch because I don’t want to be late picking up my dad from his treatment.
“No. This them?” He points at a picture in the living room from when she was little, her parents on either side of her.
“Yeah. They died.” My chest tightens a little when I picture Clara’s red eyes full of tears afterward.
His jaw hangs open when he turns toward me. “Seriously? Together?”
“No. Her dad died in a fishing accident, and her mom died of cancer a few years back.”
“No siblings?”
“She has Presley, but she never even knew she existed until… wait? She hasn’t told you any of this?”
Ben shrugs and ventures into the kitchen. “We haven’t really gotten into the family thing.”
I check my watch again and follow him. I only have a couple minutes. “What do you talk about?”
I love Clara’s style because it’s so uniquely her own, mixed with her mother’s. The furniture is eclectic, different colors that go well together. There are always plants and flowers here, which I think she keeps on account of her mother’s love for them. Although there aren’t nearly as many as when her mom was alive. She’s bought a few items for the house that make it appear more modern, but all in all, it’s her. It’s Clara.
“Whoa!” Ben says.
I turn the corner to find him out of the kitchen and in the living room, standing in front of her giant bookcase.
“Do you think she’s read all these?”
“And then some. She’s a librarian.”
His finger scans one row. “She kind of intimidates me.”
“How come?” I lean back against her small breakfast bar and cross my arms, watching him touch all her things and wanting to break his hands for it. I wish this feeling would disappear. Why the hell do I feel so territorial about him being in her space?
He turns to me, and I know what he’s going to say from the insecure expression on his face. “She’s smart. She reads. Sometimes I feel like our conversations aren’t very smooth.”
“You can read, right?” I joke, and he picks up a pillow off the couch and tosses it at me. I pick it up off the floor and wipe my hand down it, walking across the room to put it back. “Clara is…” I struggle with how to describe her because to me, she’s just Clara, my best friend, my confidant, the first person I call when something good happens in my life. “She’s just a woman like any other.”
The lie tastes bitter. She’s not like every other woman. She’s down to earth and funny, and she cooks, but she’s a better baker. She’s sensitive and doesn’t shy away from her feelings, and she lets others in even if they end up hurting her. She’ll help anyone no matter the cost to herself.
“Even I know that’s not true, X. She’s not like any other woman I’ve ever dated.” He picks up a book off the table and thumbs through it.
“True, but I can tell you there’s no one with a kinder heart. You can trust her with your insecurities or anything else you’re feeling in your relationship with her.”
He laughs.
My brows furrow. “What?”
“It’s funny you say that since you clearly never told her about your own hang-ups.”
“Clara doesn’t need to be bothered with my feelings of not trusting women.”
He puts the book back down on the coffee table. “I’m gonna be honest here, X. I’m starting to feel like there’s more to you two than friendship. Are you sure there aren’t any feelings between you?”
I could be honest with him, let him know what went down two years ago, but I’m not going to betray Clara’s trust like that. If she wants to tell him, she can.
“I’m sure.”
He scrutinizes me for a moment as though I’m going to cave and change my answer.
“I gotta go get my dad. You okay here?”
His eyes scour the place. “What’s there to do? It’s only two o’clock.”
I shrug. “You can go explore Sunrise Bay. If you head that way”—I point—“you’ll go back by the bay.”
“Okay. Sounds good. Hope Hank is doing well. Give him my best.”
I nod and leave Clara’s house, not liking leaving Ben in there alone.
On the way to the medical center, I turn on the radio to get my mind off Clara, but of course my stepsister Nikki’s show—Scandals of Sunrise Bay—is on.
“I know I missed the morning shift, everyone, and I apologize, but my little man had a checkup with the doctor. I know you were in good hands with Chip anyway,” she starts. “But I’m about to make it worth the wait.”
“Do tell,” Chip says.
“Well, I was on my way into the station when I heard a male voice calling for Clara. I stopped and turned to see Ben Noughton from the San Francisco Kingsmen running toward her like he was Superman. Literally. Instead of a cape though, it was his wheeled luggage flowing behind him. The man is massive.”
“He’s a lineman,” Chip says as if that’s explanation enough, which I suppose it is if you know football. “And isn’t Ben your stepbrother’s teammate?”
“Sure is!” Nikki’s voice is way too upbeat for this to be a positive thing for me. “And Xavier was just opening the door to Truth or Dare Brewery for our little librarian, Clara Harrison.”
Chip plays some sound they’ve been using lately during these stupid gossip sessions.
“Everyone knows Xavier is my stepbrother and I’ve known Clara for the same amount of time I’ve known him. I always thought there was something between them, then two years ago, their friendship crumbled out of nowhere. No one knew why. Well, I’m certain her sister, Presley, did, but she was so tight lipped you’d think her mouth was superglued shut.”
“They are family,” Chip adds his two cents.
“Sure, but so am I. Anyway, back to today, because that’s what matters. I got a phone call late last night about how Grandma Ethel and Dori had worked their magic, getting Xavier and Clara locked in Terra and Mare and forcing them to talk out their differences. Witnesses said they came out smiling, so I’m assuming all is right in the world with those two now. But then today when Ben Noughton announced his arrival into Sunrise Bay by calling Clara’s name, Xavier looked anything but happy to see him.”
“Are you suggesting that maybe Xavier and Clara aren’t just best friends? That perhaps underlying feelings have started to surface?”
Damn Chip. I have no idea how an aging man handles gossiping with Nikki over the radio. I wish the two of them would mind their damn business and keep their opinions to themselves.
“I’m not sure. I have my feelers out, and I’m expecting a few people out there to report back to me if they spot anything to either confirm or deny that theory. But I don’t think anyone in town would mind if those two finally admitted what we all already know—that they freaking want to see each other naked!”
I turn a corner and my hands grip the steering wheel a little tighter.
