Page 29 of Anyone But Me

A week and a half had passed of keeping space from Jax, but it felt more like a decade.

We still ate dinner together most nights, but once we were done, I normally made the excuse that I needed to write and retreated to my room for the rest of the night.

In my defense, I did attempt to write each time.

Unfortunately, I was pretty sure I had deleted more words than I wrote.

I needed to get out, but the problem was, the one place I loved to go felt off limits right now since it was Jax’s workplace and wouldn’t exactly help to keep space between us.

I remembered Annika’s offer to talk and walked to her office. When I didn’t find her there, I went to the break floor since that was where she had told me she spent most of her time. I found her in one of the rooms, all by herself, sitting on a bean bag chair.

When she heard me come in, she looked up from her computer and smiled. “Carter! Hey! How are you doing? What can I do for you?”

I put my hands in my pockets and rocked back and forth.

I was suddenly much more nervous than it made sense for me to be.

“I was just wondering if you were free sometime this week, and maybe wanted to, like, get a drink with me or something.” I shook my head at myself.

“Wow. That sounded like I was trying to ask you on a date. I realize that you are happily married and straight. I’m just really terrible at making friends. ”

“Making friends? I thought we already were.” Annika furrowed her eyebrows, but a smile quickly came onto her face. “I’d love to grab a bite to eat or something. My husband is actually working late tonight, so if you’re free, I’m good to go as soon as we leave here.”

“Really?” There was an embarrassing squeak in my voice because of how excited I was. “I’m totally free. That sounds great.”

“Are you sure you’re not trying to date me?” Annika teased. “I can’t remember the last time someone was so excited to spend time with me.”

I put my hand over my face and laughed. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so awkward.”

Annika laughed along with me. “It’s okay. I’m actually loving it.” She stood up. “Should we go now?”

“Yeah. That’s perfect.” A thought popped into my head. “Let me just text my roommate and let her know. We normally share cooking duties, so I need to tell her I won’t be there tonight.”

I pulled out my phone and opened the conversation with Jax, which now looking at it, had become very one-sided.

The last text was a drunk one Jax sent me this past weekend when she went to a friend’s Halloween party telling me how much she wished I was there.

My body heated up the same way it had the first time I read that text. Damnit.

Carter: Hey! I’m actually going out to eat with a coworker tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner. Sorry for the late notice!

Jax: All good! Glad you’re making friends at work :) I already started cooking, but I’ll heat something for myself in the microwave and save this for tomorrow.

Carter: Are you sure? I feel bad. I didn’t realize you would have already started.

Jax: It’s no big deal at all! Have fun! Can’t wait to hear all about it when you get home.

Jax was so sweet, it made me feel guilty over the distance I’d placed between us.

It wasn’t like I was doing it because I didn’t want to be around her.

I longed to be around her, and that was exactly what the issue was.

Hopefully soon that longing would go away and things could go back to normal between us.

Until then, I just had to keep reminding myself that this was for the best.

“Everything okay?” Annika asked. “Do you need to reschedule?”

I slipped my phone back into my pocket to keep myself from obsessing over it. “Nope. We’re good. I’m ready.”

We walked to a restaurant just a few blocks from work and sat at the bar while we waited for a table to be ready.

Annika turned to face me as she sipped on her glass of water.

“Tell me more about yourself, Carter. We’ve eaten lunch together many times, but I still feel like I don’t know much about you. ”

That’s because I have trouble letting people in. “I grew up about an hour outside of Philly, then moved to Philly for college, and that’s where I had been living before moving to New York.”

“Any siblings?”

“A brother and a sister. We’re actually triplets.”

A little bit of water dribbled out of Annika’s mouth as she coughed in response to my confession. She set down her water and brought a hand to her chest. “I’m sorry. Did you say triplets? Your poor mother. I can’t imagine having three babies in my belly.”

I watched the way Annika patted her stomach, and then my eyes drifted to her water, which she had opted for over alcohol.

Oh my god. I was so excited, I wanted to squeal and ask Annika if my assumptions were correct, but I held back.

If she really was pregnant, that was her news to tell.

I wasn’t going to steal the moment from her.

Plus, most people had a certain order they wanted to tell people in, and I was sure I was nowhere near the top of that list.

Annika laughed. “I kind of gave myself away there, didn’t I?

I can tell what you’re thinking, and the answer is yes.

I’m pregnant. Please don’t tell anyone at work, though.

It’s still early so none of them know. The only people who do know at this point are our families. ” Annika smiled at me. “And you.”

“Well, I’m flattered.” I truly was. Annika didn’t have to admit that to me and it meant so much to me that she had. “I promise not to tell a soul.”

“I know you won’t.” Annika picked her water back up off the bar. “But now that you know our biggest secret, you have to meet my husband, Wren. Do you have any free time next weekend?”

I, unfortunately, had all the free time in the world since I couldn’t spend too much time with the person I really wanted to. “Any day works for me. Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.”

“How about Saturday night at our house? I commute into the city, so it’ll be a little bit of a hike for you, but if you don’t mind that, we promise to be very hospitable.”

“Sounds perfect.”

***

When Saturday rolled around, I was much more nervous than I expected to be.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had met new people on my own.

When I really thought about it, it almost never happened.

Most of my friends throughout the years were friends of my siblings or Marcie.

Since the friendships I made at my last job didn’t go beyond lunch dates and work happy hours, I didn’t really count those. This was a big deal for me.

I smiled at the thought. At twenty-eight, it was pretty pathetic that I was proud of myself for making friends, but I was proud. It didn’t matter how long it took me. The fact that I was doing it now was a big deal. I was branching outside of my comfort zone, and that was a good thing.

I knocked on Annika’s front door with the hand that wasn’t holding the pie I had made.

I had waited until Jax went to work to make the pie because I knew she would offer to help and baking together wouldn’t be good for my heart, especially when I knew for a fact that Jax had gone to the dog park multiple times over these past two weeks.

I didn’t ask if she was meeting Maxine there, but the pit in my stomach told me she was.

A minute later, a tall, skinny man with dirty blonde hair opened the door for me. “You must be Carter.” He held out his arms toward me. “I’m Wren. It’s nice to meet you.” Before I knew what was happening, he pulled me into a tight hug.

“Sorry about my husband,” Annika said from behind us. “He’s a hugger.”

When Wren pulled away from me, his face was bright red. “Sorry. I tend to forget that not everyone is.”

“All good. My whole family is big on hugs, so I’m very used to it.”

Wren smiled widely as the redness disappeared from his cheeks. “That’s good. I think Annika would kill me if I scared her closest friend away.”

Closest friend? He had to have been joking. Even though I figured he was, it still made me happy to be referred to in that way.

Annika walked over to Wren and placed a hand on his arm.

“You’re definitely going to scare her away if you say things like that.

” She focused her attention on me. “I promise I have other friends. They just don’t live close by.

Since I’m always leaving home to go into the city, I feel like I still haven’t had a chance to really get to know any of our neighbors. ”

I put my hands in the air. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. My closest friends are my brother, sister, and moms, so I’d never judge.”

Annika dropped her hand from husband's arm and intertwined her arm with mine instead. “See. This is why I like you so much. Let me give you a tour of the house.”

After the tour, Annika led me back to the kitchen, which smelled fantastic from Wren’s cooking.

“So, we are pretty much the opposite of fancy around here and normally sit on the floor in our family room and watch TV during dinner. It’s completely up to you if you want to get the full DuPont family experience or sit at the kitchen table like actual civilized individuals. ”

“I want the full experience.” I appreciated how real Annika was and loved the idea of a more relaxed meal. When Jax and I ate together, we often held our plates on our laps while we sat on the couch together.

Jax . Just the thought of her made my heart tug in my chest. Maybe this distance thing wasn’t the best idea. It wasn’t helping anything, and I missed her like crazy. I missed the way things used to be between us.

A hand on my arm brought me back to the present moment, and I looked over to find Annika staring at me. “What just happened? You suddenly looked a million miles away.”

I sighed. If we were going to be good friends, I might as well be honest with her. “I was thinking about my roommate.”

Annika wiggled her eyebrows at me and led me toward the family room. “Please tell me more.”

As soon as we were sitting together in front of the coffee table, I let the whole story slip out.

I told Annika about Jax being my sister’s best friend and how I took over her part of the lease when I moved to New York.

I explained our lists and all of the time we had been spending together.

I could still feel it throughout my body as I talked about the kiss and how it had completely rocked my world.

“Carter.” Annika stared at me for a long time without saying a word. I was starting to fidget under her intense gaze when she finally spoke again. “This girl clearly likes you.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I appreciate your confidence in me, but I really don’t know. Jax is way out of my league.”

Annika moved her eyes up and down my body and cackled. “Girl, have you looked in the mirror? I don’t see how anyone could be out of your league. Hell, I’m straight, but if I wasn’t married, I’m pretty sure even I’d be interested.”

Now I knew she was just being nice. If what she was saying was true, I was pretty sure I would have been on at least one date in the past six years. “Thank you, but my dating history says otherwise.”

Wren walked into the room holding two plates, filled with pasta with chicken and broccoli covered by Alfredo sauce. The sight and smell alone had my stomach growling.

“Sweetie, wouldn’t you agree that no one could possibly be out of Carter’s league? She’s hot, right?”

Wren’s face turned red in response to his wife’s question, but he laughed as he looked between the two of us. “I feel like this is a trap.”

Annika put her hands in the air. “Not a trap. I’m just trying to show Carter that she definitely has a chance with some girl she thinks is out of her league.”

Wren looked between us once again as if he was trying to assess the situation, before putting his focus on me. “I think anyone who is single would feel very lucky if they knew you liked them.”

“Nice neutral answer, babe,” Annika said with a laugh. “Now go get your food and join us.”

I watched Wren walk out of the room, then turned back toward Annika. “Even if she did like me, there are a lot of factors that would make things complicated between us.”

“For example…” Annika prompted me.

“Well, for one, she’s my sister’s best friend.”

“And? I’m sure you wouldn’t be the first person in the world to date their sibling’s friend.”

My mind immediately went to my moms and my Uncle Jamie, and I started to laugh. “I can guarantee I wouldn’t be the first one. My mom was best friends with my Uncle Jamie before she started dating my mama. In fact, she met my mama when she was pretending to be my Uncle Jamie’s girlfriend.”

Annika’s eyes went comically wide. “No way! Are you serious?”

I laughed even harder now, because this was usually the reaction I got whenever I qtold people the story of how my parents met. “Yep. From what they’ve told us, it was a pretty insane meet cute.”

“And your moms are still married?”

I nodded. “ Very happily married. They just renewed their wedding vows this summer to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary.”

Annika brought her hand to her chest and pushed out her bottom lip. “That’s so sweet. It also proves my point. It worked for your moms. It could definitely work for you.”

“Maybe.” Annika was so convincing, she almost had me tempted to rush home and tell Jax exactly how I felt, but unfortunately, my insecurities would always win. “I don’t have the most confidence. My ex kind of messed me up.”

Wren joined us back in the room at that moment, and I explained my dating history to both of them. The conversation naturally shifted to Annika and Wren sharing nightmare dating stories of theirs, which led to the story of how they met.

Even though the subject had shifted away from her, Jax was all I could think about the rest of the night.

When I got back to our apartment and found Jax’s door closed, I was tempted to knock and see if she was home.

I walked up to her door and raised my hand to knock, but thought better of it.

The fact that she hadn’t come out when the front door opened meant she was either asleep or not home.

I looked around the room, but Speck wasn’t in any of his usual places.

When I went into my bedroom, I didn’t find him there either.

That meant Jax was definitely home and had him in the room with her.

You can talk to her tomorrow, I reminded myself. The only question was what the hell I was going to say.