Page 42 of Nailing Heat

“I kind of am.”

Our waitress returns with our food, and she makes quick work of leaving this time. I look around to see it’s a lot busier in here than it was when we first arrived. No time for her to be extra charming with us now.

We eat in silence for a bit. The only noise around us are the various baseball games being played on the TVs and the conversations bubbling up from the tables. Jase is the first one to break the silence.

“It’s been a weird day for you, huh?”

“How do you mean?” I set my sandwich down and watch him.

“Well, DJ asks you out and then your ex-wife is blowing up your phone but not leaving any messages. Almost like she knew someone was sniffing around what was hers.”

“Huh, yeah, I never thought of it that way. But Elise doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“No, I’m sure she doesn’t. But it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt her any less to hear if you would have accepted a date with her,” Jase tells me matter-of-factly.

Oh, if he only knew the things I did that hurt her. This would be the least of them.

“I guess so.” I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Did you say no to DJ because of Elise?”

The question catches me by surprise. “No,” I stammer out. “It wasn’t because of her.”

“So, who was it because of?” Jase leans in. I can see from the eager look on his face that he’s not going to be letting this one go any time soon.

“It is so freaking crowded in here tonight.” Cassie comes in and pulls out a chair, causing it to squeak against the bar floor. She throws her purse on top of our table and steals a fry from Jase’s plate before looking from me to Jase and back again. “What did I just interrupt?”

“Nothing,” I say, apparently a little too quickly for Jase because he starts laughing at me immediately.

“I was asking him about DJ and why he said no to her.” Jase grins at her like an idiot.

I watch as Cassie leans in and gives him a kiss. I should look away from the intimate moment, but I don’t. I can’t. It reminds me of the way that Elise and I were before things got weird and complicated between us.

“So, why did you say no?” Cassie asks.

“Amelia seemed relieved that I did.” The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them. It’s the only thing that I’ve been thinking about since I went into my room. The relief is something that I can’t quite get past.

“She did, did she?” Cassie’s eyes are sparkling, and her grin couldn’t be any wider. Yep, I’ve stepped into her web, and I’ve fucked up with that one. Especially when I don’t even really know how I feel about it.

“Coming to dinner with you certainly didn’t disappoint. Why would you say that?” Jase asks me, leaning in.

“I don’t know. She seemed like it, didn’t she?” I look at Cassie for confirmation.

Cassie nods slowly. “I guess I would say that she did. After DJ was talking about it in the locker room, Amelia sure did leave sooner than she normally does. How did she seem at home?”

“Like she relaxed when I told her.”

“Walk me through it,” Cassie demands.

“I came home and found her in the kitchen already dressed for bed. She was making a salad. I told her that I had told DJ no and I swear I saw her exhale. She seemed relieved, I thought.” Ishrug and search Cassie’s face to see if she’ll confirm what I think I know.

She grins. “Why would you care?”

“I don’t want to hurt her.” The response slides out of my mouth before I can stop it, but every time I think of her, I grin.

“Why would you think you’d hurt her?” Cassie asks.

“Because...” My voice trails off.