Uninvolved (36 page)

Don’t feel sorry for him
,
Becka told herself. It didn’t change the fact that he was a jerk who had no problem screwing with her head and had just said it
.
He
never wanted a girlfriend again
.
Great
.
The
guy she wanted more than any other guy seemed to have sworn o
f
f women
.
Becka was finally ready after all of these years to have a boyfriend
,
and the one guy she wanted didn’t want a girlfriend.
That was just great
.
Becka spent the rest of the night fuming
.
Who did he think he was? Plenty of guys would love the chance to date her
.
S
he didn’t need him.

It was too late to call Lilly
,
and Dave was at work, not that Dave would be a sympathetic ear
.
Maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t home
.
She called Crystal
,
begging for a girl
s’
night out
.
Crystal, trooper that she was
,
promised to be
at
Becka's in
forty-five minutes
.

Some people ate their feelings
;
Becka overdressed hers
.
She settled on a high
-
waisted red mini and a white tank
top
with a daring neckline, her black lacy bra peeking out
.
It was cold out
,
so she wore a black belted jacket and heeled short black boots
.
Becka straightened her hair and kept her makeup simple with the exception of her fire engine red
lipstick
.

"Wow
,
" Crystal said in greeting when she opened the door
.
"Hot mama."

Becka grinned
,
but it didn’t reach her eyes
.
This whole
Nate
debacle had seemingly permanently affected her
self-confidence
.
Even walking out the door
,
Becka couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t want her all of the time
.
Going out with Crystal was just a
lame excuse to get hit on for
a placebo-
like
self
-
esteem fix.
Becka was going to drink too much tonight
,
and with any
luck do something she regretted.

Crystal had wanted to see this band that was playing nearby. As long as there would be beer and boys
,
Becka was happy to tag along. The bar was in
an
open
-
air shopping center not far from Jillian's. It was crowded
,
so Crystal and Becka had to squeeze their way up to the bar. Recognizing that a friend of Lucy's was bartending
,
Becka managed to score
a safe place for their coats. Becka opened a tab and ordered them each a shot of tequila. Crystal's eyes got wide
,
but she grabbed her shot
.
They
cheer
s
ed
and threw them back.

Becka scanned the place for any open tables near the stage. There weren’t any free ones
,
but she did see one that appeared to only have two guys standing around it. Becka ordered a
r
um and Coke and
,
once she had it
,
pulled Crystal over to the table.

"Hi
.
Can
we share your table with you?" Becka asked the cuter of the two guys.

He took one look at her and said
,
"Sure" as he moved his drink so she could have room to put hers down.

Crystal nodded politely at the other guy and set her drink down as well.

"I'm Becka, and th
is is Crystal."

"Oh
,
I'm Ian
,
and this is Henry."

Becka was thinking Ian looked pretty good, and she wondered if he would be interested in helping her forget all about
Nate
. Becka made a point to laugh at his jokes and randomly touch his arm.
Ian seemed receptive
,
making a point to lean in real close
when
he spoke to her. Crystal did not seem as likely to hit things off with Henry. Instead
,
she was intent on watching the band. Becka could not help but notice the guitarist look over at Crystal more than a few times.

Becka's thoughts kept straying to
Nate
. She felt a
pull of sympathy
for him because it was
his birthday.
As much as Becka wanted to be really into flirting with Ian
,
she had to deal with the fact that she just wasn’t feeling it. Becka started thinking about how she had hung up on
Nate
and wondering what he was doing. She went to the bathroom and called him.

"Becka?"

"I take it back."

"
What's that noise in the background?
Where are you?"

"
Some band at s
ome bar."

"What do you take back?"

"I do want to see you."

"Where are you?"

"I forget the name
.
It’s
some bar over by Jillian
'
s."

"I'm on my way."

"Really?"

"Really."

Becka hugged her phone to her chest and shimmied.
She figured it would take him twenty
minutes to get there so she
went
to tell Crystal.

"So is this like a date?"

"Doubtful, and I have no idea if he'll want to stay or not. Will you hate me forever if I bail with him?"

"Not forever."

Chapter 18

Becka hugged her. She felt like a jerk for maybe leaving
,
but it was
Nate
.
What
else could she do?
Becka went back over to the bar to get another drink. Ian came to stand with her and offered to get her drink. Becka thanked him but told him she had it. When their drinks came and she did not move to walk back with him to the table
,
he looked at her confused. Not wanting to lead him on anymore
,
she told him she was waiting for a guy friend. He seemed to get the hint and walked back to the table alone.

Becka was almost done with her drink when she felt an arm wrap around her waist and a "Hey
,
kid" breathed into her ear. His voice gave her goose bumps. Becka turned to face him and wrap her arms around his neck. She leaned up to kiss him
,
asking him if today was his birthday. After their kiss
,
Nate
confirmed that yes
,
it was.
Taking a step back from her
,
Nate
checked out what she was wearing
,
mentioning something about having to beat guys off with a stick.

"So what do you want for your birthday?"

"Got it."

"Got what?"

"A kiss from a smoking hot girl."

Blushing, Becka
gestured towards the table she and Crystal had been at and asked
Nate
if he wanted to go join them
.
H
e stiffened.
Something was up.
At first
,
Becka wondered why he even came out if he didn’t want to be there
.
Then she noticed how intently he was glaring at that
guy
,
Ian, and that Ian seemed to be somewhat glaring back.

"
Becka
,
how do you know Ian
?"

"Just met him tonight
.
Is
everything
okay
?"

"Ian is my old roommate
.
You
know, the one who was fucking my ex."

"Oh my God,
Nate
.
I literally just met him tonight. Do you want to leave? We can go back to my house."

"That would probably be a good idea."

"My friend Crystal is over there
.
I can't just leave without telling her."

"I understand."

Becka turned his face to look at her
.
"Do you want to know why I called you?" Not waiting for an answer
,
she went on
.
"I came here tonight wanting
to try and forget about you
,
and I flirted with that guy
,
Ian. And the whole time
,
all I could think of was how badly I wanted you. I know you don’t want to complicate things
,
but I just wanted you to know that."

Nate
pulled her into a kiss so intense she had to catch her breath when he finished. It drove her crazy that he could not admit that they should be together. Becka gave
Nate
a quick extra peck before going over to Crystal. It felt weird feeling
Nate
's eyes on her back as Ian watched her approach. When she got to the table
,
Becka ignored him even though he was staring at her.

"
Leaving with your friend?" Ian asked.

"Um, yep."

Becka whispered in Crystal's ear that she was leaving and that she was pretty sure that Ian guy was bad news
,
just as a head's up. Becka made Crystal promise to text her when she got home and double
-
checked that she was okay with her leaving.
Giving a half
-
hearted wave to Ian and Henry
,
Becka turned and went back to
Nate
. He was so tense
. S
he leaned up to nibble on his jaw. Breaking his concentration on Ian,
Nate
looked down at her and smiled. Becka got her coat back and
closed her tab
.
T
hen they left.

Neither of them noticed Ian had followed them out until he said
,
"
Nate
.
"

Nate
's head whipped back to look at Ian.

"Look
,
dude
,
I just wanted to say
—
"

"Do not fucking talk to me
,
"
Nate
cut him off
,
taking Becka's hand and
making
his way to the parking lot.

Following them
,
Ian said
,
"I just want to say I'm sorry."

"Trust me
,
Ian
.
You
need to go away right now."
Becka's eyes widened
.
She
had never heard
Nate
sound so angry.

"You won't return any of my phone calls." Ian continued.
"Come on
,
man
.
Clearly
you’ve moved on."

At this
,
Nate
spun around to face him
.
"You went with me to pick out a ring
.
You
knew how much I loved her."

Becka's mouth dropped open. So
it
turned out the ex was more than just a girlfriend. Ian at least had the wherewithal to look
pained when
Nate
said that.

"I'm so sorry."

"Never speak to me again."

On the drive to her house
,
Becka asked if
Nate
was okay.
Nate
didn’t say anything
,
but he reached out and took her
hand. There was so much Becka wanted to ask, but she knew better. Becka could not imagine what might have happened if she had not called
Nate
. He seemed furious that she had been near Ian
.
She
could not think of how he would have felt about her if something had happened with Ian.