I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. I hoped he didn’t get offended if I wanted us to room separately. I could tell him I snored louder than the fighter jets that flew over Virginia Beach on the regular. Maybe that I was a light sleeper? Something.
On the bright side, hitting the road with my boss’s incredibly fuckable son would get me out of my apartment for a while. A week with Armin might test my ability to concentrate on the road, but it wouldn’t be nearly as awkward as going home every night to help my as-of-recently-ex-boyfriend move his ass out of my apartment.
I lowered my hands and stared blankly at my computer screen. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all. Armin was my friend, and the same could not be said for the man who was taking his sweet time clearing out.
Yeah. I’d focus on that. I wasn’t stuck with the man I couldn’t have. I was escaping the man I didn’t want.
Smiling to myself, I exhaled. Okay. That put things in a very different perspective.
For that matter, Armin wasn’t just attractive. He was a good friend, too. We’d kind of flirted with the idea of hooking up a few years ago, but we’d both quickly thought better of it because of our work situation. There was just too much potential for things to get weird at the gallery, and I didn’t regret that decision. Much.
We’d both moved on, and I was probably just being stupid about him right now because I was newly single and looking at everyone through self-pitying “Why is everyone dating except me?”-colored glasses. I mean it wasn’t like I was all that torn up about Chad leaving. We should’ve done this a long time ago. It was just upheaval and change and uncertainty, and I probably needed to have a few drinks, vent to someone, and reactivate my long-dormant Tinder profile.
Ooh, I could do that with Armin! Not the Tinder profile part, but the having a drink and venting part. We’d both been too busy to talk much lately, but we’d always been confidantes for each other. We’d done plenty of bitching about work, relationships, and whatever else was on our minds. He was good at giving advice, and he always seemed to know when I just needed to piss and moan, and when I needed someone to tell me to stop being a dumbass or a doormat, depending on the situation.
Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all.
And wasn’t he going to get us some info about logistics so I could start booking? Where the hell was he?
I needed some more coffee anyway, so I got up and went looking for coffee and Armin.
I heard him before I saw him. He was in the spare room that he sometimes used as an office when he was working on-site. The door was ajar, and on the other side, he sounded exasperated. “What do you want me to do?” Dress shoes snapped on the hard floor as if he were pacing. “My dad needs two people to do this, and he can’t spare anyone except for me and Marques. What else can—”
“That means you’re on the road with him.” His girlfriend’s voice was tinny, so she must’ve been on FaceTime or speakerphone. “For days. And rooming with him.”
“So what? He’s—”
“I don’t like it, Armin. I don’t even like you working with him as much as you do.”
My lips parted, and I halted a few feet from the door. What the fuck?
Armin sighed, shifting from exasperated to straight up exhausted. “If you don’t trust me, then just say it.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s—”
“If you trust me, then it’s a moot point. If you think I’m going to cheat on you with him or anyone else, then just say it. Because it doesn’t matter what anyone else does—I’m not going to cheat on you. Period.”
She said something I couldn’t make out. Something fast, sharp and angry.
“Tanya.” Armin groaned. “Okay, not that it should matter since you say you trust me, but he’s not going to throw himself at me. He’s not that kind of guy, and you know it.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah, you do,” Armin snapped. “We both know he’s my friend, and he respects our relationship. And for God’s sake, he’s in a relationship of his own.”
I winced. I hadn’t told anyone here at the gallery that Chad and I had broken up, so he had no way of knowing.
“Do you want to come with us?” he asked.
My teeth snapped together.
Oh, Armin. No. No, no, no. Don’t you put that evil on us.
I could handle being around Tanya, but cooping us up on the interstate for hours on end? Someone was going to throw themselves out of the moving vehicle, and I legitimately didn’t know who.
On the other end, Tanya huffed audibly. “You know I can’t just take off from work at the last minute like that.”
I closed my eyes and sighed with relief.
“So what else do you suggest?” Armin’s tone was gentler now. “I mean it: if you’ve got a solution, I’m all ears, because Dad really needs two people to go up there, and there’s no one else who—”
“I get it,” she snapped.
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then, Armin said so quietly I barely heard him, “We’ll get separate rooms if it’ll make you feel better.”
More silence. Finally, she sighed heavily. “Okay. Fine. I guess since he’s got a boyfriend, and as long as you’re not sharing rooms…”
I pursed my lips. Well, that solved the room thing without me having to make some kind of bullshit excuse about snoring. I was salty about it, because fuck her for acting like I was going to disrespect either of them by jumping her man’s bones, but whatever.
They were still talking, but I didn’t want to hear any more of it, so I continued toward the breakroom for that coffee.
I wouldn’t tell Armin I’d overheard their conversation. It hadn’t been meant for my ears, and he’d probably be mortified if he knew.
In fact, I thought as I poured myself that much-needed coffee, Armin and Tanya thought I was still in a relationship. That had apparently been enough to ease her worries about him traveling with me. To me, that said she didn’t think too highly of Armin, and she sure as hell didn’t trust him, but that was their business. The bottom line was that she’d backed down and wasn’t trying to stop him from traveling with me. Not because he was faithful. Not because he and I didn’t have a choice. No, because she was willing to believe I’d keep my hands to myself solely because I had a boyfriend.
Maybe I should keep it that way.
I mean, it was total bullshit, and I was insulted both for myself and for my friend, but I wasn’t going to tell him how to handle his business. If the two of them believing I had a boyfriend meant less stress and headache for both of them, then I’d keep my breakup under my hat until we were back in town. If I told him, then he’d have to either tell her (and risk her being pissed off) or lie to her about it, even if it was lying by omission. I couldn’t put him in that position.
Putting the coffeepot back, I muttered some things that would’ve made my mama wash out my mouth with soap. I knew about Tanya’s bullshit when it came to me. She wasn’t exactly subtle about it. But it was just that—bullshit. Yeah, I had a thing for Armin. Yeah, I thought he was sexy all hell. That didn’t mean I’d cheat on my own boyfriend, that I’d want to fool around with someone who was cheating (gross), or that I’d try to lure him away from her. Like yeah, he deserved better, but it wasn’t my place to interfere with his relationship for selfish or altruistic reasons.