“I know enough. He looks at you like he’s picturing you naked. I fucking hate him.”
My head fell back in a fit of giggles. He was beyond ridiculous, and I loved it.
“You don’t say?”
“I do say.”
“So, how’s your little problem downstairs?” I wriggled my brows and smiled.
“Are you referring to my broken dick, Jade? Is this a joke to you? Do you know what it’s like to go months without sex? With the worst case of blue-balls of your life?”
I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle my laughter. “I know what it’s like to go months without sex, yes.”
“Ah, good to know I’m not the only one suffering.” Although he attempted to be serious, the grin he was trying to contain snuck out.
“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be by yourself for a while. You know, while you figure out who you are and what you want. I’m sure you can handle your blue-balls issue in other ways,” I whisper.
“Are you asking me if I take care of business?” He cocked his head to the side, and his honey-brown gaze locked on mine.
“What? No. I wasn’t asking that. I was just making a suggestion. You know, so you aren’t suffering.”
“Oh, I’m suffering, Jade. And hell yes, I take care of business. Several times a day. In the shower. Before bed. First thing in the morning,” he said before forking a bite of lasagna and popping it in his mouth.
I stared at him, my jaw probably hanging on the ground. My face heated and I reached for my water. Jesus. Was it hot in here?
“Wow. That’s a commitment.”
“And do you know what I think about every single fucking time?”
“Um, no. I’m good. I think we’re crossing some friendship boundaries,” I said, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans beneath the table.
“Come on. You and Ari don’t share your bedroom antics? Bullshit. You just don’t like hearing about it from me because it turns you on.”
My eyes bulged out of my head and I looked around the room to see if anyone heard him. “Keep your voice down. People will hear you.”
“I don’t give a shit if the whole world knows I slap my oversized sausage multiple times a day thinking of your naked body and those perfect tits,” he said, like we were discussing the weather.
I gulped down some water and waved the waiter over for a refill.
“Okay. That was a lot of information.”
He shook his head and smiled. “I love that you still get shy with me. Does that embarrass you that you have that effect on me?”
“No. I mean, not really.” Are you kidding? I wanted to jump up from my chair and dance around the room that I had any effect on this beautiful boy. But I wouldn’t tell him that.
“So, back to Dick. How much time do you spend with him?”
“Oh, we’re back to that, are we?”
“What? This is normal friendship conversation, right? I mean, I’m not one for small talk with anyone but you, so I don’t have a fucking clue.”
I turned the spaghetti noodles in circles, gathering them around my fork. “We have several classes together, so I see him a lot.”
I took a large bite of noodles and closed my eyes as the flavors exploded in my mouth.
“Do you love him?” His tone was serious and his gaze even more intense. Did he really think I was in love with Richard? Wow. I was a better actress than I thought.
I coughed as I swallowed my food. “What? No. I’m not in love with Richard.”
“Good. So, was he fine with you coming to dinner with me?”
He thought my non-existent relationship was a lot more serious than it ever even ventured.
“He was fine with it. He’s not an insecure guy.” That was partly true. Richard was a confident guy. We just weren’t together.
“I guess he’d have to be with a name like Dick.”
I laughed. “You know you’re ridiculous, right? And no one calls him Dick, but you.”
“Most people just don’t have the balls to call him on it.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled. God, I’d missed him.
“Thank you so much for the suit. It’s absolutely perfect. You didn’t need to do that. But I love it, so thank you,” I said.
“Of course. I wish I could have helped more. I know how important this interview is to you. Because it is to me too, Jade. You know I want you to achieve your goals.”
Oh god. When he says this kind of stuff, I find it hard to hold back. I have to ignore it, or I’ll feel too much right now. “Yeah. I’m so excited about it.”
“You’re going to kick ass. I’m really proud of you,” he said, reaching across the table and locking his pinky finger around mine.
I sucked in a long, slow breath at the contact. “I’m proud of you, too.”
And I meant it. Cruz had been sober for a few months and he’d found a positive outlet in his MMA training. He was on tour with Exiled, and probably facing every temptation on the planet, yet here he was. Sitting across the table from me, telling me he was proud of me.
This was progress.
Chapter Ten
Cruz
I was playing all my fucking cards tonight, and I’d flustered her. Seeing her with Dick today had pissed me off, but I thought about what Dr. Roberts said, and kept my cool. I couldn’t control what Jade did, but I could control how I reacted to it. And I was determined to be her friend until she came to her senses. Hopefully it happened sooner rather than later.
We sat in the car in front of her house. We’d shut the restaurant down talking about her upcoming interviews, and she wanted to know all about my training with Gio.
“Do you think you’ll ever fight?” she asked with concern.
“I mean, I’d like to beat Dick up, but I doubt he’d get in the octagon with me.”
“Stop. Richard plays soccer, he’s not a fighter, and he really is a nice guy.”
“Well, there’s no one else I want to fight, so no. I’ve sparred with a few guys, but I’m not looking for another obligation. It’s just something I’m doing for me,” I said, as we faced one another in the front seat of my Audi. The streetlight shined down on her, illuminating her gorgeous face. I wanted to kiss her so bad, I tried to focus on anything but her mouth.
“I get that. I’d love to see you doing your thing,” she said, biting down on her bottom lip.