The New Boy

Chapter twenty-nine

"Hey," Alex says and hugs me before I lead him inside.

"What's up?" I ask back and I shut the door.

"Just walking around, figuring I'll stop by," he says back and I smile, nodding.

"I just put Emily down," I say back and he nods.

Jake opens the door and Alex steps back. They both give each other a small wave and I notice the girl following behind him. Jake leads her in and shuts the door. Alex and I exchange a confused look.

"Hey," Jake says and kisses the side of my head. "This is Kylie," Jake says to me and Alex. Jake sort of rests his arm on her shoulder.

"You two know each other?" I ask, feeling very uncomfortable.

"We used to date," Kylie says back and Jake puts his hand on the back of his neck.

I lean against the wall next to Alex and Jake and Kylie stand on the other side. I feel my body shaking a little, but just barely.

Jake and Kylie talk to each other, completely ignoring us. I hold my left arm with my right hand like I usually do when my anxiety goes up. It's not because she's a new person, it's because she's a friend of my fiancé and they are just acting like Alex and I aren't there. He didn't introduce us or anything like that. Honestly, he's being rude.

I feel Alex's eyes looking at me. I know he knows what I'm feeling right now and I look back.

"They are just catching up," Alex whispers quietly to me and I shrug, letting out a small sigh and watch them.

Emily starts whining and I sigh in relief, being happy that I have a reason to leave. I quickly walk out of the living room and I hear Alex following behind me.

I walk to Emily's room and she continues to cry until she spots me. I slowly pick her up and turn around to Alex.

"Do you see a problem with this?" I ask and lightly bounce Emily. I lightly pat her back. He nods and frowns sympathetically at me.

"Their just old friends, like me and you," Alex says back and I shake my head.

"But I wasn't all on you and so obsessed with you, you know?" I ask and I shake my head.

"He loves you Jamie," Alex says quietly and I nod.

"I just, I don't know," I say back and he nods.

"It's okay," he says back and I hear them laughing outside.

"He's really happy," I say to Alex as Emily reaches for my face. I hold onto her hand and he shrugs. "It sounds really cliché but he's not that happy anymore around me," I say back and Alex quickly shakes his head.

"That's not true at all." He says quickly back. "He's really happy with you," he adds on and I shrug.

"What if he wants to be with her?" I ask and Alex smiles a little, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"You're over thinking this like you always do," he says calmly back and I sigh, nodding.

"I hope so," I say back and he nods.

"Come on," he says back and tries to take my arm so he can lead me outside. I pull away and shake my head.

"I don't want to," I say back and he shakes his head back at me.

"You can't just stay in here," he says and I keep lightly bouncing Emily.

"Why not?" I ask and he grabs my arm this time, making sure not to disturb Emily or make me drop her. He lightly pull me out of the door and I see them still talking.

"Who is this?" Kylie asks and looks at Emily.

"Her name is Emily," I say back to her and she keeps looking at her.

"Is she yours?" she asks me and I bite my lip, hard.

"Yes," I say back and Jake looks at me. He stands next to me and tries to touch my hand but I pull my hand away.

Jake slowly takes her from me and looks at Kylie.

"She's ours," Jake says to her and she looks at both of us.

"You two are dating?" she asks I feel Alex looking at me.

"Engaged actually," Jake says back to her.

It surprises me that she didn't know about Jake having a kid or a fiancé. Honestly, it makes me a little mad. Not that I want to be selfish about it, but I'd figure she should know.

Alex's phone buzzes and he takes it out. He looks at me.

"I gotta go," he says and fully stands up. He waves and I grab his arm, stopping him.

"Please don't go," I say to him and he frowns a bit at me. He hugs me and I hug him back.

"You'll be fine," he whispers in my ear and pulls away, looking at me. I nod and he smiles, waving to us again as he walks out.

"I should probably get going too," Kylie says and Jake nods, still holding Emily. She hugs him and he does the best he can to hug her back without dropping Emily. She waves at me and I wave back. She walks out and I don't look at Jake.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks and I shake my head, walking to the bedroom. He follows behind me and sets Emily down on the floor when she tries to crawl but fails.

"I don't like you talking to your ex-girlfriend Jake." I say back to him and he looks at me.

"Nothing is going to happen between us," he says calmly back and I sit on the bed.

"It's not okay," I say to him and he sits next to me.

"Why is it okay for you to talk to Alex?" he asks and I stand up, picking Emily up. I put her in her crib so she can play there.

"Because Alex and I were never like that," I say back and walk to the living room with him still following me.

"But you're awfully close to him,"

"Because we are really close friends and I trust him."

"You don't trust me?" he asks and I shake my head, looking back at him.

"I never said that. I thought you didn't have a problem with Alex?" I say back to him and I can hear the sound of rain starting to hit the window.

"Do you really think I like you hanging out with another guy?"

"If you don't like that, then why would you think that I would be okay you hanging out with another girl? Also, not only is she another girl, it's a girl who you used to date," I say back to him and he stands in front of me.

"I can talk to who I want honestly," he says.

"I'm not arguing with you," I say back and he looks at me. "I'm not getting into a fight because you are going to leave."

"I'm not going to leave you," he says back in a calmer voice. I sigh and look down.

"I fuck things up, I'm just that kind of person." I say to him and I shake my head.

"You don't," he says, shaking his head too.

"Yes I do," I say back and he hold the sides of my face so I look at him.

"Don't talk like that," he says quietly.