A few weeks had gone by since we returned from Maui and I had my awkward dinner with Kara, but life was good. I managed to establish a wonderful balance between working, catching up with my friends, via text, and seeing Jared. I had also successfully avoided dinner with my little group until Steph accused me of ditching them all for Jared. It wasn't like that at all. My issue was Eric and trying to avoid a repeat of the first encounter. However, when Stephanie took it upon herself to personally invite me, I knew that I couldn't say no.
Always trying to be the optimist, I looked on the bright side. Kara and Andre would be there, and I was definitely looking forward to meeting the handsome veterinarian, but I was still extremely anxious about seeing Eric again. The last thing I needed was his attitude, or for him to start some unnecessary drama with Jared again.
Jared was brushing his hair and for once I was waiting on him. "You ready yet?" I asked, impatiently tapping my foot on the hardwood floor.
"Yep." He turned around and took in my new outfit. "You look beautiful." He moved closer, eyeing the dip in the white lace crop top. Running his fingers along the small strip of skin that was visible where the top and skirt met, he pulled me closer and whispered. "Maybe we should just stick around here instead."
I gave him a little shove and picked up my bag on the way to the doorway. "Ugh, no way. I got ready and we ARE going out." He stuck his bottom lip out, but I playfully rolled my eyes. "You don't understand Jared, I was invited out after being accused of ditching them for you. I mean, it's a little true, but I don't want to lose my friends completely."
"I understand," he whined. I bit my lip when he let out a deep sigh and narrowed his eyes at me. I knew he didn't genuinely want to go after what happened last time, but Jared was great at keeping his cool. He remained mostly mute in the truck, occasionally mumbling a mmhm, or yeah, while I talked about my exhausting day at work.
When he turned into the parking lot, I observed my friends standing near the door, waiting for us to arrive.
The first person I noticed as we got out and walked closer, was whom I presumed to be Andre, and my God was he cute. Kara wasn't lying when she said tall, dark and handsome. I gave her the thumbs up behind his back on the way inside.
Everyone had shown up except for Eric, but we went inside anyway. Evidently, he called Kara to let her know that he was running late. Jared and Andre hit it off instantly and were in the middle of conversation when Eric and his date finally showed up. To my surprise it wasn't Celeste. Instead, it was a leggy red head. She was beautiful, possibly even a model, but still didn't seem to be Eric's type. He never spoke to or acknowledged Jared or me in any way. I couldn't stop myself from peeking over to Kara and rolling my eyes as he greeted everyone else. The waitress arrived at our table to take everyone's order and things appeared to be going smoothly, until.... Eric's date spoke directly to Jared. "I suppose you're not going to say hi, Jared." She spoke with a British accent and it was obvious that they knew each other.
Rolling his eyes, he seemed really annoyed all of a sudden. "What do you want Katherine?" It was hard to miss the way our table seemingly went silent. My mouth went totally dry when he called her by name and I stared at him, hoping like hell she wasn't one of his past sexual partners, but judging by the look on both of their faces, that's exactly what she was.
She grinned and I held my breath behind pursed lips when she spoke once more. "I was simply saying hello. There's no reason to be rude about it. You look amazing, as usual. So, how long has it been, three years? You haven't aged a bit. Wow, it's so nice to see you after all this time."
"Three and a half years, and I wish I could say the same to you, but sadly, I can't."
Eric sat there with a smirk plastered to his face, happy that he could once again stir the pot. Katherine giggled like she was a toddler. "Oh come on, don't be that way. You haven't properly introduced me to your little friend."
"Actually, I'd like to keep it that way." He was short and I actually began to feel uncomfortable when he put his arm around me, like It was for her benefit, not mine.
She burst into a fit of laughter, loud enough to hear clear across the crowded restaurant. "He's so bitter!" She and Eric looked at each other and chuckled. That's when Jared stood up, waiting for me to do the same and walked toward the entrance.
I leaned in to hug Kara goodbye and as I twisted away, was pulled into Eric's arms for a hug. "I'll call you later, we need to talk." I shrugged out of the embrace and stormed off, not even bothering to look back or say goodbye to anyone else. By that time, Jared was well in front of me and almost to the truck. He actually surprised me tonight. He's usually calm, cool and collected, but not this time. Once inside the truck, I turned to him. "What the hell was that all about?"
His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. Speaking through clenched teeth, he spit out a reply. "I dated her, okay. It was a long time ago and clearly it didn't work out." The next part of his response was more mumbled to himself than spoken to me. "How the hell did he know that? That son of a bitch knew it, I could see the shit eating grin on his face when he walked in the door, fucking bastard."
"Whatever." I folded my arms and sat all the way back in my seat. Staring out the window, I had enough fun for one night. He'd never be friends with my group, there would always be some kind of issue and it made me sad.
"What? You believe I planned this, that I wanted to see her?" He glared at me and spoke with an attitude as if I were accusing him of doing something wrong. I knew this was all Eric's fault, but still. Why was I so furious? Why didn't he just tell me about his past with Katherine?
"Does it matter what I believe? God, things were so much easier when it was just sex between us." I regretted those words the second they left my lips. Jared didn't even answer me, just looked away, shaking his head. We rode in complete silence all the way back to his house. This wasn't how I wanted the evening to end up, but everything spiraled so fast.
Fifteen awkward minutes later, he parked the truck in front of his house and got out. Thrusting his hands in his pockets, he spoke again, this time in a much softer tone. "You need to decide what the hell you want. I'm not gonna play games with you Cassie." Without another word, he slammed the truck door and walked into the house.
