love happy • chris evans (bwwm)

• fifteen •

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Phoenix asked as she stood at the front door with Jordyn.

"I have to face the outside world eventually." Jordyn sighed. Ever since her talk with Tom this morning about Phoenix wanting to protect him, which ended in him confessing his love, Jordyn knew it was time for her to leave. Although Phoenix liked to pretend she was never involved in any drama of her own, that was a lie. She was an engaged woman who spent most of her time hanging out with another man, who was CLEARLY in love with her. Despite her personal problems, Jordyn thought they all needed therapy. Eventually, things were going to blow up in Phoenix's face and that wouldn't be pretty.

"I get that." Phoenix nodded. On one hand, she was happy to see Jordyn leave but on another hand, she wouldn't enjoy all of the people from her ex friends to the media to bullies online criticizing and picking Jordyn apart. Regardless of their history, Phoenix hated to see anyone be treated less than human.

"On the bright side, I'll never see Tom again." Jordyn added with a quiet laugh. "I hope I can stay in your good graces."

"Well, you're not in my bad graces." Phoenix shrugged. Because of the morning sex she engaged in with Chris, she was in a pretty good mood which meant she was able to tolerate Jordyn without the memory of how their friendship was ruined in the first place.

"Babe, I bought you a salad." Chris announced from the kitchen. He had been gone for the last few hours with meetings and returned with food for his fiancée and her best friend. All the while Phoenix and Tom played Super Smash Bros on her Nintendo Switch, up until Jordyn announced that she was leaving.

"Just a minute sweet face." Phoenix called back before returning her attention back to Jordyn.

Chris's eyes stayed fixed on Phoenix, who was still standing at the door, as he emptied the contents of the bag he had just carried in. Inside was a bowl of spaghetti for Tom and a Greek salad for Phoenix. He knew she didn't like to eat heavily in the middle of the day so he opted to get her something light.

"You didn't have to do that!" Tom spoke after Chris slid his food across the island counter. "Thank you mate!"

"No problem at all." Chris smiled.

Rather than opening the container that held his spaghetti, Tom leaned over the counter to examine the contents of the salad through the clear plastic lid. He pushed the salad into the trash can as soon as he saw the green peppers peeking through.

"What'd you do that for?!" Chris questioned.

"Phoenix is allergic to green peppers." Tom reminded. "She can't eat that and I'm sure she'd be very upset if she came in here and saw that you bought her a salad with green peppers in it."

"She's not allergic to green peppers." Chris replied confidently. He didn't recall Phoenix ever mentioning it to him but if it was true, why did Tom know more about his fiancée than he did? "Is she?"

"She is." Tom confirmed. "She developed an allergy for it when she was 18. Ironically enough, she was eating a Greek salad when she figured it out."

"How exactly do you know that?"

Tom shrugged. "She told me."

"I'm back and Jordyn is gone!" Phoenix announced after entering the kitchen. She hugged Chris from behind and placed a kiss on his neck. "Where's my salad?"

"It's -"

"I accidentally knocked it into the trash can." Tom cut Chris off. "I'm sorry Phoenix. It's my fault."

"Oh that's okay Tom!" She responded with a smile. "But you totally owe me a salad now. No b-"

"No black olives or green peppers." He finished her sentence. "I remember."