Page 106 of Dating and Other Theories
Esther shook her head. “I’m—” She stopped. She’d been about to insist she wasn’t in love with him. But…why? Why was she so determined to pretend it wasn’t true?
“I can’t believe it!” Jinny stood up and hugged her.
Esther froze, bewildered, as she was enveloped in a cloud of Tory Burch perfume. “What’s happening right now?”
Jinny stepped back, still gripping Esther’s arms. “You have to tell him.”
Oh, no. No no no. Esther shook her head. She would have pulled away, but Jinny’s tiny hands held her in a vise grip.
“You have to tell Jonathan how you feel,” Jinny said. “You have to get him back.”
Panic rose in Esther’s throat. Her eyes widened like a rabbit caught in a snare. “I can’t.”
Jinny let go, and Esther spun away from her, grabbing two handfuls of clean underwear out of the basket. “You have to,” Jinny said.
Esther shoved the underwear into the top drawer of her dresser without folding it. The drawer was already full, and she had to cram it to get it all in. She really needed to clean out her underwear drawer next.
“I’m serious.” Jinny was using her principal voice again.
“That’s not happening.”
“Esther.”
She could feel Jinny’s gaze on her. She stared into her underwear drawer, refusing to meet it. “I can’t date a guy you dated. That’s gross. It’s a violation of the Friend Code.”
“That’s bullshit,” Jinny said. “I barely dated him. And it was under false pretenses, so technically it doesn’t even count.”
Esther turned around. “That’s even more reason not to do it.”
Jinny had her hands on her hips. It made her look taller than she was. She had an intimidating physical presence for someone who was only five foot two. “I care more about your happiness than some stupid code you just made up. I care about the fact that we’ve been friends two years, and I’ve never once seen you fall hard for a man. Now that you finally have, I’m not letting you throw it away. Especially not because of me. No way.”
“It’s not up to you. In case you forgot, he’s already moved on.”
“You don’t write something like this and then just move on.”
“He did. You saw her yourself.” Esther’s eyes watered at the memory.
Jinny stepped toward her, her expression growing softer. “Whoever that woman was, it can’t be that serious. Not yet, anyway. That’s why you’ve got to move fast.”
Esther shook her head, but Jinny ignored her.
“You need to tell him, and you need to do it before he really does get over you and move on.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Yes, you are.” Jinny crossed her arms, and Esther knew she’d lost. There was no arguing with Hurricane Jinny. She was an unstoppable force. She’d get what she wanted, one way or another.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Esther said, feeling nauseous. “He was pretty upset with me. What if I tell him how I feel and he doesn’t want anything to do with me?” She wasn’t sure she could survive being rejected by him. It would probably kill her on the spot.
“Then at least you tried. He wrote this amazing thing about you. You have to at least try. He deserves that much.”
She was right, even though Esther hated to admit it. Jonathan had put himself out there for her, and she’d pushed him away. He deserved the chance to reject her back. Even if it killed her.
Esther exhaled a long, unsteady breath. “You’re mean, you know that? You’re a mean person.”
A smile spread across Jinny’s face. “You’re my best friend and I want you to be happy.”
“I don’t need to be in a relationship to be happy.”
