Page 45 of The Ex-Best Thing
Every good feeling that quesadilla put in my body immediately flushes at those words.
I hop off the stool, carrying my plate around the counter to rinse and put in the dishwasher. If I ignore him, will he change the subject? My silence is a pretty big hint that I don’t want to talk about this. I finish what Benny started and put the rest of the dishes in the sink, then begin hand washing the pans.
“It’s pretty bold.”
Okay. Guess it wasn’t a big enough hint. “So are your creepy dolls,” I snap.
“Colby’s a photographer,” Benny says, clearly trying to divert the topic to neutral territory. “He’s been traveling forTheArchitectural Journalto shoot for some fancy book deal.”
“Impressive.”
Colby scrunches his nose. “Not as impressive as having a global superstar wash your dishes.”
“Colby,” Benny says in a warning tone.
“What? This is surreal, man. Are we really not going to talk about this?”
I finish cleaning the second pan and set it in the drying rack, then wipe my hands on a kitchen towel. “Thanks for dinner.”
Benny sets the last triangle of his quesadilla back on his plate without taking a bite. “You’re leaving?”
“I’ll let you guys talk.” Which is code for: Colby seems like the kind of person who’s going to press it, and I’m not in the mood to hash this out again. If I leave, they can go over the gritty details without me here.
Benny’s blue eyes search my face, but I smile brightly before heading toward the door.
“I’m sorry about him,” Benny says loudly, shooting his cousin a look. “He’s not house trained yet.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure everyone’s talking about me today.”
“Including Jaida,” Colby quips.
My feet stall in the entryway. I spin back and step to the side until I make eye contact with Colby, where he’s still sitting at the kitchen island. “What do you mean?”
He takes a large bite of his last quesadilla, then puts the rest of the triangle in his mouth and chews.
I walk toward him. “Did she respond to the song already?”
Colby’s chewing slows. He glances between me and Benny, who has stepped beside me.
My nerves are jumpy. I know that. But I didn’t expect a responsethis fast. Yes, I fully expected Jaida to clap back with some sort of defensive track, but that would take time to produce and release. There’s no way she could have…unless it’s not a song.
“A post? Did she post something?”
Colby’s eyebrows knit together. “Have you not been online at all today?”
“I’m…uh…avoiding it.”
He lets out another low whistle and reaches in his back pocket for his phone.
“Wait, Cole.” Benny cups my elbow, bending his head to lookme in the eye. “Are you sure you want to open this door? You can’t unknow it once you know.”
“Yes. I’ll obsess if I don’t.”
His blue eyes are deeper than the ocean, caring and compassionate and so sweet. I could get lost in them if I didn’t have a thousand alarm bells going off inside my head. He squeezes my elbow softly before releasing my arm, and we flank Colby while he pulls up Jaida’s Instagram account.
I wish he was still holding me.
“Was it a live video?” I ask.
