he says, ending his call. “Figured I’d check on you during my lunch break.” He walks across the porch and into the house.
“Aww,” I say, stepping to the side, allowing him in. “I’m definitely feeling a whole lot better.” I’m trying my best to seem normal when actually I want to scream.
“Good,” he says, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me in for a kiss. I pull away.
“No, no,” I say. “I don’t want you to get sick again.”
“I probably can’t, I’ve already built up antibodies.”
“What are you, a scientist now?” I place my hand on my hips and eye him curiously.
“Whatever.” He chuckles, walking further into the house. “What are you watching? God please tell me it’s not The Little Mermaid."
“No,” I say, my mind going completely blank for a second. I need to pull myself together before he notices something is up. “Um… It’s The Bachelor.”
“That’s not much better,” he deadpans.
Jordan shakes his head and walks toward the kitchen after scooping Casper into his arms. I’m always shocked when I see him do that. I have lived with that damn cat for years and he’s just now starting to like me.
I exhale as I watch him disappear into the kitchen. Okay… think. I could tell him now, but what if he freaks out? Hell, I’m freaking out enough for the both of us. Our friendship may have been solid, but is our relationship strong enough to deal with something like this already? God. I don’t know.
“Hey, I’m grabbing some menus for you to look over,” Jordan yells from the kitchen. “Since we can both finally eat, I want to go out to dinner. I figure if I give you the menus now you’ll have an idea where you want to go by the time I get back.” My stomach turns at the idea of food, reminding me again that I have no idea why. Am I sick? Was I ever sick?
“Oh, ha-ha,” I say, forcing a laugh. I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive dinner with Jordan without telling him about this. He reads me like a book and I know if I don’t get a handle on my shit he’ll end up grilling me, trying to find out what’s wrong. Maybe I should just cancel altogether, I don’t know if my stomach can stand a full meal as it is.
My eyes settle back on the TV, but the blinking light on my phone grabs my attention. I pick it up and find a message from Jordan’s dad.
Hey, Xia. I hear you and Jordan are together now. I think it's fantastic. You’ve always been like a daughter to me anyway. I’m making steaks tonight around 6 p.m. I’d love it if you two would come over.
“Ben is a dick,” Jordan says, walking into the room. “But he sure makes a great lasagna." He scoops a spoonful of noodles into his mouth. Three colorful menus sit neatly under the plate.
"Put the menus away. We’re going across the street tonight." Relief washes over me as I say it. His dad will be a great distraction.
"To do what?"
"Your father texted me." I walk over and wave my hands, gesturing him back to the kitchen. "He’s happy about us getting together and invited us over for steaks tonight.” Jordan doesn't move. He holds his plate, the expression on his face falling as he stares at me.
"No," he says.
"What? Yes! I mean, I know we’ve eaten over there plenty of times, but this is different. We'll be going as a couple, and not—"
"No, Zee. We aren't going," he cuts me off.
I swallow my words and watch as the look in his eyes turn to something like anger.
"Why not?" I challenge. "He's excited for us. Probably wants to talk… I don't know, maybe celebrate."
"He doesn't want to talk to you. He’s just being an asshole." Jordan sets his plate on the table and looks past me at the window facing his father's house.
"No, you're being an asshole,” I say. His eyes snap back to mine.
"No, he is!" he says. "He's being manipulative. True, he may be happy about us being together, but this dinner has nothing to do with that. He's just using you to get to me."
"And how is having your girlfriend over for dinner getting to you, exactly? Do you have something to hide?"
"No, Zee, of course not." He walks around me, running a frustrated hand over his head and down his face.
“Then what?" I say, following him through