Layover (Open Skies #1) - Becca Jameson Page 0,60
nothing she could say would make up for the way she’d behaved. He’d gone over everything that happened last night several times this morning, and in no scenario did she redeem herself.
She changed the subject. “You didn’t answer my text.”
He lifted one brow higher. Part of him didn’t feel the desire to even respond to her. “I wasn’t up when you sent it.”
“You’re up now.”
“And I’m still too angry to talk to you.” That much was true, though at this point he’d decided it would never subside. “Besides, I don’t have anything to say.”
She took a deep breath and sat up straighter. “Okay, well, maybe I could talk, and you could just listen.”
He shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or another.
“When I got to my parents’ last night, I had a whole speech ready. I promise. And then I opened the front door and there were several people in the living room. My mother had been hounding me to meet her neighbors’ grandson. I’d put her off every time, telling her I had to work or that I was too busy.”
Jason knew all this. Or he could piece it together.
“She stepped way over the line this time. Putting me in an awkward position.”
Jason groaned and dramatically rolled his head back to stare at the sky. She thought she was in an awkward position? What about him?
“I know. I know. I should have told the entire room that I couldn’t go out with Javier because I had a boyfriend. I should have confronted my mother in front of her neighbors and stood up for myself once and for all. It just all happened so fast. In seconds, she had introduced me to Javier and shoved us out the front door telling Javier I would take him to dinner and show him around town.”
Jason lowered his head to shoot her with a glare.
Libby released her hands to pinch the bridge of her nose. “As soon as the door closed, I realized Javier was actually very understanding. He could sense my discomfort. He immediately guessed that I had a boyfriend. And, on top of everything else, it turned out we had a lot in common. His grandparents treat him the same way my parents treat me—as if no person who isn’t Guatemalan will ever be good enough.”
Jason couldn’t hold back his sarcastic thoughts another moment. “Well, isn’t that just perfect. You two will be so happy together. I wish you all the best.”
Libby shook her head. “No. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m trying to tell you that it was innocent. I talked to Javier about you and he spoke to me about his previous girlfriend whom he lost when he didn’t put her first. He made me understand that I have to put you first if I really care about you or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
Jason swung around to sit on the side of his lounge chair facing her. His blood was boiling. “You needed to go out with another guy to realize you care about me?”
Her bottom lip was trembling and she glanced down at her lap again. “No. I didn’t. But I was blindsided, Jason. I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Javier’s grandparents. We chose to appease them and walk away. I get that you don’t understand how I’m feeling or how much pressure I’m under, but I’m trying.”
Jason jumped to his feet and started pacing. “You don’t have the first clue what I understand, Libby. I may not have a college degree like you, but I’m not stupid. I’m just some dirty little secret you keep on the side with no intention of ever telling anyone about me. Some dumb guy from Iowa who grew up on a farm and never went to college. Sure, the sex is great, but that’s about it. Why bother to upset your family when you don’t intend to keep me around when the sex gets boring anyway?”
Libby jerked her head in his direction. “What the hell are you talking about? Dirty little secret? You’re not any such thing. I brag about you to all my friends so often they’re growing tired of me. I didn’t even know you were from Iowa. You’ve never talked about your childhood. I didn’t know you don’t have a college degree either. Nor do I care. Why the hell would that matter to me? When have I ever once insinuated I thought I was better than you?”
Jason