The Catching Kind (15 page)

"Alright then.” I said, trying to let him off the hook. Trying to let both of us off the hook and just get back to our nice, laid back weekend. “Let's just go do your walking-around-people-seeing-us thing."

I expected him to be all gung ho about it. It had been his idea to head somewhere really public. But now he seemed like he didn't want to go anywhere.

"Oh. I get it." I slipped out from under his arm and stepped away. "Let's just head back."

The look of relief was more insulting than anything that girl could have said.

"Sure,” he agreed quickly, glancing around. “We can do that."

Obviously, he was done being seen in public with me for the day.

I couldn’t believe how much that hurt. What had happened to,
let’s be friends
and
let’s just chill?

"Yeah. Don't do me any favors." I passed by the Starbucks and wondered if tactless girl was looking out the window to see Connor following a few steps behind me.

"Hailey, wait up."

Storming off hadn't been my best idea. For one, it didn't fit in the plan. We already looked like we were fighting. For another point, Connor was an athlete, even if I'd started running down the street—which in these new shoes was so not an option—he'd have caught me before I'd gone four feet.

His hand wrapped around my upper arm, slowing me down but not spinning to face him. 

"What are you so ticked off about?" he asked. It was a fair question.

Okay, no it wasn't. Anyone in his right mind would see that having people insult you would begin to wear.

"I know I'm not your type. Every person on the planet knows it. I know other people are going to point it out over and over again. I know I'm going to be humiliated in the magazines and online as girls just like her—ones who don't have the nerve in person—all go on the warpath. But I do not need it from you. I haven't exactly thrown myself at you so I think you can relax and realize that this 'not my type' thing goes both ways."

He looked kind of thunderstruck. Like he was really hearing me this time. I'm not sure anyone had ever told him that...besides me. Maybe it would sink in this time.

"I'm a writer. I work with words. I create guys who girls fall in love with. And, here's the thing. It takes smarts. I'm not an idiot. So, if we were in my world—if I took you to a writers’ conference for instance—and everyone would
ooooh
and
awwww
over you and your chiseled looks and your flat abs, but at the end of the day, everyone would also know it wasn't going to last. The phrase
dumb jock
would be bandied around more than a boilerplate contract someone got her hands on that no one was supposed to see."

Connor looked like I'd just smacked him across the face. And, yes, what I was saying wasn't nice. But I'd had enough of being on the receiving end.

"Don't
look
at me like that." I was
not
going to feel bad about this. "
I'm
not saying you’re a dumb jock. I know you’re incredibly intelligent. I'm just saying that's how people would perceive you from your actions and media coverage. Your world judges based on looks. Mine judges based on books...or intelligence.
Perceived
intelligence."

I pulled my arm away as his grip loosened and started back toward my house. Connor soldiered on next to me, sipping at his coffee and keeping his mouth shut. 

Which proved he wasn't a dumb jock, because his life was in serious jeopardy if one more wrong thing came out of his mouth. 

At my building's front door, I expected him to just go on his way, but he trudged in behind me and followed me up the stairs. I was really hoping he wasn't planning on coming in. I wasn't in the mood for one of his Apartment Conversations. I'd already started calling them ACs in my head just because thinking about all the things I couldn't say in public now needed to be abbreviated.

I took out my key and tried to gauge what he was thinking.

When nothing came, I slid the key home and opened the door. Stepping in, I was relieved and annoyed to see him waiting in the hall. After all the liberties he'd taken with my home in the last twenty-four hours, this seemed a little silly.

"So. I'll give you a call,” he said, not even looking at me this time. Just as done with me as I was with him. “We'll figure out what our next move is later." 

"Okay." I walked back to the door when I realized he wouldn't even come in for an AC.

"I have to meet with Dex and my trainer. So, I'm not sure what my schedule is. I'll make sure to have my calendar in front of me so we can line up some dates…I mean,
outings.”

"Okay."

 "Great."

"Yup."

"See ya."

"Bye."

Brilliant.

THIRTEEN

"What were you thinking? This is an emergency." I looked at the bag wondering what could possibly have caused such a lack of planning. "What kind of friend shows up without chocolate to an emergency meeting?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Dude, this is just the alcohol. Kasey's bringing the chocolate."

"Oh."

"Yeah.
Oh
,” Jenna echoed. “What has gotten into you?"

What hadn't? I'd been feeling guilty all day. I don't know why. I’d just fought fire with fire. It wasn't my fault he couldn't take what he dished out.

I'd left the door cracked so Kasey and Jayne could let themselves in and join us in the kitchen as I put together the drink mix Jenna brought.

I got out my blender and considered just pouring the whole bottle of booze in. Adding
drunk
on top of
confused
was probably not going to get me to a better place any quicker.

"We’re here!" Kasey carried a Matteo’s chocolate cake in, letting Jayne close the door behind them. She set it on the counter and tossed her jacket on the couch behind her. "I figured if we're going to pack on the calories, they might as well be the best darn calories I could find."

"Bless you." I handed her a knife and grabbed plates and silverware while Jenna took over the Margarita creation.

That was probably for the best. 

We chit chatted while I cut very healthy slices of cake for each of us. Jayne wandered into the living room, turning on quiet background music and lighting candles. She slid the comfy chair so it faced the couch instead of the TV and cleared the coffee table for our drinks and dessert, shifting pillows and throw blankets around.

She was very visual. She could turn an empty room into a welcoming home in less than an hour. I was constantly surprised HGTV hadn't somehow found her and given her a show.

She was also very careful about girl time. Always making sure she wasn’t overstepping into our circle. Always seeming to remind herself that she was Kasey’s tagalong friend, not ours.

We were going to have to fix that.

After we fixed the mess I’d landed in.

"So, spill...” Jenna directed from her perch on the counter. “The details, not the drink."

Now that they were here, I was oddly reluctant to share my messed up morning. 

"Connor and I had a fight."

"A fight?" Jenna kept her voice carefully neutral as she took a sip of her drink.

"Kind of." I think. That was a fight, right? He didn’t fight back, so maybe not. Maybe it was just a…something where I did all the talking in a negative fashion.

"Did you have a fight or not?" Kasey wasn't as careful. She was a facts girl. Unlike me and Jenna, Kasey wasn't a writer. She owned her own marketing company and sometimes she could be very cut and dry.

"I'm not sure." That was the worst part. "We went to the farmers market and this girl started making a big deal that we were together. Basically all but called me ugly right to my face. Totally couldn't believe Connor and I are together."

"Hailey,” Jenna smiled at me softly to lighten the blow. “You and Connor
aren't
together."

"I know that. But she didn't!" I could still feel the frustration from the whole situation. The embarrassment from standing there being discussed as if I didn't exist. "She just kept going and going. Connor even gave her a chance to back out of what she was saying, but she wouldn't. He got ticked and we left."

"So, Connor came to your defense and you had a fight,” Kasey stated as if I wasn’t being completely emotional.

"Yes. No. Not exactly like that."

"Exactly like what?" Kasey pushed.

Why did I invite Facts Girl?

“Kasey,” Jayne gave her a chill-the-heck-out warning look. 

I knew I liked her.

"Well, I was really mad,” I explained.

"And?" Jayne prompted softly before Kasey could jump on that.

"And I may have said some things that—while absolutely true—might not have been so nice."

"Such as?" Now Jenna was in on the questions.

"Well, I said in my world people would assume he was a dumb jock."

Jayne just stared at me while Kasey shook her head a little and Jenna gave me one of those soft smiles that says
What were you thinking?
and
It's going to be okay
all at once.

"Anything else?"

"I said, something that sounded vaguely clever, like in his world people judge you by your looks in mine they judge you by your books. And then followed that up with a statement about having to be intelligent to write a book."

Kasey actually groaned this time.

"Hey!” This was not the support I needed. “At least I didn't go for the cliché judge-a-book-by-its-cover thing."

"Really?” Kasey set her drink down, probably afraid she’d spill it with all the arm waving she was doing. “Hailey you just insulted someone who was sticking up for you and you're worried about self-editing clichés?"

"I think what Kasey is trying to say is we should focus on what happened and how to fix it, right?" Jenna took a sip of her Margarita and glared at Kasey over the rim of her glass. 

"To be fair,” I added in my defense, “he agreed with her."

Kasey slammed her hand down on the table. "He
agreed
with her? I'm going to kick him so hard he'll still be limping when he starts Social Security."

Jayne patted Kasey's knee in her offhanded way. You could see that these two basically balanced each other out. It was surprising to find out they’d been estranged for a few years. "What exactly did he say?" 

"Well, he said there was no way he could be seen with me and no one would buy that he'd be dating me."

"He said that in front of the girl?" Jenna asked, a bit surprised.

"Well, no."

“After she left?”

“Um, no.”

"Hailey, when exactly did he say that?" 

"When we met that first day."

They all just stared at me.

"
What
?" This was my emergency meeting. They had better be considering how to make me feel better. "He did. It's only been six days. I seriously doubt he suddenly thinks I'm good enough for him."

I sat there, drinking my drink and waiting for one of them to comment.

And waited.

And waited.

"Well?" I prompted. What kind of support meeting was this?

"Well,” Jenna started. “He was a complete jerk the day you met."

"Yes. Exactly."

"But, and correct me if I'm wrong.” Kasey set her drink down and leaned in, forcing me to meet her gaze. “He’s apologized and been nothing but nice since then."

I really didn't want to have to agree with her.

"He's a bit pushy. The whole sleeping here thing is a little much."

"But, he's been nice. Polite. Suggested you guys be friends. Told off the girl who said you weren't famous or pretty enough for him."

"Even though he agreed with her." That was the point. Why was she not seeing the point?

"Okay, let's say he agrees with her,” Kasey allowed, and I got suspicious this was going somewhere I wasn’t going to like.

"Because he does." I gave her the squinty eyes.

"Fine. Say he does—"

"He
does
."

"Hailey, for the love of stars, let her finish." Jenna got up and headed toward the kitchen. "I would have brought the pitcher with us if I'd known how irrational this conversation was going to be."

I couldn't believe it. I watched her go and then turned toward Kasey who was using those too-knowing eyes on me now.

He'd won them over. One morning coffee and they were already convinced that he was a great guy. That all the tabloids and the wild behavior and the womanizing and the cheating was all...just...POOF! Nothing.

"You know what, if a guy said you weren't good enough to date him—that he wouldn't be seen with you—I'd stand by you no matter what. I don't care how nice he was after that."

I sat back, slouched in the comfy chair arms crossed. 

"Hailey..."

"Don't
Hailey
me. You know I'm right."

"It's just, he sounds like he's trying to make up for it. Maybe he didn't mean it."

"Oh, trust me. He meant it. He meant it so much, he walked out of the meeting and left me standing there looking ugly
and
stupid."

"Hailey..." Jenna slid down the couch to get closer to me. "I know you're embarrassed and you're annoyed you like him, but, being mean back to him isn't going to make things better."

“Also,” Kasey added, “that stopped working when we were twelve.”

I gave her another squinty-look then turned back to Jenna. 

"But, it's going to be on the news." I could feel the slight buzz making my head feel light, like it wanted to slip back and let the soft cushions hold me up. I downed the rest of my drink, just plain tired of having to explain myself to the three people who had always just
understood
before. 

"Your fight is going to be on the news?" 

"No. Everything.” Weren’t they listening? “Everything is going to be on the news. And they're all going to be making fun of me because I'm short and tubby and plain."

"Okay, first of all, you're like two inches taller than me. Just because you're not an Amazon does not make you short. And when a size six is fat, we have a problem."