Fuck.

He stared at me a beat longer before holding up a finger for me to wait, and pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket.

“What are you doing?” I asked, wary.

He shushed me, hitting speaker so we could both hear the call ringing. Bennett’s voice answered on the other end: “Max.”

“Ben,” Max said, leaning back in his chair with a giant grin. “It’s finally happened.”

I groaned, resting my head on my hand.

“You got your period?” Bennett asked. “Congratulations.”

“No, you twat,” Max said, laughing. “I’m talking about Will. He’s gone arse over tits for a girl.”

A loud slap sounded in the background and I imagined Bennett’s desk had just received a very enthusiastic high-five. “Fantastic! Does he look miserable?”

Max pretended to study me for a beat. “As miserable as they come. And—and!—she’s going on a date with another bloke tonight.”

“Oooh, that’s rough. What’s our boy up to?” Bennett asked.

“Looking like a sad sack of shite, is my guess,” Max answered for me, and then raised his eyebrows as if I was allowed to answer now.

“Just hanging at home,” I said. “Watching the Knicks. I’m sure Hanna will tell me all about her date. Tomorrow. When we go running.”

Bennett hummed on the other end of the line. “I should probably inform the girls.”

I groaned. “Don’t inform the girls.”

“They’ll want to come over and mother-hen you,” Bennett said. “Max and I have a dinner meeting anyway. We can’t leave you alone in this pathetic state.”

“I’m not pathetic. I’m fine! Jesus,” I muttered, “why did I say anything?”

Ignoring me, Bennett said, “Max, I’ll take care of this. Thanks for letting me know.” And the line went dead.

Chloe pushed past me, into my apartment. Her arms were full of bags of takeout.

“Having some people over at my place tonight?” I asked. She threw me a look over her shoulder and disappeared into my kitchen.

Behind her, Sara lingered in the hall, holding a six-pack and some sparkling water. “I was hungry,” she admitted. “I made Chloe order one of everything.”

I pushed the door open wider to let her in and followed her into the kitchen, where Chloe was busy unpacking enough food for seventeen people.

“I already ate,” I admitted, wincing. “I didn’t realize you were bringing dinner.”

“How can you think we weren’t bringing dinner? Bennett said you were a hot mess. Hot mess means pad thai, chocolate cupcakes, and beer. Besides, I’ve seen you eat,” she said, pointing to the cabinet where I kept my plates. “You can eat more.”

Shrugging, I grabbed three plates, some silverware, and a beer. I eased back to the living room and set up our plates on the coffee table. The girls joined me, Chloe sitting on the floor, Sara curling up next to me on the couch, and we all dug in. We sat and ate in front of the television, watching basketball in comfortable, intermittent conversation.

After all of it, I was glad they were here. They didn’t bother me with a thousand questions about feelings; they just came, ate with me, kept me company. Kept me from getting too lost in my own head. I was fairly certain it wasn’t the first time someone I was dating was out on a date with someone else, but it was the first time it even occurred to me to care.

I was happy Hanna was out, having fun. That was the weirdest part of all of it—I wanted her to have what she wanted. I just wanted her to want only me. I wanted her to come over tonight, admit that she would prefer to just f**k me and quit this dating nonsense, and that would be that. It was ridiculous, and I was the world’s biggest ass**le for thinking it, especially since in the past I’d made a hundred girls feel just like I did now, but it’s what I wanted.

And, f**k, I was restless. As soon as I finished eating, I began obsessively checking my phone, checking the clock. Why hadn’t she texted? Didn’t she even have one question she needed answered? Didn’t she even want to say “hi”?

God I hated myself.

“Have you heard from her?” Chloe asked, correctly reading my fidgeting.

I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’m sure she’s fine.”

“So what did Kitty and Kristy say?” Sara asked, putting her glass of water down on the table.

“To what?” I asked.

Silence filled the space between us and I blinked, confused. “To what?” I asked, again.