"So how are things with you and Jonathan?" Jace asked once we were in the car.
"He's getting clingy," I grumbled.
"Clingy how?"
"He wants to see me pretty much every day."
Jace laughed. "Um, that's kind of normal for couples after a while. How long have you guys been dating?"
How long had it been since this all began? It felt like a lifetime. "I don't know…a few months? I can't remember."
"That's not clingy, Lori. That's regular relationship progression."
I groaned. "Whyyyyyy. I'm not good with this crap. All I wanted was to be left alone with my cats."
The little punk laughed again. "Then you shouldn't have dated him in the first place."
"Don't you start too," I warned. "I get enough of this from Nick."
"Why'd you get a boyfriend if you didn't want one? Jonathan's a nice guy."
"It's a long story. A long, complicated, confusing story," I said with an air of finality.
Jace shrugged. "Your call. I'm not nosy. But I will say this—he seems a lot happier since dating you. I've known him a while and something always seemed missing. I didn't realize it until after he mentioned he was going on a date with his girlfriend when I babysat his kids. Something about you makes him happy."
Way to make me feel worse. "You're definitely not getting those fries."
He got out of the car then leaned in my open windows, more serious than I'd seen him all night. "Lori, don't hurt him, okay? He really likes you." Jace waved and headed back inside his house.
Before I could clear my head enough to drive away, another head was poking in my window. "Lori! What brings you here?" Sure enough, Jon was right there holding a garbage bag. "I forgot to take out my recycling," he said sheepishly.
"I ran into Jace on my way home," I improvised. "It was getting dark so I offered him a ride."
"Jace? Oh, Jason. His dad introduced him to me so I always think of him that way even though he typically goes by Jace. That's nice of you. Were you…planning on saying hi to me while you were here?" he finished somewhat nervously.
"I didn't want to mess with the girls' bedtime," I lied. I had no intention of seeing him tonight. Having him show up like that turned me into a deer in headlights.
"Well, they're asleep now. Want to come in for a bit? I have Ben and Jerry's."
"I already had a McFlurry," I blurted out. Anything to keep me from being alone with him right now when I felt so out of sorts.
He squinted at me. "You said you were having dinner with your stepbrother."
"I did! We just happened to eat at McDonald's," I mumbled, face flaming. I was telling the truth for once, so why did I feel so embarrassed?
Jon laughed. "Only you, Lori. Shame on him. He's a doctor, he can afford to take you somewhere better than McDonald's."
"I was craving a McFlurry," I muttered. "There's nothing wrong with McDonald's. And he isn't a doctor, he's a surgical tech."
Jon shrugged. "Same general field. Ice cream aside, do you want to hang out for a bit?"
I conceded defeat. There was no real way out of this now. "Sure."
I kicked my heels off at the front door and sighed. I'd worn them for way too long since I went to McDonald's straight from work. I desperately wanted to go home, get out of these stiff clothes, and lounge around in my pajamas.
But here I was, still gussied up in work clothes at a man's house. Alone. At night. What was I thinking? He was going to try and seduce me, I knew it!
"Did you manage to cheer him up?" Jon asked.
I shrugged, trying not to blush because he was clearly wearing pajama pants and completely at ease having me there.
"I teased him a little, that usually works. He still seemed kind of upset when he went home though so I don't know if I actually made a difference. I might have even made it worse."
I was still worried about him. I'd have to check in on him in the morning to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.
"I'm sure you were fine. I'm glad I still got to see you tonight. I admit, I was a little down when I found out you couldn't come over earlier," Jon said casually as he slung an arm over the back of the couch behind me.
"R-really?"
Not good. Not good. Not good. He's way too attached. I have to abandon ship. I was barely getting used to having him be a friend! I didn't have any friends I spent time with every day, Faye included.
There were days we wouldn't see each other because of differing schedules or I would hide in my room because I didn't feel like socializing. Just because I liked him as a person didn't mean I wanted to spend all my free time with him. Clearly that's what he wanted.
"Yeah. I like spending time with you. I don't see enough of you at work."
We'd spent practically the whole day together! Well, Patricia was there too, but still! Why was he doing this? Why did he have to mess with a good thing? I much preferred the glacial pace we were at before where we were more like acquaintances that went on occasional dates.
"You saw plenty of me today," I said lightly.
"That's the problem," Jon sighed. "The more time I spend with you the more time I want to keep spending with you."
I was the worst person alive. I'd dug myself in way too deep. Nick was right, this was a horrible idea. And Jace barely told me not to hurt him. I needed a way out of this but there wasn't one. I had to dig myself in deeper.
"I'm not that great," I said matter-of-factly. It was my only defense.
Jon laughed. "There you go again with the self-deprecation. It won't work on me. It's too late, I'm invested. I'm here for the long haul. However long that actually is."
Nick was right. At this point I was going to have to marry him to keep up the charade. I didn't want to do that! I never wanted to get married! Who cares if it was to a friend? I couldn't handle the romantic stuff!
Like how Jon's arm had moved to my shoulders and now I was sidled up next to him. I didn't like this at all. I felt like I was suffocating.
Jon looked at me and frowned. "Are you okay? You look kind of freaked out."
"I'm not good at this!" I almost shouted, jumping over to a different cushion. "Don't touch me!"
A startled expression flashed across his face. "I'm sorry, was I too close?"
"Yes!" I wrapped my arms around my knees for protection.
I hadn't felt this helpless in a long time. So much for being strong. Of course I had to have a complete breakdown in front of him when I'd been putting up with the physical contact so well.