Page 31 of No One But Us

All that relief and excitement whistles right back out of me like a deflating balloon. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Edward,” I say.

“The press has moved on, Eleanor,” he says. I hear something tighten in his voice. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“But I told you I don’t want anything, um…” I search for a word to describe what he wants and settle for a euphemism. “Romantic.”

“If I’m going to lobby to get you this, we need to make it happen in the right way.”

“Can’t we do that over the phone? Or in the city?”

“You don’t sound like you really want this,” he says.

“Of course I do,” I argue, and then I resort to a lie. “But I think my boyfriend would be really bothered by that.”

“What boyfriend?” he asks, and I hear all the irritation he was restraining burst to the surface. “That singer? I thought you broke up.”

I’ve never told him anything about Ryan. How does he know? Come to think of it, how did he even know my address to send the flowers? I’ve gone from feeling awkward and unsettled to totally creeped out.

“Edward,” I say firmly. “I can’t come up there.”

“You’re making a bad decision,” he warns. Except it feels like less of a friendly warning and more like a threat.

That’s when I hang up.

I walk back toward the house slowly, wishing I could tell someone about this call. And the person I want most to tell, oddly enough, is the one who’d go ballistic: James.

He looks at me curiously when I get inside, as if he knows I’m hiding something. He hasn’t shaved today. It’s so good on him that my eyes catch on it, on him, as if I’d actually run my palm over his jaw.

I look at him, and I’m glad I can’t let Edward get me a job. I’m glad I’m stuck here to pine for him fruitlessly. And this is perhaps the greatest evidence of all that I really need to leave.

* * *

Ginny and I get home from the bar that night to discover that Max has invited his 150 closest friends over in our absence. She storms out to the back deck where he sits with James, looking far too pleased with himself.

“Have I mentioned how much I love working a double shift only to walk in and find people having sex in our downstairs bathroom?” she demands.

“I’m sorry,” he says earnestly. “I told them to use your bed, but I guess they didn’t listen.”

“I should have gone to Spain with Alex,” she says as I take an empty chair. “Instead I’ll get to spend my birthday fighting strangers for space on my own fucking deck.”

Ginny’s birthday is coming up in just a few days. And until this moment, I’d forgotten that she will want us to pull out all the stops.

“It’ll still be fun,” I coax. “What do you want to do? We could go out? Or have a party at the house?”

She shoots a dirty look at Max. “A party at the house would be just like every other night.”

“You’re welcome,” he says.

She yawns. “I have to call Alex at 7, so I’m going to bed.”

“That relationship of yours just gets better and better, doesn’t it, Ginny?” goads Max. “Almost as good as James’. Where is the lovely Allison these days anyway? We haven’t had the pleasure of her company yet.”

James closes his eyes. “Working.”

“It’s almost like you’re not in a relationship at all,” Max says, walking inside after Ginny with a hint of laughter in his voice.

I know it’s none of my business, but I can’t help myself. How can his thing with her sound so serious one moment and not at all the next?

“A little bird told me you’re planning to propose,” I say.