Chapter 29
I'm the jealous type
Alex
“How are you feeling this morning, kiddo?” I ask as I drop into Lizzie’s car on Friday morning.
I hired a car service to take us to and from Portland last night so neither of us had to worry about driving.
After a couple of hours, she was more than a little drunk and seemed to be enjoying herself.
I never did find out why the text messages she kept getting were sending her into giggle fits.
She shrugs a shoulder. “I’ve felt better, but those drinks were made with the good stuff, so that usually bodes well for me the next day.”
I chuckle. “Good. I’m really excited about this big bookstore we’re going to today.”
“Me, too. We always find cool stuff. What are you going to do tonight, Dad? I can cancel the bachelorette party so we can hang out. It’s not really a party anyway.”
“No, you go out and have fun with your friends. I’m meeting your grandparents at the airport and making sure they get settled in at the hotel here for the night.”
We pull into Amelia’s driveway. Five minutes later, she steps out of the house with dark sunglasses on her face.
Lizzie laughs as Amelia climbs into the back seat with a cringe.
“Shhhhh. You’re too loud,” Amelia says.
“Where’s your car?” Lizzie asks.
“At the bar.”
I didn’t realize she went out after we left. I should have invited her to go with us, but figured she would say no.
“You were shitfaced last night. I have so much proof,” Lizzie sing-songs. I guess that’s what had her laughing at her phone.
“Don’t remind me.”
“So shitfaced that you didn’t dance this morning because you’re hungover as fuck.”
“I danced last night. It counts.”
“Shit, we have to go get coffee and pastries. Gloria’s probably worried sick,” Lizzie says.
“Caffeine,” Amelia groans. “Caffeine would be good right now.”
As soon as we walk in the door of the coffee shop, Gloria glares at Amelia. “You’re in trouble.”
“She had to sleep it off, Glo. Our Minnie went out dancing last night.”
“Oh, I know she did. Frank was in here earlier, looking just as tired as this one.” Gloria points a finger at Amelia.
My head snaps up. Fuck. She went out with a man last night? After our thing in the bathroom?
No, fuck that. She’s mine. And fuck, I’m hers. I have been for a goddamned year.
Enough tiptoeing around it. We’re going to hash our shit out, and I’m going to prove how much she means to me. That we belong together.
“I hope he’s miserable,” Amelia mutters. “He kept me on the dance floor for hours.”
“He always did wear you out, sugar.” Gloria winks at Amelia, who laughs. I don’t want to hear this shit. Is this guy an ex?
Lizzie pulls out her phone. “Matt sent me a video!” Gloria hurries around and stands next to me, and I’m forced to watch as Amelia dances with a good-looking blonde guy who is about her age. I clench my fists and try not to growl like a fucking animal.
The real Amelia crinkles her brow at me, so maybe I didn’t hold that growl in like I thought.
The video continues and another woman walks up, laughing and hugging Amelia before kissing Frank. Now I’m all kinds of confused.
“Oh, there’s Claudia! Frank said it was their first night out since the baby was born,” Gloria says.
“She wanted to cheer Matt up and figured drinks and dancing would do the trick,” Amelia replies.
Lizzie chuckles. “Dad looks lost again.”
“There’s a lot of people to keep track of here!” I point out. Gloria cackles and walks back around the counter to get our order ready.
“True. You’re doing good so far! Frank and Matt are brothers, and they used to take classes with us at the studio. Claudia and Frank have been together since like middle school, and she and Matt are best friends.” Lizzie turns to Amelia. “Why did Matt need cheering up?”
“That dickhead Daniel broke his heart again.”
“Oh god, he took Daniel back? This is what, the third time?”
“Fourth. How many more of us do you think it would take to beat the shit out of him if we have Haven with us?”
“Matt or Daniel?”
Amelia rolls her eyes. “Daniel. Matt’s our friend, Bean. We don’t beat up friends.”
“You kicked Dean in the nuts once, and he’s our friend. We just had dinner with him and Tanya last week.”
“He was being a dick and deserved it. And we were fourteen.”
With our coffees and pastries in hand, we get back in the car and drive over to Portland again a few minutes later.
Every day in the car with Amelia is a new version of torture. The tension between us is thicker after our bathroom rendezvous last night and my caveman jealousy this morning. Each time I glance up at the mirror in my sun visor, I catch her gaze for just a moment before she quickly looks away.
Once inside the bookstore, we do a quick walkthrough together, but then go off in our own directions. Over the next couple of hours, I explore every section, amazed at the number of signed copies there are.
I walk around a corner and find Amelia looking at a rack of socks. This store really has the most random collection of stuff.
“Socks?”
She smiles softly. “Christy’s birthday is coming up, and she loves weird socks.” She picks a couple of pairs and puts them in her basket. I see a few books, some magnets of cat butts, and a unicorn journal in it already.
“Which pair do you think Katie would like?”
She glances at me wearily but then looks over the socks again before touching a pair with a design of a sloth wearing oversized sunglasses. “These. You should see if there’s signed copies of the Bridgerton books. She would freak out.”
“Just point me in the right direction.”
Amelia looks around for a minute. “This way.” She leads me to the books and we start searching through them.
“Amelia, can I ask you something?”
“Now?” she asks, glancing around.
“Not about us.”
She breathes a sigh of relief. “Oh.”
“Or we could talk about those little sounds you make when you’re about to come.”
“Alex!” she hisses through gritted teeth, her cheeks turning red.
“No? But I love those.”
“We’re definitely not talking about that right now.”
“Mmm. But we will at some point, Amelia.”
“Can we get back on topic, please?”
“If we must.” I shake my head sadly before moving on. “What do you think of Calvin?”
Her head tilts to one side as she thinks about what she wants to say. “I don’t know him that well, really. I didn’t like or dislike him before, but he’s pissing me off by not being around for the last two weeks because it’s upsetting Bean.”
“I’ve been wrestling with my place in this. With my place in her life. I can’t exactly tell her I think her fiancé is a dipshit, especially since I haven’t actually met him yet, but…”
She smirks. “But her fiancé’s a dipshit.”
I huff and purse my lips. “Yes.”
“And he doesn’t deserve her, but no one does.
She’s settling and no, I’m not happy about it.
But she’s an adult, and her mom is an overbearing asshole, so I try not to be one.
I don’t think either of us interfering with her life, with her decisions, is the answer.
She knows I have her back if she changes her mind. Maybe she needs to know you do, too.”
Nodding, I open my mouth to respond, but hear Lizzie’s voice behind me.
“Minnie! Look what I found!” She runs up holding a signed copy of a book I remember her loving as a kid.
“Score! I’m going to go to the restroom and then see if I can find a few books for Henry and Raelynn.” Amelia scurries away while Lizzie watches her with a curious look on her face.
She turns to me. “Have you checked out the rare books or the first editions in the glass case yet? Wait, why are you looking at the Bridgerton books? Reading romance now, are you?”
“Katie likes the show, thought I’d see if there were any signed copies.” I hold up the one I found, then drop it in my basket on top of a few others I’ve picked up. “Where to next?” I let her lead me away.