JACK: I was gonna order pizza tonight if you want to partake.

ME: Are you seriously texting me when I’m a floor away from you?

JACK: You’re upstairs, so technically it’s two floors.

ME: Wow.

ME: And yes to pizza. Obviously.

JACK: Pepperoni and black olives?

ME: You’re so well trained.

JACK: Were you planning on watching Real Housewives again tonight?

ME: Yeah, unless you have big plans for the TV.

JACK: Nope. No plans . . .

ME: Did you want to join me?

JACK: I do really need to see what happens with Porsha.

JACK: If you don’t mind.

ME: I don’t mind at all, Jack in the Box

Seven

The bar is packed on Friday night, as it is most Friday nights, which is good for my ever-so-slowly-dwindling bank account but not so great for my plans to low-key hang with my friends while getting paid to make drinks. Still, I manage to sneak my way over to their high-top corner table more than I probably should, stealing teeny-tiny sips from Gemma’s and Harley’s drinks as I do.

“I thought you said Jack was going to come by.” Gemma leans in close to my ear so she doesn’t have to yell over the noisy crowd.

I shrug as if I haven’t been watching the door for the past hour, waiting for him to make an appearance. “Maybe he got tied up.”

Doing what, I couldn’t tell you, because as far as I know, even after almost two months of living together, the man still doesn’t actually do anything. It’s a lifestyle I find baffling, but at least he has been seen leaving the house on occasion since I moved in.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be here.” Nick takes a swig of beer, all while managing to look super smug.

“And how do you know that?” Harley slides her drink across the table for me to take a sip.

Nick shrugs, smile growing smugger by the second. “We hung out today.”

I pause midsip. “I’m sorry, did you just say you hung out today? With Jack? My roommate who never wants to hang out with anybody?”

This time Nick full-on grins. “He doesn’t seem to mind hanging out with me.”

“Oh, so it’s just me he can’t stand to be around for more than five minutes.” I down the rest of Harley’s drink. I’m not sure why the idea of Nick and Jack’s hanging out without me bothers me so much since I love it when we all hang out together. I mean, I’m constantly baffled by Jack’s isolation, so I should be happy he’s making friends. It just feels a little weird that he’s making friends with my friends. Especially when it sometimes still feels like he doesn’t really want to be friends with me.