I smiled back, but every muscle in my body was tense. I knew why she hadn’t added sausage—because I didn’t eat pork—but for some reason she was trying to hide that from Sean. Was she trying to shield me or something? The thought made nausea pool in my stomach.

“It would have been better with the sausage,” Sean complained, making Hailey’s smile disappear.

I tried really hard to keep my mouth shut. I’d been doing it for months, keeping my opinion to myself. But watching the smile fall off Hailey’s face when I knew how proud she was of dinner made me snap.

“She didn’t put fucking sausage in it because I’m Jewish,” I ground out, staring at Sean. Alex’s hand tightened on my leg in solidarity or warning—I wasn’t sure which. “I don’t eat pork.”

The table went so silent, you could have heard a pin drop.

“Whoa,” Sean finally said, raising his hands in the air in mock surrender. “Cease fire.” He laughed as if it were all a big joke. “I had no idea you were Jewish.”

I didn’t even bother to respond. My outburst didn’t have anything to do with my being Jewish. I was pissed because he was such an asshole. Because he’d embarrassed my friend. Because Hailey had been so excited about the meal she’d made, and he’d ruined it. Because he didn’t seem to have any regard for her feelings at all.

“Now you know,” Alex said flatly to Sean, giving my thigh one more squeeze before digging into his food.

“This bread is really good,” I told Hailey, changing the subject.

“I made it with margarine,” she told me quietly. “No dairy.”

She knew that I didn’t follow the stricter kosher rules, like never eating dairy and meat in the same meal, but she’d made sure she hadn’t mixed them just in case. I sent her a thankful smile that was just between us. My best friend had put a lot of thought into our dinner, and I hated that the night wasn’t going how she’d envisioned.

Alex started talking to Sean about someone they worked with, and I let myself zone out while I ate my dinner. It was really good. I was honestly impressed, considering what a disaster Hailey was in the kitchen.

After dinner, I helped Hailey with the dishes while Sean showed Alex something in the detached garage.

“Is he always like that?” I asked, handing her a plate.

“No,” she said lightly, shaking her head. “I think he just really wanted things to go well tonight.”

“They did go well,” I replied. “You did a really good job.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

We were quiet for a few minutes as we worked in tandem.

“He shouldn’t talk to you like that,” I said finally, unable to ignore the elephant in the room any longer.