In Your Corner | ✓

Twelve

I scowl and take another drink. "Nothing to say. Just annoyed everyone keeps ribbing me about it."

"Because we're right?"

"No," I snap, irritation seeping through my skin.

Yes, Josh is attractive and lovely in every sense of the word, but that's really not it. I love spending time with him, just talking, but mostly, I'm just trying to be there for him as a friend right now.

Sue me for getting a little distracted every now and again by his looks, but anything other than a friendship with him is off the cards. He's got an awful lot going on right now and it's probably a bit much for him to juggle anything else, if he were even interested in me in the first place.

Honestly, I'm okay with that. Given how much everyone has been telling me that I need to slow down and look after myself a bit better, I plan on doing just that.

Jonny sighs, sensing my ire and changes the topic. "All right, we've noted your annoyance, Nat. Shall we talk about the reason that you've been a little distracted lately instead, then? On Sunday, you hardly paid attention to anything at all."

Really, I'm a little miffed that he's right. I wish I could say that I've been totally with it recently, but I'd be lying. On Sunday night at the garage dinner, I only joined in the conversation when someone kicked me under the table to pull me away from my train of thought about how Josh was doing.

I've been a little better this evening, but it's still niggling away at me. He messaged me after we saw each other yesterday, but just because he'd had a post about the Golden Gate Bridge pop up on his Instagram feed after our conversation, and had joked that his phone had been earwigging our whole conversation.

"Just got a lot of work at college," I reply stiffly, but my best friend of so many years can easily tell that I'm lying.

Andrei doesn't look particularly impressed at my half-assed excuse either, but doesn't push me on it. Instead, he acts like he buys it. "Well, just as well your Dad has been talking about hiring someone else, then. You'll be able to cut your shifts that way."

My gut tugs at the thought of it – and the knowledge that just about everyone at the garage thought that me taking on less shifts was the best option for all of us.

I know it's not that they want me to leave and are just looking out for me, but still. It's not like I want to cut down on my time working there, but there doesn't seem to be another way around it at this point. The amount of time I spend actually relaxing is next to zero.

Jonny, picking up on my mood and clearly hoping to change it, smirks. "Personally, I'm hoping that Papa Choi hires a woman. Then, we can replace you for real, Nat."

I know he doesn't mean it and is just looking to get a rise out of me, but I still kick him hard under the table for good measure. "Maybe you're just looking for someone else to annoy," I shoot back.

He just grins, shaking his head. "Uh-uh. There's no one in the world I'd rather annoy than you, Nat, don't worry. To be honest, I'm hoping that I can team up with her and we can bothannoy you."

I scoff, unimpressed. "As if. Girls support girls, obviously."

He wiggles his eyebrows. "Not if they're fighting over me."

This time, it's Andrei who smacks him on the shoulder and tells him to stop talking.

We chat about mindless things for a while, just telling funny stories about what's been going on since we last saw each other properly. It's not that we can't talk at work, or at Sunday night dinners, but it's a bit different when it's just the three of us.