Falling for the FBoy

Lucy

"Give him the benefit of the doubt, babe. Or this is never going to work." I nod and then she says, "Also, I have something really exciting to tell you that I have been dying to tell you all day!" She winks at me and then leads me back to the waiting area. Fischer and Jack seem to be having a somewhat serious conversation because Jack looks irritated. He smiles when he sees me but my stomach jumps into my throat. Something is going on.

"Table is ready," Stella announces and Jack snakes his arm around my waist. He pulls me into him and kisses the top of my head. I catch Fischer's hand planted on the small of Stella's back as he leads her to the table and I am sure he's hoping to get laid tonight. Jack pulls out my chair like a gentleman when we arrive at our table in the center of the restaurant and we love this place because the back of the building is made up of glass, so we see Scottsdale's beautiful skyline.

"So, do I dare ask how the Halloway's was?" Fischer asks us as we get settled in and I let out a scoff of a laugh.

"Lucy's brother-in-law is interested in investing in LucyBakes. So, that was exciting," Jack says, and I am glad he didn't start out by saying, "Lucy's sister is a psycho and her parents are intense."

"Marcus wants to invest?" Stella squeals and I knew she'd be ecstatic. "That's shocking! I thought you didn't want Lauren to know about LucyBakes."

"I never did get an answer as to how Marcus saw my videos," I admit and then slide the wine list over to me. Sunlight still fills the space, but it's fading quickly. The place is going to have soft romantic vibes here in about forty minutes and I want to feel the romance when it does. I need to shake off my annoyance. Enjoy dinner with friends.

"Well I also have news about LucyBakes," Stella announces when I don't add anything to my last statement. She gives me a cute smirk. "I was going to wait until we had drinks, but I am too excited." Right after she claps her hands together a waitress appears to take our drink order so we are forced to wait. When Jack orders a scotch on the rocks, I know something is up with him. He only orders liquor when he's trying to take the edge off. Otherwise, it's Guinness or an I.P.A. I let Stella order us a bottle to split and Fischer asks for a Jack and coke. All of us seem to need alcohol tonight. After the waitress announces the specials and tells us she'll bring bread, we look to Stella and her excitement is back.

"So, I have a friend in L.A who does casting for reality shows and he reached out to me to see if Lucy would be interested in competing on their baking show for the Food Network!" Her eyes widen as her jaw drops and I'm stunned.

"Me?"

"Yeah, I posted those videos when we were filming last week and he said you're exactly who they are looking for for this new cookie show. He said if you're interested, he'd send you the audition details."

"Wow," Jack says in excitement and a burst of a laugh escapes me.

"Holy cow. Yeah! I'm definitely interested."

"It's one of those elimination shows, so you could be competing for up to six weeks."

"When are they casting?"

"Now, they are looking for talent now. He said they're slated to start shooting in May. So school won't be a problem. And since he's a friend of mine, he already told me if you're interested, he'll get you on the shortlist. You're really going to be a star, Lucy!" I flit my gaze to Jack with wide eyes and I think my heart might explode.

"Look at us getting our shit together. It's all falling into place," he says before leaning over to kiss me.

"Still a little weird," Fischer says after our kiss ends up being a tad inappropriate.

"So precious though. I love it," Stella encourages as I pull away from Jack and we're both still smiling. My anxiety monster reminds me that I was just apprehensive with him and wonder if I could trust leaving Jack back here in Phoenix for six weeks without me.

Dinner starts off smoothly with Stella telling us some Portland anecdotes and Fischer filling us in on his Boston trip. We tell them the craziness with Mag's and Stella is still irritated that Maggie is taking her jealousy out on me. I am friends with both Maggie and Stella, but they are by no means friends. The four of us are getting on really well though, and I am actually kinda glad we can all be close. It would be amazing to have another couple to do things with.

After our entreés are cleared away, Stella asks me to join her in the ladies. She has to pee for real this time so we leave the men at the table. I pull my phone out of my purse as I pass the hostess stand and then snatch Stella's toned arm into my hand. Holding us near the entrance.

"I just got a notification that Keeley Thomas sent me a message on Facebook," I gasp out and Stella snaps her eyes to me.

"What? Read it!" She pulls me over to the hallway and we lean against the wall as I open Messenger.

"You can pee first if you need to," I tell her but she quickly shakes her head.

"No bitch, I need to know what she wants." She watches as I swipe the message open and I have no idea what to expect. She's never spoken to me directly before and I know we aren't friends on any platform.

"Read it out loud," Stella tells me. "I can't read that tiny print without my glasses."

"Okay, it says... Lucy. I saw that you announced you were in a relationship with Jack today and I thought I should let you know who your boyfriend is." I flick my anxious eyes to Stella and she waves to me to continue.

"Jack told me he wasn't interested in you when I first asked him about your friendship back in December. He told me he could never date you because you were too stuck up and were annoyingly obsessed with New York. When I asked him again- after seeing him flirt with you at the bar- he said he tries to be especially nice to you because you have really low self-esteem and your boyfriend treats you like shit." I stop reading as Stella asks, "What is she doing? What is the point of this?"

"I don't know. Do you think this is true?"

"You met her, what do you think?" I shrug and then she points to the screen, "Okay read on."

"What I've come to realize is Jack is a liar. You two clearly had a thing and Jack led me on after he promised me that nothing was going on between you too. He is a cheater!! He will tell you anything to get you into bed. If you have any ounce of self-respect, you'll end things before he lies to you. He probably already has!! You also should go get yourself checked for STDs. He is a snake!! Beware and do not trust him!! I fell for his bullshit. I hope you don't too." After I am done reading I am shaking with anger. Stella yanks me into the bathroom because I'm sure she's worried that I'm going to start crying.

"That girl is nuts Lucy, do not believe anything until you talk to Jack. He's nuts about you, you can tell. It's like a whole new Jack out there."

"I need to know what they talked about now. This is fucking crazy."

"Lucy, deep breath. She could be insanely jealous that Jack chose you, alright?"

"And if she's telling the truth?"

"He may have lied to her, that doesn't mean he's lying to you."

"Fuck, Stella. How am I going to do this? He is going to have to travel for work. Am I going to be thinking he's lying, stalking his phone finder the whole time he's gone? Am I going to drive myself crazy thinking everything he tells me is a lie?" Stella rests her hands on my shoulders as she calmly says, "Can you walk away from Jack? Can you break up with him tonight and be okay with that decision?" A montage spills into my mind showing me this past week and it hasn't been perfect, but there have been perfect moments.

"Maybe I need to pump the breaks. We got serious real fucking fast."

"Lucy, you were just telling me how you were exploding with happiness this morning."

"I'm not ready for this. I can't do this."

"I'm getting Jack," Stella says as she whips the door open. "You're leaping to conclusions before even talking to your boyfriend." She then spins around and says, "I actually do need to fucking pee." She crosses in front of me and I don't know what to do. Tell Keeley to fuck off? Tell Jack to fuck off? Tell myself to fuck off? I realize I can't deal with this. I shove the heavy swinging door open and stride out of the restaurant.