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for me. What about you, Jake?” she asked.
    Of course his head went right to his nights with Jill, and before that he had always stopped at a pub for some dancing. “Not much as of late,” he said. He patted his pocket, about to check his phone, when he realized he couldn’t because it was shattered in the trash bin outside the locker room.
    Chris seemed to follow where his hand went as if she knew. She didn’t say anything, but he still felt he needed to explain himself.
    “My phone, I feel lost without it. I’ll have to find a store around here to replace it.”
    She didn’t even blink as she watched him. “You know, this may be none of my business, and I wasn’t eavesdropping.”
    He wondered if he should call her out, because of course she had been. Instead of leaving, she’d even stuck around to give him advice. He noticed her cheeks were flushed, and he raised an eyebrow. Of course he was wondering what she was thinking. What had made her blush?
    “Okay, I was listening. I’m sorry,” she said.
    “You must think I’m pretty pathetic, then.” He tapped his fingers on the table, and her eyes widened as she leaned across. Reaching out, she touched his hand.
    “No, I don’t think you’re pathetic. I was thinking that it wasn’t so long ago that I was in your position, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” She pulled her hand away and leaned back, and for a minute he’d swear he’d seen some vulnerability, a hurt that was still raw and very real. Then it was gone and her game face was back on.
    “She was my brother’s girlfriend,” Jake finally said. “Maybe I should have known better, but he got cold feet and picked up another woman in a bar in front of her. She dumped him, and, well…” What could he say? He’d always carried a torch for Jill. He’d envied his brother. He’d made himself available. Logan had been right about that, too.
    “Ouch. And she leaned on you, cried on your shoulder, and you were there to pick up the pieces of her broken heart.” She glanced away, watching something out the window as she rested her elbow on the table, her chin in her palm, before glancing back his way. “No, that just makes you human.”
    He didn’t know what to make of Chris. “So what happened for you?”
    She leaned back, wagging her finger at him. “No, we’re talking about you and…” She hesitated.
    “Jill is her name. I asked her to marry me, and…” He couldn’t finish. He couldn’t tell anyone what he’d done, trying to get her pregnant to tie her to him. Even though he wouldn’t have admitted it before now, that was exactly what he’d been trying to do: make her love him, force her to stay with him. It stung to realize it, but it also hurt that she was so head over heels in love with his prick of a brother.
    “Let me guess, she’s not over your brother? She panicked, maybe a reality check, and started backing away.”
    Boy, was she spot on. He leaned back, and then the waiter appeared with their meal, setting it in front of them. For a moment, they just ate in silence, and he stifled a smile when she dug into her meatballs.
    “So how did you know that’s what she did?” he asked. “I mean, I’m still trying to figure it out. I offered her everything, wanted to give her the world, security, family.” Love. He’d just wanted to love her. “And she left. I haven’t seen her in months.”
    “You’ve been calling, I take it, waiting for her to call you back, pushing, trying to change her mind, being understanding? And all the while, you’re eating your heart out,” she said between mouthfuls. There was a dot of sauce on the side of her mouth, and he wanted to reach over with his finger and wipe it away. Chris must have known, as she wiped her mouth with a napkin.
    “Sounds like we’re talking about more than me,” he replied, gesturing with his fork toward her. He then wound it in the fresh pasta and shoved a forkful into his mouth, the garlic and fresh herbs