Lost in a Reverie 18+ Only (Book 1 of Lastor Series) ['23/'24 EDIT]

Chapter 19

We arrived at the restaurant at seven and spent the next twenty minutes waiting for whoever the fuck Jude invited. He seemed nervous and kept glancing at the door. He was even sweating all over and wouldn't stop shaking his damn knee.

"What is up with you?" I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

He cleared his throat, taking a sip of his fourth glass of water. "Nothing."

I narrowed my gaze. "Are you planning an intervention or some shit? In freaking public?"

The maitre-d greeted an arriving guest and Jude immediately turned to look at the person who entered. I followed his gaze, wondering who this person he couldn't wait for me to meet but instead, Rick walked in, wearing a sports jacket and struggling to knot his tie.

"You invited Rick?" I hissed at Jude.

"He took care of you when I couldn't. I felt like I owed him," he said, shrugging.

"You couldn't just give him a raise or something?"

"I didn't want to insult the guy. He's my friend, Gel."

I rolled my eyes and just shut my mouth as Rick came to the table. A waiter set up his plate beside mine and I ignored him as he sat next to me.

Jude was fidgeting in his seat, tapping his fingers on the table restlessly and checking his watch every ten fucking seconds. I lost my shit and slapped my hand over his.

"I don't want to be rude or anything but I kinda have some place to be," I said, forcing a smile. "Is this special guest of yours coming or not? I swear, if this is really an intervention, I will never speak to you again."

"Let me just make a call," he said, getting up and heading outside before I could protest.

I pursed my lips, settling back in my seat. Rick was still fumbling with his tie like an idiot and I tried to ignore him but it was starting to annoy me.

"God, just..."

I turned to face him, slapping his hands away and slipping the tie off his neck. I fixed his collar and slipped the tie back on correctly, quickly doing a Windsor knot.

"There."

He stretched his neck, tugging at his collar. "It's choking me."

"It's supposed to."

My phone pinged and I checked it, seeing a message from Bo. I was typing up a reply when Rick cleared his throat too conspicuously.

"Don't," I snapped sharply.

"Huh?"

"You're going to explain why you're here." I sent the text just as another one came in from Andrea. "Probably because Jude insisted and you couldn't say no but you could have, you just let proper etiquette pressure you into doing the polite thing because you didn't want to be rude," I said as I typed. "Being well-mannered warrants no explanation so don't, yeah?"

He sighed. "Look, I know you said to stay away but I'm not here to try anything. Jude asked me to come because-"

"I said don't." I put my phone down and turned to face him. "Jude doesn't have that many friends. He's always been unapproachable and unbearably awkward since we were kids, and only had one real friend while we were growing up. So he made me promise that the few friends he has, I'll leave alone. I'm not much of a decent person but I always try to keep my promises. Unfortunately, I'm a mess of contradictions and I don't always do the right thing. Seeking comfort from you was selfish of me and I just can't be selfish, not when it comes to Jude. He deserves a friend like you. So for his sake, and let's be honest yours too, let's never discuss what happened between us. I'm not trying to be a bitch or anything, I just don't want Jude to lose a good friend. Nod if you agree." He nodded. "Good. Ignore me now."