Free Waiting for Something by Whitney Tyrrell

didn’t notice but Jake sure did and gave me a look to make sure I wasn’t about to leap.
                  “Breathe. They hang out with the same people,” he leaned in and whispered.
                  “So then why wasn’t I invited?” I replied through gritted teeth.
                  “Just ignore it. Pretend like you don’t see him. He’ll notice you then,” he put his hand on the small of my back and I felt myself tense up.
                  I stood up straight and Jake went ahead and walked with Dillon. As I passed Carter and his table I felt the stares and then a soft giggle from the girls. I kept walking, waiting for Carter to stop me and he sure enough did notice me.
                  “Ali, what are you doing here?” he got up and put his arm around me.
                  “Well since you were out with friends, Jake and Dillon and I decided we were in the mood for ice cream.” I looked back at them as I watched Jake pay and make some joke with Dillon.
                  “Who’s Dillon and I didn’t know you and Jake were still friends,” he got a little bit of an attitude.
                  “Dillon is my brother, remember? And Jake and I will always be friends. Is that okay?” I couldn’t believe this was our first day of being a couple and we were already fighting.
                  “I knew that. And of course it’s okay. Look, I’m sorry you weren’t invited. I didn’t know that we were even coming here. We were just hanging out at Ryan’s and then everyone decided to come here,” he looked at me apologetically.
                  “Carter, Chelsea is here. Your ex, with you. I’m not okay with that,” I looked at him questioningly.
                  “Look, I didn’t know she was going to be here. Forgive me, please?” Carter sounded sincere.
                  “You know, it’s fine. I’m sorry I’m overreacting. I’m going to go. I don’t want to miss my ride,” I saw them hanging by the door.
                  “I’ll call you when I get home? By the way you look really cute like that.” He kissed me and I couldn’t help but melt into him again.
                  “I’ll talk to you later,” I smiled at him.
                  I walked back to Jake’s car and he and Dillon were debating something about which team was better the Cowboys or Broncos. Personally, neither are that great. But I had to go with Jake on the Cowboys.
                  “What took you so long?” Dillon fell back into the seat as Jake drove off.
                  “Oh, just had to talk to a friend,” I caught eyes with Jake.
                  “How did that go?” Jake looked in the rearview mirror to make sure Dillon wasn’t paying attention.
                  “It’s okay. I just hate that we just started dating and we already almost got into a fight.” I frowned.
                  “Well the question is do you think it’ll last?” Sometimes he could be a little too blunt.
                  “You can be so honest sometimes,” I rolled my eyes and he held back a smirk.
                  “Well?” He gave me a hint of puppy dog eyes.
                  “No, probably not. But that doesn’t mean I’ll go for you,” I poked him in the shoulder.
                  “Hey, I’m going away soon. So I’m off limits,” he winked.
                  “Why is life so challenging?” I threw my head back against the seat.
                  “Because if life weren’t challenging then we wouldn’t get to where we need to be,” he shrugged.
                  “When did you become so grown up and not a pig?” I joked.
                  “When you came into my life and changed that all.” His voice was