Chapter 319: The World’s Most Obvious Jealous Ex-Boyfriend

Two days later, I was sprawled across my bed, my phone balancing on my stomach, when Joey decided it was time to bring the group chat back to life.

Joey 🥳: Guys

Joey🥳: GUYS

Joey🥳: I’M BACK FROM MY HONEYMOONNNNNN

Joey 🥳: AND I’M READY TO PARTYYYYY 🎉🎉🎉

I paused, staring at the screen as the ceiling fan clicked above me. Down the hall, the shower was still running, which meant I had about four minutes of peace before Damien emerged and messed with my brain.

So, I typed away.

Me: Congrats on making it through two weeks of marriage.

The typing bubble showed up almost right away.

Joey🥳: Rude.

Joey🥳: Natasha loves me.

Me: Give it time.

Joey🥳: I’M BLOCKING YOU.

With that, I couldn’t help but smile as the conversation filled with laughing emojis from Maya. She sent three, then a fourth, because she wasn’t one to hold back on a joke.

I was really looking forward to this...simple and easy. No heavy chats on the porch. No surprise visits in lecture halls. No recounting four years of heartache while fighting back tears in front of someone who had already broken my heart once.

Maya💋: Okay, now that Joey’s back from his romantic escapades in Europe, we should all hang out.

Joey🥳: YES.

Joey🥳: Bowling?

Maya💋: Bowling.

Joey🥳: Food afterward?

Maya💋: Duh...

Joey🥳: Perfect.

Then a new message popped up.

Maya💋: I added Connor to the chat this morning, by the way.

I hesitated, when the shower turned off.

Connor chimed in almost immediately.

Connor: Hello, everyone. Looks like I’ve been kidnapped into the friend group.

Me: You have.

Connor: Should I be worried?

Maya💋: Probably, we’re a pretty weird bunch.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. This was just what I needed, just my friends.

A regular day.

I could handle that. Normal meant bowling, cheesy jokes, and Joey shouting in all caps. Normal didn’t ask me to reflect on my life’s upheaval over the past few weeks.

A chill day with minimal thinking. No speeches. No carefully chosen words. Just the sound of bowling pins crashing and Joey pretending to block me for kicks.

I was still smiling at my phone when I heard the bathroom door swing open.

I glanced up.

And, for a moment, I completely forgot how to articulate anything.

Damien stepped out, towel wrapped low around his waist, his black hair still wet from the shower. Water clung to the ends and slid down his neck, tracing the hard lines of his shoulders.

One hand was raking through his hair, pushing it back, while the other half-heartedly wrapped another towel around his shoulders. Honestly, that second towel seemed like more of a fashion statement than anything practical.

No one should look that good after a shower.

I looked back at my phone...then at him, then back to my phone again.

At that moment, my brain seemed to hit the pause button. The group chat might as well have been in a foreign language. Joey could’ve said he was moving to Mars to start a new life there, and I would’ve just typed back "cool."

Damien noticed, of course and with slight curve of his mouth...he asked, "Something wrong?"

"No."

My reply came too quick, almost like I was trying too hard to convince him.

He raised an eyebrow. "You’re staring."

"I’m not."

"You are."

"I’m just looking."

His smile widened, and I instantly regretted saying that.

He moved closer to the bed, leaning down to peek at my phone. A droplet of water slid from his hair, landing on the bed right next to me. I opted, with as much dignity as I could muster, to pretend it didn’t happen. "What are you doing?"

"Chatting with my friends."

Damien glanced at my screen, his damp hair dripping just a bit onto the edge of my blanket, which, once again, I chose not to comment on...out of respect for my own standards somewhere in me.

His expression stayed neutral for all of three seconds, then he saw Connor’s name.

I could almost see the shift in him. If I hadn’t spent the last few weeks studying every little change on his face, I might’ve missed it. "Connor is coming?"

I slowly lowered my phone. "Looks like it."

Damien nodded. "Good."

I blinked. "Good?"

"Yeah."

I frowned at him in confusion as he picked up the shirt he had left on the chair and pulled it over his head with a nonchalant ease that was, frankly, infuriating.

The towel around his waist stayed put, which I knew I should be grateful for, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that I wasn’t allowed to examine that more closely right now.

Oh God, why was I such a horny little bitch these days? I was doing just fine being celibate before Damien crashed right back into my fucking life!

Then, as if this were a casual discussion about the weather, he said, "I’ll come too."

I stared at him in disbelief. "You weren’t invited."

"I know."

"Why are you coming then?"

"Because I’m free."

I just looked at him. "You’ve been running a billion-dollar company for almost four years, and now suddenly you’re free these days?"

"Apparently."

"Damien."

He gave me that innocent look he usually reserved for when he knew he could get away with something. "What?"

"You’re inviting yourself."

"Yes."

I narrowed my eyes at him, he calmly buttoned up his shirt. "I’m not letting O’brien hog your Saturday."

And just like that, I burst out laughing. "Oh, I see how it is...you’re fucking jealous."

"I’m not jealous."

"You just admitted you’re joining because Connor is."

"I said he was a factor."

"Which sounds a lot like jealousy dressed up in corporate jargon."

His expression didn’t budge. "I just want to spend more time with you."

"While keeping an eye on Connor."

"I don’t need to keep tabs on him."

"You’ve been glaring at his name on my phone for the past half a minute."

Damien stole another glance at my screen. "I was reading your texts."

"You were plotting."

"I don’t plot."

I was laughing even more now. "You totally do. I bet you have a section on your calendar just for Plans A to Z."

He stepped closer, leaned down, and placed a quick kiss on my forehead. "Just let me know when we’re leaving, sunshine."

Then he walked away as if he hadn’t just completely scrambled my brain. I was left staring after him, starting to realize that having Damien back in my life came with some unexpected side effects.

One of those was how I completely lost the ability to think clearly whenever he strolled around half-dressed.

The other side effect? A ridiculously envious ex-boyfriend who hadn’t even been publicly dubbed my current boyfriend yet.

This was going to be interesting.

Especially when Joey showed up.

By the time Maya and Joey pulled up outside, Damien and I were ready.

I had changed twice, which felt silly since we were just heading to a bowling alley...nobody there cared about my clean sweater.

Damien, of course, looked like he stepped out of a magazine meant to make the rest of us feel underdressed. His dark shirt, sleeves rolled once, and that calm expression made him look like a man who hadn’t just spent twenty minutes battling with his own reflection.

I walked outside first, expecting to find my friends waiting impatiently in the car.

Instead, Joey froze, as his eyes moved from me to Damien.

Then back to me and then to Damien again. Maya, sitting in the passenger seat with her big belly, slowly lowered her sunglasses while her jaw dropped to the seatbelt of the car.

A long silence stretched out, the car idled, and a neighbor’s dog barked once, before deciding that was a bad idea.

I suddenly felt like I was trying to present a suspect at a police lineup.

"Um...H-heyyy guys," I said awkwardly with a sheepish smile. "Hope it’s okay I got brought a plus one."

Joey pointed at Damien with a shaky finger. "Is that..."

"Yes."

"Damien?"

"Yes."

"The Damien?"

I sighed.

"How many Damiens do you think I know?"

Joey looked genuinely shocked, then his gaze shifted towards the house. "Wait. He’s still here?!"

"Yes."

"Like... here here?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "He’s been staying with me."

Maya’s eyebrows shot up. "Staying with you?"

"Yes."

"For how long?"

I hesitated. "Since Dad invited him."

Joey stared at me, then looked over at Damien, and then back at me. "So you’re saying that while I was off on my honeymoon, you two somehow skipped ahead in the story?"

"That is not what happened."

"It certainly sounds like it."

"We didn’t skip ahead," I insisted. "We... reread some parts. Slowly...under supervision from my dad, which is a phrase I never thought I’d say."

Damien stepped forward, calm as ever. "Good morning."

Joey stared at him for another second before managing a cautious smile.

"Uh... good morning, dude."

Maya was quiet, observing Damien with an expression I couldn’t quite decipher. Not hostile, but it wasn’t exactly warm either. More like when she was trying to decide if someone’s story was going to hold up under scrutiny.

Damien didn’t seem fazed at all, he just nodded politely. "Good to see you both again."

Joey glanced at me, then he whispered loudly enough for Maya to hear, "This is fucking weird."

Maya finally smiled. "Well, if you’re coming with us, I suppose you can hop in."

Damien nodded, "Thanks."

Immediately, Joey turned to me. "So you invited him?"

"No."

At the same moment, Damien chimed in, "I invited myself."

Joey stared at him before bursting out laughing. "Okay, respect for that honesty."

I groaned. "This is going to be a long day."

Joey leaned toward Maya as Damien slid into the back seat. "If he starts merging companies at the bowling alley, I’m getting the hell outta here."

"Get in the car," Maya replied.

And in no time, it became clear that Damien had been less than truthful with me.

He’d said he was coming along because he wanted to spend time with me, but what he really meant was that he wanted to spend time with me while keeping one eye firmly on Connor.

The bowling alley was bright, loud, and packed, with music blasting while the unmistakable sound of bowling pins crashing echoed from somewhere behind us. The air was thick with the smell of fried food and rental shoes. Neon arrows pointed to lanes that nobody was using properly. A kid two lanes over celebrated his gutter ball as if he had just hit a jackpot.

When we arrived, Connor greeted me with a hug. "Hey, you."

"Hey."

A totally innocent hug.

Just a friendly hug, but when I pulled away, I noticed Damien standing several feet off with his arms crossed.

His expression was blank.

I walked up to him. "You good?"

Damien glanced over at him. "I don’t like him."

I stared at him, unsure if I should laugh or be exasperated. "You’ve never even met him, asshole."

"Exactly."

I burst out laughing and Connor caught the tail end of our conversation and shook his head. "Don’t worry. I promise I’m not after Oliver."

Damien’s eyes flicked toward him. "Hmm."

The two idiots held each other’s gaze for a second and then Joey clapped his hands together. "Great! No one’s being murdered, right? Let’s bowl!"

And just like that, the afternoon kicked off.