He nodded to her and turned his attention back to his companions. “Are there any more potato skins?”
“Why don’t you ask them over?” Bob suggested, pushing a hand through his shaggy red hair in a futile effort to tame it. “You can have Jessica and I’ll take the brunette.”
“Hey!” Brandon protested. “What about me?”
“Didn’t I let you have the cheerleader at Laurie’s Halloween party?” Bob returned. “It’s my turn, dude.”
“That doesn’t count,” Brandon argued. “That didn’t last past the second dance.”
“Not my problem.”
“Let me solve this one,” Mike suggested. “You guys can have them both. Decide between you who hits on which one. You’re both going to strike out, of course, but I guess there’s no harm in taking a shot.”
Both of his friends turned to stare at him. “Are you kidding me?” Bob asked. “It’s you she’s looking at, man.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not interested tonight.”
Complete silence met that announcement. He glanced up defensively. “What? I told you I’ve got to study tonight.”
“You’re going back to your apartment—alone—to do homework, when Jessica Terry is sitting there practically waving you over?” Brandon asked in disbelief.
“It’s not homework. I’ve got tests tomorrow. Two of them.”
“Big deal. You’ll either pass or you won’t. This is Jessica-freakin’-Terry,” Bob grumbled. “And she’s with a friend. A smoking-hot friend.”
“No, I can’t. Not tonight. I told you when you called that I have to leave early.” And he had already missed that goal, he thought with a frowning glance at his watch. It was almost nine o’clock already.
“This isn’t like you, Mike,” Brandon said. “What’s going on?”
Mike’s cell phone rang before he could reply. He pulled it out of his pocket, glanced at the caller ID readout, and suppressed a wince. “Hi,” he said, holding the phone to his ear and turning slightly away from his companions.
“Mike? I can hardly hear you,” Catherine said. “You asked me to call you when I got home from work. I just got in.”
He had forgotten about making that request. At the time, he’d expected to be alone in his apartment with his textbooks when she called. He had thought chatting with her would provide a pleasant and well-deserved break. “How did your experiment go?”
“Not particularly well. Some of the plates were contaminated. Do you have your radio turned up that loud or are you—”
“Hi, Mike. I’ve been trying to get your attention over there,” Jessica Terry said with a little pout, leaning over the table to give him an eyeful of creamy cleavage. “Aren’t you even going to say hi?”
If a cell phone could suddenly turn cold in one’s hand, Mike’s did at that moment. “Apparently, I’ve called at a bad time,” Catherine said.
“No,” he said, motioning for Bob and Brandon to run interference with Jessica. “I was just having a quick drink with Bob and Brandon.”
“I’m sorry, Mike, I can’t really hear you. I’ll let you get back to your friends. Good luck on your tests tomorrow.”
She disconnected without giving him a chance to respond.
“Damn it,” he said, snapping the phone shut and shoving it into his pocket. Throwing some money on the table, he pushed his chair back from the table. “I’ve got to go, guys. Jessica, it was nice to see you again.”
Jessica looked a bit shocked that he was brushing her off so brusquely—and considering their previous encounter, he supposed he didn’t blame her. Bob and Brandon were scowling.
“Boy,” Brandon muttered. “She’s got you jumping when she snaps her fingers, doesn’t she? I never thought I’d see that.”
“Look, I’ve just got to study, okay?” Mike repeated wearily. “I’ll call you guys later.”
He knew they weren’t satisfied with his explanation. He didn’t like leaving them annoyed with him, even though he was defensively aware that he was in the right this time. He had told them from the beginning that he couldn’t stay long.
He was also troubled by his phone conversation with Catherine. He shouldn’t be feeling this guilty. Yeah, he had asked her to call him, but he hadn’t promised to stay at home all night waiting for the phone to ring. And, okay, he had told her he would be studying, but he hadn’t said he wouldn’t take a break for a while. He hadn’t known then that his friends would call and ask him to join them for a drink.