The Man Who Waited vs. The Man Who Wasted novel Chapter 169

"Jo, I really wish you could come," Sarah whined.

"It's fine," Jocelyn replied warmly. "You guys just have a good time."

Suddenly, a sleek sports car pulled up to the curb right next to Jocelyn.

A highly exaggerated wolf whistle followed.

"Hey beautiful, need a ride?"

Jocelyn didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

Sarah heard it through the phone, too.

"Is that Liam Bancroft, that absolute jerk?"

Jocelyn laughed out loud.

"Are you two fighting again?"

"You have no idea!" Sarah vented. "He showed up at the office yesterday and purposely started nitpicking everything I was doing, right in front of Mr. Vance."

"And then what happened?" Jocelyn asked.

"Then Mr. Vance physically threw him out of the building. And then Liam—"

"Liam called Mr. Vance a traitor who throws his friends under the bus for a girl."

But Sarah caught herself and didn't say the last part out loud.

Jocelyn, waiting for the rest of the sentence, pressed, "Liam what?"

Sarah giggled awkwardly.

"Nothing, nothing. I just can't stand looking at his stupid face."

Liam leaned out of the car, dressed like he was heading to a GQ photoshoot.

"Who's on the phone, gorgeous? You look heavily invested."

Jocelyn smiled. "Just catching up with someone who outranks you."

"Who?" Liam asked.

"Someone who loves calling you a jerk."

Liam aggressively rolled his eyes.

"Of course. It's that absolute menace, Sarah."

"Why do you keep antagonizing her?" Jocelyn asked.

"I'm bored. It's fun," Liam shrugged.

Jocelyn just stared at him.

"Where are you headed?" Liam asked, looking around. "Where's your car?"

"I'm heading to the hospital."

"Well, I'm definitely not all in."

Liam smoothly changed the subject.

"Julian's hosting a get-together tonight. You coming?"

"You know I can't," Jocelyn sighed. "It's not a good idea for me to show my face there."

"That's easy to fix. We'll just book a private VIP room for our tight inner circle."

"I think I'll pass. I really want to spend the evening at the hospital with my dad."

"Your dad's awake now, Jo. You can't just live at the hospital. It constantly reeks of bleach and disinfectant. Even if you can handle it, the kid inside you is definitely going to complain."

Jocelyn couldn't help but laugh.

"The baby doesn't even have a nose yet. They can't smell anything."

"More importantly," Liam added, his tone softening, "your dad cares about you. Seeing you run yourself into the ground is only going to stress him out more. You need to take a night off and decompress. If you keep walking around wound this tight, you're going to snap."

"I promise, it's just a laid-back night with friends. Nobody's going to make you drink or do anything crazy. Just come hang out and relax."

Jocelyn thought about it for a moment, and her resolve softened.

He had a point.

It had been entirely too long since she had actually spent time with her real friends.

Tonight was as good a time as any.