Not the best I could come up with, but it would work. Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I headed down the hall to eat dinner with my mom.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
BLAIRE
“It’s Friday night, finals are over, and you don’t have the excuse of being sick to not come out with us tonight,” Paige said. She flopped down on the couch beside me. She’d been trying to get me to agree to partying at Shooters tonight with her, Lauren, and Craig. “Please.”
Paige stuck out her bottom lip and batted her heavily made-up eyes at me. As usual, she was stunning. Her dark hair had been curled into soft ringlets, her makeup was expertly done, and her outfit accentuated her features precisely. Tonight she wore a pair of dark skinny jeans, red heels, and a loose-fitting top that hung off her right shoulder and matched the color of her shoes dead on.
Letting out a sigh, I cut my eyes to her. “Yes, it’s Friday, finals are over, and I’m not sick, but that doesn’t mean I feel like going out tonight. I’m tired. This week was hell.”
“You’re not tired and yes, this week was hell—all the more reason to unwind with a few drinks and dance the built-up misery from the week away,” she insisted.
“I’m going out tomorrow night—in fact, I’m going to the same place. One night of partying at Shooters will be plenty for me. I really just need to catch up on some sleep.”
Paige gave me a disgusted look. “Are you serious right now? You are not staying home tonight to sleep. Put on a cute outfit and strap some heels on. You . Are. Going. Out.” She grabbed my arm to tug me back to my room. I laughed and allowed it.
“All right, I’ll come. But I mean it when I say I’m not staying long and I’m only having two drinks, tops,” I said with as much authority as I could manage.
Paige smiled and clapped her hands, obviously only hearing the part where I’d said I would come. She was across the room and flipping through my clothes in seconds. “Ohh, when did you get this hot little number?” she asked.
She pulled out the dress I’d bought for my date—or non-date, whatever the case may be—with Jason tomorrow night. It was a strapless yellow dress that fell to about an inch above my knees and was made from a silky polyester fabric. It was fairly simple, but when paired with the cute set of earrings I’d bought and my strappy wedge sandals I figured it would look hot.
“That’s what I bought the other day for my thing with Jason tomorrow night,” I said. My words came out sounding off and I wondered if Paige would pick up on the nervousness present in them.
“Thing?” She raised an eyebrow at me. Obviously she’d skipped over the nerves that rang clearly in my voice and moved right on to the description I’d chosen.
I nodded. “Yes, thing. I’m not sure what it is—a date, a non-date with an old high school friend, a casual meeting?”
“Oh it’s a date, definitely a date.”
“What makes you so sure?”
She held up the dress again. “This dress makes it a date. You went out and bought something new and sexy. Plus, when was Jason Bryant ever your high school friend and who does casual meetings? That doesn’t even make sense to me.”
Dropping my eyes to the hardwood flooring of my room, I shrugged a shoulder and tucked a few strands of my hair behind my ear that had fallen free. “Okay, point made. I guess it’s a date.”
It felt so odd to say those words out loud and know that it was with Jason Bryant of all people.
“So…all of this is out of the question.” She quickly dismissed everything in my closet. “Let’s head to my room and I’ll find you something.”
“As long as it’s not wild and bold like those shoes you wore last weekend. And no animal prints,” I said. I followed her down the hall and into her room.
Paige had a closet stuffed full of clothing. To say that she had an entire department store in there would not be an understatement. How she managed to organize and fit it all in the tiny space still baffled me. Why she wasn’t going to school for fashion or business management so she could open up her own clothing store in town boggled my mind as well. I’d have to mention the idea to her sometime, when she wasn’t so wrapped up in finding me the perfect outfit for tonight and would actually listen to the words coming from my mouth.
I sat on her bed and watched her rummage through her clothes frantically. “How much time do I have to get ready?” I asked.
“About fifteen minutes,” she said. “Lauren will be walking through the door any second and Craig in about fifteen. He was passing that bookstore you like when I got off the phone with him.”
“I guess I’d better go do my makeup then,” I said, standing.
“I have the perfect outfit!” Paige suddenly shouted. “Bam, look at this! I forgot I even had this top!” She came out of her closet holding a peach-colored shirt in front of her. It had a low-cut neckline and looked to be fairly tight fitting. There were tiny rhinestones or sequins trimming the neckline. One side of the top had a wide strap, while the other was a thin spaghetti strap.
It was definitely a Paige shirt.
“Here, wear this. Let’s pair it with some skinny jeans or a cute pair of shorts.” She tossed the shirt to me and started toward my room to riffle through my jeans and shorts.
I could wear any of her tops and most of her dresses, but Paige was a tad shorter than I was, so sharing jeans or shorts was out of the question. The alarm on my cell started going off and I raced to my dresser to retrieve it. I left Paige in my room to do her thing and headed to the kitchen for my pills and a glass of water. If I didn’t set the alarm on my phone as a reminder, I swear I’d never remember to take my birth control pills. I was awesome at remembering anything else besides that on my own. Maybe it was because lately, I’d hardly done anything that would require the use of pregnancy prevention.
Pushing the little pill from its compact container, I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water. Popping the pill in my mouth, I took a sip of water and swallowed. One down and one to go. Lauren walked through the front door without knocking like usual, startling me.
“Knock, knock, ladies,” she said.
“Hey,” I called to her.
She was dressed in a blue tank top that was one size too small and a pair of skinny jeans with some killer hooker heels. Necklaces of all sizes hung around her neck, draping over her cleavage and drawing attention to her girls. Multiple bracelets jingled on her right wrist. She looked amazing.
Twisting the cap on the bottle of antibiotics I’d gotten from the doctor, I dumped one in my hand and popped it into my mouth. Taking a swig of water, I swallowed and winced as I felt the horse pill scrape against my throat on its way down. I’d be glad when those were gone. If the bottle hadn’t clearly said to take all pills then I wouldn’t, because my sinus infection was obviously long gone by now and I felt fine. One more day, I reminded myself, and then they’re completely gone.
“Lauren, what are you wearing tonight?” Paige asked. She hurried down the hall in her heels to look for herself without waiting on Lauren to answer. “All right, skinny jeans it is. Blaire, come on!”
Setting my glass on the counter, I followed after Paige, flashing Lauren a smile along the way.
“Oh, no, Paige is in the matching mood. I can see it in her eyes,” Lauren said. “We’ll all be matchy-matchy tonight with our outfits.”
“And? We’ll all look hot so what’s the problem?” Paige asked. She tossed the top she’d found in her closet at me, along with a pair of faded skinny jeans. “Put this on.”
Three minutes later I was dressed in the outfit selected by my self-appointed fashion advisor and strapping on the wedge shoes I’d planned on wearing tomorrow night. Paige came at me with some dangly silver earrings and a chunky beaded bracelet. I took them from her and put them on quickly.
“Next you need to fix your makeup and brush that hair,” she said.
A knock sounded at the front door and I couldn’t have been happier. Craig was h
ere, now Paige would chill out. Her fashion mission was complete and her new man was here. The night was about to begin.
* * * *
Shooters was your typical, run-of-the-mill college bar. It was filled with girls willing to do nearly anything for a free drink and guys who were either arrogant asses or had hit their prime in high school and hadn’t realized it yet. Inside was nothing spectacular—the walls were wood paneling but had been painted a shade of dark brown, large red tiles made up the floor, and colorful signs advertising the beers and liquors behind the bar lit the place along with a few low-hung lights draped around the ceiling by thick chains.
“So, what are we drinking tonight, ladies? I’ll buy the first round of whatever it is,” Craig said.
We’d all rode together in his sleek, black-and-chrome Ford Explorer. It was white-glove clean. Normally this wouldn’t be something that would put me off about a guy—after all, it was rare to find one who seemed to love to clean up after himself—but there was something off about his O.C.D. ways that irked me and I couldn’t explain. I just didn’t care for the guy, plain and simple.
“Lemon Drops?” Lauren asked. Her gaze shifted from Paige to me.
“Yes!” Paige shouted with a little more enthusiasm than was needed to get her point across.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll take one of those.”
Lemon Drops were about the only vodka drink I could handle. They were our girls’ night out drink of choice when we went.
“Lemon Drops it is then,” Craig said. His brown eyes lit up and a mischievous grin twisted at his lips. He faced the bartender and held up a hand. “Three Lemon Drops and one shot of Bacardi Gold, please.”
Once the tall, slender shot glass, filled with a light yellowish color, was in my hand I felt a little more at ease in being here. The four of us held out our glasses for a toast.
“To finals week coming to an end and summer break to a beginning!” Craig shouted.
Others around us hooted and hollered, agreeing to his toast, as we clinked our glasses together. The sugar-crusted rim touched my lips and the cool contents splashed against my tongue as I took my first sip. Tonight might be bearable, as long I had one of these in my hand.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
JASON
Dinner with Mom had been nice. The only thing on the menu that managed to get burnt was the garlic bread. Once she’d pulled it out of the oven all I could do was laugh. I’d known right away it was a lost cause and that I damn sure wasn’t eating that charred shit.
We’d gone over the long list of repairs I was going to have to do at Gramps’ place before we could put it on the market. I’d made a mental note of which ones I knew how to do and which I didn’t. Google would be my best friend throughout the majority of the projects. Mom didn’t know that, though. If she did, she’d want to hire someone to do them all and I knew she couldn’t afford that. She didn’t need the added stress either. Besides, how hard could it be to follow a few how-to sites and get everything done on my own?
After dinner Mom surprised me with a six pack of beer she’d tucked away in the back of the fridge.
“Here,” she said, holding them out to me.
“What’s this for?” I asked. I took them from her and twisted the cap off one.
She shrugged and started to put up the salvageable food from our dinner. “A thank you of sorts, for helping out with the house and giving up your first night of college freedom of the year to spend with me.”
I chuckled. “You didn’t have to buy me beer, Mom. I don’t mind doing any of those things and it’s not like this is my freshman year of college or something. It’s just the beginning of another summer break. No big deal.”
I took a swig of the beer in my hand and felt tiny pricks of guilt stab at my heart for having thought coming here a night early was an inconvenience earlier.
“Eh.” She waved a hand at me. I knew then that the conversation was over. “So, what are your plans for the rest of the night? Are you headed out on the town or what?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I’m just gonna hang here tonight. It’s been one hell of a week. I could actually use some sleep.”
“I know the feeling.” She grabbed a rag off the counter and began wiping up where the sauce had splattered across the stove. She’d cooked on high heat, as always. “I think I’m going to turn in myself. We had a new shipment of clothes come in today and I spent hours sorting through them all. My back is killing me.” Kissing me on the cheek, she turned and headed in the direction of her room.
I downed the rest of my beer, grabbed another one, and set the rest back in the fridge. Making my way to the couch, I turned on the TV and began flipping through the channels. After an hour had passed and I’d managed to watch a few minutes of every station we got, I cut the TV off and tossed the remote on the coffee table.
The house was too quiet.
Grabbing the rest of the beers from the fridge and the list Mom had gone over with me earlier, I headed outside to sit on the tiny back porch. Fishing in my front pocket for my phone, I pulled it out and began to Google the things I needed to do and didn’t know how. I emailed myself tutorials and how-to instructions for all of them. By the time I was done I’d drank all six beers and was feeling pretty nice, but definitely wasn’t ready to stop.
Scrolling through my list of contacts, I paused when I came to Matt’s name. It was close to midnight. I wasn’t sure if he would be around to answer my call, but I tried him anyway. It rang five times before he picked up.
“Jason, what’s up?” he answered. Music played in the background from wherever he was at.
“Nothing, man. I’m back in town for a few days, figured I’d give you a shout and see what was going on?”
The song I’d heard playing in the background faded out and a new one came on in its place. It was more upbeat than the last. People laughing and talking grew louder. Where was he? Another party?
“Not much, it’s Coldcreek, or did you forget?” he chuckled. “I’m down here at Blue’s, wanna come have a few drinks with me?”
Blue’s was one of two bars Coldcreek had. Out of the two, Blue’s was the most decent. Well, as decent as you could get being in the same parking lot as a Domino’s. “I’ve already had a few, but I guess I could swing by there for a bit.”
“How about I have Marla come pick you up?”
“Marla?” I asked. Surly he wasn’t talking about the same Marla I had in mind.
“Yeah, Marla Danes,” he said. Someone in the background started yelling and Matt laughed. The place sounded like fun. “She’s my D.D. for the night. You don’t mind if she gives me a ride to get you, do you? I know y’all have history or some shit.”
Marla Danes. That was a name I hadn’t heard in a long time. Big blue eyes and red glossy lips flashed through my mind at the thought of her. She’d been my first. I’d caught her skinny dipping once at Lake Chapman when we were about fourteen. I was supposed to meet Matt out there to go fishing that afternoon, but he’d caught the stomach bug so I’d gone alone and there she’d been, in all of her tanned skin glory. I’d stood off to the side, behind some shrubs and bushes, watching her swim gracefully through the water. She’d flipped onto her back and began gliding along the top of the water, her perky boobs pointing up at the sky. To this day I still can’t figure out how she knew someone was watching her, but she had. And when she called me out on it and I strutted from behind my hiding spot, her red glossy lips had twisted into a wicked smile and her big blue eyes had lit up. I knew right then that Marla Danes was going to have her way with me and I knew I wouldn’t even put up a fight.
“Nah, that’s fine,” I said. “I’ll be sitting out front.”
“We’ll be there in a few.”
* * * *
I sat outside beneath the stars, enjoying the cool night breeze while waiting on Matt and Marla. After about fifteen minutes, I pulled my cell out and checked to see if he’d sent me a message. Nothing. Headlights bounced ar
ound the corner and loud music blared from the speakers of a car as it came to a slow roll in front of me.
“Hop in,” Matt shouted out his window.
Opening the door behind him, I slid into the backseat. There were articles of clothing for every season, shoes, crumpled papers, and empty boxes of cigarettes littering the floorboard and backseat. I pulled a bubble-gum pink sweater from under my ass and tossed it to the side. The dome light was still on and in it I caught sight of Marla’s platinum-blonde curls shining brightly from the driver’s seat. My eyes drifted to the rearview mirror and locked with hers. They were still just as big and blue as I’d remembered.
“Hey, sugar,” she said. She held a lit cigarette in her hand and took a puff. She tipped her head back and exhaled at the mirror. The smoke left her red glossy lips in swirls, floating to the ceiling of the car and dispersing into nothing. “You can move any of that shit around back there to get it out of your way. Sorry my car is such a mess.”
Her voice was familiar and raspy. She was just like I’d remembered…except sexier. I couldn’t believe this was who’d taken my virginity, like she’d been doing me a favor and never thought twice about it. We never dated after, but we had sex about four times more. Each time was just sex and nothing more. Practice made perfect was what she’d always said. I’d bet that Marla Danes was as close to perfect in bed as any girl could get.
Marla licked her ruby red lips and winked at me in the mirror. I grinned and then glanced at Matt. I didn’t know if they were together and I didn’t want him pissed at me.
“So, Blue’s, huh? That place still the hangout around here?” I asked.
“Yup,” Matt said. If he had a problem with the looks Marla was giving me—and that I was undoubtedly giving her—he didn’t show it. “Ready for a little fun?” He turned around to glance at me.
“Yeah, I am actually.”
“That’s my boy,” Matt said.
Marla shifted her crappy little beater into drive and whipped the car around, pulling a U-turn right in the middle of the street. Her lead foot pressed the gas to the floor and Matt yelled out a little whoop into the night.