“Pay your shit and get the fuck out!”
Thank fucking God.
~
In the car, on our way back to Jackson’s duplex, I went straight for the kill. We weren’t drunk – we’d been kicked out of Muse Room before even finishing a round – but Jackson was completely high off of what had just happened. He hadn’t stopped laughing since his driver came, hanging on my shoulders and clutching his stomach. That weird yuk-yuk-yuk laugh that I hadn’t heard since we were kids was coming out. It actually had me cracking up.
“That made me feel like college again when we went to that fucking cigar lounge and pretended to be Dad and Uncle Frank even though I was like, nineteen and you were like, ten.”
“I was seventeen, you clown.”
Jackson howled. “That was awesome. I felt like I was reliving that moment just now.”
“Yeah, well maybe you should find a time machine and go back to that year so it’s fucking acceptable for you to be obsessed with nineteen-year-olds,” I cracked, laughing when Jackson flashed me a death look.
“Fuck yo
u, that chick was hot. Her tits were Audra-level.”
“Oh, right. Audra’s thirty. Your only age-appropriate fuck buddy,” I smirked. “So, who was better? Her or your little girlfriend, Gabby?”
Jackson’s mouth twitched as we stopped at red light. The grin slid off his face and his eyes hardened as he stared out the windshield. For a second, I wondered if I’d moved too quickly. But then he squinted, rubbed his lip and gave his verdict. “I’m actually gonna go with Gabby.”
My pulse quickened as I felt myself getting somewhere. “Fuck off, I don’t believe you.”
“Why not? Pretty sure Audra’s doped up on like ten different meds, she barely moves when I fuck her,” Jackson laughed. I looked out my window for a second as I scowled with disgust. “What do you know about Gabby, anyway?” Jackson socked my arm. “You were gone during the years that she turned into a fucking smokeshow.”
“I guess that’s what makes it so hard to believe.” Every word out of my mouth was a pre-calculated maneuver. “Last I saw her, she was awkward and skinny and completely uncoordinated.”
“Yeah, and that was ten years ago, asshole. We’ve all changed a lot in ten years.”
No kidding. “Fair enough. But I still can’t believe it about Gabby. Pretty sure sex with her would look like… a baby giraffe trying to stand up.” I laughed, despising the person I sounded like. “And here you were… all proud that you bagged a ‘Victoria’s Secret-looking model.’ You fuckin’ liar. She was probably just desperate to lose her virginity to someone,” I said, digging my nails into my seat to get through the heinous words that I knew would get to Jackson’s famous ego.
He was dead silent for the rest of the ride. I was afraid it hadn’t worked but the second we got out of the car, audible to no one but ourselves, he flashed me a dirty megawatt smile.
“Your big mouth is going to shut up in a fucking second,” he said. “’Cause I got something to show you.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Lara
Sloane’s long but cryptic text came in just as I was drifting past Jackson’s closet, eyeing the corner that Jake had told me about last night.
Lara. Honeydoll. Thank you for letting me know you’re okay. You worried the sh*t out of me girl. We have a lot to talk about missy. But not over text because I’m gonna see you tonight. Jackson is probably going to tell you in two minutes that there’s an important dinner tonight at Buccieri. Caleb told him before I could get to you. But anyway it IS a very important dinner. I need you there in your prettiest dress. I’m sure you’re guessing what this is right now and you’re probably right but if you’re making any other assumptions DON’T because there are a LOT of things I have to talk to you about once we get a private moment. I love you.
It was a message typed in code but having been her best friend for sixteen years, I knew exactly what she was talking about.
“Lara?” Jackson called from the bathroom. “Listen, Caleb called me before about a – ”
“Dinner at Buccieri. Just the word from Sloane, babe,” I called back, hearing him chuckle. Dropping “babe” after a fight never failed to ease Jackson’s nerves. He’d been careful with me since I’d come home, choosing his words wisely when he apologized about Dane and promised to “take care” of the situation without “doing anything illegal.” He was still being cautious with me but I could easily get him back into his comfort zone. I’d done this too many times. “Know what it’s about?” I called back into the bathroom.
“Yeah. You figure it out?”
“Shotgun wedding.”
“Duh.”
We laughed. But my heart hurt a little. Sloane getting married to Caleb made it real. Despite what recent events had revealed about our men, she was choosing him. Over me. She’d told me not to make any assumptions but it was hard when she’d soon be Mrs. Caleb Weiss.