Chapter 6 -Grayson:Panging Feelings
Crap. What was she doing at Pop Pop’s? Wasn’t she vegan or on some special diet that these city people decided to go on to slim their bodies down? Pop Pop’s was hardly a place for someone who was looking to be on a diet.
“Aww, if it isn’t Voldie? Time really hasn’t been kind to you, has it?” Astrid spat.
This was not a situation I wanted to be in, nor did I plan to continue to be in. I looked down at Jade who had a hurt look pointed at me. I would be lying if I said her gaze didn’t do something to my chest. I quickly shook off the feeling and focused my attention back to Astrid.
“Where are you sitting?”
She ran a hand down my chest and left it hanging just above my waistband. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to irk Jade, and I was doing nothing to stop her. I should have stopped her and told her to keep her hands to herself, but I also wanted to see that look of hurt on Jade’s face. She deserved to feel any kind of pain that came her way.
Judy, the waitress, ran over to us and helped Jade back to her feet.
“My goodness, are you okay, Jade?”
Jade looked between Astrid and I before snapping out of whatever trance she had been placed in. She looked to Judy and nodded. She picked up her bag which had fallen onto the floor.
“Excuse me,” she muttered, as she brushed past me to leave the diner.
“I didn’t know Monica’s girl was back in town. How long is she staying?” Judy’s eyes followed Jade as she made her way up the pavement. “She looks so much like her mama.”
“You mean a doped-out druggie? I couldn’t agree with you more, Judy.” Astrid's words had venom coated all over them.
“Astrid,” I reprimanded her. I was not the biggest fan of Jade, but her mother had done nothing wrong to anyone. She was just a woman who had unfortunately made poor life choices which led to a lot of lost years.
“What? Just because she sobered up before she died doesn’t mean we forgot all those messed-up years she put this town and its people through.”
“Astrid,” I bit out, “I think you’ve said enough.”
Astrid gave me a nasty look, “You are defending her?”
I sighed. Here we go. Whenever it came to Jade, Astrid was like a bull that only saw red. Astrid and Jade had a long-standing history of not being kind to one another or more so Astrid bullying Jade.
To be honest, the majority of that had to do with me even though I wasn’t actively involved in their childish feud. But thanks to Jade, I knew everything about it. She had expressed her grievances about Astrid, so it only made sense why she looked so hurt when she saw Astrid by my side.
“Are you two going to eat?” Judy asked.
“Yes,” I answered and ushered Astrid to the table she had come from.
All I had wanted was to get sucked off, but Astrid had insisted that we meet for lunch beforehand. We had been on and off for years, but not once had we been serious. Don’t get me wrong, Astrid was a beautiful woman, but I was just an emotionally unavailable man, and I only had one person to blame for that.
We settled down into our chairs, and Judy handed us the menu. She took our drink orders and left us to decide over what we wanted to eat. I was skimming through the menu when I felt Astrid’s foot brush up against my inner leg.
I looked to her over the menu I was reading and quirked my eyebrow in question.
“Can I help you?”
She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and gave me a flirtatious look. “Notice anything different?”
I looked at her for a good moment, but she looked the same as she did the last time I had seen her, which was a few weeks ago.
“Should I be noticing anything different?”
She gave me a flat look. “My hair, Gray. I got it highlighted. Do you like it?”
“Yeah, it’s nice.” To be fair, I really didn’t care. I just cared about feeding my stomach and satisfying my horniness. I only needed her for the latter, but she had insisted on this little get-together first.
I looked back at my menu, but Astrid pulled it out of my hands drawing my attention yet again.