“By ethnicity? By appearance? Sure, but honestly, they describe you as a million different other things too. You just have to have more than a one-sentence conversation with them. I can’t be bothered to do that.”
“A man of few words?” I asked coyly. Had I really said that? I felt like Brady could handle it, that it was the type of communication he responded to.
“A man of few words for gossip. I figured, instead of that, I’d stop by and see for myself.”
“Good thing you did too,” Lorraine yelled from the kitchen. “I made your favorite: Chicken noodle soup for the cool night.”
She brought the soup through and ladled out a large helping for each of us. We sat and made small talk, mostly Brady asking me questions and Jay sitting silently as he sipped his wine and took in our conversation.
“So, you’re Jay’s personal assistant? What does that entail?” he asked.
Jay jumped in, his tone much more serious than it had been before. “Everything and anything you can think of.”
I shifted a little in my seat and folded my napkin. “I’m not sure if it’s everything. I know his schedule, handle his endorsements, and attend meetings with him to make sure he’s taken care of. That sort of thing.”
“Seems like a lot,” Brady said into his food.
“It is. And she’s downplaying it. The woman has been my crutch since I moved to LA,” Jay replied and his tone was genuine, like I meant the world to him.
I smiled. “We’ve been there for each other.”
Lorraine killed the mood with a loud cough that was completely fake. “Mikka probably should have had more of a handle on Jay’s partying or they wouldn’t be here. But the cat’s out of the bag and I’m sure even with you not gossiping, Brady, you’ve heard. Jay’s in recovery and Mikka’s stuck here with him. You need to take her out so she can get some fresh air away from the boy.”
If I could have kicked the old lady in the shin under the table, I would have. As Brady laughed into his napkin, Jay’s face got more and more red. “Mikka’s not gonna just go out with some stranger, Lorraine.”
“Stranger? Man, you’ve known me since high school,” Brady tossed back. “When you were in high school, I brought a damn ladder to Sandy’s so you could climb out her window when her parents showed up. I was the only one there to bail your ass out.”
“Jax should have come to help me out,” Jay grumbled.
“Yeah, but instead, the stranger came.” Brady crossed his arms and stared down Jay.
My friend sat there struggling with something. I didn’t know if he was frustrated that Lorraine was making me look like his keeper or if he just didn’t want me to go. “You’re a stranger to her. Plus, knowing your damn antics makes it even worse. She’s not interested in going out on the town with someone like you.”
“Why? You just told me you took Sandy out the other night. We all know she’s willing to go out for just one thing. If I wanted that, I would have called her. Instead, I’m trying to get to know the new city girl. No bad intentions.”
“Your intentions are always bad, dumbass,” Jay threw back. The name flew off his tongue like they tossed it around casually, and Brady didn’t even flinch when he said it. He actually smiled like they’d done this dance before. “Mikka’s here to work, not play.”
I couldn’t believe he was sitting there speaking for me as if I wasn’t in the room and was just an employee that he got to control.
Lorraine let out a “woo-ee” under her breath and I felt it deep in my soul. Maybe more than I ever had. I was finally without Dougie, without someone trying to control my every move, and didn’t need another man doing just that. “Um, hi, Jay.” I waved and snapped my fingers at him. “I’m right here. I can speak for myself.”
“Don’t entertain his bullshit, Meek. You’re not going out with him. He’s trying to piss me off by sniffing around where his damn nose shouldn’t be.”
I read into his words more than I should have. My stomach rolled at the thought that just days before another man had tried to control me, tried to tell me exactly what to do and take away my say. “Who says I’m not? I need a night out.”
“Yeah, Jay, who says she’s not? She needs a night out.” Brady mimicked me, and his white smile spread so far across his face, I swear it would have been the width of the room if he could have made it that way.
Jay studied me, like he couldn’t quite read my thoughts.
Good because they were all bad.
I needed a night out because my body heated all day at the idea of his proximity to me. It’d only been two days since I told Dougie we were over and every minute, I wondered when Jay would ask me again if I was with him.
Maybe we’d just been in the moment. Maybe this wasn’t what he wanted.
I was fine with that. More than fine. We wanted to protect our friendship anyway by not indulging in anything more.
That meant that what Brady proposed was perfect. I needed a distraction from Jay and the relationship I’d just ended.