AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And when are you getting that violin out to serenade us?” added Amelia. “Couldn’t bloody stop you in school so I’m supposing we can’t now either.”
“Unless you’re finally too good for us and you’re going to make us pay for tickets,” Cass said.
“She was always too good for the likes of us, was Billie Brooke,” said Amelia.
And something in Billie broke.
It was enough.
This was exactly what she’d expected, exactly what she’d been afraid of, and she didn’t have to sit here and listen to it. Not for Jules, not for anyone.
She pushed herself away from the bar and slid down from her stool just as Jules handed her a drink. Unsure just what to do with it, she slammed it back in one go, the sting of it almost taking her breath away.
“Where are you going?” Jules asked.
“I’ve got things to do,” Billie said sharply. “And so do you. You did alright today for a beginner, but you’re not even half way there yet. You haven’t touched the hardest part. So you’d better get to practicing or you’ll never be able to play for your precious girlfriend.”
And she stalked out, leaving Jules wide-eyed and Amelia and Cass dumb-struck.
Chapter Fourteen
Jules marched right on up to the front door. She’d given Amelia and Cass an earful last night about teasing Billie, and both had appeared repentant. Half of her thought that this was Billie’s fault for not having thicker skin, the other half felt somewhat guilty that she’d taken Billie out and the first thing that had happened was the third degree.
Even she could see that that was almost certainly what Billie had been afraid of, almost certainly why she never set foot in the pub or anywhere else really.
Of course, what Billie had to be so upset about, why she’d come back and whatever else, were Billie’s problem, not hers. And that was what had left her irritated.
Billie was a grown up, more than capable of handling herself in front of Amelia and Cass. And Billie shouldn’t have spoken to her like that either. She did something nice, invited her out, and got insulted, told to practice, and had her drink gulped down in two swallows.
Honestly, who did Billie Brooke think she was?
Here was Jules thinking that finally she’d cracked Billie’s hard shell, finally they might be something close to friends, and then she behaved like a boor in front of everyone at the pub, telling Jules to practice like she was one of the reception kids.
Jules knocked on the door a little harder than she normally would.
Amelia had pointed out that Billie had thrown her little fit right after she found out that Alea texted Jules every day. Cass had jumped on the band wagon, anything to stop the two of them feeling guilty, and said that Billie was obviously jealous.
Which was ridiculous, and they’d have known it, if only they’d taken a little time to get to know Billie before jumping into their relentless teasing. They could be such kids at times.
The door opened.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“It’s me,” Jules confirmed. “Going to let me in then? I’ve been practicing, as ordered.”
“You’re the one that wants to play this stupid song, not me,” said Billie. But she stepped back so that Jules could come in.
“Yeah, well, some of us have ambition.” Jules slipped in, past Billie.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jules turned back, Billie was still standing with the door open. “Uh, nothing,” she said. Clearly she’d touched a nerve with words so careless she hadn’t really thought them through. Even she didn’t really know what she’d meant.
“No, you have something to say about me and ambition, go ahead and say it.”
“Nothing, I spoke without thinking, that’s all.”
“Good,” Billie said, finally closing the door. “Because I won’t be lectured by an orange barmaid.”
