“You know what.” If her gaze was to drift south right now, she’d realize exactly what that heated look does to me.
“Oh!” Jade punches my arm and it fucking hurts. Damn, she’s strong. “Do you know what we should do?”
Go back to my place and drown our sorrows naked?“No, what?”
Whatever is in her head makes her giggle like Ella when she’s had too much candy and soda. I have a sneaking suspicion that Jade is a little more tipsy than buzzed. Especially when she snorts and says, “Let’s send a pic to Hayley.”
Personally, I like my plan better.
But you know what? If Jade wants a picture, she deserves a picture.
I throw my arm around Jade’s shoulders and press my face against hers to fit into the tight frame. We both smile as she taps the button. The picture is grainy as hell and one of my eyes looks a bit wonky, but I ask her to text it to me, too, because why not? I already have that goofy one of us in costumes from the Italian fair that I may have Photoshopped a certain dickhead out of. May as well add to my collection.
Jade’s teeth drag along her bottom lip, and I get the crazy urge to capture her cheeks in my hands and do the same thing. But that’s drunk Dylan talking, and he’ll be gone in the morning.
“I would, but I don’t have your number,” she says.
I gesture toward the phone clenched in her fist. She unlocks it so that I can text the picture to myself. While I’m at it, I go ahead and add myself as a new contact just for fun. And then I see the string of messages from her shithead ex-boyfriend and decide to make a little tweak there as well.
My phone buzzes, and when I drag the handset out of my pocket, Jade’s message isn’t the only one there.
Hayley
What’s your arm doing around my best friend?
I type a quick reply.
What’s your nose doing in my business?
She’s not your business.
Maybe I want to make Jade my business. But I don’t type that because hearing my sister’s opinions will only ruin my night, and as much as I had dreaded coming in here, tonight has been fun.
I glance up from my screen to find Jade watching me through wide eyes. “That Cindi-with an ‘i’?” she asks.
Interesting that she remembers Cindi’s name. I file that away for sober Dylan to sort out. “Hayley with a ‘y’, actually.”
Her eyes widen. “What’s she saying?”
“She’s telling me to stop getting blowjobs from her best friend.”
Giggling, Jade orders two more, and while we wait, I ask if she’s planning on running in the mud race tomorrow.
She lets out a loud groan and slaps her palm against her forehead. “Shit.”
I’m not looking forward to the event either, but that seems like an overly dramatic reaction.
“I’ve been so busy trying to get the stall ready that I completely forgot about the stupid race.” Her head falls onto the bar and she moans again. “Why the hell did I ask Nate to be on our team?”
Now the reaction makes sense. “Kick him off.”
Look at me, five—or is it six?—shots deep and still problem-solving. Boom.
“Where am I going to find another guy on such short notice?” Jade asks. “Plus, I haven’t been able to tell Dad yet how much of an ass Nate turned out to be. He was so excited that I was dating a cop.” She blinks at me from beneath her lashes. “Are you running?”
“Afraid so.” But right now, I really wish I wasn’t because as much as I hate exercising, doing so to help Jade sounds almost tolerable.
“It’ll be fine,” she murmurs, to herself or me—it’s hard to tell.
