Hayley’s jaw falls open, but instead of waiting around to find whatever words she seems to be searching for, she whirls around and stomps down the stairs. A second later, the door to the street bangs shut.
“Fuck.” I drive my hands through my hair. “I’m…” What the hell am I supposed to say? “I’m so sorry,” I say to Jade’s back. I should’ve insisted that she stay at the bar so she didn’t have to deal with my sister’s tantrum. And after all that shit Hayley said, there’s no way she’s going to stick around.
Jade turns to face me, and I find myself holding my breath as I watch a single tear slip between her false lashes. She quickly dashes it away. “I can’t believe—”
Shit. Here it comes.
I manage to draw in a shaky breath.
“—she spoke to you like that,” Jade finishes.
Hold on here. Jade’s not mad atme? She’s mad atHayley? And I thought my stomach couldn’t sink any lower. I don’t want them throwing away twelve years of friendship over me. I’m really not worth it. “She’s just trying to protect you.”
Jade sniffles and swipes her cheeks with her fingertips. Her green eyes lock with mine. “That’s funny. It felt like you were the one protecting me, not her.”
She’s right. More importantly, she’s not running away when she has every reason to. “Everything Hayley said is true. I’m…” What am I even trying to say? It’s not like I can defend my actions. Jade deserves to know exactly what I’ve done in the past. “If you want to leave, I understand.”
Her lips press together. “Do you want me to go?”
“I want you to stay.” It scares me just how much.
“Then I stay.”
This woman. She keeps on surprising me. “You know what, Jade Quinn? Something tells me I have a thing for you.”
She steps forward, and her gaze slips to the front of my black trousers. “You mean the baton in your pocket, Officer?”
Heat blazes up my spine. “Let me rephrase that: I havetwothings for you. One I know exactly what to do with, the other… I’m still trying to figure it out.”
She opens her mouth, presumably to respond, but a yawn escapes instead.
“You’re tired.” It’s not a question. The woman has been burning the wick at both ends; she’s probably ready to fall over.
“I don’t know what I am.”
“Want me to take you home?”
The way she blinks up at me through her lashes sends my heart into overdrive. And let’s just say the blood pumping through my veins isn’t going to my brain. “I’d rather stay here,” she says with a mischievous tilt to her lips.
Having Jade stay would certainly turn this night around. “Are you planning on running away in the morning?” That shit really hurt.
The blue bows at the ends of her braids swing when she shakes her head.
Looks like Jade and I are having a sleepover. God, I hope there’s a pillow fight.
She slips out of her heels and saunters toward the bathroom. “You have any washcloths?” she throws over her shoulder. “I need to scrub off this face paint.”
“Yeah. They’re under the sink.”
She comes out a few minutes later, fresh-faced and pink-cheeked. “I’ve changed my mind. I need to go.”
“Wrong. You should stay.”
A flush creeps up her neck to her jaw. “I just started my period.”
Well, that’s a bummer. On the plus side, at least there won’t be any little Dylans or tiny Jades running around the place in nine months. “Contrary to what my sister says, I’m not only interested in getting in your pants. Your company is tolerable too.”
She smiles through a blush and seems to mull it over before saying, “Let me run down to the store and grab a few things.”
