“Wren, I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl. You know I won’t drive myself home.”
“Okay, but please call me if you need me. Or Kyle. Or anyone, seriously,” Wren added before hugging her and walking out of the bar.
At this point Juniper could tell she was getting a little sloppy. She turned, walked back toward Jess and asked, “Wanna play darts?”
???
Rowan watched Juniper set up a game of darts on the lane next to hers and Claire’s while the woman she was with leaned back on the stool and opened her phone. Juniper brought the darts back to the end of the dart lane and handed one to her.
“Here you go, baby,” Juniper said.
Baby?
The woman took several seconds to look up from her phone that she had been glued to intently since she’d seen her sit down.
“Give me a minute, you see I’m looking at something,” she said in an annoyed tone.
Rowan looked over at Juniper with a shit-eating grin and an eyebrow raised, waiting for her to absolutely rip into this woman. Her face fell when she didn’t hear Juniper respond. The Juniper she knew would never allow someone to talk to her like that. This whole thing didn’t sit right with her; and no, it wasn’t because she was jealous. She was watching this as a totally impartial, objective observer.Right.
“Hey, it’s your turn,” Claire interjected impatiently, having apparently noticed Rowan’s diverted attention.
“Sorry, thanks,” Rowan responded, grabbing the darts.
They returned to taking turns at throwing, but Rowan’s attention was never fully back on their game.
She overheard the woman ask Juniper, “Baby girl, go get me another beer?”
Baby girl?Rowan wasn’t sure whether she wanted to laugh or throw up. Both probably. And then she watched Juniper grab her purse and head to the bar to complete this woman’s request. So Juniper sets the game up, gets the beer, pays for the beer. Then what is this useless person for who can’t even be bothered to look up from her phone?
When Juniper returned, the woman tried to take the beer, but Juniper pulled it back. “Ah-ah!”
She watched Juniper seductively slide herself between the woman’s legs to spread them open, making room for herselfto put her body right against hers. The woman responded by grabbing Juniper’s ass aggressively with both hands, and in the process, lifting her skirt up to expose the bottom curves of her ass.
“Jess!” Juniper giggled as she stumbled into her further, draped her arms around her neck, and leaned in to kiss her.
Jess.Rowan thought there was no way on earth this woman,Jess, deserved to even share the same air as Juniper. She felt sick at how comfortable she felt touching Juniper like that, in public, exposing her, when clearly Juniper had had a little too much to drink.
Before she could stop herself, she cut in protectively. “Junie, are you okay?”
Juniper whipped her head around and glared. “Yes, obviously.”
Not obviously.
“Okay, just checking.”
Juniper was her own woman, and Rowan needed to take a break. She turned to Claire. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Rowan’s thoughts raced as she waited in the unbelievably long line for the bathroom tucked down the dark back hallway. It was illuminated only by old, half-dimmed out neon signs.
Why the fuck do bars only ever have one working bathroom?!
She was flustered and anxious. In an effort to calm herself, she put her back against the wall, leaned her head back to rest on it, and closed her eyes. Her mind couldn’t help but replay the image of Jess’s hands on Juniper, grabbing her flesh as if its sole purpose was for her own gratification.
“I see you’re going out with an outsider. What’s that like?”
Rowan’s eyes shot open to see Juniper standing squarely in front of her.
“An outsider? Why do you ask like that?”
