Chapter 9 #2
Oh, she’d done it. That’s what mothers did, what they were supposed to do. There had been very little left in her well when she had, however.
She was James’ mother. It was her job to make sure he was set and taken care of.
The one time she’d forgotten that and done what was best for her was the reason she was in the predicament she was in right now, working to save and scrimp every free penny she could that wasn’t going toward the house, her car, and their general upkeep.
“I’m not missing anything.” She huffed before glaring at him. “I already have my ticket.”
“Is that so?” he asked, calling bullshit on her boldfaced lie.
“Yes,” she replied through clenched teeth. “I do.”
“Good.” He crossed his arms and widened his grin. “I can’t wait to see you there.”
She put her hand on her hip and quirked an eyebrow up. “It won’t be hard to find me. I’ll be the fiercest woman in the room.”
He winked at her as he turned in the direction his mother had gone. “I have no doubt you will be. Nice braids, by the way. Your braider did you right.”
And when he backed away from her, his eyes twinkling with amusement and his lips slightly curled into a wicked grin, it was then that she knew Adam Henderson had played her, and she’d walked right into it.
Yup.
Adam had played her.
The proof? Instead of laying on her couch binge-watching her favorite show, she’d spent all day primping, and now she was at the boutique trying to find something for an event she hadn’t planned to attend in the first place.
It wasn’t that hanging out with her friends from high school was a bad thing in and of itself.
It just didn’t seem all that important when she saw those same friends on nearly a daily basis thanks to living in a small town.
She didn’t need to catch up with them. She was already caught up.
You’re not caught up on Adam, though.
Stupid subconscious thoughts always throwing the truth in her face. She didn’t need that right now.
Unwilling to face the little voice in her head, Janae focused on her trifling friends who were picking outfits off the rack that were less high school reunion and more video vixen.
“No. Hell no.” Janae’s voice was loud enough that she could see the boutique shop owner bristling through the reflection in the mirror. “It’s too sexy.”
“That’s the point.” Cree’s upbeat voice tried hard to break through Janae’s tough exterior. “You never let an ex see you looking anything but perfect.”
Janae shook her head. “Adam isn’t my ex. We never dated.”
“But you wanted to.”
Janae’s jaw dropped as she turned around to meet the accusing smile perched on Cree’s face.
This was and always had been Cree. As blunt as Janae was, Cree had a way of using sarcasm to call bullshit whenever she saw you trying hard to lie to yourself and others.
She always held a mirror up to your face, and right now, Janae wished her friend wasn’t so damn observant or clever.
Janae took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. Blessed Father, why can’t my friends be idiots? Brilliance isn’t always a good thing.
Deciding denial was the best way to handle this situation, Janae returned her attention to Cree.
“I don’t know who told you that lie. I never wanted to date Adam. Except for when he was being a know-it-all jerk in class, I barely knew when he was around. I was too busy maintaining a near perfect GPA to be studying him.”
“You’s a lie,” Cree responded. “You wanted to date him. You used to mean mug every girl that chased behind him, it was nothing but jealousy.”
Janae’s eyes narrowed into slits as she tried to find anger, or at the very least, aggravation at her longtime friend, but to no avail. Anger wasn’t what was brewing inside her. Nope, that was definitely … excitement.
Why the hell was she excited? Damn if she knew, or more likely, damn if she would admit it.
Admitting the possibility of getting to finally know what it was like to touch Adam’s lips against hers, that was giving up too much control.
The way her life was life-ing, she needed her focus on stacking her paper over the next two years to be ready for James going to college.
“You two are way too preoccupied with this idea of something happening between Adam and me. We’ve only run into each other a couple of times since he’s been back. That does not indicate this grand love affair y’all are trying to fabricate.”
“Wait?” Vanessa stepped closer to her. “Couple of times? I was under the impression you’d only run into him when he came to drop the reunion tickets off to my shop a few weeks ago. You’ve seen him again?”
When Janae didn’t answer immediately, Vanessa said, “That little smirk on your face says Cree’s assumption that something’s going on is true.”
Determined to avoid their accusing gazes, Janae turned around to pay more attention to the outfit.
It was a red romper, a striking color across her deep brown skin, that hugged every curve she had just right.
It was off the shoulder, leaving one arm bare while a sheer, flowy sleeve cascaded down the other.
She would definitely be noticed if she walked into the reunion in this thing.
The question was, did she really want to be noticed?
“Y’all really think this fits okay, that it’s appropriate for the reunion?”
“Nope.” Cree shook her finger at Janae. “You are not going to avoid Vanessa’s question. When did you see Adam again?”
One look at each of her friends’ faces and she knew she’d lost this battle. She huffed, annoyed with herself that she’d allowed the conversation to get out of control, and annoyed with her friends that they wouldn’t let this subject die.
“A few days ago, his dad was having a bit of an issue at the hospital, and I stepped in to help him out. To return the favor, when Adam found out I was stuck unexpectedly on an overnight shift, he brought me food.”
“And?” her friends sang in unison. She would’ve found that funny if she weren’t the focus of their antics.
“And we chatted for a few minutes. Caught up, so to speak.”
“Wait, hold up.” Cree had her hand in the air. “You never told us about running into him at the hospital.”
Janae took a breath and shook her head. “Because there was nothing to tell. It’s not like we’ve never conversed before.”
Vanessa and Cree shared a glance before turning their attention back to Janae and saying in unison, “Continue.”
Apparently, they’re not letting this go.
It didn’t matter if they tied her to a table and tortured her. She was going to keep her recitation of events light and casual. So casual she wouldn’t even mention how she’d let Adam goad her into attending the reunion in the middle of the condiments aisle.
“Did he ask you out?” That came from Cree. For someone who made her living by stringing pretty words together to sell anything, that woman had no tact whatsoever when it came to her real life.
“Yes, but nothing came of it.”
Vanessa pursed her lips as she tried to process Janae’s comment. “Why not?”
Janae inhaled deeply as she slapped her hands against her wide hips before turning to her friends. “It means, he asked me out but I never had the chance to give him an answer because my lunch break was over and I had to get back to work.”
Cree folded her arms, jutting her hip out as she tapped her foot. “You play too many games, Janae. You might fool Vanessa because she’s only known you for the last two years.”
Vanessa shook her head. “She’s not fooling me either.”
The two shared a giggle before Cree returned her full attention to Janae.
Cree pointed to herself. “You can’t fool me. I’ve known you since the cradle. You want that man.”
She did, although she’d deny it for as long as she could draw breath.
She knew Cree’s words were gospel truth.
But Adam was a nonstarter as far as she was concerned.
Her focus had to be on her son and the life she’d built for the two of them.
Taking her eyes off the prize for even a second could land her right back where she was when she and Marq divorced, feeling lost, and not knowing who the hell Janae Sanders was without the person she’d given her heart to.
Nope, not an option, not ever again.
“Dating Adam is the last thing on my mind, y’all. So, let’s focus on what’s important, like how good I look in this outfit.”
Janae turned around to look at herself in the mirror. Her friends were right. This outfit was sexy as hell and it looked great on her. Janae was bold by nature and this design was a statement that screamed, “I have arrived and you will worship me.”
Her mother would hate it because it put every one of her size eighteen curves on display.
Janae stared at herself in the mirror one final time.
It was petty. She could admit that fact to herself.
Knowing her mother would be appalled at Janae’s unapologetic display of her big and beautiful body made the fit and look of the romper even more alluring.
She smiled at her reflection. This outfit was definitely going to turn heads, most specifically Adam’s. Considering how he dragged her into attending the reunion, he deserved to let his tongue sweep the ground as she wowed him and everyone else in this outfit.
Was she being petty?
Absolutely.
Did she care in the least?
No, she did not.