61. Chapter 61
Chapter 61
A few minutes later, as the band was heading back to the stage again, Jules sat down next to Paige.
“How did it go with the drummer?” Paige asked. “Was he everything you’d hoped?”
Jules smirked. “Well, that remains to be seen. But I got his number, so hopefully I can find out soon.”
Paige tilted her head. “Whatever happened with that guy from the restaurant?”
“You mean Malcom Hodge? Nothing. I never called him.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I didn’t think it would go anywhere.”
“Why would you think that before even going out with him?”
“Because he seemed nice, and you know the nice ones never last with me.”
“That’s because you’re crazy.”
Rather than be offended, Jules laughed. “I know. And once they get up close and personal with it, they run away like little babies.”
“You know … what you need is like a Jekyll and Hyde person. A hybrid of good and evil.”
“Oh, my God, you’re right. I need one of those. A guy who’s really nice, but then matches me in the crazy department.” Jules’s eyes wandered over to Evan for a second, and then came back to Paige. “So, have you heard anything from David?”
“Yes,” Paige replied as the band kicked into gear with another cover, this time “More Than A Feeling”. Raising her voice to be heard, she added, “Ashley’s going to give him custody.”
“No shit? That’s great news.”
“It is,” Paige agreed with a nod.
Jules swiveled so she was fully facing her friend. “So why do you look pissed off, then?”
It was almost too loud to have a real conversation, but Paige swiveled so she was facing Jules as well. “Because David thought our sweaty, needy, mind-blowing sex blinded him to the fact that his ex-girlfriend’s douchebag boyfriend was being abusive to his son, that’s why.”
The woman next to Paige looked over again, only this time it was Jules who saw her, and promptly leveled her with her patented Vlad Putin stare. “This is a private conversation,” Jules said, over Paige’s shoulder. “So please stop eavesdropping.”
Paige half-laughed, half-snorted, because … Jules.
After the woman turned away, Jules rolled her eyes at Paige. “I swear, the nerve of some people,” she said, loud enough to be heard by the woman, before returning to the original conversation. “So, David was thinking … what?”
“That our sweaty, needy, mind-blowing sex blinded him to the fact that his ex-girlfriends’s douchebag boyfriend was being abusive to his son,” Paige repeated. “And then he said he hasn’t known how to be with me for the past ten days, so he’s been pretending like nothing was wrong the entire time. He was basically avoiding me, but not wanting to push me away, so he was doing it in such a way that I wouldn’t realize he was avoiding me. And I didn’t. I didn’t even know what was happening. I’ve been thinking everything was fine, and …” She picked up her drink. “Jesus, I’m so pissed off.”
“So am I.” Jules caught Evan’s eye and motioned for him to come over, which he promptly did. Leaning on the bar, Jules asked, “What’s a good shot to drink when you’re extremely pissed off at a man, and you’d love to kick his dumb ass into next week?”
“Either a Chuck Norris, or a Kamikaze,” Evan replied without blinking.
“You know what? Why don’t you set me and my girl up with a pair of those? Each. I’m not in an ‘either/or’ mood right now.”
“You got it.” He started to turn away, but then snapped his fingers. “Oh, and there’s always the Adios Motherfucker.”
“We’ll each take one of those, too.”
“Coming right up.”
A few minutes later, Evan brought Paige and Jules their shots, then watched as they threw all three of them back in short order. When they were done and Evan had taken away the empty shot glasses, Paige closed her eyes and groaned. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
“It’s fine. We’re taking Ubers home.”
Paige waved a hand. “I meant because I’m going to be hung the hell over in the morning, and I have be at work by 10 a.m.”
“Your job sucks so much ass,” Jules muttered.
“Believe me, I’m aware.”
Remembering their hydration rule from their first visit, Evan got them both a glass of water, then reluctantly turned his attention to other patrons.
Once they were alone again, Jules demanded a replay of the conversation with David, so Paige obliged. When she was done, she gave Jules a long look. “Now, I can tell by your expression that you want to escalate this and go nuclear war on David’s ass, but you’re not going to do that, because I’m going to handle this, okay?”
“Okay. You’re going to handle it.”
“That’s right. I’m going to handle it, not you. You’re forbidden from doing anything about this other than listening to me bitch about it, all right?”
“All right.”
“I mean it.” Paige pointed to her face. “This is my I’m not fucking around face.”
“I’m forbidden. Got it. Oh, and by the way, that looks more like your Need to poop face.”
Paige ignored that, even though it was hard, because it was kind of funny and she was borderline trashed. “I’m serious. This is for David and me to work through, not David, me, and you. Understand?”
Jules held up her hands like she was being robbed at gunpoint by a lunatic. “Jeez. Yes, I understand.”
“Good.” Paige took a deep breath and visibly relaxed, only to groan when she glanced at the clock above the bar. Reluctantly, she got off her stool, and then after swaying a little, steadied herself.
“You good?” Jules asked with a grin.
“I’m good. I’m just going to go to the bathroom, then Uber home and sleep this off.”
Still grinning, Jules watched as Paige carefully walked in the direction of the restrooms, and the second she was out of sight, Jules grabbed Paige’s phone from her purse and unlocked it, using the code Paige had shared in the event of an emergency. Jules knew she was wading into morally gray waters—okay, diving into them head first—but what was the saying? It was better to ask for forgiveness than permission? Since permission was clearly not an option, then she was fine asking for forgiveness later, if necessary.
There were several unopened texts and unanswered calls from David, but Jules ignored them (mainly because she didn’t have the time, which was a shame), and sent a FaceTime request to David, who accepted almost immediately.
“Thank God—” David broke off when he saw Jules, his expression going from one of optimistic hope to the captain of the Titanic after being told about the iceberg. “Jules.”
“That’s right. And I’m really fucking pissed at you.”
“Look—”
“Shut your pie hole. I’m talking right now, and you’re listening,” she told him bluntly. “Shortly after you ask Paige to take a chance on a real relationship with you, you basically turn on her because you what, might’ve been playing with her tits, or fucking her from behind while Liam was being an asshole to your son?”
Unfortunately, on more than one occasion, he had been playing with Paige’s tits and fucking her from behind, while Jacob was at Ashley’s with Liam, but before David could jump into the conversation, Jules was speaking again.
However, it appeared she was speaking to someone else—an unknown person to her left—who she ordered to mind their own business. After the person apparently complied, Jules was back and turning on him like a car taking a corner at Talladega.
“Let me ask you something,” she said, and he braced himself. “Was Paige the only person you spent time with when Jacob was at Ashley’s?”
“What? Why?”
“Just answer the question. I don’t have much time.”
“You don’t have—”
“Answer. The question.”
“No, she wasn’t.”
“So, you spent some time with other people … your mom, maybe? And perhaps a friend—you do have friends, right? Yes? Okay, so, you spent time with your mom, and maybe a friend, having dinner, or a drink, or just shooting the shit. Whatever. Or, you could’ve just been kicking back on the sectional Paige gave you, while watching something on Netflix all by yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Did you associate any of those things—or people—with Jacob’s abuse? Blame your mom or your friend for spending time with them? Did you decide you didn’t know how to be with them, too, and avoid their company for the past ten days, while pretending everything was fine?”
“No.”
She gave him a stone cold You’re a douche look, and he actually felt his balls shrivel a little bit.
“But you blamed and avoided Paige, in a completely underhanded way, I might add. That was some sneaky shit, motherfucker.”
“I know—”
“And you know what else? I’ll tell you what else. Jacob’s abuse is personal for her—it’s affected her deeply. We’ve talked about that. A lot. She’s been desperately wanting to help, and be a source of support, but you decided she didn’t need to be involved at all … and she’s the one who saw what no one else did and got him out of that situation. Instead of being grateful and thanking her, you’ve been thinking she’s to blame it happened in the first place. You’re such a prick.” Jules rubbed her forehead, and muttered, “I’m so angry at you right now, I don’t even have words.”
If the situation wasn’t so awful, David would’ve laughed at that; she seemed to have plenty of words.
Making a noticeable effort to calm her shit, Jules took several lung-filling breaths and said, “No, actually, I do have more words. But first, I need to know if you meant what you said that morning in Paige’s kitchen, or if it was just bullshit?”
“I meant every word,” he said with sincerity, without hesitation. “It wasn’t bullshit.”
Jules’s expression softened a tiny bit, although it was so tiny, he almost missed it. “Then why did you let yourself think the things you were thinking? Shame on you, David, for attaching the best moments of her life with blame, or what might have been the best moments of yours. I mean, if you’d been dropping Jacob off at Ashley’s and then hooking up with random women in bars, then yeah, I think a little blame might be in order. But spending time with the woman you’re trying to make a future with? No.
“Now I’m done. But before I hang up on your dumb ass, I have some advice for you, so listen up. If you plan on fixing this—”
“I do.”
“—then you better grovel like your life depends on it, motherfucker. Because it does.”
Jules immediately disconnected the call, and after putting the phone back in Paige’s purse with a satisfied smile, looked up to see Evan leaning back against the bar, arms folded across his chest, and watching her with unconcealed interest and a side of Holy shit.
She held his gaze for a long moment, then winked at him.