2. Chapter 2 #2
I try to pretend like I don’t see her. I try to pretend like I didn’t just leave my brother’s wedding to get a blow job. But my whole plan gets shot to hell when Rush comes up to me and slaps me on the back. “You fucking dog, you! I saw you leave with Reya!”
“Of course you did, you fucking dillhole! You were the one pimping us together.”
He slaps me on the back again, and I swallow down my anger, as I look at Jinny again.
We’re sort of collected into a herd, with Jagger and Bowie closest to the DJ, standing alongside Wesley.
Reya is back at her table, and so is Freddie, I notice.
“Speaking of leaving with someone, what happened with Freddie? Did you strike out, man?”
He winks. “I’ve got a date with her tomorrow night.”
“Well, aren’t you mister old fashioned.”
Stevie interjects. “Would you two shut the fuck up, please? Jagger and Bowie are about to make their final speech with Wesley.”
“Greeeeeattt. I made it back just in time.”
Stevie warns. “You bet your ass, you did. Now don’t spoil this.”
I know better than to piss my sister off, especially when she’s in her element.
Plus, she can read me like a fucking book and knows damn well what I was up to.
It doesn’t help that the news has traveled through my family, too, so there’s no point in trying to deny it.
My eyes are on Jinny as my brother, his new wife, and our new business partner, make a final speech, which is more like a toast to the next step.
I’m a good little boy and stay for the remainder, but so does Jinny.
..and Reya. It’s awkward to say the least, when we’re all packing up to leave, and Freddie, Reya and Jinny end up conversing at the exit doors.
If I could crawl into a hole and die, I would.
As I walk to my car, I pray that Reya isn’t following me, and she’s not, but someone else that I don’t expect is.
“Hey, tiger. Thanks, I won the bet.” Jinny states.
“Won what bet?”
“The fifty bucks I had on you taking Reya back to your place. Rumor has it that it’s true.”
I can feel the bile crawl up my throat. I can also feel my fist ball up thinking about how my brothers sold me out. Fucking hypocrites. “Yeah, well...something tells me that some of us shouldn’t listen to rumors.”
“And you’re a shitty liar. Always were.”
“When the hell did I ever lie to you?”
It’s like she’s dodging the question. “A woman can tell, Led. Don’t kid yourself.”
My look is fleeting as I search for my keys in my pocket.
I decide to go for bold. “Besides, what the fuck do you care, anyway.” The question is rhetorical, and I’m guessing that she takes it as such, seeing as she doesn’t answer, as I arrive at my car and push the fob.
As my security system chirps, she stops, about ten feet from my BMW, in an empty spot.
“Do you want me to care, Led? Or is this just another one of your games.”
As I slide into the driver’s seat, I leave the door open. “What games? I’ve never played any games with you before.”
She's not convinced. “Really?”
“Yeah, really. Why do you think I’ve played you?”
I don’t bother to start the car yet. This is now a burning question.
I’ve never played any games with her. It’s always been me, standing in the sidelines, watching.
Being the fucking wallflower that I am. That I’ve always been.
Both in my professional life, and in my love life.
Hell, even in my family life, if we’re laying it all on the table.
“All those years in high school, and then when we both went off to college.”
A ‘v’ forms between my brows. “We’ve known each other a long time, Jinny. I’m aware.”
“Yes, we have.” She kicks a pebble on the asphalt at her feet.
“So? How is that playing games. I’ve known Bowie for that long, too. I don’t see your point.”
She stands there, looking at the ground.
I’m not sure if she’s still in party mode, if she’s still holding out for Axl, who is likely grabbing a last fistful of drinks before they close the place, or if she’s really got something to say to me.
From the look on her face, as her gaze moves from the asphalt to my face, I’d say it’s the latter. “I think you do, Led.”
“Look, I’m not playing any games right now, that I can tell you.
You want to know the truth? You want to know the whole fucking truth?
” My voice raises an octave, and I don’t give a shit anymore.
I don’t want to be called out on something that I didn’t do.
“Fine, I took Reya back to my place. And, no, I didn’t fuck her brains out, okay?
So you can go tell my brothers that, and you can get your fucking money back, if your bet was that I’d fuck her, because I didn’t. ”
She points at me. “There. There’s the game.”
I push both my hands out in front of me and almost squeal, face scrunched up. “What the fuck are you talking about? If anyone’s playing a game right now, it’s you. I just told you the fucking truth.”
“No, I mean the game. I thought your eyes were going to pop out of your head when I rolled into the office that first day, Led. And I see you watching me. I saw your eyes glued to me for half the fucking night. And then you go and leave with that girl, and you might not have fucked her, but I know damn straight that you didn’t take her back to your place to knit.
So, stop playing these games, Led. Be straight with me. ”
I search her eyes, knowing full well that neither of us are ready for me to do that. So, I do the next best thing and say...
...”It’s no game, Jinny.”