Chapter 18
Theodore Knight
J ayden is fucking pissed.
“Take a breath before you do something stupid,” I say.
This was not how our night was supposed to go. I invited Jay over to my apartment for our version of family games night. Austin, Athena and Colt are always present, while Athena’s other roommate, Sofia, is usually here but has a couple days until she finishes her internship.
Now, instead of playing poker, we are searching for Jazmine and Willow—who Jay clearly thinks is a bad influence.
“Athena, do you have any idea where they were going?” I ask.
“Frankie’s,”
I raise my eyebrows and tilt my head as I look at Jayden. He grabs his keys from the coffee table and stalks out the door. There is no way he is going alone, so I follow him.
Scared shitless is how I felt when Jazmine’s name appeared on my screen at midnight. My heart was pounding in my chest, on the verge of jumping outside my body. Terrible thoughts were rampant in my mind: What if she was hurt? Or in danger?
Negative thoughts swirl in my mind as Jayden and I arrive at Frankie’s. I’m confident in saying Jay broke every speed limit to get here, but as long as Jazmine is safe, I don’t care about the law.
The music is blasting and lights flash at different speeds. A migraine forms in my head and I’ve been here for not even five minutes. The shouting and screaming only makes it worse as I look around the bar for the two girls.
Jayden told me on the way here what Willow looks like: vivid red hair, tall and a pain in the fucking ass. He didn’t want a bar of it when I said the last part isn’t a description.
My eyes lock on two girls who are spinning around on the wooden bar bench. One fits the lacking description Jay gave me, while the other I could recognise from anywhere .
Jazmine fucking Allen, in all her beauty—a pale pink skirt that is way too short and a top that highlights her tits.
A hand hits me up the back of my head. “Stop eye fucking my sister and help me get them down,”
“Right. Sorry,” I’m not really, but Jay doesn’t need to know the things I want to do to his sister.
The two of us walk towards them, signalling to the bartender that we are going to get them down. He seems rather pleased that we have appeared.
“Hey Princess,”
Jazmine turns, looking down on me. “Theodore,”
Her voice is high and slightly slurred, while I laugh at her enthusiasm. Where is this every other time she sees me?
“Can I help you down?” I reach my hands towards her hips, not letting them touch her until she says yes.
Jazmine thinks for a moment. “I suppose…so. My feet…are rather sore,”
I lift and place her on the ground, careful not to let her skirt ride up and become any shorter. Jaz steadies herself using my shoulders. I watch as her chest slowly rises, while she cocks her head to the side. Jazmine’s gaze remains on me, never wavering despite her confused look.
“What are you doing here?”
“You and Willow called me. Jayden wasn’t very happy,”
“He’s such…a…buzzkill,” she slurs.
I nod slowly. “How many drinks have you had? ”
Jazmine’s lips pursed and her eyebrows furrowed as she thought. “Not too sure, can’t really remember anything after the fourth shot,”
“Okay, home time it is then.”
Two people yelling, nearly louder than the music, captures my attention. Jazmine sighs next to me, while shaking her head. We edge closer to the voices, finding Willow and Jayden in an extremely heated argument.
“We. Are. Going.” Jayden grits out.
“No. I’m. Not.” Willow retorts.
Jazmine and I watch as the two of them argue back and forth. I narrow my eyes, focusing on Jay as he rakes his gaze down Willow's figure. A small smirk forms on my lips. Oh he is in trouble . Jay doesn't waste another moment, his face already red from arguing. He hauls her over his shoulder and makes his way to us.
“Put me down,”
“Not happening, Sweetheart.”
Willow continues to yell at Jayden while smacking her fists against his back.
I nod towards the exit and Jazmine happily follows me to the car. I move closer to her, placing my hand on the bottom of her spine.
“Are they always like this?” I ask, noticing as Jazmine straightens.
“Unfortunately. This has been my life since” Yawn “— we were all fourteen,”
“You, okay?”
“Just really tired,” Jazmine says, as we sit in the car .
I buckle her in and go to move, but she pulls me back. After one final yawn, she rests her head against my shoulder. Butterflies back flip in my stomach, as I push a loose strand of Jazmine’s hair behind her ear.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so calm, or at rest. In class, Jaz seems restless with the inability to relax. But right now, she doesn’t care about what will happen tomorrow.
In the passenger seat, Willow is giving Jayden the silent treatment. Whenever he tries to sneak a glance at her, she flips him off and turns away. I want to laugh at their dynamic. Jayden isn’t going to hear the end of this, I saw the way he was looking at Willow.
Jazmine tightens her grip on my bicep, snuggling closer to me. This night is getting better by the minute.
***
Jazmine Allen is an easy-going drunk.
I have touched her more in the past half an hour than in the last three years. That isn’t even the best part, it’s the fact that she wants me to hold her. It feels like I am back in high school and have a crush on the unattainable girl who is out of everyone’s league.
My hand is attached to her lower back as we enter her apartment. This is the third time I’ve looked at Jazmine without lust glazing my eyes. The first was after her panic attack at the party and the second when I found the bruise on her wrist. Both times fear overcame me, not wanting Jazmine to be hurt in any way.
The realisation surges through me like an electric shock. After my mother passed away, I promised myself I wouldn’t feel anything other than lust with a woman. Emotions are dangerous—they knot your heart strings until you can’t breathe without that person being next to you. Then they leave you stranded, lost in what could have been.
Jazmine straightens her spine as loud voices reverberate into my ears. Jayden and Willow are fighting. Again. This isn’t going to end well. I lean down slightly, whispering into Jazmine’s ear. “What is going on?”
Her breath hitches and she rolls her shoulders back. “Nothing good.”
Jazmine tugs me toward them, that’s when I hear it.
“You’re a bad fucking influence is what you are,” Jayden yells.
“Oh no, whatever will I do, Jayden Allen believes I am a bad influence. My life is ruined,”
“Why are you not taking this seriously? Jazmine has been doing so well, the last thing she needs is for you to come back and lead her into a fucking spiral.”
Jayden's comment smashes into me. Spiral? Is he talking about freshman year? Or maybe something else?
“Are you kidding me? Fuck you Jayden. Jazmine is my best friend, I would never do that to her. A little alcohol isn’t going to kill her, she needs to let loose every once and a while otherwise, yeah, she will fucking combust. ”
Jazmine’s eyes clash with mine for a brief second, before Jayden is lashing out at Willow again.
“It’s okay for you to say that you won’t be here to pick up the fucking pieces. Because that’s all you do, run away when things are tough and you don’t get your way.”
Willow rears back, flinching at Jayden’s comment. Clearly, there is some history here that I have no clue about. Jazmine is on the verge of tears as she screams at her brother.
“Get the fuck out Jayden!” She points towards the door. He tries to come closer to her but Jazmine stands her ground. “Don’t come any closer, I want you out. That was completely uncalled for, you didn’t need to bring that up. I don’t care how angry you are,”
Jayden grits his teeth before sighing. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Jaz,” He looks towards the door, then back to me. “Are you coming Theo?”
I flick my eyes between Jazmine and Willow, who both seem to be on the verge of tears. What don’t I know? I turn my body, now I am fully facing Jazmine. “Are you okay?”
She doesn’t meet my gaze as she mutters, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Part of me wants to push her to tell me everything. I want to be the one she comes to for help, no matter what the situation is but the broken, pleading look in her eyes forces me out the door. Jazmine wants to be alone. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but I will do whatever she wants me to do .
“I’ll message you, okay.” I say, a small smile forming on my mouth.
Jayden and I make our way to his car in silence. He looks dejected—slumped shoulders and heavy breathing, it is worrying. Our eyes meet when we take our seats in the car and I raise my eyebrows.
“Just don’t, Theo. I know,”
“I didn’t say anything,”
“You didn’t have to. Besides, just looking at my sister’s teary face or even thinking about it, makes me want to vomit.”
I nodded.
After tonight I never wanted to see Jazmine cry again. In fact, my mission until the end of the academic year is to make sure she is smiling. Even if it rips my heart out in the process.