Chapter 10
Payday Friday was always a good day, even when my bills ate away at it swiftly.
I’d need to go to the grocery store this weekend and replenish what I’d used up so far.
I was happy I’d made so many pancakes yesterday since I could just warm them up and dig in.
Two cups of coffee still hadn’t been enough to make up for a lack of sleep, and I was contemplating a third cup when Jade walked into the kitchen.
Unlike yesterday, she was in her oversized tee and messy bun again.
Although it wasn’t as polished or put together as yesterday’s look, it was truly just as sexy.
Something about the roughness, the rawness of it, made it more appealing.
Like I was lucky to be able so this side of her when others didn’t.
“Yum,” Jade commented, taking in the plate I’d set out for her.
“Even growing up, our parents never made breakfast for us like this. It was always something we could eat quickly in the car. So, your catering to me every morning like my own personal chef has been amazing.” I giggled at her words, but my brows scrunched in sympathy.
“Thanks, my mom made me help in the kitchen and all that. You know, in preparation to be some man’s housemaid.
Anyway, I’ve always enjoyed it. Cooking is a big de-stressor for me.
Just completing and focusing on simple tasks is fulfilling, especially when I’m not finding other things to feel like that. ”
I was rambling, but with Jade, that was to be expected. Forgoing that third cup of coffee, I grabbed my laptop from the kitchen counter and walked over to sit next to Jade at the bar top.
"Do your parents know you like girls?" She asked nonchalantly.
“They do, but although they’ve never said anything negative about it, I can tell they don’t love it.” She nodded, taking a sip of her coffee, which I’d learned to fix just how she liked.
“Mine knew too before they passed. Kind of a similar situation where they obviously weren’t in love with the idea, but didn’t want to talk about it.
That was until I posted a picture of an ex of mine kissing my cheek and my mom saw it.
You know, because it wasn’t that she cared about my having a girlfriend, but she cared about what other people would think of it. ”
“I hate that. My parents have never had social media, so I’ve not had to go through that, thankfully. But I’m not sure how they’d react if they’d actually met someone I was dating.”
“When was your last relationship?” She asked between bites.
“It’s been about two years since my ex and I broke up. We were together for about a year and a half.”
“Why’d it end?” She asked, looking over at me.
“Um, well, I ended it because she just seemed kind of unenthusiastic about everything.
" I placed my elbow on the tiled countertop, propping my chin up.
"At first, things were good between us, but before I knew it, I started feeling like I was just an obligation to her.” I paused for a moment, trying to get my words out correctly.
“Guess I just wanted to feel special to her, and I never really did.” I shrugged, unsure how else to frame it.
“She sounds stupid, no offense.” I raised my brows at Jade, unsure of what I’d said that gave her that impression.
“When was your last relationship?” I asked, trying to move the conversation along from being so me-focused.
“It’s been a few years now. She cheated on me; it was toxic from the jump, honestly.” She let out a huff before taking another bite of her food.
“That’s messed up. I hate that happened to you,” I said genuinely. I’d never understood the whole cheating thing.
“It’s all good. I’ve long since moved on from that situation.” She wiped her mouth with a napkin and then stood to take her dish to the sink. “I have a question now that I know you’re single and not pining after any exes.”
“Oh?” I asked, unsure where this was going.
“Will you go on a date with me tonight?” My heart melted at her sweet words. She was always taking my breath away somehow.
“What’d you have in mind?”
“If you’re down, there’s a show in Riley tonight that I’d like to see. It’s my friend’s band, and it will be more of an acoustic set. We could get dinner and then head over. Totally up to you.”
It was weird that last Friday all I could think about was getting this entire ordeal over with as quickly as possible.
Now, taking a night off to spend time alone with Jade and in turn extend my stay here sounded good.
God, why didn’t I feel worse about spending all this time with my best friend’s sister?
Maybe because Jade was not at all what I'd expected her to be.
“Sounds good,” I responded with a light smile, hoping that she couldn’t see the internal struggle on my face.
We decided to start on the upstairs rooms tomorrow since we’d have a full day.
Work seemed to drag by like it always did on Fridays.
Using an old curling iron I found in Jana’s bathroom; I curled my hair during my lunch break.
I was kicking myself that I hadn’t brought cuter clothes with me here, but I never would have thought in a million years I’d be in this situation.
When work ended, I touched up my makeup, adding a brighter lip and darker eyeshadow.
Settling on a pair of dark-wash jeans and an emerald green blouse, nowhere near as pretty as Jade’s eye color, I slid back into my wedged sandals and headed downstairs.
Jade had never said what time we needed to leave, but considering we had to drive to Riley, I figured the sooner the better.
I found her in the kitchen grabbing a soda from the fridge.
“Ready?” I asked, admiring her outfit. She wore a distressed jean skirt over fishnet stockings and a tight-fitting band tee.
“Yep, want a drink for the road?” She asked before closing the fridge.
“I’m good.”
“Well, you can have some of mine if you change your mind.” She walked over to me, giving me a full-body scan on her way. “That color is so pretty on you; it makes your hair look even redder,” she said, running a strand through her fingers.
Leaning forward, she gave me a slow kiss on the lips, bending down slightly since she was a bit taller than I was.
Jade drove like a bat out of hell, which, for some reason, made sense.
She seemed to be the kind of person who didn’t think too hard about things, lived in the moment, and took chances.
It was so different from my semi-sheltered life of well thought out choices, strategies, and all that.
But it was just another thing that I found appealing about her.
Everything she did made me want her more.
In a lot of ways, she was this forbidden, bad girl that I definitely should not want, and fuck, did that make me crazy with need for her.
“Wanna listen to anything?” she asked as we flew down the highway.
“Whatever you want to play is fine. My music tastes are a lot less refined than yours,” I stated, remembering her list of genres from the other night. She browsed channels for a minute before landing on one. Her hand dropped from the radio and down to my lap, entwining her fingers with mine.
“Where would you like to eat tonight?” She asked. I knew Riley pretty well since I’d grown up there. Mentally, I thought through some options that sounded good.
“Hmm, maybe Warner’s or that Italian place downtown?” I offered.
“Italian sounds good. My friend’s playing at The Mix downtown, so that’s perfect!” She exclaimed, giving my hand a squeeze. Before I could think better of it, I pried.
“So, how did you meet this friend of yours?”
“Sam? He,” she emphasized teasingly, “came in to get a tattoo a few years ago. We’ve kept in touch ever since. This band of his is new though, so no clue how good they’ll be. If they suck, don’t hold it against me.” I laughed lightly at her words.
“I’m sure they’ll be good; it’s kind of you to want to support them, regardless.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said teasingly.
We sat in a corner booth of the restaurant, enjoying a glass of wine while we waited for our food. I’d ordered the alfredo, and just like with the wine, Jade just said, “Same.”
“So, are you an only child?” she asked.
Caught off guard, I shifted in my seat before responding. “I am. They wanted more, but I don’t think they could get pregnant again. I don’t know all the details.” I shrugged.
"What's that like? I can't imagine it," she said, slowly twirling the liquid in her glass.
“Um, it was lonely, honestly. I always wanted a brother or sister. My parents gave me a lot of attention, so I always felt loved. But…I guess you always want what you can’t have.” It was a statement that reminded me of my current predicament, but I tried to ignore that thought.
“I guess. My childhood was just so focused on Jana and me. We shared everything, even birthday parties, since we were both born in March. It was a dream of mine back then to just have something for myself.” Her words made me sad. I hated to think that she felt that way; I knew Jana did too.
“You ever think about talking to Jana nowadays? Maybe see if you guys could have a fresh start?” I asked overstepping, but oh well.
“I’ve tried, but she never returns my calls.” Oh, I had no clue that she’d done that. Recalling our heated conversation the other day, Jana had explicitly stated that Jade had never reached out to her. Maybe Jade had the wrong number? Somehow, I knew that wasn't it, though.
“I didn’t know that. I assumed you guys just both hadn’t reached out to each other. Sorry, it’s not my business.” It felt like a betrayal to bring up what Jana had said. I at least needed to discuss it with her first.
“No worries. I think, considering the circumstances, it kind of is your business. But no, she’s never reached out to me.
I wish she would. I hate that even though Mom and Dad are gone, we still can’t communicate with each other.
” The corners of her mouth lowered, and I reached across the table to grasp her free hand.
“Anyway, tell me more about you. Who was your first crush?” She asked, seeing as we both needed a subject change.
“Oh, it was a girl in second grade. I think her name was Hadley. She sat next to me in class, and we passed notes back and forth. I never told her, though. We often talked about her boy crushes and such, but I just pretended to feel the same way.” With a squeeze, Jade released my hand as the waiter dropped off our pasta.
“Your story would be super wholesome.” Jade rolled her eyes, making me laugh.
“Yours isn’t?”
“Well, I guess I'd say it wasn’t until middle school," Jade started once we were alone again. The low lighting and heavy cheese smell creating a homey setting. "Veronica and I called each other girlfriends even though we only saw each other at school. It didn’t last long. But, my first real crush was when I saw this high school girl when I was maybe eleven or so. She worked at the gas station down the road from my house. It was kind of like my sexual awakening. Like, for the first time I realized girls could be hot. I just knew we were destined to be together.”
“Aw, that’s super wholesome!” I responded, smiling at her.
“I guess it was more that I mostly remember her from inspiring my first sexual fantasies. I’ve always had kind of a dirty mind, you could say.” I bit my lip at her words because when it came to Jade, I too had a dirty mind.