Chapter 10 Jenny
JENNY
The steakhouse Elias has me meet him at is cute.
It’s got a little attached country bar, an old fashioned line dancing sort of place.
It smells like wood and sweat and spilled liquor, just like all places like this do, and it’s more soothing than I expected.
I spruced myself up a little — mostly just freshened my makeup and tied my hair up, since I didn’t expect to come with Lucas in the first place and didn’t exactly pack anything in the way of nice clothes.
Not that it matters, I could show up in a trash bag and Elias would find something to compliment.
“I know I already said it, but I love the new hair,” Elias coos, tugging at a lock of it playfully.
He’s seen pictures of it since I cut it into the bob I’ve had for the past year or so, but it’s been almost two years since I’ve seen him. I roll my eyes and bat his hand away with a laugh. He snickers before tossing his shot back and gesturing toward the bartender for another.
“Uh-huh,” I say with a dry grin. “You also love monochrome puke green outfits, forgive me if I don’t take any fashion advice from you.”
“Boo!” He sticks his tongue out at me as I toss my own shot back, but he can’t hide the smile on his face. “It’s not my fault you can’t pull off my vision. Seriously, though, it suits you.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I tell him with a flirtatious wink.
Elias fakes a gag, his lip gloss shining under the dim lights of the bar, and I toss my head back on a laugh.
“Baby, if I liked pussy, you’d already have a ring on your hand.” He pulls the shot glass the bartender places down toward him and pushes it in front of me. “But let me just say—gross.”
He’s been saying the same thing since we were kids, although less explicitly.
If he wasn’t gay, maybe we would have wound up together.
It certainly would have saved me a lot of heartbreak.
He’s pretty much a perfect guy. Handsome as sin in an effortlessly elegant way, his dark skin damn near shines beneath the warm lighting, the piercings that glitter up the shell of one ear giving him a little edge.
I’m not blind, I can tell he’s stunning, but I’m not any more attracted to him than he is to me.
He’s a dear friend, and I’m glad to call him that.
“I’ll just have to suffer through the men who are interested in women, I guess,” I say with a playful sigh.
Not that I have any desire to. Especially not now.
“Has someone caught my beautiful Jenny’s attention?” Elias asks, leaning against the bar and arching a perfectly plucked brow.
I snort in disdain, glancing around the room to avoid meeting his gaze.
He’s too damn perceptive for his own good, and there’s plenty to distract me from my thoughts.
I came out to get away from Lucas, not to sit here and think about him.
I take one of the shots and throw it back, wincing at the burn.
“You know there’s not,” I say, tracing my eyes over the string lights hanging from the ceiling. “Not my scene. I hear there’s someone special in your life, though. Tell me all about him.”
Elias shoots me a look that makes it obvious that my redirection hasn’t gone unnoticed, but he doesn’t push.
“You’re in luck, actually,” he says with an easy grin. “I was going to keep it a secret until he got here, but I invited Artur to join us after he gets off work.”
“Elias!” I squeal, smacking his shoulder in a teasing scold. “You can’t just spring that on me. I have to make a good impression, I wouldn’t have drunk so much if I knew.”
Elias tilts back in his stool as he laughs, warm and affectionate as he reaches out to squeeze my knee. I pout playfully at him, but we both know I’m not really upset. Even I can admit I’m a bitch when I’m mad.
“First of all, the whole point of tonight is to get you so drunk you can’t walk straight.
I know you, and I know you damn well need to let loose.
” He’s right, but he doesn’t need to look at me like he sees right through me to all the stress I’ve been carrying.
“Secondly, Arthur is going to love you, drunk or not. He knows better than to question my choice in friends, I’ve got him very well trained. ”
I toss his fake gag from earlier right back at him, even though it’s soothing to hear his unwavering confidence.
“Keep your training in your pants,” I tease. “Unless it’s really juicy. Then you have to tell me everything.”
Elias grins wickedly and sends a teasing wink my way. “You still need to tell me how you’ve been, little lady. Can’t go asking for all my dirty secrets before I’m even caught up on your life! I’ve hardly even heard from you since you left for Cali!”
I make a face at him, but I really have been awful about keeping in touch recently, and I feel more than a little guilty about it. Elias is my best friend, and I’ve been distant — for a long time — and even more so in the last week, because I don’t want to admit what’s been going on with Lucas.
Not that anything is going on with him, obviously. There’s nothing between us anymore. It’s just frustrating to have him back.
I gesture to the bartender for another drink, knowing that I’m going to need it.
“Cali was fine,” I say, leaning against the bar and letting myself get lost in recent memories. “The beaches were nice, but I barely had time to get out there. Who would’ve guessed movie execs are assholes and don’t believe in reasonable timelines, huh?”
Elias curls his lip in disgust, but I just chuckle. It’s not the first time I’ve done a rush job for someone, and it won’t be the last.
“Finally got my Z3 with the paycheck from that job, so I can’t complain too much.”
“Moving up in the world,” Elias jokes with a grin. “You have to take me out in it sometime.”
“I don’t think your tall ass is going to fit,” I say with a laugh. The bartender slides another shot over to me, and I swallow it down without a pause before gesturing for another. “But I’ll take you for a spin, promise. You just might have to keep your knees up by your chin.”
Elias laughs, snagging one of the shots the bartender brings over for himself. I poke him in the side in retribution, but he’s paying, so I can forgive a stolen drink or two.
“What about the ranch? Still standing?” he asks.
Ugh, the ranch is the last thing I want to talk about right now. I grab the other shot on the bar in front of us and toss it back.
“It’s whatever,” I grumble. “Was fine until fucking Lucas showed up.”
I wince as the words slip out of my mouth.
Goddamnit, I didn’t want to make a big deal about him being back.
I should’ve known getting so tipsy was a bad idea, but the cat’s out of the bag now.
I had hoped that the appetizers we shared would give me more of a buffer, but I have been sucking whiskey down like it’s water.
So I want to get out of my head, sue me.
“Cross?” Elias slaps his palms on the bar counter. “What the fuck? What is that piece of shit doing back?”
I wince, both at his volume and at the reminder of why Lucas came back. I’ve been so wrapped up in my issues with him that I keep forgetting he’s affected by this as well.
“You know why, Eli,” I say softly. “Al was his dad.”
Elias’s mouth twitches at that, settling into a sympathetic frown. “Right. Sorry, just got caught up in, y’know, hating the guy. Has he… Is anything different?”
I know what he’s really asking, and I don’t want to think about it.
Is he still the same? Do you still love him? Does it still hurt?
He knows all about how things ended with Lucas, and was the only person I talked to when it happened. He’s the only one who saw me cry, except maybe Mom. If anyone understands just what Lucas meant to me back then, it’s Elias.
“Same old, same old,” I say, my warning look before I swallow down another shot making it clear that the non-answer is all he’s going to get.
“Dad gave him a job, so I’m just trying to avoid him.
Wound up coming to drop one of the horses off with him this weekend since I couldn’t trust him not to fuck everything up without supervision. ”
“Of course, my Jenny’s always making sure things go right.
You’re such a boss bitch. Slay, or whatever the kids say.
” We both burst into giggles at his deadpan delivery, but halfway through, he gasps like he’s just had a revelation.
“Wait, wait, he’s here? Like in Bozeman, here, with you? You drove four hours with him?”
I scoff at him, already knowing where this is going. “Yes, and I managed not to kill him the entire time, be proud of me. We’re staying in a hotel for the night and driving back Sunday,” I say. “In separate rooms.” I tack on the last bit when his gaze goes sharp and teasing.
He purses his lips and nods, but I can see the smirk he’s fighting back, and I huff out an exasperated sigh.
“Whatever you’re thinking, no,” I say, but I can’t help the laughter in my tone.
“I’m not thinking anything!” he defends, dark eyes lit up with amusement. “Just curious if he gave you an extra key to his room. Y’know, for emergencies.”
I shove at his shoulder, a little harder than I mean to in my drunken state, but he just laughs.
“Freak,” I say affectionately. “Nothing is going to happen between us. Not now, not ever again. I’ve had my fill of him, trust me.”
“Whatever you say, princess,” Elias says with a disbelieving hum. “I expect to be the first person you call when he begs for you back.”
I carefully don’t tell him anything about that night in the barn, unsure how to explain it even if I tried to. An argument? An almost-make-out-session? A mess of feelings and desperation that only made it harder to be around him?
No, it’s all better off forgotten about. Which is exactly what I’m doing.
In fact, I’ve already forgotten about it.
I don’t remember a single thing about what Lucas felt like pressed against me, or how wet I was walking back to the house. Not a thing.
“Nothing is going to happen between us.” I say it a little more sharply than I intend to, but it’s more for me than it is for Elias. I’m sure he knows that. “He’s not important, anyway. You owe me a few dances before your man shows up.”
Elias snorts at my entirely unsubtle topic change, but goes along with it without arguing. He really is such an angel.
Better than Lucas in every aspect.
Not that I’m thinking about Lucas.
“Alright, missy, let’s go scoot the ol’ boots,” he says, hopping off his worn leather bar stool and holding a hand heavy with glittering rings out to me.
I’m glad for the support, because the world spins when I stand, but it settles back into stillness once I catch my footing. Dancing might not be a great idea right now, but I’ll have fun even if I make a fool of myself.
It’s been way too long since I’ve had a chance to properly let loose, and Elias is one of the only people I’m ever fully comfortable around.
I’m excited to meet the man who’s been making him so happy recently, and it’s nice to shuck off all the weight of responsibility that I wear so often.
Here, with Elias, I can just be Jenny. I can just have fun and not worry about tomorrow, keep all the memories and what-if’s that have been plaguing me at bay.
It feels like I'm ten years younger tonight, like I’m my actual age, and I intend to take full advantage of that.
Tonight is all about having fun, and I’m not going to ruin that for myself.
Especially not with thoughts of Lucas fucking Cross.
No, right now, it’s time to dance.