Cuddy, his eyes downcast, shook his head, tucking both hands behind his back. “I didn’t bring anything.”
Gemma left the room. Was she going for the baseball bat she kept on her side of the bed in case of intruders?
Jenny tried to appease me with an innocent smile. “Tegan, you’ve got this all wrong. Cuddy just came over to talk.”
Cuddy wheeled around. “Give that back!”
Gemma had quietly walked through the front room, outside on the balcony and snatched a plastic baggy from Cuddy’s hand. She held it up for me to see. “Pot.”
“Why are you giving Jenny pot? What are you? A drug dealer?” The questions flew out of my mouth.
His cheeks burned.
I blinked at Cuddy. “You’re actually a drug dealer?” I whispered the question, unsure if the words should ever be spoken aloud. Would DEA agents storm forward to cuff Cuddy right before my eyes?
Jenny sighed. “Hey, this isn’t about Cuddy. Let him go.”
“I’m not holding him hostage,” I defended, my voice way too loud at this hour for the thin walls of the complex.
Gemma motioned for me to quiet down. “Cuddy, come inside so we can talk like adults.”
Contrition on his face, he followed Gem. Jenny and I rushed to meet them.
Jenny stood next to Gemma, probably in hopes of distracting my redhead to get her hands on the goods.
Gemma, apparently of the same mind, tucked the baggie into the pocket of her sleeping pants. Unfortunately, it didn’t have a zipper, which would have made me feel a little better. “Okay, Cuddy and Jenny, take a seat on the couch. Tegan.” Gem pointed to the chair in the corner. Was she worried I’d start throwing punches? Gemma stood in front of me, facing the druggies.
I peered around Gem. Jenny and Cuddy sat side by side looking like schoolchildren waiting to see the principal.
“How long have you been a drug dealer?” I asked.
Gemma glanced over her shoulder with narrowed eyes. “That’s not the point, here.”
“How is it not the point?” I asked her.
“What Cuddy does in his personal life is no concern of ours.”
“You can’t possibly approve.” My voice reached howler monkey screech level.
“I don’t have an opinion, actually.” Her eyes pleaded with me to drop this line of inquiry.
I hugged my chest, mumbling, “For now.”
“Okay.” Gemma turned back around to face them. “Cuddy are you aware that Jenny was arrested last night for driving while under the influence?”
Cuddy’s draw dropped, and he swiveled to face Jenny. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“What happens in my private life is just that,” she said with conviction, making me realize the uphill battle we faced.
“When you get behind the wheel, it’s no longer private,” Cuddy said with force behind his words.
“Says the drug dealer. Since when do drug dealers deliver? Is that why everyone calls you Dr. Feelgood? Like an alias?” I was rambling.
“My clients gave me that name.”
“Right. Nothing is your fault. Got it. Is Meriadoc really your first name, because right now I’m having a hard time believing anything you’ve told me?”
Once again, Gemma’s eyes pleaded with me to be quiet.
“Jenny,” Cuddy started, “I like you. I really do. But I have a rule not to supply friends with a problem, especially when the cops get involved.”
I started to speak, but Gemma snapped her fingers behind her back to shut me up.
“I don’t have a problem,” Jenny said, her voice losing some of its punch.
“You may think that, but do you even know what you’re facing?” Cuddy softened his shoulders. “Not only will this stay on your record, but do you know how much it will cost to settle this? That is if you don’t end up in prison.” After seeing the shock on Jenny’s face, he hurried to say, “Not that I think you will, since it’s your first offense, but it’s not good. Get the wrong judge and you’ll have to take court ordered drug tests, you may have to attend AA meetings, and it could jeopardize your scholarship.” He ticked each with a finger.
“None of that is going to happen,” she said in her cock-sure voice. “Besides, I don’t have a scholarship.”
Ignoring the last bit, he continued. “It happened to one of my buddies.” Cuddy added, “On his first offense. What does Bernie think?”
“She doesn’t know, and I’ll kick your ass if you tell her.” She met his eyes and then glared at Gemma, ignoring me in the corner, probably because Gemma had eased over to spare me from the threat.
“How are you going to keep that quiet? One of the most popular columns in The Hill Report is the police blotter.” Cuddy shook his head. “My advice is to come clean before she confronts you.”
I snorted. How ripe? The drug dealing hobbit telling Jenny to come clean.
Gemma cautioned me again with a finger waggle only I could see.
“Call her, Jen,” Gemma said in such a supportive voice I felt like an ass for being so vocal about the whole Cuddy bombshell.
I craned my neck around Gemma to see Jenny’s reaction.
She shook her head, her eyes moist. “She doesn’t love me.”
Cuddy looked to Gemma as if he sensed he’d missed a key point in the events leading up to this moment.
Jenny rose from the couch. “I need to take a whiz.”
Gemma followed her to the hallway to ensure she turned left into the bathroom, not right into the spare bedroom. The screen on my window hadn’t been put back in its proper place. She returned with an unenthusiastic thumbs-up. I couldn’t blame her. The past eight to ten hours had been a rollercoaster.
“I take it Jenny and Bernie broke up,” Cuddy said.
Gem shrugged. “There was a discussion that greatly upset Jen.”
Cuddy nodded, looking at me. “I didn’t know. If I did, I never would have come. I thought it was a bit of fun, really.” His smile was sheepish.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He raised his brows. “That I’m a drug dealer?” He held his chin with dignity.
I nodded.
“It’s not something I advertise.” He yanked out his pager from his jeans. “Besides, I thought this was a dead giveaway for those who knew me. I assumed you were just too polite to say anything.” He swallowed. “Does this mean we can’t be friends?”
I blinked.
“Jenny!” Gemma hurtled over the coffee table heading for the front door.
Jenny, hunched down, was doing her best to sneak past unobserved. When she heard her name, she popped up and flew down the stairs.
Gemma stopped in the doorway, shaking her head.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you chasing after her?” I asked.
Gemma, with her back to me, staring at the void outside, sighed. “You can’t force someone to get help. Apparently, Jenny hasn’t hit rock bottom yet.”
An Uncomfortable Alliance
Chapter One
Cuddy left soon after Jenny’s great escape, stating he hadn’t been to bed in a couple of days. Our goodbye was awkward at best, but he promised to stop by later in the day to check in on everything. For some reason, I was relieved he didn’t give me his pager number, even though I wasn’t a client and I had his phone number. I wanted no part of that side of Cuddy’s life.
I sank onto the couch next to Gem. “What a night.”
“True words.” She shifted to face me. “For someone who’s usually a scooch too dramatic, that was pretty reserved.” Her winning smile brought one to my face.
“I’m out over my ski tips here.” I mimed this by leaning forward on the couch, with my arms spread out behind me. “Besides, you can’t talk after bolting from the apartment last night to punch Bernie.”
She looked sheepish. “Not my finest moment.”
“Does that mean you don’t want to beat her up now?
”
Gemma chuckled. “Don’t sound so disappointed.”
“I’m not.” Was I?
She squeezed my thigh. “If things weren’t so crazy right now, I would love to challenge Bernie. Show her she can’t treat you like a piece of meat. Even with the knowledge that she may be in love with you, I don’t like the fact that she forced herself on you.”
“When you put it that way, why don’t you still want to?”
“For Jenny, although she’s also on thin ice at the moment. I’ve been worried about her drinking since the summer, and now, I think she’s in serious trouble.” Gemma closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Right.” I bit down on my lower lip. “I should have guessed that.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven Bernie and…” She scratched the back of her neck. “I don’t know.” Gem’s face softened. “You didn’t know about Cuddy?”
“No! Did you?”
“I suspected.” She hitched one shoulder.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She breathed in deeply. “I … I never had hard facts, and besides, I like him.”
“Now that you know, how do you feel?”
Gemma squished her eyes and rubbed her chin. “Doesn’t really change anything. I’m assuming he has his reasons for his job choice.” Gemma relaxed against the couch. “Besides, I believe in legalizing drugs, at least marijuana, but I wouldn’t be all that opposed to other types. Not that I know if Cuddy deals hard drugs.”
“Are you serious about legalizing pot? Or all drugs?” I asked in a tone that conveyed How did I not know this about you?
“From an economic standpoint, the war on drugs has been an utter failure. Billions of dollars down the drain. A drastic increase in gangs and violence overall. Overcrowded prisons.”
“Gemma! Not everything boils down to an economic standpoint.” I mocked her word choice.
She shushed me with a lower your voice wave. “Hear me out, okay? If drugs were legalized, the government could ensure they were safe.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, dangerous drugs keep me up most nights.”
Gem widened her eyes in her sardonic way. “Are you going to let me finish?”
I pantomimed zipping my lips shut.
“As I was saying, drugs would be safer, decreasing ER visits and, in more extreme cases, deaths. Gang warfare could possibly decrease. Fewer drug arrests would mean fewer jail sentences. Do you know how they determine the amount of drugs in possession when assessing charges? They weigh it. People arrested with acid are charged with weights that are mostly paper, not drugs. How is that fair?” Her eyes glowed in her intellectual way. “In addition, the government could tax drugs. Think of all the money made from drugs that isn’t taxed each year. If they could be, the increased revenue could be used for education, after school programs, music classes, the arts—programs for young kids to give them a chance to succeed and, hopefully, not turn to drugs. You know, at my high school, we didn’t have the funding for a soccer team.”
“That’s why you want to legalize drugs? Because you couldn’t play soccer?” I scoffed.
Gemma laughed. “Budgets for schools are getting slashed all the time. I was disappointed about not being able to play soccer, but I had other opportunities. What about kids who live in communities with zero chances? Don’t we owe it to them to try to find more creative ways to help?”
Her arguments made sense, mostly. “What about addicts?”
She mulled this over. “Not every plan is foolproof. But, with more money, there could be increased access to rehab, therapy, and the like.”
“You don’t even use drugs, but you want to legalize them?”
“I don’t have any kids, but in the last election, I voted for school bonds. I’m a citizen of this country, and even though I haven’t decided if I want kids, I still want our country to have the best education, public and private. You can’t have a functioning society without educated citizens.”
I massaged my eyeballs. “This is a lot to take in so early in the day. Do you really not want kids?”
Gemma flinched. “Uh, I said I don’t know. Newsflash, Teeg, I’m not legal to drink yet. Who knows what that next day, let alone decade, will bring?”
I snuggled against her, closing my eyes. “I don’t know where I stand on legalizing drugs, but I know you’re pretty cute when schooling me about your beliefs.” I yawned. “Are you going to your morning class?”
“I don’t think so. I’m too worked up.”
“Economics does get your heart rate going.” I yawned again.
“Let’s go back to bed and try to get some rest.”
“Finally, a policy we can both agree on.”
Gemma stood and pulled me into her arms. “I love you.”
I laid my head on her shoulder. “Another thing we can agree on. The most important.”
She kissed the top of my head.
***
The phone woke us after eleven.
“What’s going on?” I sluggishly lifted my head off the pillow, my voice groggy and my cheek wet with drool.
“Hey, Bernie,” Gemma said into the phone, her fingers squeezing it as if she wanted to murder it. She paused. “Okay.” Gem eyed me with concern. “Jenny—” She sucked in a breath, and it was clear she was doing her best not to lose control. “Yeah, I’m home.” Another pause. “See ya soon.”
“Did she demand you go to her?” I asked, annoyed.
Gemma folded back the covers on her side of the bed. “She’s coming here.”
“H-here?” I stuttered.
“You don’t have to see her.”
“Why is she coming to our apartment? Doesn’t she know you want to kill her?”
Gemma softened her expression. “I neglected to tell her that.” The smile fell from her face. “She heard about Jenny’s arrest. Hill University grapevine strikes again.”
“Poor Jenny, although…” Instead of harping on Jenny’s drinking, poor decision-making, and her cheater status, which was still difficult to wrap my brain around, I started to crawl out of bed, my body protesting.
Gemma stripped off her shorts. “I understand if you don’t want to see her. You can stay in here. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you.”
I held the covers in the air, deciding my options. There was only one. “It’s okay. Jenny’s my friend as well even if I’m pissed at her for… I want to be involved. I know deep down if the roles were reversed, she’d help me.”
“Even if Bernie is?” Gemma wanted to make it crystal clear.
“I can handle being around her. Besides, someone has to make sure you don’t end up in jail. I’m tapped out of bail money.”
“Are you saying you can handle Bernie because she’s in love with you?” She cracked a guilty smile.
“What can I say? The ladies love me.” I jokingly made a show of tracing the outline of my body supermodel style.
“For good reason. You’re stunning.” Gemma kissed my cheek.
“Please. I’m a wreck after not sleeping much, having my life turned upside down, and most women don’t look their best when they wake.”
“Ah, the drama queen in you is clawing to the surface.”
Ignoring her, I said, “I need coffee. You want me to put the kettle on for you?”
“Please.” Gemma entered the bathroom, carrying her jeans to slip into.
In the kitchen, I scooped Folger’s into a coffee filter and filled the reservoir to the top to diminish the fogginess in my mind.
Gemma slipped her arms around my waist as I filled the teakettle at the kitchen faucet. “I can take over from here.”
“Are you hungry? I can whip up some waffles. I fixed the iron after your cooking debacle.”
“I’m not sure. Are you hungry?”
“Starved.” I gathered the ingredients. “Should I make enough for Bernie?”
“Trying to get her to fa
ll harder?” Gemma fluttered her lashes, although her shoulders tensed.
I snapped a kitchen towel against her shirt, not doing much damage.
“Who cares about her? When I’m worried, my appetite drastically increases,” Gemma said.
“Comfort food on the way.” I bent over, pulled the Belgium waffle iron from the bottom shelf, and plugged it in.
There was a soft knock on the apartment door, right when the kettle whistled. Gemma removed it from the burner, setting it on a different burner, and then headed for the door.
I held my breath, hoping a halfway calm Bernie had arrived, even though her life wasn’t exactly drama-free at the moment.
The coffee pot spurted the remaining stream of much needed caffeine.
“Hey,” Bernie said, her eyes bloodshot.
“Would you like some coffee?” I asked, already in the process of pouring some into my Same shit different day mug.
“Yeah, thanks.”
I retrieved a plain white mug from the cupboard above my head. “Milk? Sugar?”
“Black.”
I nipped the desire to say, “Of course, that’s how you take it.” I handed her a cup of steaming black coffee and then added a spoonful of sugar and enough milk to mine to lighten the color by half.
Gemma prepped her cup of tea, her spoon clinking hard against the sides.
“I’m making waffles if you want some.”
Bernie nodded, unusually morose.
Neither Gem nor Bernie made to move from the kitchen. Gemma hopped up onto the counter opposite the waffle prep area, and Bernie leaned against the wall next to the fridge, sipping her brew.
“How’d you find out?” Gemma asked.
“Rowena. One of Jen’s softball buds.” Bernie cradled her coffee in two hands, staring at the linoleum floor.
“Is she with her now?” I asked, pouring batter, making the waffle sizzle. “Bacon?” I asked Gem.
She nodded.
Bernie scooted over to allow me to open the fridge. “Yeah. I guess she broke out of here.”
Gemma released a troubled chuckle. “Is that how she sees it?” Gem went on to fill Bernie in on the entire episode, including bailing Jenny out.
The skillet for the bacon didn’t take long to heat up. The strips sputtered when I added them, instantly filling the room with a mouth-watering scent. I placed one waffle in the oven to keep it warm.
Girl Love Happens Boxed Set: Books 0-2 Page 48