by Becca Taylor
She's right.
“What do I do next?” I know what I need to do, but I'm really just waiting for her to say I didn't screw up completely.
“Go get your woman.”
I toss a fifty on the table and stand to leave. Before I can walk away, Lexi hands me the ring.
“I would hock that bad boy. It could help with that youth center project. It's not Jade's style anyway.”
I kiss Lexi on the forehead. “Hunter is a lucky man to have found you. Thanks for the kick in the pants.”
“Be good to her,” she warns me.
“I intend to.”
I head out of the restaurant with the only thought of getting Jade back in my life. The drive to her apartment gives me time to plan everything out, but the only word I can come up with is beg. Beg her to come back to me, to forget that arrangement ever existed, and to start new building a life ... with me.
After a long ride, I pull into her driveway, but the apartment is dark. I'm not that much of a jerk that I would pound on her door until she woke up. Instead, I sit in my truck and wait to see if she responds to my text.
Can we talk?
Because I'm pathetic, I wait an hour for a response, but nothing comes.
I TOOK THE coward’s way out and left town. It was for work, but I got an all-expense-paid two-week trip to the Keys to witness history being made. The League of Crocheters was going to break a world record and make the largest blanket ever. When no one else volunteered, I did. I met some great women, heard some wonderful stories about their lives, and got blisters when they tried to teach me how to do a few crochet stitches. Now that I’m back, I have to finish the youth center project, but I’ve been trying to get out of it.
“You have to go. There are no other options,” my boss says to me.
I'm in Jack’s office, once again trying to avoid the grand opening of the youth center. I'm not in a celebrating kind of mood.
“Can't someone else fill in?” I practically beg.
“Everyone is booked. You’re it.”
“But what about—”
“Jade, what's going on?”
“It's personal.” There’s no way I can tell my boss. Well, you see, I was dumb and made this agreement with the builder. We’d just sleep together and nothing more, but then I was stupid and fell in love with the guy. Hard. And now there’s a chance he’s getting back together with his ex, I’m a complete basket case, and I can’t handle it if they are there together.
“If you can't tell me what's going on, then I'm done with this conversation. Be there in two hours. The grand opening is a big deal to the community, so put whatever is going on with you aside, and man up.”
“Fine,” I say as I stand from the chair and get ready to leave.
“Jade?”
“Yes.” I turn back to Jake.
“You did a great job while you were away and a great job on this project. Let's meet next week to discuss that promotion.”
“Thanks.” This job is my livelihood, and I should be on cloud nine, but as I walk out to the parking lot, that's not the case. The closer I get to the youth center, the more my anxiety rises. It’s when I see Jeremy's truck that I have the urge to tell my boss I'm sorry I can't do this.
“It's about time.” I hear as I step out of my car. Lexi, Kat, and Aly are walking across the parking lot toward me. It was Lexi who called out to me.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask them. I knew they'd be around for the after party, which I plan to avoid at all cost, but I didn't expect to see them here now.
“Lexi called us, and we came. You are not facing this alone,” Aly says.
“You told them,” I say to Lexi.
“Yes, and you can’t be mad.”
“I think I can.”
“No, you can’t be mad at Lexi because you would do the same for us if we were in your shoes. It’s what we do. We rally together,” Kat says.
“We wouldn’t exactly be doing this. If this happened a few months ago, we would be at Jade’s house dancing and doing shots or at least drinking, but I’m sure that’s not happening with preggo over there and possible preggo.”
I look at Lexi. “You’re pregnant?”
“Hell no, not me. Not yet. I’m talking about Aly. We know it’s just a matter of time before that happens. I only just accepted the ring.”
“Who says I’m trying to get pregnant? Never mind, I totally am. But this is not about me; this is about the fact that Jade never told us what the heck was going on in her life and now we all have to be pissed at Jeremy,” Aly says.
“I am supposed to conference Dani in, but she’s swamped at work. She wants to know why you didn’t talk to us?” Kat asks.
“Because it was supposed to be nothing,” I tell them.
“Jade, you wear your heart on your sleeve. What made you think you wouldn’t get attached?” Kat asks. Then all eyes turn to Lexi.
“Don’t look at me.” She puts her hands up in defense.
“This has your idea written all over it,” Kat says.
“Don’t blame Lexi. I started it when I asked him to sleep with me at this stupid speed date thing.”
All eyes turn back to me, and simultaneously, they shout, “Speed date?”
“Clearly, we have been terrible friends. That ends now. We are going to have a girls’ night and get to the bottom of this after we stand by our girl,” Kat says.
“I love you girls,” I tell them. This is why they are my best friends. I may not be happy that Lexi told them, but it was for my benefit. Now, I have three people surrounding me, and I don’t feel so alone anymore. We’re all a blubbering mess at the moment, and I’m still terrified of seeing Jeremy, but at least now I’m not going to try to call in sick. They won’t let me.
We head to the entrance of the youth center where the front stairway is taped off. Four chairs sit at the top with one of those giant pairs of scissors placed on one. As I look around the perimeter, the town went all out for today. There are different food vendors, one of which is the boys from Butter My Bread, various bouncy houses, and the ever-dreaded cotton candy machine.
After I set up my cameras, both video and still, Lexi touches my arm. The mayor is walking up the steps with Jeremy directly behind him. I haven’t seen him since the night at the restaurant, but he looks good. Happy even. He’s smiling as he talks to the other men next to him.
A hush falls over the crowd as the mayor starts his speech.
“I’m going to keep this short and sweet. A few years ago, we had big hopes for this building. Today, those dreams become a reality. For all the parents out there looking for a safe environment for your children after school, this is it. To all the people who will be volunteering here, I want to thank each one of you for your time and generosity. And it’s all possible because of this man. Jeremy Slade, thank you for resurrecting this project.”
Jeremy stands and shakes everyone’s hand at the podium. I wasn’t expecting him to say anything, so the moment he starts speaking, I almost forget what I’m here to do. Work.
“Thank you, Mayor. I’ve never been good with speeches. Besides, I think the people here want to see more than the steps. Although, I have to say, they are some good-looking steps. So what do we say? Let’s start this celebration.”
Everyone starts cheering as the mayor cuts the ribbon.
“Slade Youth Center is officially open.”
Within seconds, everyone is piling inside. I take as many pictures outside as I can. My video hasn’t stopped since the beginning of the first speech and continues to run until the last person enters the building. I should have been inside, but I’m procrastinating. Being indoors puts me close to Jeremy, and I want this to be a happy day for him. He’s worked hard. The entire crew did.
“I’m just going to bring this to my car,” I tell the girls. It’s the truth—unless I want to lug around all my camera gear—but I also need a moment to gather myself before I go inside.
The walk to
my car gives me time to collect myself. Seeing Jeremy on the stage, I knew it would be hard. What I didn't expect is that my stomach would still get that excited butterfly feeling at the sight of him. Or that my heart would speed up to the point of thundering in my chest. I could easily blame the Florida sun for the heat on my skin, but that would be a lie. It was seeing Jeremy on that stage looking hot as ever in his jeans, snug t-shirt, and work boots that made my body betray me.
Slamming the trunk closed after I load everything helps. At least, I pretend it does. That was me closing the door on that part of my life. Locking my feelings up in the trunk of my car along with the last of the video feed I will have to look at with the project. And I feel better already.
That feeling lasts for a total of one minute. Then I realize I still have to go inside and take more pictures, and I want to curse my boss. No one wants to see a photo documentary on a building. The only problem with that is the online magazine is doing better than ever. And after Jeremy won that bachelor contest, views on this project skyrocketed. So even though my boss was right, I was wrong. Wrong to get involved, wrong for breaking company policy and sleeping with someone I was working with, and wrong for just putting myself out there again.
“You’ve got this, Jade,” I tell myself over and over again. “It's only an hour. Take a few photos of the inside, and then you're done. You can leave and go back to the world as it was before.”
I start heading back to the building when I see her. Deanna is walking away from the building. At the top are both Jeremy and the mayor. We make eye contact for a brief second, but I turn to where the kids are playing, and I bump directly into Linc.
“Jade?”
“Sorry. Hey.” He gives me an awkward hug this time.
“What are you doing here?” we ask at the same time. He points at me, telling me to go first.
“Working,” I say as I hold out my camera.
“I guess you can say I'm working too. The hotel renovated, and we donated couches, chairs, and kitchen appliances to the youth center.”
“That's nice.”
“Yeah. One of my managers wanted to help. She said she knows the builder. She just left.”
“I'm sure they appreciate it.”
“Are you going to the after party?” he asks me. And I want to say no, but I know my friends are going, and Slither is playing.
“I'm not sure.”
“You should go. I hear there is a band. Plus, I'm going, and we should catch up.”
“I'll think about it. I’d better get back to work.”
Linc hugs me one last time and kisses me on the cheek. “Either way, it was good to see you.”
As I walk away, I smile and wave bye. But I still feel nothing. Nothing like I feel when I look up and see Jeremy watching me. He's still with the mayor talking to people, but his eyes focus on me. Or rather on Linc as he walks away from me.
Jeremy looks like he wants to come down and talk to me. Now is not the time or place for that conversation. Luckily, I'm saved by the mayor bringing Jeremy to meet some other town official who is with their children at the playhouse. I take the opportunity to sneak inside, take as many pictures as I can, and tell my best friends I'm done for the day.
THE PARTY IS in full swing. I should be having a good time because I'm the one who set this up for my workers and everyone else involved in this project. They are all enjoying themselves, but I'm just not feeling it.
What I am feeling is exhausted. Two weeks of not sleeping does that to a man. Two weeks of calling and messages, but not getting any answers because you find out they were not in town. Then two weeks of waiting for Jade to come back home from her little work trip so I could finally fix my mistakes. It was two fucking weeks of torture.
“Stop staring at the door. She'll be here,” Kat tells me.
“Who?”
“Don't play dumb. We know,” she tells me.
When I finally look, three sets of eyes are on me. “I suppose I'm the bad guy in this?”
“Did we say that?”
I take a sip of my now warm beer and put it on the bar. It's been sitting in my hand for thirty minutes while I wait. Wait to see if she will really show up like they claim she will.
Aly's hand touches my arm. “She's on her way.”
I nod my head, not knowing how to take all this. Jade's friends obviously know what's been going on, and I feel like I owe them an explanation. “She wasn't just a game to me.”
Aly talks for the girls. “We know that. And you don't need to say anything else. We had a long talk with her after the grand opening today. Jade's confused. Then she saw Deanna there—”
I interrupt. “What do you mean she saw Deanna? She wasn't there.”
“Yes, she was. You didn’t see her walk right by you? With that guy,” Lexi says and points at the guy I saw Jade hugging.
My focus was on one woman. It all clicks into place who he is, and why Deanna might have been there. The hotel she works for is the one that donated a bunch of shit to us. I didn't put two and two together as to the why until now.
“No. That must be Deanna's boss. They furnished some of the rec room. However, I saw him and Jade looking cozy.” Then I remember. Her first date with Mr. Head Shot. I knew I recognized him, but I couldn't put it together. It was from his picture on the dating site. Motherfucker.
“That’s Lincoln. He's really nice. Cute too,” Lexi says. I'm not sure if she's saying it to be truthful or to get a rise out of me.
“Yeah, we talked to him for a while when he ate lunch by us. He mentioned bringing his new girlfriend to Butter My Bread sometime and that he would become a regular there now,” Aly says.
“Funny how small the world is. Guess who he just started dating?”
I don't know if I want to hear the answer to that. If I hear her name, I'm afraid I'll dismember the poor fuck.
“Deanna,” Kat says.
I let out a long breath of relief.
“Don't worry; she's not here,” Lexi says.
“You three got all that from that guy with just a little conversation?”
“If you are done with your little powwow, it's almost time to get on the stage,” Josh states.
“It will all work out. Go have fun up there,” Aly says.
The four of us—Caleb, Bentley, Hunter, and me—walk up on the stage.
“You want to clue us in on what you and the women were chatting about?” Bentley asks.
“No,” I say flatly.
“Does it have to do with whatever is going on with you and Jade?” Hunter asks.
“Let me guess, Lexi told you too?”
“No, I overheard Jade on the phone with her when it all started. I wanted to bust your balls, but Lexi threatened mine if I did. And, dude, it was obvious something was going on when we evacuated.”
“You weren’t very subtle,” Caleb says.
“Fuck. You guys are turning into your women with all the chitchat. Let’s just play,” I tell them. Now is not the time for this conversation because I’m sure it will end with one of them kicking my ass for even considering that kind of relationship with Jade. She’s like a kid sister to them.
“I feel old up here,” Caleb says as he straps his bass around his neck.
“Too old to be up here anymore, but I'll never stop playing,” Bentley adds.
“Fuck no,” Hunter yells.
“It's time to let some new blood in,” Caleb states.
We never talked about when we'd give it up. It's not like we won't ever play again. I'm sure there will be plenty of sessions at house parties we have or whenever we feel the urge to play, but the days of Slither on stage seem to be coming to a close.
“Let's do this,” I tell them.
Tonight, we decided to do something different. We decided to make this a montage of our history together. From the first song we jammed out in my parents’ garage to the one we played the first time we were on stage together and the songs that mean a lot to my boys an
d their women.
I get in the zone. Playing guitar has always been cleansing for me, and everything else fades away when I play. It’s the one time my brain shuts down, and I don’t have to think. My fingers move over the guitar strings and I didn’t realize how much I would miss this. We all feel it too. I can see it in Bentley’s face when he sings, when Caleb gets in his normal stance to play bass and sing, and even the way Hunter’s entire body moves every time he strikes the drums.
Even if we never step of the stage again, I have no doubt in my mind that we will still get together for old time’s sake. It’s what has bonded us all these years—brothers by music.
Kat comes on stage to sing her song to Caleb. When she finished, he announced, “My beautiful wife, Kat. Thank you for picking me, baby.”
“You can’t do stuff like that to a pregnant woman,” she says through the microphone in true Kat form before giving him a kiss that makes the crowd go nuts in applause.
I want that. Moments like that with someone who completes me, and if I’m lucky enough to get Jade back, I’ll thank God every fucking day for bringing her to me.
Three-quarters into our set, Jade walks in. My body knows it the minute she steps through the door looking more beautiful than ever. Her long black hair is down, making me long to touch it. Dressed in jeans and a loose t-shirt, she stands out in the crowd. For a split second, she looks at me, but then all too fast, she turns the other way.
After two more songs, Bentley looks at me, and I let him know we’ll be playing my choice next. I point at the mic, letting him know I’ve got something to say first.
“First, I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. For months, we’ve put everything we have into this project, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve met some amazing and generous people, and I hope we get to do more projects like this again. There is one person I want to thank for getting me through this whole project. She brought laughter to what would have been be an otherwise boring day. In a short amount of time, she became more important than she knows, and I think I may have fucked … I mean, messed it up. I just want to say I’m sorry I wasn’t man enough to tell you everything from the beginning.”