by K. B. Webb
“I just don’t want Ryan to get hurt because of Jason’s issues with me.”
“He’s a big boy, he knew what he was getting into the moment he got into you. You have to learn to stand up for yourself and quit putting everyone else’s feelings and shit before yours.”
“You act like I’m a fucking door mat.”
“You’re not though Jasmine. That’s the crazy part. I have seen you yell at strangers over little shit and big shit, and never back down. You stand up for yourself, but not when it comes to your brother.”
I know what he means. I may be a smart ass with Jason, but I usually give in to what he wants me to do. I feel like I don’t have a choice, and part of me feels like I owe it to him after everything he’s done for me.
“I just don’t want anyone to get caught in the middle of all this bullshit.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen. Someone is going to get the shit end of the stick in this situation,” he stands up and starts walking into his house while I head back to my car. I don’t know what to say anymore, so I decide it’s best to just shut up.
I’m almost to my car when he calls my name, “I know this is a fucked up situation for everyone, but it would be nice to see you come out on top for once, Jas. Do what you have to do, but don’t do it for Jason or Ryan, do it for Jasmine.”
I nod at him, not knowing what to say. Lucas doesn’t normally do emotional with me, so I’m caught off guard, but I appreciate what he’s saying. I really need to start standing up to Jason, and not just in the moment when shit happens. I need to follow through.
I get in my car and see I have a text from Ryan telling me he’s going to Ricky’s Bar tonight to sing a few songs with the band that normally plays on the weekends. I text him back telling him I am headed to the bar now to hang out with Dani for the night. We make plans to meet up after we both leave Ricky’s, knowing we won’t be able to be as close as we want to be with everyone around.
I have to talk to him tonight about this whole situation. I know that he doesn’t want to lose his job, but I’m tired of keeping us a secret. I need to tell Jason about us if this is going to continue, and I need to know that he’s OK with whatever happens. I just hope and pray that Ryan is willing to put everything on the line for us like I am.
“Hey, hey twisted sister!” I walk into Ricky’s and am immediately greeted by Dani wiping down the bar. We’ve got an hour or so before most of the usual patrons start showing up so I figure now is the best time to tell her about Ryan and me. I can’t keep secrets from my best friend. That’s like ‘how to not be a shitty friend 101.’
“Dani Gail, I must say your ass is looking banging in those shorts!”
“Well Jasmine, I must say that if that dress was any shorter we would have to call this place a strip club! You trying to pick someone up tonight?”
“Yea, something like that.” I glance down at my dress. It is very short and hot pink. Ryan saw it in my closet a few days ago and said he would love to fuck me in it, so I decided to wear it tonight.
She walks back behind the bar and I take a seat in the stool across from her. Without me even asking, she opens a beer and sits in down in front of me.
“Give me a shot too. I don’t care what it is, just make it a double.”
“OK…” She grabs a bottle of Jägermeister and pours a double shot and hands it to me. I chug it quickly, trying to mentally prepare myself for how she is going to react.
“So I’m going to guess that Ryan will be giving you a ride home tonight.”
“I was planning on it.” I am planning on Ryan giving me more than just a ride home, is what I almost say. Ok, I have to tell her.
“You gonna tell me what the fuck is going on with you?”
“Yea, I wanted to talk to you about…” I don’t get to finish my sentence because Molly Scott and Wynee Williams walk in. I know of them from high school and because they work with Dani. Wynee is usually pretty friendly with me, but Molly, not so much.
“Hey Jasmine!” Wynee waves at me as she and Molly sit down at the bar a few stools down from me.
“Hey Wynee. Hey Molly.” Molly doesn’t respond. She acts like I didn’t say anything at all which pisses me off. I know how close she and Ryan are, so ever since he and I got together I have been trying really hard to be friendly when I see her. That’s a big step for me because I am not known for my glowing personality nor being friendly with anyone.
“Hey Dani, there’s a girl coming in a little later. She’s blond, really cute, and short like you. Her name’s Casey. I told her to tell you when she got here so you come find me.” Molly talks to Dani and still doesn’t even glance in my direction.
“Alright. Is she coming in for an interview or something?”
“Nope, she’s here to meet up with Ryan.” She sings Ryan’s name when she speaks and I almost spit my beer across the bar. You have got to be fucking kidding me. I knew that she was trying to hook Ryan up with Casey, another trainer at Slade Fitness, but I also knew that he had turned her down and told her he wasn’t interested. I guess she didn’t hear that part though since she’s invited Casey here tonight.
“Hey Jasmine,” I turn when Wynee says my name, “I think you know Casey. She works at your gym.”
“Oh yea, I know her. So does everything with a dick and a pulse in a 5 mile radius. Dani, I need another shot.” This is going to be a long fucking night.
An hour later Ricky’s weekend band, Texas Line, has set up on stage and are getting ready to start their set. The usual crowd for Friday nights has started piling in so Dani and I haven’t had a chance to talk anymore. After the bombshell Molly dropped, I don’t think I could talk about Ryan anyway.
I keep checking my phone for a text from Ryan. I told him that when he got here he needed to text me so I could come out and talk to him. I have to let him know that Casey is showing up. I am on the road to being shitfaced at the rate I’m drinking and I probably won’t be able to convince myself that kicking her ass is a bad idea later.
After a few more minutes, I see Ryan’s name flash across my phone telling me he’s in the parking lot. I grab my purse and pretty much all out run outside.
I reach his trunk just as he’s getting out.
“Hey.”
“Holy shit,” he eyes me up and down, “you look fucking amazing.” He pulls me in and kisses me, and for a moment, I almost forget why I even came outside to talk to him.
I break away from him and take a second to catch my breath before I start to speak.
“Molly invited Casey here tonight so she could try to get her slutty little hands on you.”
“She what?”
“Yea, she told Dani about it while I was sitting at the bar. She said Casey was coming here tonight and for Dani to tell her when she got here. She also was a major bitch to me.”
“Why?”
“Fuck if I know. I’m telling you Ryan, that girl has something against me, but I can’t figure out why.”
“Baby, I don’t think she has something against you. Molly isn’t just a really friendly person.”
“Right. She isn’t friendly with me, but she can invite Casey, to come hang out. That makes total sense.”
I fold my arms across my chest and have a look on my face that I know says I’m pist, because I am. There has to be a reason that Molly continues to blow me off whenever I’m around, but I have no clue what it is.
“Listen,” he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest while he looks into my eyes, “I don’t give a shit who Molly tries to set me up with, because I have no desire to be set up with anyone. I just want you, k?”
“OK. Can we talk later?”
“Sure…”
“Nothing, bad, promise. I just wanted to talk about some things.”
“Well baby, we can talk about whatever you want to. It will have to be after I ravish the fuck out of you though. That dress is killing me.”
I laugh and stand up on my toes to kiss him
. “Well while you’re playing tonight, just think of all the things you’ll get to do to me when we get home. Plus, I’m already tipsy and will be pretty drunk by the time we leave.”
“You know I love drunk sex with you.”
“I know, that’s why I’m drinking.”
He kisses me and turns us around so that I am leaning against his truck. After a few minutes he pulls his mouth away from mine and growls, “these are going to be the longest four hours of my life.”
I laugh and walk away, making sure to put an extra swing in my hips because I know he’s staring at my ass.
I walk back into Ricky’s and see Lucas sitting at a table with his little brother Logan. I’ve met Logan a few times and he seems like a nice guy, but I know he dates Molly so I’m not sure if sitting with him is a great idea. I try to sneak by their table and take a seat at the bar, but Lucas sees me.
“Abu, get your ass over here.”
Well shit.
I walk over to their table and sit down.
“You know my brother, Logan, right?” Lucas waves his hand between Logan and me.
“Yea we’ve met before. How have you been Logan?”
“Good Jasmine. How about you?”
“Good.” There’s an awkward silence in the air. I don’t know what to say to Logan. He really is a nice guy, but the only thing I need is Molly thinking I’m starting more shit with her by talking to her boyfriend.
Ryan walks in a few minutes later and heads straight for our table at the same time Logan gets up to go find Molly.
“What’s up guys?” He claps Lucas on the shoulder.
“I know y’all are still fucking. That’s what’s up.”
“Damn it Lucas!” Seriously, could he have picked a worse time to say that? I am already dealing with the fact that soon Ryan will have a gorgeous blond with fake tits all over him and now I have to deal with this too. Nice job Lucas.
Ryan sits down in the seat next to me and gives me a look that screams what the fuck.
He grips my thigh under the table and looks at Lucas, “So, now you know. You gonna tell Dani or Jason about it?”
“Nope, you two are. Jasmine and I already talked about this today.”
I hold Ryan’s hand under the table and turn my body towards his, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about tonight.”
He opens his mouth to talk to me but is interrupted when we hear Molly say his name. He quickly releases my hand and stands up. It shouldn’t hurt, but it does. This whole time I have been worrying about how Dani and Jason would react, but I never thought about how Molly would deal with Ryan I being together. If she can’t even have a civil conversation with me, how the hell am I supposed to have a relationship with her best friend?
“Ry, there’s someone I want you to meet. Well you already know her, but I think you should get to know her better.”
He grits his teeth, “Molly, don’t do this.”
She ignores him and calls Casey’s name. She walks over from the bar and instantly sets her eyes on Ryan. I’ve known Casey for a long time, and I know exactly what that look means. When she sees something she wants, she doesn’t give up till it’s hers. I want to tell her that she’s shit out of luck when it comes to Ryan, but I can’t, and that hurts like a mother fucker.
“Hey Ryan.” Lucas looks at me across the table when Casey starts talking. I know that he is telling me to calm the fuck down and not kick her ass.
“Hey Casey.” Ryan is so uncomfortable, and it pisses me off that Molly either can’t tell that or doesn’t give a shit. Ryan and Casey spend a minute awkwardly standing in front of each other but not speaking.
“Hey Casey! It’s great to see you!” I stand up from my chair behind Ryan and step beside him.
“Oh, Jasmine, hey, I didn’t know you’d be here.” Yea bitch, I am here, and there is no way in hell I will let you get your dirty whore hands on my man.
“Oh, she was just leaving.” Molly cuts in and gives me a death stare. Seriously, what the fuck is this girl’s problem?
“Um, no I wasn’t.”
“Well, you are now.” I keep quiet for a second, waiting for Ryan to say something, anything, but he doesn’t. He just lets her shoe me away like I’m nothing to him.
I grab my purse off the table and start to walk away when Lucas stops me.
“Hey Molly,” she looks at Lucas when he says her name, “I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but you’re not going to be an ass hole to my friend. I don’t give a shit if you’re my brothers girlfriend or not,” he turns and faces Ryan even though he’s still talking to Molly, “I don’t let anyone talk down to the people I care about. I think you need to learn some fucking manners. Come on Abu.” He grabs my hand and pulls me away from the group. Molly’s mouth hangs open for a second before she starts talking to Logan using lots of hand motions. Ryan does nothing. He just sits there, staring at me as I walk away.
Lucas drags me to the bar and calls Dani’s name trying to get her attention.
“You’re going to go outside and tell Dani everything. I can’t help you with girl shit Abu, you need her.”
“Why does she hate me so much Lucas? I don’t even know her well enough for her to be such a bitch to me.”
“I have no clue. I know Ryan and Logan always say she doesn’t like becoming friends with new people, but that’s no excuse for her to talk shit to you like that.” He pauses for a second and glances over his shoulder. Ryan is sitting at the table with Casey, Logan, and Justin, Wynee’s boyfriend. Casey’s talking to him, but he’s staring at me. I keep waiting for him to get up, but he doesn’t, he just stares. “I could kick his ass right now.”
“He would beat the shit out of you if you tried.”
He laughs and wraps his arm around my shoulders, and pulls me into his side, “That may be true, but you’d be worth it.”
“Thank you. Maybe you’re not such a fucker after all.”
Dani walks up and Lucas tells her she needs to take a smoke break to talk to me while he covers the bar. I walk around the side of the bar and wait for Dani so I can follow her outside. I chance a glance back at Ryan’s table, he’s talking to Casey while she runs her arm over his tribal tattoo. I don’t know whose ass I want to kick more right now, his or hers.
Dani walks by me and grabs my hand pulling me through the double doors to the kitchen so we can go out back.
“Give me a cigarette.”
Dani looks at me like I’ve grown three heads. I don’t smoke, but right now I need one. She hands me a cigarette and I take a seat in the chair next to her.
“I’m still sleeping with Ryan.” At first I don’t think she heard me because she doesn’t respond, but when I turn to look at her and see her staring at me, mouth open, I know she did.
“Jasmine, honey. Why would you do that? You know how much Jason is going to flip his shit?”
“I know he is, but well, right now I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about the bleach blond that has her hands all over him and the fact that his best friend fucking hates me.”
“Oh sweetie,” Dani’s voice is laced with pity. Usually I would shut that shit down real quick, but right now I can’t. I’m too drunk and upset to turn down pity.
“Dani, what am I going to do?” I take a drag off the cigarette she gave me. This shit tastes terrible, but I keep smoking it.
“Well, are we talking about the tits with legs attached to Ryan, or Molly?”
I laugh at her description of Casey, “both.”
“As far as Ryan goes, you need to go back in that bar and have a good time. You can’t jump to conclusions about how he’s acting right now. Obviously Molly doesn’t know so it’s not like he can tell her he’s with you so he’s not interested in Casey.”
“Why can’t he though? I mean yea, we agreed we would wait to tell everyone until I told Jason, but if you had tried to set me up with some guy I would have told you. And it’s not even that he’s letting Molly set him u
p, he stood there while she was a total bitch to me and never stood up for me. Hell, Lucas is the one who told her off.”
“Lucas loves you though Jasmine. He would do anything for you. I don’t think you get how protective he is of you.”
“After today, I get it, and I am eternally grateful for it.” I really, really mean that. “Now, what the hell am I going to do about Molly? I don’t even know why she is such a bitch to me.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe after you get all this shit handled with Ryan, you can sit down and talk to her. Molly is usually a no bullshit kind of girl, I think or at least hope that she would appreciate your honestly about wanting to figure out what’s going on.”
I take a deep breath and lay my head on her shoulder, “I really like him Dani.”
She lays her head on top of mine, “I know you do sweetie. Just take a breath and try to get through tonight. You can figure everything else out tomorrow.” We sit in silence for a few minutes before she forces me to go back inside.
We walk back inside and I take a seat at the bar. I think avoiding Ryan and Casey’s table right now is what’s best. Lucas sees me sit down and sets a beer and two shots down in front of me.
I hear some commotion on stage and look up to see Ryan standing in front of the microphone, placing his guitar over his head. He’s so damn sexy, especially when he sings. He just exudes confidence when he does anything involving music.
“He’s hot isn’t he?” I don’t realize Casey has sat down beside me till I hear her voice. I don’t answer her, just nod instead, hoping she will catch the hint and leave me the fuck alone, but she doesn’t. “He said he already had the first song planned out, it’s going out to someone special, so I’m hoping that’s me.”