Be Good A New Adult Romance (RE12)(30)

I made my way over to Jay. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Vic and Casey leave and head in the direction of the bar. I arrived just before Jay headed in another direction.

“Jay,” I said as I touched his upper arm. “How are you, good looking?”

A smile formed in the corner of his mouth. “Much better with you here.”

“Bring a date?” I asked casually.

He shook his head. “Nah, I’m flying solo tonight.”

“That’s sad.” I carefully placed my hand on chest. He sucked in some air as I touched him. Even through a shirt and suit vest, I could feel his muscles were rock hard.

When Jay looked down at me, I could feel myself get caught up in the waves of his ocean blue eyes. Oh, my. Because he had been off-limits for so long, I had never really taken a good look at him. He was stunning. A total package. It made me wonder what in the world that tattoo artist could have possibly had that Jay didn’t.

“I heard you were dating some geeky guy.” His tone wasn’t malicious or condescending like nearly every other guy, who questioned my relationship with Brett. It sounded more like an attempt to gauge if I was available.

I gave a small, and what I hoped would appear to be a dismissive, shrug. “That didn’t work out.” I was trying to maintain a neutral tone.

Jay’s gaze now had some heat to it. “His loss.”

I nodded.

We looked at each other for a few moments. When God created Jay, he was certainly as close to perfection as he could get. He was a flawless specimen of the human male.

“Can I buy you a drink?” He was still staring into my eyes.

I grinned. “It’s an open bar.”

“Good line, though, right? I made you smile. I heard a few rumors that making you smile isn’t easy to do.”

My first thought was about Brett and how much he managed to make me smile. I glanced over at his table and his eyes were fixed on me and Jay. Sweater Vest had her arms crossed over her chest and she looked like she was fuming.

I turned my attention back to Jay. “We can get drinks over there.” I pointed to the bar with the flirty bartender.

I was surprised when Jay grabbed my hand and entwined his fingers with mine. It was an act that felt almost too intimate for just having spoken a few words to each other. No guy I had ever hooked up with held my hand that way. Brett was the only guy, who ever held my hand that way. Holding hands that way was something that guys did with their girlfriends, not with one-night stands.

The huge room suddenly felt like it was closing in on me. My heart began to race. Was I panicking? Why? I had been with more guys than I could ever count. Why was I suddenly nervous about being with Jay? He was gorgeous and seemed more than willing, what was the problem?

I could hear a tiny voice in the corner of my mind say: the problem is that he’s not Brett.

That tiny voice had to go. Quickly. Brett wasn’t coming back and I had to get over him and get on with my life. The best way to get rid of the tiny voice was to drown it in alcohol. Tonight, liquid courage was going to become my best friend again.

As we approached the bar, the flirty bar tendered looked at me, gave Jay the once-over then looked back at me with a sly grin.

“So, more of the same?” I knew he was referring to the drink. If only he knew how much more there was to that line. Jay was going to be more of the same, probably the first of another endless string of drunken one-night stands.

I nodded. “Better make it a double.”

“Two are always better than one.” This time the double-meaning was not subtle at all. He was looking at me like he wanted to take me right on the bar with Jay watching.

When I glanced up at Jay, he gave me a huge smile. He didn’t seem to be picking up on anything between the bartender and me. It made me wonder if he was a little on the dull side.

The bartender handed me the drink and winked at me. When I looked at Jay, he was still oblivious. It made me wonder if it was possible for a guy to be the stereo-typical “dumb blond.”

“And what are you having?” the bartender asked Jay. You mean besides me, I thought.

“A beer,” Jay replied.

“Bud?” the bartender suggested.

Jay shrugged. “Sure, why not.”

The bar tender poured Jay a glass of beer from the tap. “Thanks, Man,” Jay said as he placed a few dollars in the tip jar.

“Have fun,” the bartender said eyeing me.

“I always do,” I said and the bartender gave me a sly grin in return.



***



Jay had only taken a few sips of his beer by the time I downed my drink. It didn’t even taste good. I just wanted to feel something different than what I was feeling and I knew alcohol well enough to know exactly how good she could make me feel. We were quickly getting reacquainted with each other and I was managing to drown out that little voice that kept nagging me with: what about Brett? I wanted to scream: Brett’s living happily ever after with Sweater Vest, so shut the f*ck up, Little Voice!

Jay picked a table with a terrific view of Brett and Sweater Vest. Great! I noticed that Brett was still gawking at me and Jay. Sweater Vest was now talking to a girl, who had sat down next to her. I vaguely recognized her from school. She was another one of the brainy bunch that they hung out with.

I noticed right away that Jay wasn’t a master of conversation. I decided to break the ice. “So, where are you working?”

“I started a business with a couple of guys from school. We do pest control.”

“You don’t drive around in those little cars with the bug antennas, do you?”

He shook his head. “No, that’s another company. And we don’t actually do the pest control. We hire guys to do that. We run the business.”

I nodded. Where do you go with a conversation about killing bugs?

There were a few moments of awkward silence. I found it odd that he didn’t ask me where I was working. It didn’t seem to occur to him. I wouldn’t call Jay intellectually curious.

I tried with another topic. “So, what kind of music do you listen to?”

“Country.”

My least favorite. I’d rather listen to cats wailing. “No rock music?”

He shook his head. “Nah.”

Okay, then. This was going to be a long night. When I glanced in Brett’s direction, I noticed he was still staring at us. That made me angry. He didn’t want to be with me but he clearly didn’t want me to be with anyone else. Fuck that.

I placed a hand on Jay’s thigh and I could see him gulp. Then a small grin formed in the corner of his mouth. I thought I heard him whisper, “Higher.”

I moved my hand up his thigh a bit.

“Higher,” he whispered again. Seriously? Did he think I was going to give him a hand job under the table at a wedding?

He got close to my ear. “Come on, Babe,” he whispered. “It would be so hot.” Then he kissed me. I didn’t feel a thing. It was like kissing the wall. When he gave me a little tongue, I felt like I might gag.

I never let lack of feeling bother me before, why now? Because he wasn’t Brett. When I kissed Brett, I felt electricity through my entire body. Brett made me feel all kinds of wonderful things. When I kissed Jay, I felt nothing. I heaved a sigh. If I ever hoped to spend the night with Jay, I’d need to spend a little more time with my friend, Southern Comfort.

“I need to go to the ladies room,” I said to Jay. “Would you mind getting me another drink while I’m gone?”

“Sure, Babe, no problem.”

As I hurried toward the bathroom, I snuck a peek at Brett and I saw that he was rising from his seat. Shit, was he following me?

I tried to quicken my pace but it was nearly impossible in my f*ck-me pumps. Brett caught up to me right outside the ladies room door. He grabbed my elbow and turned me to face him.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said.

“Do what?” I snapped.

“Hook up with some guy just to hurt me.”

I let out a single laugh. “Don’t flatter yourself. Jay is the best looking guy in the place. Why wouldn’t I hook up with him?”

Brett’s gaze bored into me. “Because you don’t have feelings for him.”

“What makes you think that?”

Brett grabbed my other elbow. He was now gripping both of my arms, as if for emphasis. “I saw the way you looked after he kissed you. You didn’t feel a thing.”

I let out another laugh.

He continued. “I know what you look like when you’re turned on. Jay didn’t make you look like that. Not even close.”

“And just how do I look when I’m turned on?” I taunted.

Before I could stop him, Brett kissed me like I had never been kissed before. There was so much fire and passion in his kiss, it completely took my breath away.