Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1)(51)
Jason scowled. “So why do I get grilled harder because of him?”
“Because she’s worried about me. Worried for me. But don’t sweat it, seriously. She was a fan of yours before I was, and today just sealed that in.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“You should,” I grinned. “You’ll see.”
“Uh huh. You wanna get closer to the stage? I think Dani’s about to go on.”
“Hell yes, I do.”
We headed up front with the growing crowd, Jason leading the way. With those broad shoulders, the crowd parted easily for him and then he pulled me in front of him, tucking his arms around me and resting his chin on my head.
I clapped and cheered with everybody else when Dani came on stage, looking beautiful with her cinnamon-colored locs and deep brown skin. She talked to the intimate crowd a little bit while her band did their last sound adjustments and stuff. And then the music started, and she began to sing, in that raspy-sexy, sensual voice of hers.
Ain’t no easy ways to be in love,
Sometimes you play the fool.
It’s love and war, push and pull,
And you try to play it cool.
When it’s right, it’s right,
when it ain’t, it’s not
There’s no one perfect rule.
You can play the game, and win or lose,
Sometimes you get schooled.
Jason pulled me a little tighter against him, brushing my hair aside to kiss my neck. We stayed like that, swaying together to the music until Dani took a break, and we headed back to the table.
I groaned a little as I spotted Devyn’s ex-boyfriend, Malcolm, seated at the table with her, speaking way too close into her ear. Malcolm wasn’t necessarily a bad guy, but I wouldn’t call him good either… at least not for Devyn.
I tried to fix my face into something that at least resembled a smile, but a few feet away from the table, my efforts got wiped away. I’d glanced up, and to my right, not looking for or at anything in particular, when my eyes fell on Grayson and Olivia.
Hmph. Trash sticking together.
I looked away almost as soon as my brain registered those words, hoping not to invite conversation—or confrontation. But that was obviously too much like right, because the next thing I knew, they were making their way over.
“So I see I was right about you and GI Joe,” Grayson sneered, with Olivia peeking cautiously around his shoulder.
I couldn’t even get my mouth open to respond before Jason’s hand on my shoulder halted me, and he stepped between me and Grayson, folding his arms. “Listen, man… I’m trying to have a good time with my girl. Everybody has moved on, let’s just leave it that. No problem. And trust me… you don’t want that to change.”
Grayson’s face wrinkled into a scowl. “Man, who are you supposed to b—”
He didn’t get the chance to finish that sentence before Jason grabbed him by the collar, snatching him forward. It was such a subtle move that barely anybody in the semi dark club looked up.
“Nigga are you deaf?” Jason asked, his voice low, and edged in danger. “This ain’t a problem you want. Find something else to do.” Jason shoved him backwards, out of our space, and then turned back to me as Grayson and Olivia… went and found something else to do, I assumed.
When we got back to the table, I wasn’t even thinking about Devyn and Mal. I snuggled close to Jason in the corner of the booth, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Don’t sweat that shit, aiight?” he asked, tipping his head to look me in the eyes. “Not letting them mess up our vibe.”
I smiled, and shook my head. “Absolutely not.”
And… we didn’t.
Instead of thinking about old news, I focused on the current happiness in my life. Malcolm left the table, Devyn warmed right up to Jason, and before long, we were laughing, talking, and having a good time.
As it started approaching ten at night, we left. Jason and I had classes in the morning, and Devyn had an early shift at the county hospital – one of her last, since she’d gotten the job at University Hospital, and would be starting in a few weeks.
Jason and I held hands as we walked downtown, heading back to his car. He was telling me about this internship he’d applied for with a major car manufacturer, when the sickening crunch of metal on metal wedged in my ears, turning my insides to jello. I stopped walking and whipped around, my eyes bulging when I saw two cars smashed together, in the intersection Jason and I had just crossed. Nausea swept my stomach, and I clamped my mouth closed, trying to hold myself together.
“Reese? Reese, you aiight?” Jason’s voice made me turn away from the jumble of metal, as other people began to gather in the intersection. In the distance, I heard sirens, moving closer. It wasn’t until Jason squeezed my hand that I actually blinked. “You okay, princess?”
No.
“Yeah,” I said, forcing myself to smile even though my mouth felt like it was full of sawdust. He pulled me along, and I followed, though I felt like I was in a haze. In the car, he lifted his eyebrows in surprise when I told him I didn’t want to go home, that I’d rather stay over with him. Still, he obliged.
We swung by my place first, so I could get my car, and get what I needed for an overnight stay. Back at his house, I showered and climbed straight into his bed. I snuggled deep under the covers with my fingers tracing the edges of the engraved nameplate on my necklace while I watched him put the finishing touches on a paper that was due in my mother’s class tomorrow.