Wild Wind: A Chaos Novella (Chaos #6.6)(6)

Her head ticked. “Yeah, I went to college out east.”

Well…

Shit.

But…

Still.

“And you didn’t leave me a goddamn note?”

She blinked.

“You were gone, like, every fuckin’ day for the last four fuckin’ years so you couldn’t leave me a note?” he pushed it.

“Well, no, but mostly, yeah, ’cause Dad had two kids in college, both out of state, we’re not rolling in it so I couldn’t exactly fly home every weekend. And anyway, J, you stood me up at Taste.”

And again.

Shit.

But still.

“My chick got up in my shit, I had to deal with her,” Jag explained. “We were late, you were gone.”

“Yeah, well, my guy got up in mine too. He wasn’t a big fan of me hugging on a hot dude in front of him. We had words. I told him he could relax and deal or he could take a hike. He wasn’t relaxed, but he was ready to deal, and then you didn’t show. After that, I had to put up with him being smug, which was worse.”

Hang on a second.

She thought he was hot?

“So, that’s the only excuse you have?” she pressed. “That your girl threw a tantrum and that’s why you stood me up?”

That was twice she’d used those words.

Stood her up.

But they’d both been on dates.

“A, I—” he began.

She didn’t let him get any further.

“So no, J, I didn’t leave you a note because you blew me off and I’m not feeling this.” She motioned between them, but explained it anyway. “I see you for the first time in years, and you get all up in my face because I didn’t keep connected after you didn’t connect with me and I was just off, living my life.”

“You gotta know I’d never leave you hanging unless something came up I couldn’t avoid,” he told her.

“I don’t know that because that’s what you did. You left me hanging.”

“My chick was throwing a hissy fit.”

She shrugged. “So walk away.”

“If you were throwing a hissy fit, would you want me to walk away from you?”

“Brother, I would not ever throw a stupid hissy fit.”

She said these words like they were gospel and her face registered nothing but disgust at not only the idea of chicks who did, but that he’d think she would.

Jag found that interesting.

As well as promising.

But again…

Still.

“So you’re telling me it wasn’t a four-year long hissy fit that was the reason I got no fuckin’ note after that happened?” he demanded.

That hit.

He knew it when she hit back.

“In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not anything to each other, J,” she informed him. “I don’t even know your name.”

He stepped back.

She watched him do it and winced.

But no fucking way.

Maybe he’d screwed up, and then she’d screwed up.

But she knew that went too far.

“You’re right, we’re not,” he agreed. “Sorry to fuck up your day.”

He headed to his bike.

She moved with him.

He was firing it up when he felt her hand over the leather on his forearm.

He looked at her standing beside him.

“J, hang on a sec,” she requested.

“Do your thing, A, live your life,” he threw her words back at her. Then he finished it. “Hope it’s a good one. Later.”

With that, he opened up his bike and glided away.





Jagger lost track of how many times he saw her after that.

At concerts, mostly.

Also at some bars.

Couple of times, out to eat.

Even at the mall once.

She’d been with guys.

He’d been with girls.

She’d been with friends.

Ditto with him.

Also alone.

She kept her distance.

He did too.

Eye contact and then avoidance.

Through all this, over the years, even though he was born there and he knew a lot of people and there was more than a rare occasion he’d run into one of them, it was the first time he realized how small of a town Denver was, even if it was a big city.

But it wasn’t lost on him they had the same taste in music, food and social life.

It also wasn’t lost on him that was way cool and it way fucking sucked because she was enjoying it, so was he, but never together.

He knew he should boss up, apologize for acting like an asshole and getting in her shit after she got back from college.

That said, she was the one who lowered the hammer, so on one of those occasions they were in each other’s space, she could have bossed up too.

She didn’t.

And the longer she didn’t, he got to the point where he just wouldn’t.

So he didn’t either.





In the end, it wasn’t about bossing up.

In the end, it was about the fact he was on his bike and he saw some kid motoring down the sidewalk, totally being chased.

And seconds later, he saw it was A doing the chasing.