Hanging On (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2)(94)

I was crying and shaking my head no. "I want out of here. I want out of here!"

William climbed into the bed with me. It was a squeeze, but I didn’t care.

"You gotta calm down, baby. You're not hurt. You were slipped a roofie. Well, actually, Lump was slipped a roofie, and you got the benefit of it. "

"What? Why would someone slip—was it that douche?"

He chuckled. "Yes, it was John. After we took you outside I beat on him until he told me. Good thing the officer that showed up was a family friend..."

"But...why? They had already… you know…"

"Well...it's starting to look like he drugged her then, too. She doesn't know for sure, but she remembers being at his house for a couple glasses of wine, she hadn't eaten all day, and the next thing she knew she was drunk. She doesn't even remember the actual sex, but figured the next morning she just went further than she’d intended. Apparently she has bad taste in men..."

"Always has had, yes. She is so used to guys that fight all the time because of her family that she goes for violent idiots then makes bad choices. She has never been roofied, though. Me, either. It sucks! Do you know if...if they...well, if he used... protection?"

"I didn't ask—that is more information then I care to hear, Jess, but she blurted out that she saw a used...you know...on the ground the next day. She needs to hang around men more—girlfriends might share everything, but her men friends do not want to hear it."

He turned up his nose in disgust. I hugged onto him and burrowed myself into his arm and chest. There we stayed, him not as comfortable as he could have been, me hating my surroundings and wanting to leave immediately. Once asleep, though, we stayed that way until a nurse woke us up in the morning.

Once again, I showed up at Gladis's house with another story to tell. She was starting to think I was danger prone. Moose was convinced that I was the reason a guy should never marry a girl that is too pretty. Too much drama.

He then made me promise not to tell his girlfriend when he realized how the comment came out. While sweet, it did make me think about the bad news that had befallen me since I moved here. It seemed it was just one big, dramatic thing after another.

Lump was the bearer of apologies. I, in turn, was the model of forgiveness. I told her to stop bringing tools around, though. Stop dating them full-stop, actually. Yeah, Adam might be scary from time to time—or, one time—but he didn't hit and he certainly didn't date rape. He even had the opportunity to go all the way with permission and he didn't take the chance. Not many guys could boast that.

Lump agreed, but made me promise not to mention Adam any more. It wasn't going to happen, so stop embarrassing her, him, and myself. I threw a “but” in there, but was silenced with a no-nonsense look.

Fine.

After that episode it was a waterfall of dating. Lump had a new guy every week almost. Often she was dating a couple guys at a time, not sleeping with any one until they were together for at least two weeks, which only happened once.

A few were really good looking, some not so much. Some were overly nice, some hard asses. Some had manners, some must have been bread amongst pigs. No two were alike. Everyone was always really nice to the dates, but no one got too aquatinted knowing the man of the week would inevitably be replaced.

Winter rumbled in and Christmas loomed. It was starting to get nervous about what I would get William for Christmas. I wasn’t in to arts and crafts, so wouldn’t be making anything, and he didn’t need someone to buy him anything. It was the conundrum that was always on my mind.

Except tonight. Tonight, our normal Friday happy hour to let off steam from the work week, we’d finally get to meet Adam’s new lady.

He’d been with her a couple weeks, knew her from their circle of rich people, and never opened his trap about her other than to say she was a decent lady and I’d like her. He said it, but his face wasn’t selling it. I was nervous.

“Is he bringing her?” I asked Brad, who was now around as much as Moose and Adam.

“Who’s bringing who?” Brad leaned back and scratched his head.

“Adam. Is he bringing the girlfriend?”

Brad shrugged.

“Is that her?” Lump asked, taking a seat across from me at the table. We were in the back of the large bar, taking up a few booths. As such, I wasn’t worried about being seen, so I basically crawled up the back of the booth to get a look.

“Is Adam wearing a silk shirt?” I gasped.

“At least its deep blue,” Lump said, a furrow to her brow. “He sweats, though. He’s going to look ridiculous at the end of the night.”

I turned around and stared at Lump. “He is wearing a silk shirt, Lump. This is Adam we are talking about.”

“Where’s his thick gold chain?” Brad scoffed.

“Exactly!” I shook my head and turned back.

“That must be the new girl,” Brad said, nodding his head toward a tiny woman basically pressed against Adam’s side.

“The small one?” Lump asked, elongating her neck to get a look.

“It’s like a pixy with the jolly green giant.” I couldn't help but laugh. She literally was half his size and incredibly dainty, her straight yellow hair coiffed perfectly around her face.

“She’s cute.” Brad shrugged.