Falling Away (31 page)

             
“You’re damn lucky it was me that got the show and not Sloppy Joe over there bouncing the door.” I covered my face in shame. I just bent over in front of Robert of all people. “And since when do you wear this shit?”

             
“It’s not mine, it’s Sophie’s!” I yelled in a hush.

             
“I know it’s Sophie’s, I’ve seen her wear it before. I had hopes you’d be different, but apparently, neither one of you are capable of covering up your own ass.”

             
“Oh, fuck me,” I moaned, feeling a little queasy, crossing my arms over my stomach as I collapsed in on myself.

             
“I would imagine every guy that’s seen the show tonight would love to.” He snatched the phone from me and punched his number in to text himself, disgruntled ‘cause the design was archaic compared to his. “And what happened to the phone I gave you?”

             
Like that’s my biggest concern at the moment. Whatever. Distractions were good… “When you cancelled my plan it became an expensive paperweight.”

             
“I didn’t cancel it,” he muttered quietly, “my mother did.” He passed it back once the message went through on his phone.
Figures…
But still, I wouldn’t have expected him to continue paying for it. She was right to drop me. “But all you had to do was get a new line.”

             
“I don’t use it anyway. This one’s pay-as-you-go and only gets used when I leave town. One less thing to pay for.”

             
“Whatever.” He tucked his phone back into his pocket.

             
Had I been playing that stupid drinking game, our combined sighs would have called for an entire bottle to be consumed.

             
“Jenna…”

             
“Robert, I feel stupid enough right now.” I rolled my head back against the wall. He was still blocking my silhouette pretty efficiently from the world. “God, I just
wanna
go back to the hotel, change out of this stupid skirt and never come out of bed. I thought…I swear I’d been good all night not to do that. What few times I had to bend, I did it at the knees. I totally didn’t realize the limo thing. Oh, God…how many people saw me tonight? Like
really
saw me?”
             

             
He surprised me next, taking me into his arms and hugging me. “No one that you’re ever going to see again. Except me, that is.” I laughed and groaned at the same time. Luckily, it wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen intimately before, but still... “They were probably all too drunk to notice anyways.”

             
“Let me just say I now appreciate all the times you stood behind Sophie.”

             
“I was kidding when I admitted to looking at her there. Yes, I’ve stood behind her, and yes, I’ve noticed her skirts can sometimes ride up, but I’ve always diverted my eyes before I actually saw anything. And
Jhett
knows I was kidding, too. He just went with the flow because he hates that Sophie wears them, and hoped it would embarrass her enough to get her out of the damn things. Obviously didn’t work, as she’s now got you wearing one.”

             
“Don’t worry. I’ve learned my lesson.” I pulled out of his grasp. I probably shouldn’t have held it as long as I did. And I was suddenly aware of something else he said. “Wait. If you always divert your eyes, how did you know I’m wearing blue underwear tonight?”

             
If it were me, I’d totally be blushing. Robert, on the other hand, gently pressed the back of my shoulder and led me back to the limo. “Sorry, Jenna. I know I’m the ex, but once you grant a guy private screenings, unless we truly hate you, there’s no shutting off the part of our mind that wants to look. Especially when you’re offering a free show.”

             
I didn’t know whether to be humiliated for flashing him, or happy that he wasn’t completely repulsed by me these days. Either way, I decided that particular conversation was going down a dangerous road, so I kept my mouth shut.

             
“Just do us both a favor and step into the limo backwards for the rest of the night, will you? And call me if you need us to come back for you.”

             
I nodded that I would and he stood behind me as I tried my new way into the limo, giving me an encouraging thumbs up afterwards. Sophie was making out with
Jhett
by the guy’s limo, and Robert slapped his shoulder as he went by so they’d know to separate. Thank God Sophie didn’t see any of that, and I knew she didn’t, ‘cause I never heard a word about it.

             
Dana took us to a stripper bar next, so no wonder they didn’t want the guys tagging along with us. I figured we’d end up at one of those at some point during the night, and was grateful when Sophie didn’t
wanna
stay too terribly long, preferring the dance clubs. I wasn’t in much of a party mood after my public viewing, so I always found a reason to break off from the group once the drinks and dancing had them
spinning again. The last club closed at two and after we grabbed a bite to eat at a twenty-four hour diner, it was after three-thirty before we headed back to the hotel.

             
“Who are you texting?” I snapped playfully, trying to grab the phone as we took the elevator up to our rooms. Dana lived in the city, so she took her car home, and all the other girls that came along were staying at random hotels throughout the city, so the limo driver was taking them back now. Sophie turned her back to me and blocked me out. I tried to reach around, humorously arguing, “You know you’re not supposed to be talking to him tonight! Girl’s night only! No
boytoys
or future
hubbys
! Your rules, remember?”

             
The elevator dinged and I halted my assault, thinking someone was gonna get on. Turned out we had already reached our floor, and Sophie walked past her room to mine.

             
“I was just letting him know that we’re back. He freaks out when I don’t keep in touch.”

             
Sounded like
Jhett
was as protective as Evan. And Robert, but I stopped my mind before it could go any further on that topic. I opened my door, flicked on the light and tossed my purse onto the bed.

             
“Well, damn,” Sophie stated. Her eyes made a quick sweep of the room. “Your surprise was supposed to be here by now.”

             
“Little late for a delivery. What the hell do you think is gonna show up here at four in the morning?”

             
“I’m gonna call the party responsible for bringing it to you. Here,” she said, digging through her purse and pulling out her keycard. “There’s a bottle of rum on my dresser. Will you grab it for us?”

             
I groaned internally, completely sickened by the thought of putting more acid into my stomach, my body already slow and sluggish. But it was Sophie’s night. I could just pretend to sip at it. “Yeah, sure.”

             
It may have only been two doors down, but I swore the hall lengthened on me like in that creepy movie
The
Shining
, making for an endless walk. I swiped the card in Sophie’s door reader and it beeped before unlocking. The door closed behind me as I reached for the light switch. I cursed under my breath when nothing happened.
Freakin
’ lamps were turned off at their bases.

             
I was suddenly grabbed and slammed against the wall, my head smacking so hard I let out a moan. But before I could react in any way, lips smashed hard against mine, a mixture of booze and mint invading my mouth. The body weight that pressed against me was an immovable blockade. I grunted through the kiss and tried to push against what I assumed was
Jhett’s
naked chest. And because of this
freakin
’ miniskirt Sophie put me in, I could tell
Jhett
was naked against my bare legs. I didn’t know how the hell he got there so fast
without me catching the movement, but the second his hand roughly squeezed my right breast, his entire body recoiled and sprang backwards, tripping and stumbling in the darkness.

             
“Fuck! Shit! You’re not Sophie!”

             
I slid down the wall, wrapping my arms around me as
Jhett
continued to bump around in the darkness. A few seconds later the lamp clicked on and I glanced up to see him wrapping a towel around his waist. Not quickly enough unfortunately, but I supposed it was only fair since he literally stole first base in five seconds.

             
“Jenna? Damn it! Fuck me!” he cried, throwing his head far enough back it was a wonder it didn’t snap.

             
“No, thank you.” I replied smartly. Oh,
lookey
. I
do
have a voice.

             
I dropped my head and sat in silence for a bit, unsure how to proceed.
Jhett
didn’t do any better, slowly pacing between the bed and bathroom wall. After about the tenth pass, he kneeled down before me, stroking loose wisps of hair off my face, but I continued to look at my feet. “Jenna, I am so sorry. Sophie told me she was back, and when only one person came into the room…”

             
“Yeah. You thought I was her. Trust me, message received loud and clear.” I used his shoulders to push myself up. He followed, but stepped back a little to give me space. Maybe he thought I’d be afraid of him now. I wasn’t. I never had any interest getting to know him that well, but, oh well, moot point now. “Well…that was….uncomfortable.” Had it been Evan jumping me like that, I’d totally be singing a different tune right now. But
Jhett
…that was just weird.

             
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

             
“No,” I said, letting go of my waist to rub the back of my head, where tiny shots of pain were radiating out in rhythm with my quickened heartbeat. Banging the back of your head for a sexual purpose: totally worth it. Banging the back of your head for any other purpose: totally
not
worth it. “At least not physically.” Letting out an uncomfortable laugh, I added, “Just don’t take offense if I can’t look you in the eye for awhile.”

             
“Same here.” He reached for his t-shirt on top of the dresser and pulled it on. “Thank God you’re not still dating Robert.” I looked to him curiously, his words such a distraction that I was already getting over the embarrassment a little. When he saw my expression, he added, “I don’t mean that in a bad way, but Robert would pummel my ass for grabbing your tit.”

             
Hell, once upon a time, Robert would have kicked his ass for just saying the word tit in front of me. He never appreciated any of the times
Jhett
told me my headlights were shining. “Honestly, I think if Robert
gave a shit about me in that way, he wouldn’t have dumped me, so I think you’re in the clear on the beat-up.”
Jhett
paused momentarily to toss me a confused stare, then picked up his jeans and made a
twirly
motion with his finger.

             
Please. I had already seen the goods, but I wasn’t gonna tell him that. I think he’d been traumatized enough for one night. I knew I sure felt a little violated thanks to a craptastic night thus far. “Forget it. I’m going.” As I made my way to the door, I asked, “Are you still gonna be here when I send Sophie over?”

             
“Yes,” he grumbled. Obviously, he couldn’t wait for
that
conversation to happen.

             
The moment I stepped through my door, Sophie looked up and whined, “Where’s the booze?”

             
“Um. Still in your room. Where
Jhett
is waiting for you.”

             
“What?”

             
“Yeah, he wanted to surprise you but got me instead. He’s, uh…how should I say this? He’s activated the launch sequence and waiting for you to board his rocket ship.”

             
Laughter echoed from her chest at first, crying, “What?” but when I didn’t laugh with her, all expression fell from her face. She gasped and threw her hands over her mouth. “OH MY GOD! Did he jump you?”

             
“Ye-ah,” I said uneasily as I passed her to crash stomach first onto my bed. “That was five seconds of awkwardness forever burned in my brain.”

             
One of her hands went to cover her chest. “Dare I ask what happened?” She may have been cringing on the outside, but my entire body was doing it on the inside. I felt dirty.

             
“I tried to push him off me, but he thought I was you and it took a few seconds for him to realize the mistake.” Snarkily, I added, “And your future hubby is freakishly strong. I remember his body from high school swimming, and it’s deceptive, ‘cause I never would’ve thought he could’ve kept me pinned like that.”