That earns me another look of exasperation. “You’re just JJ to me, not the big superstar,” she says, pointing her fork at me. “And yes, you’re cute.”
I nod with a satisfied air to the notion, sitting back in my seat, quietly triumphant that she admitted it.
Until she adds… “In a squidgy kind of way.”
I tilt my head, looking at her from under my lashes. “Squidgy?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Clearly, I don’t.”
“You’re all cute and boyish charm around the edges, but at a closer glance, you’re a little quirky, a little floppy. Maybe it’s the hair?”
“Floppy!” I burst out laughing.
She runs her hand through her shoulder length ice blonde tresses that she alternates from wavy to straight, depending on the day. I notice a faint pink dust of a blush painting her pretty cheeks. “I’m saying it all wrong.”
“Trust me, Kiddo. I ain’t in the least bit floppy.”And neither is the morning missile I’ve been trying to hide.I’m not jonesing for my best friend's sister, I just woke up like this.
I need to have another coffee and sort my wood out in the shower before I can even attempt leaving the house.
She pats me on the shoulder good-naturedly. “I believe you,Flopster.”
We both laugh together. Fucking hell, this girl.
“Thank fuck I have you, Jade. Who would keep me in line if I didn’t?”
CHAPTER 3
Jade
Present day, Jay’s apartment
I smile up at Jay as I pass him a second mug of coffee and I clear our breakfast dishes away. Ever since that night a couple of months back, I wonder if he’s ever going to mention anything about the kiss at the club. I mean, we skimmed over it before I left town a few days later, but I think we both just brushed it off and tried to pretend it never happened.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, especially now I’m back in town for work and staying with Beth. Seeing him again just brings it all back.
I wish he’d say something, anything at all, because there’s a frustrated part of me that knows I liked it more than I should have. And I don’t know what to do with that.
But maybe it’s me that has to break the ice and find out his thoughts.
That night was wild. Beth and Jake danced long and hard after Jay and I sat at the bar and tried to make things a little less awkward between us. Beth follows hockey, though she’s nevermet Jay, she certainly had a better angle on them than I did that night. I secretly think she knew who he was.
Jay and I definitely didn’t head back out to the dance floor. In fact, he acted like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth for the remainder of the night. He seemed to quickly forget the way he pressed into me from behind, swaying toRed Red Wine. He was definitely hard.Imade him hard. I’m still a little shocked I was able to do that to my brother’s best friend. There was no mistaking when he dragged me off the dance floor to that quiet hallway, his hands and mouth roaming all over me. I was so close to losing it right then and there with our bodies pressed together against the wall. I’ve been trying to forget about it ever since, but for some reason, Jay’s been on my mind non-stop.
Jay even invited me to the friendly catch up he was having at the pizza joint with some of his teammates a few days after the incident. It was a nice distraction because my breakup from Aaron was fresh in my mind a few months ago, but I’m slowly putting it behind me.
I hum a tune to myself while I run the hot water in the sink for the dishes and my mind wanders. There’s a perfectly good dishwasher in Jay’s apartment, but I’d rather just hand wash them since there’s only two plates, our cutlery and the frying pans.
We got talking last week over text when I told him I was back in town and Jay was so sweet to ask if we could hang out. He also asked if he could take me ice skating, and even agreed to a dance lesson or two for Tanner’s wedding. It’s like he’s really trying to make things up to me because of what happened between us at the bar that night. There’s nothing to make up for. I liked it. I more than liked it.
Apart from the past few months, it’s been years since I’ve seen Jay. He hasn’t really changed all that much, except ofcourse he grew up. He also grew taller, wider, and even cuter than he was back in high school. Ten years have served him well.
I feel bad we didn’t connect for so long, but things definitely changed in his life when he was recruited to the Hawks and life got busy. Even at the times I thought about reconnecting this past year, Aaron wasn’t too keen on me having guys as friends and stupidly, I put our friendship on the back burner.
I’ve missed Jay. We were close in that last year of high school. Ever since my dad brought him home in the storm that day and told me, Tanner, and my mom he was going to stay with us, our friendship kinda bloomed from there. We were already pretty close, but that kinda cemented things.
I still remember how they were soaked to the bone that night when they walked in. There was something in Jay, maybe the fact he looked so downtrodden, or maybe just that he was freezing, that made my heart heavy. I knew something else was going on, something my parents weren’t saying.
