“It is when it’s my sister.”
“All you said was to not break her heart, Max. And guess what? I’m not.”
“Not yet. But all it’s going to take is one good look at you and she’ll come crying to me and those are not the pieces I want to have to pick up again, Jack.”
Max slammed him glass on the table, blue liquor sloshing out of it. A cough came from behind him where Alexa and Lilly were standing.
“I thought we talked about this, Max.” Alexa moved toward him and laid a hand on his shoulder. I couldn’t see the look that she was giving him but I knew from the way Max’s face fell, that he was in deep shit with her.
“She’s a grown woman who can make her own decisions. So let her, hon.”
A scowl formed on Max’s face. He clearly didn’t want to fold just yet.
“Max.” Alexa moved a hand to his face, cupping his cheek. “Remember when you first met me? You forced yourself into my line of sight before you found out I was married.”
A smile appeared from Max and he was back on memory lane when he fell in love with Alexa.
“I was married, Max, and that clearly didn’t stop you from falling for me. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know where I would be right now.”
Silence sat between us as Max and Alexa shared a look and then he glanced toward me.
“Fine.” Max slumped into Alexa’s arms, resting his head against her chest. She winked at me and then nodded to the front doors of the bar. While Alexa and Lilly were standing here with us, Erica and Melanie had just walked through the doors, both searching the bar for where their friends were.
Melanie’s moved over me but then her head snapped back, her eyes catching mine. She was dressed in black high waisted jeans, heels, and a grey tank top that was tucked into the front of her jeans. She looked so different from the other girls who were adorning dresses tonight but I loved it. I loved how she looked dressed up but you could tell that she was still comfortable in what she was wearing.
Her and Erica made their way to the bar and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Melanie. Not even when Max tried to kick me for being too obvious or Greg took the drink I had out of my hand.
“Let’s go dance!” Lilly grabbed Greg and pulled him to the small dance floor the bar had. Alexa and Max weren’t far behind but Chase and Erica decided to stay at the bar. They cornered themselves off to the side.
If an outsider looked at our group, they’d think Melanie and I were a couple, based off of how everyone split up but I could only hope that if people thought that, that it would come true. I was one step closer to that hope when Melanie took the seat beside me at the bar.
I waved Holden over for her to order.
“What can I get you, darlin’?” Holden’s southern accent came barreling out as he tried to pull his southern charm out.
“Vodka tonic, please.”
I sat on my stool, facing Melanie, staring her down and waiting to see if she would acknowledge me but she didn’t, not until she got her drink in her hand.
“Why are you staring, Jack?” I expected her words to come out like venom but instead she gave me a confused laugh.
“Needed the liquid courage to talk to me I see.”
“And there he is.” She took another sip of her drink and placed it down on the bar, swiveling in her stool to turn toward me. Our legs touch right at the knee and if that was the only physical contact I’d be getting tonight, at least it was something. Anything to have this woman touching me would be heaven but I would take what I could get. “There’s that arrogant asshole. I’ve been trying to figure out where you went to.”
“Oh, whatsoever do you mean?” I tried to play innocent, placing a hand over my heart.
I knew how people saw me in life but it wasn’t ever the truth. As much as it looked like I had this fast-paced life, in fact, I hated being around people. Unless, of course, it was people I knew. The arrogance seemed to stay throughout the years and when it came to women, it meant that they became less attached, which worked for me.
Except for right at this moment.
With Melanie though, I wanted her to see me for me, not the guy people thought I was. But it seemed that the damage was done because I hadn’t realized the first day I met her how much she was going to affect me and now here I was. Sitting in this bar with her and all she could think about was how much of an asshole I was.
“I thought I’d met an alien the other day at the gas station. You were kind and thoughtful and that’s just not the Jack I assumed you were.” She cocked her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. I accepted the challenge.
“Oh, him? Yeah. He comes out from time to time,” I waved her off and grabbed my drink, needing something in my hand as to not reach for her.
“Which one: the arrogant Jack or the nice one?”
