What the hell was going on with Dana’s outfit, I had no idea. She wore thongs with mismatched socks, grey yoga pants with a weird stain on her thigh, and a long sleeve pink shirt that was at least three sizes too big.
“What?” she squawked, kicking her thongs off and dumping an armful of junk on my kitchen counter. Her haul looked like a five-year-old got hold of his mum’s credit card and raided the lolly aisle of the local grocery store.
“Whose wardrobe did you find that top scrunched up in the bottom of?” I asked.
“We’re not here to talk about me. We’re talking about you tonight, Elise, so don’t even try to turn it around on me.”
“If that’s the case, can you at least let me eat first?” I nudged their plates towards them before grabbing my own and heading towards the couch.
Flicking on the TV, we were soon engrossed in some trashy reality show while we stuffed our faces and judged, rather harshly, the people on screen. After clearing away the plates, I stacked the dishwasher, topped up wine glasses, and grabbed the chocolate biscuits and some of the other goodies Dana had delivered.
Burying the coffee table beneath the sugar coma waiting to happen, I settled back on the couch, hugging a cushion to my chest like it was a shield.
“Ready?” Jax asked, and my heart skipped a beat.
Fuck no! I wasn’t ready. I doubted I ever would be. I wasn’t used to being the focus of attention, and in my short time in the spotlight, I’d come to realise, I didn’t like it. Jax was usually the star of this show, something he loved, but he was stepping into the shadows and giving me my turn to shine. I could only hope my time in the sun was fleeting.
“I haven’t had enough wine for one of your interrogation sessions,” I admitted, chugging down what was left in my glass. As much as I didn’t want to talk about it, it was Dana and Jax. They knew everything there was to know about me, and they were the people in my life who were least likely to judge me for being a big ole whore bag. They wouldn’t share any dirty details either.
“Oh, come on, Elise. It’s not that bad. We just need all the dirty details on luscious lover boy Luca.”
“There are no dirty details!”
“Why do you always insist on doing things the hard way?”
“I don’t!”
“Would you two stop fighting? I have more important things to do than sit here and listen to you bitch and moan like an old married couple,” Dana scolded with a huff.
“And do those important things have a name?” I challenged.
“Elise! What time did you get home?”
Swallowing down the lump in my throat, I found myself wondering how exactly I answered their questions. Honesty was really my only option since my poker face sucked, but maybe I didn’t have to give them every single detail. “Luca dropped me home around two,” I offered confidently.
“Wow! Dinner went well then?”
“Dinner was great.”
“Where’d you go?”
For the next twenty minutes, I answered question after question as they were thrown in my direction. Just when I thought I’d survived the inquisition, Jax tossed a curveball at me. “Wait! Hold up a second, Dana. She’s way too calm. There’s not enough squirming happening here.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” All my bravado was gone instantly. Just when I thought I’d had them fooled, Jax outed me. Sometimes I hated that he knew me so well.
“Two o’clock in the morning or the next afternoon?”
“Fuck!”
“I knew it, you big ho bag! You got down and dirty with Mr. Sexy.”
“I did not!”
“I’m calling bullshit!”
“Question,” Dana piped up, while I shot death glares in Jax’s direction. “Is he as big as I imagine?”
“Big?”
