by B. Cranford
Declan: Too bad. I only take first answers.
Freckles: *eyeroll emoji* Obviously, because that’s why you’ve left me alone and not badgered me, not at all, for the last year.
Declan: That’s persistence. And persistence pays off.
Freckles: I actually think in some states they call it stalking. But hey, potato/potahtoe, right?
Declan: Changing the subject isn’t going to deter me, Freckles.
Freckles: I don’t know what you mean . . .
Declan: When I said I’d show you sensitive, I meant your clit.
Freckles: ?!? Are we sexting right now? I’m at work.
Declan: I have fond memories of your work. I like coming there.
Freckles: I’m wiggling my eyebrows at your innuendo and you’re not even here to see it. What a waste.
Declan: Don’t sweat it, sweetheart. I can picture it. I spend a lot of time picturing you.
Declan: Spoiler alert—you’re usually naked.
Declan: Panting.
Declan: Wet.
Declan: And sensitive.
“Pick up, pick up, pick up.”
“Hi, you’ve reached Brighton Starling. I can’t answer your call at the moment, but please leave me a message and I’ll return it as soon as I’m able. Thank you!” Beep.
“Where the hell are you? What are you doing? Don’t answer that. I know the answer is Sebastian, but I am having a girl emergency—wait, a boy emergency not a girl one. I’m a girl, having an emergency, not an emergency about a girl, which actually would be far better than the situation I seem to find myself in right now. So, call me. Okay? Like, as soon as possible. Sooner than as soon as possible. Bye.” Jade paused to take a breath, before tacking on the one thing sure to make Brighton call her back quick smart. “I have a date with Declan and I need you.”
So much for not telling Brighton.
Oh, come on, it’s not like Declan wouldn’t have told Sebastian about it.
Except for the fact he didn’t last time, so why would he this time?
Whatever.
Don’t whatever me. Maybe he didn’t tell Seb because he was embarrassed. Ashamed. Planning on humiliating me.
You’re going off the deep end again, FYI.
Tapping the red button and setting the phone down on her bed, Jade hushed the stupid thoughts roiling in her head, instead turning her attention to her open closet. A quick survey told her what she already knew.
Everything was black. Black. Black. Black. And, just for a change, some more black.
Why do I have so much black?
Because you’re a weirdo?
Oh, that was nice. Perhaps we can keep it civil up there? I have a date coming up and I need to survive it.
Finally. Let the record show, I was for this happening ages ago.
No one asked for your opinion.
And yet, I gave it, so there.
“Would you stop?” Jade stared herself down in the mirror that hung on the back of her closet door. Her date with Declan was the following night, and since she was still pet-sitting for three more days, she needed to plan her outfit. She could leave it in her apartment, and get ready there after work, but if she didn’t plan ahead, she had the sneaking suspicion she’d panic and try to cancel.
Or stand Declan up. Which would be a good turnabout, but maybe not the impression she wanted to leave after dumping her pathetic history on him. She fought the temptation to bury her head in her hands, or perhaps flop headlong onto her bed, and re-live the awful moment when she admitted that Chris had dumped her for being needy. And then doubled-down by dropping her daddy issues at Declan’s feet.
“It’s a wonder he didn’t change his mind.”
He still could.
“Seriously, you need to stop talking to yourself. It’s getting out of hand.” Her reflection did an admirable job of making it seem like she was talking to another person instead of herself, but she knew. She knew like she knew that if Brighton didn’t call back soon panic mode would set in.
And she couldn’t let that happen.
Brrrrring. The old school sound of a telephone ringing allowed Jade to suck in some much needed oxygen. Thankful her friend was calling back so soon—if she was indeed with Sebastian when Jade had called, it was a wonder she’d heard back at all—Jade dove for the phone and answered without double-checking the caller ID.
Thankfully, her assumption that it was her best friend didn’t make an ass out of her. “Brighton, thank God. I need to decide what I’m going to wear and I can’t wear what I wore last time; that would be a gigantic disaster. Also, I am one skipped breath away from a full-blown panic attack so I need you to talk me down.”
Brighton made an indistinguishable noise. “Last time? There was a last time and I didn’t know about it?”
Oh, shit.
“Well, what I meant to say was—”
Brighton clearly had no interest in hearing what excuse Jade was going to come up with, which was probably a good thing, since Jade herself didn’t know what she was going to say. “Cut the shit. I’ve shared everything—and then some—with you and you failed to mention a date. With my friend. Who you call Jackass and . . .” Jade was tempted to hold her breath as Brighton pieced everything together, but panic attack impending, so she forced her lungs to keep moving. “Oh. My. Fucking. God.”
Yep, she’s figured it out. “Look, before you say anything—”
“This is not your time to talk, Jade Miller. The date that I didn’t know about is the reason you call him Jackass, isn’t it? And that means it happened last year and oh, did I mention that I didn’t know about it?”
Jade waited a beat, taking in Brighton’s words and trying to decipher if the heavy breathing she was hearing on the end of the line meant that her friend was finished laying into her.
But no. She wasn’t. “And now you have another date with him, and I can’t stop thinking about the time you told him you’d never sleep with him ever again. Which, I might add, you blew off as a ‘slip of the tongue’ and I now highly suspect was a slip of the tongue to your lying vagina.”
Jade couldn’t help it. She burst into peals of laughter, some of the worry and weight of her concerns slipping away in the face of Brighton’s rant. Her girl was not exactly known for swearing, referring to vaginas or yelling, and yet, here she was, doing all three. At once.
Because she knows you left some juicy details out.
This is why *I* voted for talking to her and getting her opinion.
You know what, you need to stop talking.
Argh, why do I even bother with you?
Because you have no choice. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t exist. Why, you ask? Oh, because you’re my fucking brain and you’re stuck with me.
“Bright, I’m sorry. Okay?” Jade waited to make sure her friend was still listening, then continued, “Look, I was planning to tell you, but then . . . I was embarrassed. He stood me up. The date, it was supposed to happen before we really knew each other and by the time we did, I was well into hating him, so there didn’t seem to be a point.”
“And the naked thing?” Brighton asked, a softening in her tone telling Jade that she was this close to being forgiven. “If he stood you up, what was that about?”
“Ah, okay, so . . . don’t be mad. But—” She winced, trying to think about how to delicately explain that Declan had all but ripped off her skirt and fucked her while she was still wearing her bright yellow heels.
“But?”
“He came into the office one day when Sebastian wasn’t there and we got into a slinging match and then he kissed me and it felt so good I momentarily lost my Goddamn mind and took him into the office supply closet where he took me so to speak.” Jade sucked in a deep, deep breath at the end of her run-on sentence, hoping that Brighton had followed along because repeating herself? Yeah, she wasn’t all that keen on that idea.
“Hold on one sec, Jay.” Brighton’s handset wiggled, a rustling sound coming through the speaker, before Ja
de distinctly heard Bright talking to someone in the background.
Sebastian.
“Jade and Declan had sex in your office and if you knew about it and didn’t tell me, Seb, I swear to God, you’re not getting laid for a month.”
Jade laughed, then cringed. She didn’t know if Sebastian knew about that day. She hadn’t said anything, but Declan and Sebastian had been friends for years—since they were kids—so if Declan had told anyone, it would have been him.
“In my office?” Sebastian’s reply came loud and clear—he was borderline yelling, and Jade knew that meant Sebastian had been as in the dark about her and Declan as Brighton had been. “On my desk?”
“No, supply closet.”
“That’s not okay. Is that Jade? Tell her that’s not okay.” Brighton laughed gently, the sound of it tickling Jade’s ear and making her smile. She could just imagine neat, organized Sebastian trying to wrap his head around the idea of anyone having sex in his supply closet. The man went in there several times a week—he was a compulsive color-coder, something Jade always assumed was tied to his OCD and gambling addiction.
“Baby, I’m sure they cleaned up after.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one using cum-stained office supplies.”
Jade snorted. “Bright? You can tell him we used a condom, and I wiped the shelves down with disinfectant after.”
Brighton’s gentle laughter became uncontrollable as she tried to relay Jade’s message. Some more shuffling came down the end of the line and then it was Sebastian talking to her, Brighton still unable to contain her amusement.
“Jade.”
Jade’s eyes widened. For all that this was funny, Sebastian was still her boss and she suddenly wondered if she was about to be fired retroactively for conduct unbecoming an office manager. “Hey, boss. How’s the tour going?”
“Cut the shit, Miller.” Sebastian’s tone was no-nonsense, and the panic attack that Jade had hoped dissolved in the merriment of confessing StaplerGate to Bright returned. “Don’t do it again, okay? I’m serious.”
“I won’t. I promise. I’m sorry.” And she was. Sorry. Sorry that she’d let it happen at all, even though it had been good. Even though she’d dreamed about it more often than not in the months since it happened.
Even though, she could admit now, she liked it. And Declan.
Sort of, the anti-Jackass side of her brain begrudgingly supplied.
“That was me as your boss. I, as your friend and Declan’s friend, say it’s about time.” He laughed, a rich, happy sound that, when joined with Brighton’s giggles still going strong in the background, made Jade want to laugh too.
“Ahh, yeah, well . . .” Jade couldn’t think of a thing to say, but she didn’t need to. Sebastian spoke instead, and what he said gave her a feeling of calm that had been absent in the days since she’d agreed to give Declan one night to prove her wrong about him.
“I’ve known Dec since we were kids, which you know. And I’m telling you, you won’t find a better man. I know you two haven’t always gotten along, but he’s a good guy, Jade. And if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t let you go out with him. You’re my friend, too, and more than that, your Brighton’s best friend. She’d kill me if I let anyone hurt you.”
At that, Jade nodded, though there was no way Sebastian could see her. The fact that both Sebastian and Brighton called Declan friend was a massive check on the pro side of the pro-con list she’d mentally formed to convince herself a date with Declan was a good idea. “I know. Thank you.”
“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give him hell and make him work for it though.”
“Noted.”
“Bright Star, you calmed down?” His voice sounded farther away as he spoke that time, Jade assuming that he was holding out the phone to his fiancée—and yeah, Jade smiled like a loon whenever she thought of her best friend getting married to the man of her dreams—now that her laughter seemed to have slowed. “I’m sure Jade needs advice on . . . something.”
The brief moment was follow by Brighton’s voice. “Hey, I’m back. Now, don’t think you’re off the hook, because we will be talking about this when I get back, but in the meantime, let’s talk about this date.”
Cradling the handset against his shoulder, head tilted down as he furiously jotted down some notes, Declan smiled at the thought of nailing the sponsorship deal he was in the final stages of landing. His client, a basketball player in his third year—and with two NBA Championships already under his belt—had wanted to get big bucks for this endorsement, and what his client wanted, Declan delivered.
“I think that’s everything. When it’s ready, send the contract over.” Declan let his smile fall as Cee-Cee Moore, executive for a popular sports brand, confirmed she’d send the paperwork and ended the call. Now that was finalized, he was free to think of something other than work.
Something like his date with Jade. Which, after a five-day wait, was only a couple of hours away. When she’d agreed to give him one night, he’d been prepared to start his plan to win her forgiveness and favor immediately. Sick or not, he wanted to take advantage before she had a chance to back out.
Except she’d begged off. She wanted to recover properly, she said, and thought he should too. And yeah, he’d fallen into bed and slept about sixteen hours straight after she left that night, but still . . .
He hated waiting. He’d already waited a year—the extra few days seemed a little bit like cruel and unusual punishment.
So, he’d tried to get her to agree to a Sunday night date, but still she said no. Nothing the night before a workday was her rule.
“Just in case you forget again, I don’t have to make an appearance at work the next day.”
Her words had hurt, but he didn’t let it show. He wasn’t going to give her any reason to change her answer. He was, however, going to give her every reason to change her mind about him. Which is why he grabbed his phone from his desk and tapped out a text.
Declan: I’m picking you up at Bright and Seb’s, right?
Freckles: No, I’m going to head over to my place to change, so I’ll meet you at the restaurant.
Declan: Nope. My night to prove myself, I’m picking you up. I’ll come by yours.
Freckles: Are you going to ride your noble steed over here?
Declan: Well, it’s either that or my dinosaur but he’s in the shop, so…
Freckles: *eye roll emoji*
Freckles: That was bad, even for you.
Declan: What? It’s not like I said he ran on . . .
Declan: Fossil fuel.
Jade didn’t respond to his last text, but he didn’t care. They’d interacted, she hadn’t disputed that he was going to pick her up, and he’d even made a great joke—despite what Jade thought.
Fossil fuel. Dinosaur. Caveman. That shit is gold.
He laughed quietly to himself as he set about tidying up a few last-minute things at the office. Unless disaster—or wayward golfers—struck, he wasn’t going to be at work for the next two days. He was planning to take a proper weekend.
And he was going to spend it with Jade.
She just . . . she didn’t know that just yet.
An alert on his phone reminded him when it was time to leave, but Declan was so amped up, he didn’t need it. He was already on his way out the door when it chimed, and sliding into his car mere moments later. The drive to Jade’s place was familiar, since she’d moved into Brighton’s old apartment the year before.
It had made the most sense, given that Jade wanted to get out of her mother’s place and Brighton didn’t want to let her landlord down by breaking her lease early. It had been a good solution all around, and though Declan had been to the tiny space countless times in the past, tonight was going to be the first time since she’d moved in that he saw it.
Being the good guy he was, he’d offered to help Jade move her things from her mom’s to the apartment, but his offer had been declined. In typical spitfire s
tyle, she’d told him she didn’t need a white knight or a caveman to carry the heavy things.
Not that it stopped her and Brighton from enlisting Sebastian’s help with the move.
As his mind took the turns toward Jade on autopilot, he reached for the phone buzzing in the console. Speak of the devil. Answering the call with a, “Hey, man,” Declan was surprised at the first words from Sebastian’s mouth.
“You fucked my office manager in my supply closet.” It was said loudly, with force behind it.
“Um, hello to you too, old friend. How is the tour? How’s my Bright girl?”
“Shut the fuck up, asshole. You had sex. At my office. With my office manager. Yes or no?”
“It’s complicated.”
“The hell it is. If you screw her over, I’m the one who pays the price. She called Bright yesterday, nervous about your date.” The emphasis on the word date made Declan wince and want to interrupt to defend himself, but in the end, he let Seb say his piece. “I swear to God, I love you, dude, but if you mess this up, I will actually punch you.”
“Look, Seb—”
“She’s a good person, Dec. Bright told me tonight you stood her up once before. I don’t want that to happen again.”
“I’m on my way to pick her up now. I’m not forgetting. I promise, man, when you get back, we’ll talk. But just know, I’m not planning on messing anything up.”
Sebastian let out a long breath. Declan was torn between being pissed off that his best friend doubted him, and relieved to know that Jade had people in her corner. The little he knew of her past—Chris the shitty ex, and her even shittier father—coupled with the fact she’d called Brighton her first and only friend several times before told him that she hadn’t always had that. Someone to look out for her.
She deserved that. And he wanted to be that to her.
“Yeah, okay. I know, I was just . . . checking.” Sebastian’s voice took on an apologetic tone, but Declan decided to roll with it.
“So, the tour?”
“Dude, you should see all the little kids that come out to these things with their parents. It’s insane. They love her.” As he always did when talking about Brighton, Sebastian sounded awed, like he couldn’t believe she was his.
