Imperfectly Bad

by A. E. Woodward

  Jenny sighed in defeat and fell back into her seat. “Seriously, how is New York City this small?”

  Not content with just drawing attention to them, I grabbed an extra chair from the next table and pulled it up. I sat down and they looked at each other, slightly uneasy with my presence. “So, how did you two meet?”

  They stared at me in silence. I smiled smugly.

  “Rob, leave them alone.”

  Why I’d thought she would be able to stay out of it, I had no idea. Without bothering to turn around I said, “Leave me alone, Emma. Can’t you see I’m catching up with old friends?”

  Bradley took the opportunity to look at her. Seeing the look on his face reminded me of how much I really wanted to punch him.

  “Emma.” He stood as though he was going to give her a hug.

  Angry that he would even attempt to speak to her after what he’d done, I pushed him back down in his seat. “You don’t get to touch her, buddy.”

  Bradley scoffed and looked like he was ready for a fight, until he caught sight of Shane and Tyler a few steps behind me. The look on his face was priceless and I laughed out loud.

  Such a pussy.

  I looked over at Jenny, who still had no clue of what was going on, or how we all knew each other. “Anyone care to fill me in here?” she finally asked.

  Bradley started to talk. But I cut him off and gave her the cliff notes version. “Emma and Bradley used to date. Bradley’s a prick. Bradley can’t keep his dick in his pants, and I know for a fact that you hate cheaters.”

  I struck a nerve and she visibly cringed. Bingo.

  Completely satisfied with myself, I held my hand out for her. “Now, let me buy you a drink.” She looked up at me innocently, and I could tell that she was feeling pensive. Torn between escaping from the clutches of douchecanoe, and muddying up our past.

  With a swift movement, Bradley had his hand on her forearm. “Jenny, don’t.”

  Okay, I’d said I was done with Jenny, but nobody deserved to be played by that asshole. I’d kick the shit out of him but I was rather liking this new place and I didn’t really feel like getting kicked out and blacklisted.

  “She can make her own fuckin’ decisions, dipshit.”

  In an instant, Bradley was on his feet, nose to nose with me. My testosterone surged and I bumped him with my chest. “I thought you’d have realized by now that I’m not scared of you.” I was ready for a fight, but it wasn’t in the cards for me, at least not in the immediate future because out of nowhere, Tyler surged forward, his hands sending Bradley tumbling backward.

  Wide with fear, Bradley’s eyes met Jenny’s again for a brief second. “I don’t need this shit, Jenny. Call me later.” And just like that he was walking out with his tail between his legs once again.

  Once a pussy, always a pussy.

  Looking broken, Jenny’s green eyes met mine and I felt an ache in the left side of my chest just before she placed her hand in mine. Shane and Emma were laughing once we rejoined them.

  “Rob, you never cease to amaze me.” Shane chuckled. “Let me buy you another drink.”

  “Get something for the lady too,” Tyler said then offered up his hand. “We haven’t met, I’m Tyler.”

  Jenny and Tyler shook, while Shane continued to laugh. “But of course. What’ll it be…”

  “Jenny,” she said, without missing a beat.

  Tyler and Shane stopped in their tracks. With their mouths slightly agape, they stared at me in complete disbelief. During an awkward few moments of silence, they pieced the situation together, and I was curious as to how this would go down. Shane finally spoke.

  “Ironic doesn’t even begin to cover this.” He cleared his throat, more than likely along with his head. “So about that drink…”

  Given what had just gone down, I knew what she’d say. It was her drink of choice—her poison—and it would be exactly what she’d want in a moment like this.

  “I’ll have a shot of tequila. Hold the lime and salt.”

  Bingo.

  “Make it two,” I said, my eyes never leaving hers.

  The bar had emptied somewhat and Shane made light conversation with the bartender, ordering our next round of drinks while we all went back to our evening. It crossed my mind that I didn’t know where the dickhead went, but then again I really didn’t care. Was it too much to hope that he’d get hit by a bus on the way home?

  “So, how long have you been mixed up with Bradley?” Emma finally asked Jenny.

  “Not long. He came into the coffee shop a few weeks ago and asked me out. He was hot enough, I was just looking for a good time.”

  In true Jenny fashion, she was trying to downplay what had just gone down, but I could tell she was upset, probably even mad at herself for letting her guard down.

  “If you wanted a good time all you had to do was ask.” I laughed.

  She rolled her eyes. “Been there, done that. Didn’t work out so well for me last time.”

  “Burn!” Elizabeth yelled, not really sensing the tension. Such a ditz. No, bitch was more accurate. And just like that I hated Elizabeth again.

  Emma gestured across her throat for Elizabeth to cut it out, which only caused the tension to rise further, reaching epic levels. Thankfully Shane returned with our shots and we sucked them back in unison, grateful for the reprieve.

  “I think we’re gonna head out,” Shane said as he threw down some money.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Us too.”

  Elizabeth stood on her tiptoes and kissed Tyler’s neck.

  Even though I knew it was useless I attempted to persuade them some more. “We just got here!” I said, but they just shrugged their shoulders. Fuckers all had better shit to do than stay out with me and get hammered. I hated it.

  The mood plummeted further, if that was even possible, and I motioned for the bartender. I needed another stiff drink. Tonight hadn’t panned out quite like I’d hoped it would. “You guys suck.”

  Emma shrugged and used her hands to gesture towards her belly. “I’m so tired.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I get it. You’re, like, all responsible and shit.”

  They left me hanging. Standing there with the one person who could wreck me.

  “I should go too,” Jenny said as soon as the gang made their way out the door.

  “Fuck that.” I grabbed her arm, preventing her from escaping. “You’re going to keep me company. My friends aren’t any fun any more. And I bet we can still have fun together.”

  She grinned. It was the devilish grin that I’d seen a million times years ago and it was still just as cute and hot as it ever was.

  “Just fun?”

  “Of course. Haven’t you heard? It’s all I’m ever about anymore.”

  “All right.” She sighed as she squeezed back into the bar next to me. I couldn’t tell if she was excited or annoyed, and I made it my mission to find out.

  “But we’re definitely going to need more to drink.”

  By the time Jenny and I stumbled out of the bar it was nearing two a.m. but the streets were still fairly empty as we laughed out loud, each of us struggling to walk. That was New York for you.

  “I haven’t been this drunk in a long time,” she said, slurring her words as she steadied herself against a street sign.

  The alcohol had caught up with both of us and I stopped in my tracks, my eyes seizing the opportunity to take her in. Without a doubt she was still as beautiful as she had been all those years ago. Possibly even more so.

  Without thinking, I found myself closing the distance between us and my hand rested on her cheek, cupping it. Why, I didn’t know, and I expected her to shy away from my touch, but instead she pushed her face harder into my hand, her own hand finding its way to mine.

  Feeling brave, I took another step into her. By this time there was barely an inch between us, and the air around became charged with… I didn’t know what, but it was poten
t, intoxicating… real.

  “I fuckin’ missed you, Jenny.”

  My voice was hoarse and not from the alcohol. Her eyes twinkled as they met mine. I expected her to say something along the same lines—because you can’t just forget the past, right?—but she didn’t.

  “We shouldn’t do this.”

  She was right, things were muddied enough, but I didn’t care. “Why?”

  “Because the past is the past, and we don’t need to go back there. Neither of us need to add any more scars to our collection.”

  “Fuck that,” I managed to mutter before I crashed my mouth to hers our lips immediately finding their rhythm. I needed to convince her otherwise, and that was the best way I knew how. Running my tongue along the seam of her lips, I urged her to respond. It was one of my old tricks and it didn’t disappoint. When her bottom jaw dropped slightly I took my chance and my tongue danced with hers before I sucked on her bottom lip gently. Finally I felt her join the party and she grabbed the back of my neck, pulling me even closer to her.

  Sharp nails dug into the back of my neck and I groaned. Jenny always could invoke the best in me when it came to sex, and although I’d spent years trying to find that connection with someone else, no matter how freaky shit got I always winded up feeling empty.

  Reluctantly I broke the seal our mouths had formed and gasped for air. “Wanna come back to my place? It’ll be just us. I’m sure Tyler’s staying with Elizabeth.”

  Jenny leaned back on the signpost and a devilish smile played on the corners of her mouth before she bit down on her bottom lip. Her hands dropped from my neck and ran down my back. She tickled the skin beneath the hem of my shirt, taking her index finger and running it along the edge of my jeans. The touch was gentle but its impact huge, and goose bumps broke out across my skin as my stomach muscles clenched in anticipation. “You think you can handle it, Rob? You haven’t been with me for a while.”

  I scoffed at her and rolled my eyes. “I’m pretty sure I’ll manage.”

  Without missing a beat she jammed her hands down the front of my pants, her hands immediately finding their way to my dick. “I dunno, I seem to remember the last time we were together you couldn’t quite seem to handle this…”

  I grabbed her by the wrist, stilling her hand, but she squeezed even harder and smiled up at me.

  “I’m not a fuckin’ child anymore, Jenny. You can’t control me or my dick.”

  “Oh, Robert has his big boy pants on now.”

  In one swift movement, I pulled her hand out of my pants. There was no way she was controlling the situation. Not if I had anything to do with it. For a second she looked stunned, as if shocked that I would deny her, but her expression soon changed and her eyelids dropped when I snapped open her pants, pushing her panties to the side and sliding two fingers inside her. She shivered in response while trying to remain unaffected by me, but she could deny it all she liked. My fingers being where they were, I had all the evidence I needed to know that I could still turn her on.

  “I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. You’d do well to remember that I’m not the same helpless, doe-eyed boy you once took advantage of.”

  When Jenny had fallen of the face of the earth, I’d filled the hole the best I knew how—with an endless string of women and booze-induced stupors. Her breath was warm and shallow against my neck as I slid my fingers in and out. Her hands gripped my sides.

  “I think I like the new you,” she said, slightly breathless. “Hail a fuckin’ cab, already would you.”

  I pulled my hand out and, making sure not to break eye contact, and sucked my fingers clean. She tasted just the same, like no time had passed between us. There was something primal about being with her like that again. Something that made me feel more alive than I had in a long time.

  She grinned as she watched me clean her off my hands. “Yeah. I definitely like the new you.”

  Jenny had been my first. My everything. She had corrupted me as much as you could a hopeless seventeen-year-old virgin. She’d taught me a thing or two in the six months we’d been together, but I was a man now, and I intended to show her just how much I had learned.

  The cab ride to the apartment was a flurry sexual tension as we both fought to outdo the other. A flick of the tongue here, a pinch there, hands everywhere. We barely made it into the apartment before our clothes were off. Despite how drunk I had been earlier, I felt amazingly sober in the moment. My hands went behind her back and under her knees and I devoured her mouth as I carried her to my bed. She giggled as I tossed her on top of my sheets and she landed with a bounce. The smile on her face was pure sunshine and I couldn’t keep myself from smiling with her.

  Her alabaster skin glowed in the moonlight, her orange hair fanned out above her head on my pillow. Taking my time to run first my lips and then my tongue over her body, I examined her tattoos.

  There were more than I remembered. Her right shoulder to elbow was covered in beautiful cherry blossoms, and the tips of the angel wings that covered her back peeked out around her waist.

  Pushing back onto my heels I took in her naked form. All the air left my lungs and I was breathless. I’d forgotten how beautiful she was. It was then, in that very moment, that I realized I still loved her. Without a doubt. There was no denying it. There was nothing I could do to forget that. To forget her.

  Forget us.

  “You should take a picture. It’ll last longer.”

  “Jenny.” I hovered above her body, my hands holding me up. “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Make me.”

  So I did.

  I woke the next morning in a hungover fog of epic proportions. My mouth tasted like stale cigarettes, bad tequila and even worse decisions. As if that wasn’t enough to have my stomach churning, as the fog began to clear the memories came flooding back.

  Jenny and I, skin on skin, hands grabbing, bodies slapping, tangled up in sheets. The nausea increased tenfold and my stomach twisted in knots as I turned to find her side of the bed empty. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Taking my time, I slowly sat up and dropped my head into my hands, berating myself for playing with fire, yet again.

  Totally and utterly hopeless, I stood. Not prepared for the weight, my knees gave out underneath me and had to put my hands on the bedpost to steady myself. Counting the deep breaths in and out I glanced over to my nightstand. That was when I saw the papers that had been placed there.

  Curious, I grabbed them. Reading them took only seconds because, being a lawyer, I didn’t have to look too hard to know what they were.

  “Fuckin’ hell,” I managed to mutter before tossing them onto the mattress. I hurriedly threw on some clothes before grabbing them again and stalking out into the kitchen. Tyler was there with Elizabeth, drinking his coffee.

  “Morning,” he called as I opened the fridge. He was much too bright for this time of the morning, and even if I wasn’t suffering with a hangover, and hadn’t been pissed as all hell, he still would have irritated me.

  “Shut up,” I snapped back. It occurred to me that he didn’t exactly deserve my anger but I wasn’t in the mood for anything with anybody, and I planned on getting some fucking answers.

  “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Elizabeth added.

  “Go shove another stick up your ass, Elizabeth.”

  I directed my attention back to Tyler as I grabbed my keys from the counter. “I’ll talk to you later, Ty.”

  The roads were no less busy than at any other time of day but I was so mad that I saw nothing but red as I rode to Starbucks.

  Once there, I waited in line like a good boy. Jenny spotted me the minute I walked in, but I couldn’t get a read on her because her face lacked any kind of expression. That didn’t change once I made it to the counter. She even had the nerve to ask, “What can I get you this morning?”

  I tossed the papers onto the counter in front of her.

  “What the fuck is this?”

&nb
sp; “You forget we were still married?” she asked, her voice void of emotion.

  “No, I didn’t. But why now, after all these years? You just now deciding to cut all your ties?”

  Deep down I knew why, knew enough about law to know why she finally might be seeking to cut ties with me. But I wasn’t letting her get away with it easily. If she wanted this, she was going to have to spell it out.

  The guy behind me taps on my shoulder. “Hey, buddy, hurry up and order.”

  I quickly looked back at him. “Suck a dick.”

  Directing my attention back towards my wife, I crossed my arms in front of me to indicate my annoyance. “Get me a venti black. I like my coffee like my heart—black as the night. Why now, Jenny?!”

  “Because I have to, Rob.” She sighed. “I’m getting married.”

  Bingo.

  There it was. But it still didn’t make sense. “Seriously, married? Weren’t you just on a date?”

  “Yeah.”

  Suddenly all the pieces fell into place. Of course. She had been on a date…

  With her fiancé.

  Un-fucking-believable.

  “You’re marrying Bradley?”

  The horror in my voice was ill concealed but she didn’t react beyond scribbling my drink order on a cup and handed it off to another barista and saying, “I am.”

  “He’s a douche.”

  “What can I say, I have a thing for assholes.”

  I was beyond confused. “Well, what the hell was last night?”

  “That was me finally ending a shitty chapter of my life. We’re no good together, Rob, we’ve already established that. You’re a lawyer for Christ sake. I’ve got a rap sheet, tats, piercings, and orange hair.” She chuckled. “Although I’d love to see you take me to a business dinner.”

  “Because wonder-fuck’s job is so different to mine?

  “Please, Rob, he’s a doctor. He saves lives, he’s a humanitarian.” She paused to look me up and down. “You wear five hundred dollar suits like they’re nothing.”

  They actually cost six hundred dollars, but I sensed it wasn’t the right time to correct her.