by Hadley Quinn
“McCallan?” the smaller of the two paused and asked with a partial smile.
“Hey, Duke, how are you?” Jay gave him a nod. The three times Jay had taken Sophia out, he was practically dating Duke as well. Sophia’s parents hardly let her out of the house without a personal bodyguard. Never mind the fact that Jay could pound either one of these guys in a heartbeat.
“Jay?” Sophia smiled when she turned on her stool. But her other bodyguard wasn’t as friendly and he was in Jay’s face in two seconds flat. Jay wasn’t intimidated by the alpha move in the least bit but Sophia stepped between them before things could get ugly. “It’s okay, Johnny, he’s a friend,” she said.
Johnny only grunted but stepped around Jay to stand guard for their interaction.
Sophia looked cautious at first, but then she stepped closer to Jay and gave him an awkward hug. “It’s good to see you,” she told him. “You look…really good,” she added, the last two words practically a sigh.
“So do you,” Jay offered. “You look better.”
He could tell she knew exactly what he meant when she glanced down at the floor. “Yeah, I’ve dulled down the appearance.”
“Dulled down? Nah. I told you, you’re more beautiful without all of that.”
Jay watched her dark brown eyes travel back to his face. She was pensive for a moment and then offered a grateful smile as she nodded to the bar. “Want to join us? You remember Alison, right?” she nodded to her friend.
Now that a name was mentioned, yeah he remembered her stuck up bitch of a friend. Alison barely smirked at him and turned back to the bartender to order another drink.
“Maybe another time,” he answered. “I’m here with friends. But it was good to see you, Phee,” he added, using the nickname he used to call her. She even narrowed her eyes at the recollection, but then seemed okay with it.
When he turned to leave he heard her call, “Jay?”
He angled her direction and noticed her reluctance, which was odd. Sophia Nixon hardly lacked confidence.
“Do you think maybe sometime we could, um, meet for coffee or— Oh right,” she cringed, biting her lip. “You don’t drink coffee. Um, how about drinks or…lunch even,” she added hesitantly.
Jay was surprised, even though he shouldn’t be. They did have a decent friendship before he acted like a dick and pushed her away. The attraction was there back then and it was present again, and Sophia actually looked like she was bracing herself for a rejection.
“Yeah, sure,” he nodded. “I’ll give you a call sometime. Your number still the same?”
“Only if you still have it,” she replied coyly.
He slowly smiled. They’d parted ways after frustrating each other too much, but Sophia had actually told him to keep her number in case he ever needed a sympathy screw. Her words, not his. He’d never called her, though. Jay McCallan didn’t give callbacks to the scornful.
“Yeah, I’m sure I’ve got it still,” he told her. “See ya, Phee.”
When he returned to the table with Beck, it was obvious his friend had been watching the interaction. “Well she might’ve been having an orgasm, but I’m not quite sure,” he joked.
Jay only scoffed and shook his head.
“Seriously,” Beck said. “She was practically begging you to give her one.”
“She’s different,” Jay answered, more to himself than to Beck.
“Yeah, she looks a little different. Less dolled up.”
“Even just her personality seems different.” He wondered what had been going on in her life to cause such a mellowing change in her demeanor. But even though he might like a less superficial Sophia Nixon, Jay knew he still didn’t measure up to much in her sophistication category. They were good together physically, but Sophia was classy whereas Jay…
Well, he just wasn’t.
And he never wanted to be.
Chapter Four
Jay woke slowly Sunday morning. He wasn’t hungover, but extremely groggy nonetheless. Then he realized someone was knocking on the front door, so he swung his legs off the bed and headed for the living room as he rubbed his hands over his face to wake himself up. Glancing out the window he spotted Melanie walking to her car parked on the street.
“Hey,” he called to her after he flung the door open.
She stopped at her car and smiled at him. “Dude, you know you’re practically naked, right?” she chuckled.
He glanced down at himself in just his boxers but motioned her in, leaving the door wide open. After throwing on a pair of shorts from his room, he found her standing in the entryway shutting the door with her foot, and in her arms was a cardboard box.
“What’s up?” he asked, eyeing the box cautiously. “You’re not dropping off a bunch of homeless kittens or some shit like that, are you?”
“No,” she laughed. “But take this, please. It’s heavy.”
He peered into it as he took it from her, and the aroma hit him instantly. He raised an eyebrow at several plastic containers and glass dishes of food. “What’s this for?”
“I meant to bring something by last week, but I didn’t get a chance to. You know, a housewarming gift. So since I suck at being considerate, I figured I’d make up for it and bring you extra. You can stick any of it in the freezer and heat it up whenever you want it.”
Jay was seriously surprised by the gesture but headed for the kitchen with it as he tried to think of something nice to say.
Melanie followed him and said, “And before you make jokes about being poisoned, Camryn helped me make all of that.”
He honestly didn’t even care because he was already pleased that she brought him food, but he did say, “Doesn’t mean you couldn’t have slipped some Ex-Lax or something in it.”
Melanie laughed but acted stunned. “The thought would never even cross my mind.”
“Right,” he nodded smugly.
As Melanie pulled out each item, she explained what it was. Some dishes went to the fridge and some to the freezer, and she was quick to comment about how bare his kitchen was.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t really had a chance to stock up on anything,” he replied, running a hand over his head.
“Did you just wake up? It’s almost noon.”
“Seriously?” he gasped, looking for a clock. He didn’t even have one in sight. Not even the stove showed the right time. “Shit, I got stuff to do.”
“Well eat something first. Here, I’ve got the perfect thing.” She pulled out a plastic container from the fridge and peeled the lid off. “Fruit and yogurt,” she smiled at him.
His face deadpanned. “You know I’m a guy, right?”
“Really?”
He scoffed but took the container from her and searched for a fork.
“You should eat more fruit,” she told him, sitting down at the counter. “I know you don’t exactly have to watch your figure or anything, but you’re young and healthy and should keep it that way.”
“How do you know if I’m healthy,” he stated, forking a hunk of apple. He assumed he was supposed to dip it in the yogurt that was sectioned off in the container, so he did and stuck it in his mouth. “Maybe I’m rotting from the inside out,” he mumbled as he chewed.
“Then you should be concerned about what you eat,” she smiled at him. “Come on, Jay. I’m just trying to look out for you. I guess I just have that stuff on my mind because of this,” she held her hands in front of her little baby bump. “When you’ve got someone else depending on your choices, life shifts a little bit, I suppose.”
He took a few more bites to avoid having to make a response. It was a bastard move, but a classic one. He could hardly make his own life decisions in life let alone have a conversation about someone else’s.
“So what kind of stuff do you have to do today?” Melanie asked. She reached across the counter and plucked a strawberry out of the dish.
“My car,” he motioned his head to the backyard. “Gonna put in some hours.”
“What’s wrong with your car?”
“Oh, not the Nova. I picked up another one last week. One I’ll rebuild and sell.”
“Ooh, another ugly beast to give a pretty makeover to.”
With a smirk he said, “It’s more than just a pretty makeover. The fucking thing needs more blood and sweat than I think I can give it.”
She pursed her lips for a second and said, “Need some help? I’ve got nothing to do today.”
He refrained from laughing. “Um, Mel, I’m not rebuilding a Lego car. And in your condition, you’re probably not the best choice to help out.”
“My condition,” she scoffed. But she smiled and asked, “So it’s not like what you see in fiction? The girl stands there with short shorts and a barely-there shirt and hands you tools?”
Her wit made him laugh but he shook his head. “You could easily pass for a sexy mechanic model, Mel, but no, that’s not how it works. I’d have you sweaty and greasy and—”
He stopped when he noticed the look on her face. Her pretty green eyes were wide with excitement and the partial smile on her lips was intriguing. She was still waiting for him to finish the sentence but he completely lost his train of thought.
“So you really could use my help?” she finally asked.
“No,” he answered quickly as he finished off a few more bites of food. He closed up the container and stuck it in the fridge. “And I don’t let chicks watch me work.”
She pretended to be offended but said, “Why not? You could charge admission and make a killing.”
He was amused by her sense of humor—and the compliment—but shook his head. “Unless it’s Teague or Beck, I work alone. But I really need to get some shit done. I only have a few hours now.”
“You going surfing with Teague later?”
He gave her a blank stare. “Uh, no. He never asked.”
“Oh. Well he said he was going to,” she shrugged. “Forget I said anything then. Maybe Cam’s going instead.”
“Hmm. Well I can’t anyway. Got a stupid date at four o’clock. Right in the middle of my damn day.”
“A stupid date?” she laughed. “Wow, I feel sorry for that girl. Be extra nice to her, Jay. The asshole in you is already being a jerk to her.”
“She’s a…friend. Someone I went out with a couple of years ago. I said I’d call her sometime but she called me the second I got home last night.”
“Wow, forward.”
“She always has been. I wanted to spend the entire day in the garage but now I can’t.”
“Bummer.” Melanie stood and said, “Okay, hint taken. I’ll get out of your way.”
“It’s not that…” he started to say, but she waved him off.
“It’s fine. I, um…was just out and about and figured I’d drop by. But since you don’t even have time to give me a tour of the place…”
He slowly smiled but motioned around the house to what could already be seen. “It’s nothing special as you can see. I don’t even have furniture besides my bedroom stuff.”
“I can help you find some furnishings if you want. When Cam and I rented the house in Fresno, I got kind of good at finding bargains like that.”
“You don’t need to worry about it, hon. I’ll figure it out soon enough when I get sick of sitting on boxes.”
“You don’t even have a TV.”
“I don’t need a TV when I work so much. I mean it’s nice when I want to just chill out for a bit, but it’s not important.”
“Good lord, whenever will you watch your car restoration shows, football games, and UFC?” she mocked.
Jay chuckled and gave her a shrug. “I guess when I hang out with Teague or Beck. For now, you can hog Teague’s satellite stations all you want.”
“Pssh, I barely watch TV anyways,” she said softly. She glanced at her watch and Jay heard her sigh. She kept looking toward the front window, like she was waiting for someone. Finally she got up to leave, and when he walked with her to the front door, she paused after opening it and scanned the street.
Jay could tell something was up.
She flashed him her beautiful smile and told him goodbye as she stepped onto the front porch, but he grabbed her elbow to stop her. “Hey, what’s going on, Mel?”
She faced him because he pretty much made her turn around, but she was looking down at the ground. “Nothing. I just—”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Melanie. Something’s up and I want you to tell me what it is. You look really worried. Tell me. Now.”
“Fine,” she groaned, looking up at him. “Jordan came by the house again.”
His body instantly filled with fury and an automatic urge to punch something. The nerve that prick had coming back to the house after what happened a few months ago. “What the fuck happened?” he growled.
“Nothing, I didn’t open the door. He kept texting and calling, asking to see me, and when there was a knock at the front door, I knew it was him. I didn’t answer it and just waited for a while, then peeked out the window and saw him getting in his car.”
“Was Teague home?”
“No, they went out for a late breakfast. I was packing up your food and was about to leave the house, but I didn’t want to when Jordan was around. I waited another thirty minutes until I made a beeline for my car.”
“You think he might have followed you?” Jay asked carefully, trying his best to keep his temper at bay. “Is that why you keep looking out the window?”
She sighed and answered with a shrug. “I don’t know. With him, I have no idea. He just puts me on edge like that.”
“Melanie, you should have called me.”
“No,” she said firmly. “I don’t want what happened last time to happen again.”
“You’re protecting him?” he scoffed with a sarcastic laugh. “Fuck, Melanie. That asshole needs to be slapped with a restraining order!”
“I was protecting you, Jay! I don’t want you to get in trouble! All that shit last time scared me. I thought you were going to be arrested! And then I come here bringing the food and didn’t even think about the fact that he could have followed me—”
He stepped past her abruptly and headed to the sidewalk. He looked up and down the street for any cars parked on the road, looking for the ’84 Camaro Jordan owned. Sure enough he spotted it six houses down, almost at the end of the block.
Jay’s entire body went rigid. He couldn’t see the driver, but the second the car flipped a u-turn on the road and burned rubber the other direction, he knew damn well the black car wasn’t a coincidence.
“Oh my God,” he heard Melanie whisper behind him.
Her voice brought him out of his inner thoughts and he turned around. “Go in the house. You’re staying here today.”
She didn’t even argue with him and headed for the front door. He called Teague once he found his phone in his bedroom, just to see when they’d be home.
“We’re almost to Dodger stadium to watch a one o’clock game,” Teague said. “It was kind of a last minute idea, but I’ll head back.”
“No, don’t do that. Just let me know when you’ll be back and I’ll follow Melanie home.” Jay knew that wouldn’t be until at least five if they stayed for the whole game, which meant he needed to figure out what to do about his date with Sophia.
But after he hung up with Teague, he couldn’t find Melanie in the house anywhere. He even looked out back and in his shop. He checked the front of the house last and finally noticed that her car was gone.
“Fuck,” he hissed as he trekked back into the house. He was about to call her when a text came through from her.
Melanie: I’m sorry for putting you in the middle of this. Again. XO
Jay sighed and shook his head. Melanie had tried keeping the peace with Jordan until she couldn’t handle him anymore. After he caused her to fall and break her arm, he’d spent less than thirty days in jail and was handed a small amount of community service. As far as Jay knew, Jordan hadn’t
tried to contact Melanie since.
If Jordan was going to keep this shit up, he was going to really fucking piss Jay off…
Jay: Just come back to my house for now.
He went to his room to change his clothes when her reply came.
Melanie: I have errands to do. Just do ur manly work.
Jay: I’ll let u watch my manly work. I’ll even keep my shirt off for u.
Melanie: As much as I just squealed excitedly like a little girl, I have to pass. You’d end up telling me I owed u for it.
Jay had to chuckle. Yeah, he probably would tell her that.
When he couldn’t convince Melanie to return to his house, he continued on with his plans for the day and spent the next three hours out in his shop. He didn’t get much done before it was time to quit. He was so tempted to call Sophia and cancel the date when she called and did it first.
“I’m so sorry, Jay,” she said over the phone. “My sister is in labor, and even though she’s probably far from having the baby, I want to be there for her.”
“Not a problem,” he told her, trying to contain how pleased he was. “Go be with your family.”
“I’m sorry you wasted the time getting ready. I’ll make it up to you.”
What the fuck did she think he needed to do to get ready for a date? He hadn’t even jumped in the shower yet and he was supposed to pick her up in thirty minutes. Jeans, t-shirt, shoes… It wasn’t that complicated.
“Oh don’t worry about me,” he suppressed a smile. “I’ll manage.”
As soon as he got off the phone he was back under the hood of the Chevelle.
***
Melanie quickly stepped through the door to Teague’s house, glancing over her shoulder. She was getting sick of this, always being on the lookout for Jordan. She hadn’t heard from him for two months, naïvely hoping that he would be done with her and move on. But now she was getting texts from him again, begging to speak with her. His voicemails to her were of the same sort, but even though he sounded extremely remorseful about what happened, his continuous apologies weren’t enough.
