Page 37 of Black Jack (Advantage Play 5)

“He has asshat programmed into his phone, which is what he likes to call you when we’re chatting. So, how are things? I miss you. It’s been quiet since you left.”

“I miss you too, Ace.”

She has no idea how much I miss her.

“How’re things with your fiancé?” she prods. I can almost see her bouncing her eyebrows up and down suggestively, but I shrug it off.

“Shitty.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because I screwed up. Again.” I grimace.

I really am an idiot.

“Again?” Her tone is laced with a disbelief that makes me want to tuck my tail between my legs and cower in shame.

“Yeah,” I growl as I squeeze the steering wheel a little harder. “I seem to do that a lot around her. She’s just so…infuriating. There’s no way this marriage is going to happen. We’re going to kill each other by the end of the week.”

“From what I’ve heard, that isn’t exactly an option. I’m sorry, though. Is there anything I can do?” she murmurs.

“Not unless you can figure out how to get me out of this screwed up engagement.”

“Pretty sure if there was a loophole, you would’ve already found it,” she offers gently.

I drop my head back to the headrest and sigh. “Good point.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to be miserable though,” she points out.

“I’ve never been good at relationships, Ace, let alone with someone who can’t stand to be in the same room with me.”

“Hmmm,” she hums. “You might not have had good luck with relationships, but you do have a knack for being a good friend.”

“I dunno about that,” I hedge before turning on the blinker toward a random street I’ve never been on. I have no fucking clue where I’m going, but I sure as hell don’t want to go back to the apartment. Not yet. Not until we’ve both had enough time to calm down. Especially after the shit I said to her.

“I do,” Ace argues. “I mean, I do kinda have personal experience with the matter. Maybe you should stop looking at her like an arranged wife and more like a potential friend. Especially if you guys are in this for the long haul, it might be nice to have someone in your corner, ya know? Other than the Romano family, anyway.”

Getting Bianca in my corner isn’t a bad idea. She’s smart as hell, sees things from angles I’d never even consider, and knows the life I’m being thrust into, whether or not I want to acknowledge it.

“That’s not a bad idea,” I admit after a few seconds.

“Of course, it isn’t. I’m a genius, Jack, didn’t you know?”

I grin while the noose around my chest seems to loosen the longer this conversation continues. “I may have heard a thing or two about your problem-solving skills.”

“Damn straight. So, what exactly did you mean when you said that you fucked-up…again?” she prods, moving right along to the next order of business. Hell, she’s probably looking for an opportunity to let those problem-solving skills shine, which is exactly what I need. I’m so far out of my element with Bianca that I don’t know what to think anymore.

With another sigh, I park the car, then rest my head on the steering wheel. “I don’t even know. She just…gets under my skin. She’s bossy. Sarcastic. And honestly, kind of a bitch, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for me to point it out to her.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m gonna say calling her a bitch is a no-go. Please tell me you didn’t actually do that.”

I grimace. “No. Well…not this time, anyway. I already apologized for that. Instead, I called her a slut.”

With a gasp, she yells, “Jack Connelly! What the hell were you thinking?!”

“I wasn’t thinking. It just…slipped out of me.”

“Yeah. That’s no excuse.”