Page 17 of Not Your Enemy

"What's that like? I can't imagine it," she said, slowly twirling the liquid in her glass.

“Um, it was lonely, honestly. I always wanted a brother or sister. My parents gave me a lot of attention, so I always felt loved. But…I guess you always want what you can’t have.” It was a statement that reminded me of my current predicament, but I tried to ignore that thought.

“I guess. My childhood was just so focused on Jana and me. We shared everything, even birthday parties, since we were both born in March. It was a dream of mine back then to just have something for myself.” Her words made me sad. I hated to think that she felt that way; I knew Jana did too.

“You ever think about talking to Jana nowadays? Maybe see if you guys could have a fresh start?” I asked overstepping, but oh well.

“I’ve tried, but she never returns my calls.” Oh, I had no clue that she’d done that. Recalling our heated conversation the other day, Jana had explicitly stated that Jade had never reached out to her. Maybe Jade had the wrong number? Somehow, I knew that wasn't it, though.

“I didn’t know that. I assumed you guys just both hadn’t reached out to each other. Sorry, it’s not my business.” It felt like a betrayal to bring up what Jana had said. I at least needed to discussit with her first.

“No worries. I think, considering the circumstances, it kind of is your business. But no, she’s never reached out to me. I wish she would. I hate that even though Mom and Dad are gone, we still can’t communicate with each other.” The corners of her mouth lowered, and I reached across the table to grasp her free hand. “Anyway, tell me more about you. Who was your first crush?” She asked, seeing as we both needed a subject change.

“Oh, it was a girl in second grade. I think her name was Hadley. She sat next to me in class, and we passed notes back and forth. I never told her, though. We often talked about her boy crushes and such, but I just pretended to feel the same way.” With a squeeze, Jade released my hand as the waiter dropped off our pasta.

“Your story would be super wholesome.” Jade rolled her eyes, making me laugh.

“Yours isn’t?”

“Well, I guess I'd say it wasn’t until middle school," Jade started once we were alone again. The low lighting and heavy cheese smell creating a homey setting. "Veronica and I called each other girlfriends even though we only saw each other at school. It didn’t last long. But, my first real crush was when I saw this high school girl when I was maybe eleven or so. She worked at the gas station down the road from my house. It was kind of like my sexual awakening. Like, for the first time I realized girls could be hot. I just knew we were destined to be together.”

“Aw, that’s super wholesome!” I responded, smiling at her.

“I guess it was more that I mostly remember her from inspiring my first sexual fantasies. I’ve always had kind of a dirty mind, you could say.” I bit my lip at her words because when it came to Jade, I too had a dirty mind.

Chapter 11

Jade paid for our dinner, and we made our way down the street to The Mix. While Riley had a downtown, it wasn’t necessarily large. Just a few blocks or so, and it wasn’t worth moving the car. She held my hand the whole way, which was incredibly sweet and made me feel all melty again.

Walking into the bar, I found it crowded, which was to be expected for a Friday night. Cigarette smoke almost overpowered the stale beer and sweat scents. I grabbed the least wobbly table I could find while Jade started a tab. There were a few guys on stage hooking up equipment. I looked for tattoos to see if I could spot Sam, but didn’t see any. Beers in hand, Jade grabbed the chair next to me and sat down. We had a good view of the stage, but we weren’t so close that the speakers were in our face or anything.

“Is one of those guys Sam?” I asked curiously. Even though the music hadn’t started yet, with all the talking I still had to lean in so she could hear me. That being said, taking a lungful of her scent wasn’t such a hardship.

“No, I don’t see him yet. You won’t be able to miss him though; he’s like six feet tall and has bright red hair.”

“The way you said that makes me think you have a problem with redheads,” I teased her, knowing very well she didn’t. Between her interest in me and her angel tattoo, it was obvious.

Jade smirked and leaned in much closer than necessary, so close that I could feel her lips press against the shell of my ear. “The difference is that his looks out of place. While yours makes you look like a goddess who consumes my every thought.”

Chills ran down my spine, and I let out a pant that I hoped wasn’t audible. Her every thought? It was too much when I already wanted her so badly. She kissed my ear before pulling away and taking a sip of her beer. I did the same, looking for anything that would help distract me.

The show had been going on for about an hour, and so far, I’d enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The lead singer had a pretty voice, and they’d been singing some pop cover songs I knew. Jade poked fun at me for singing along a little too loudly, but it didn’t stop me considering I’d already been feeling tipsy from the restaurant. A new song starts up, and I lean into an equally intoxicated Jade.

“You are really beautiful, Jade.” It just felt like the perfect thing to say, and I’m sure not being sober had something to do with that.

I leaned back, and she turned to face me, giving me a smile with her lightly blushed cheeks. Grabbing my hand, she brought it to her lips, kissing my fingers before settling it in her lap. The part of me that was always yelling for caution was gone at the moment. Examining her plump lips, I wished I could be alone with her right now.

Realizing I was staring, I turned my attention back to the band and tried to slow my racing heart. It wasn’t nerves that had it pumpinghard, but desire for the beautiful woman sitting next to me. I squeezed the thigh on which my hand lay, wondering how much longer the show would last.

“Want another round?” she asked, and I did, but I didn’t want to overdo it, given that we had to drive back to Clark tonight.

“We should sober up before the drive, huh?”

“I was thinking we could just catch a ride to my place in town and then head home in the morning.” The thought thrilled me, being that it would mean we could be alone together sooner and we could let loose even more.

“Okay then, sure.” Laughing at my excitement, Jade headed off to grab us fresh drinks.

When the show ended, Jade introduced me to her friend Sam, who truly did stand out in a crowd. He was very tall, very fit, and very ginger. He was a real sweetie though and nothing like the tough guy he appeared to be from a distance. Since Sam rode over with a friend, we waited for them to pack up, and then he drove us over to Jade’s place in her car. His friend followed behind to pick him up.