Page 21 of Not Your Enemy

Chapter 13

We worked through lunch, and although I was hungry, I didn’t complain, considering the sooner we were done with that particular room, the better. After finishing, we moved the boxes downstairs to the office and then went our separate ways for a bit. I folded and hung up my laundry before jumping in the shower. I’d gotten sweaty going up and down those stairs, so it was definitely needed.

I stared at my phone screen, trying to work up my nerve. Pressing call, I put the phone up to my ear and walked over to the small window.

"Hey, everything good?" Jana asked.

"Yeah," I swallowed. "I know we just talked this morning, but are you back home from brunch?" I asked, watching a red bird pick at the grass outside.

"It's like four in the afternoon, Lib, of course I'm home," she said with a laugh.

"Right, my bad." I gripped the windowsill tightly. "So, I wanted to ask you about something. Um, Jade said that she had tried to call you afew times, but that you never responded. And I guess I was just curious if that was true." I wanted to remind her of how she specifically said she didn't do that, but I just let silence linger as I waited for her reply.

"So, you guys were talking about me?" she asked, making me roll my eyes at her deflection.

"It wasn't like that, Jan. I just asked her if she'd ever thought about reaching out to you, and that's when she told me she already had. Which just confused me, but I didn't say anything about that to her. I wanted to talk to you about it." I sighed, feeling defensive.

"Look, I…I may have ignored a few phone calls from Jade. Which is not what I told you previously, so I apologize for that." I crossed an arm over my waist as I waited for her to continue. "But I mean, can you really blame me? Anytime I saw her number pop up, I'd get all clammy and nervous. It felt like just hearing her voice would be a huge trigger." She sniffled into the receiver.

"Okay, that makes sense. But why did you lie to me about it? That's the part I don't understand." I felt bad continuing the conversation when she was clearly upset, but I needed to know.

"Because you sounded so sure that she had changed for the better and all this crap, and I guess I just thought if you knew I'd been the one not responding it would make things look worse. It's like an instinct to make myself seem better than she is. I don't know, Lib, I'm sorry."

I huffed out a breath. I was still upset that she had lied to me, but I was also not being fully transparent myself with her. And besides, I don't blame her for not answering when they had such a troubled past. But it bothered me that she was trying to sway my view of Jade.

Once our call ended, I crawled into bed, snuggling into the cool sheets. It was only mid-afternoon, but I was emotionally and physically exhausted.

I woke up to a knock at the door. Jade let herself in, and I opened my eyes to see her smiling down at me.

“I was wondering where my princess ran off to,” she said with a teasing voice.

“Sorry,” I said while yawning. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, just wanted to close my eyes for a second.”

“No worries,” she said, running her fingers through my hair. It felt good enough to make me fall back asleep. She laughed, and I opened my eyes back up to see her pretty face.

“So,” she said, sitting next to me on the bed. “I was going to make some dinner, but our supplies are pretty low.” I sat up and leaned against the headboard.

“I was planning on buying some groceries since I knew you paid for what was already here. I did just kind of help myself.” I smirked at her.

“Well then, would you want to go grocery shopping with me? It could be our second date.” I rolled my eyes at her but couldn’t hold back my laughter.

“Sounds good.”

“Ready?” she asked.

“I guess, here let me brush my hair since it probably looks a mess from sleeping on it.” Walking over to the bathroom mirror, I untangled a few strands. I wasn’t wearing any makeup since I fell asleep after my shower, and it wasn’t like me to go out without it. Even if it was just for an errand.

“Would you be mad if I got ready real quick?” I asked. “It will just take a few minutes.” I looked around the doorframe at Jade. She was stretched out on the bed looking at her phone, and I did my best to ignore the surge of heat the imagesent through me.

“No rush.”

When my makeup and hair were in order, I walked over to the closet to change out of my casual clothes.

“Just going to the grocery store, you know,” Jade teased, sitting up on the bed.

“Hey, you said you didn’t mind, and you said it’s our second date. What’s wrong with wanting to look good?” I asked, flashing her a smirk.

“You already looked good, but regardless, I don’t mind. I just like to pick on you.” She made her way over and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind. Kissing my cheek, she let go and walked around to my side. “These brown pants look so good on you.” She pulled it off the hanger and handed it to me.