Page 46 of Big & Bossy

“No. It was a stretch,” she clarified, her giggles breaking through the sober mask she so desperately tried to cling to.

I held her around her waist, taking the brunt of her weight as I practically carried her out the front of the bar, leaving Toby Keith and his far-too-excited fans behind. The bitter air whipped around us in an instant, sending the little curls hanging loose about her face flying, her eyes widening at the sheer sharpness of it.

I made a mental note to make a complaint about The Grizzly Rose when I had the chance as I opened up the passenger side door, depositing her in her rightful spot beside mine. They shouldn’t have served her more alcohol, not when she was as drunk as she was. And they definitely should have done more to help.

Though I guess I was thankful they hadn’t called the police. Her mugshot would paint the tabloids for weeks.

“Jack,” she mumbled again. Those fucking red lips, those half-lidded eyes. Absolutely not.

Taking a shaky breath and urging my blood flow away from my pelvis, I shut her door, going around to the driver’s side and slotting myself in beside her.

————

I got distracted and spotted a classic, old-school style diner halfway back to Boulder. Food would sober her up and make her feel less like she was dying in the morning.

She sat back into the red vinyl of the booth, her droopy eyes on mine, a coy little smile on her mouth as she stole a slice of bacon from my plate. It made me think far too much about the times we had back at NYU, the late-night study sessions or dates we’d have in the diner by campus, that last night when I’d finally found enough courage to ask her to be mine officially.

“Thank you for this,” she cooed, biting down on the fatty strip that ran along the edge of the slice. “It’s definitely helping.”

“I can tell.” The edge of my lip twitched as I reached across the table, stabbing my fork straight into the top of her stack of pancakes. I plopped it back onto my plate, my conquest feeling far too laughable as she glared at me. “You wore the ring tonight.”

She nodded as she swallowed. “I wasn’t sure if there’d be press. You would’ve been surprised if you’d seen the way some of Tiana’s friends reacted to it, though.”

“Tiana’s friends are assholes,” I grunted, shoving a massive bite of pancake into my mouth. “I don’t think I would’ve been surprised at all.”

She looked down at the ring as she spun it around on her finger, her lids still heavy from alcohol and lack of sleep. “Tiana told me something about it,” Mandy said softly. “Is it true? Was it supposed to be mine?”

My hand froze, a solid bite of pancake stuck to the end of my fork. Of fucking course Tiana opened her mouth. “Would you prefer a yes or a no?”

“I’d prefer the truth.”

I gathered myself, forcing the anxiety brewing in my gut to calm. I could do this. “Then yes, it was. I asked my mom for it a few nights before the final night we were together. I wasn’t planning on doing it right away, but I knew what I wanted.”

She nodded, almost to herself, as she tore her gaze away from her ring and tried to focus on her food once again. “Did you graduate?”

“Yeah, technically. I finished my degree after my hiatus, but most of it was online at that point. I set up J.B. Tech about a year after. You moved home after you graduated, right?”

She chuckled as she swallowed a bite of pancake. “Such a stalker. Yeah, I did. Met Harry. Started planning to open up L&V, and a few years later we got it up and running. I did a few internships in the meantime while living with Mom.”

This was the stuff I knew very little about. I’d kept tabs on her through the years, trying to figure out where she was, who she was with, where she was living. I knew bits and pieces from what I could gather online, but her passions, her motivations, her life in general was still a mystery. I wanted to know more. I needed to know more, I’d lost ten years of her.

“And then it’s been pretty much the same ever since. I do miss New York sometimes, though. I’ve gone back a couple of times over the years but it no longer feels like home the way it used to.”

“Because I wasn’t there,” I joked, the words falling from my tongue too easily.

“Yeah. Because you weren’t there.”

————

Getting her back to the car after she ate was a lot easier than the experience at the bar. I didn’t need to hold her up this time, only a little bit of sway to her step. Her words were less slurred, the bit of brain fog dissipating, but it was clear that her inhibitions were still a little too low. I wouldn’t try anything. I couldn’t.

“Jack,” she said softly, her back leaning against the curved roof of the car. She clung tightly to my jacket around her shoulders, my only source of warmth the NYU hoodie I wore over my tank top and shorts. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” I replied, leaning closer to her for extra heat but also because I just couldn’t keep myself away.

“Did you think I’d say yes?” She lifted her left hand, the ring glinting off the low light of the street lamps. She tilted her chin up, a little bit defiant, a little bit needy.

“I hoped you would. I wasn’t sure what your answer would be, but I knew what mine was.”

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