Page 50 of Darlin'

"No need, I'm going," Ryder says, polishing off his beer and slipping out of the booth. "See you around, Alabama."

"Alabama?" Jesse whispers, glaring down at me.

"Don't worry, Jesse," I whisper back, tossing him a wink. I shouldn't stir the pot, but I kind of like the little vein in his forehead that protrudes when he's mad. "It's just a nickname."

"Right," he says through gritted teeth. "You have an hour before we leave."

"She's staying at mine tonight," Marlow interrupts, smirking up at Jesse. "We're having a girls' night out."We are?She pauses for a purposeful second before adding, "Might take Sav to Lights Out."

Jesse's eyes darken. "The hell you are."

"Come on, man," Beau chimes in, giving Jesse a puzzled look. "The ladies will be fine. The bouncers know they're with us."

I blink, attempting to decipher Marlow's game. "Lights Out?"

"Remember?" Marlow nods, willing me to follow along. "The nightclub?"

"Right..." I draw out. "The nightclub." I swallow, afraid to meet Jesse's spine-shivering gaze. "We're going to a club...tonight."

"Absolutely not," Jesse states.

"And why's that?" Marlow tilts her head, baiting Jesse. "Worried about something?"

Jesse scoffs. "Fine.Go, but she'syourresponsibility tonight, got it?" He glares down at me. "Have fun,Alabama.”

"Oh, she will." Marlow grins, batting her lashes. Jesse grumbles under his breath before storming away. Marlow chuckles. "I knew it."

"What was that?" I whisper. "Since when are we going clubbing? I thought we were playing Scrabble with Pippa tonight?"

"We are," Marlow replies with a coy smile. "But Jesse doesn't have to know that."

"Why are you doing this, Mar?" I ask, watching Jesse aggressively restock the liquor shelves. "Why are you lying to him?"

"Just testing out a theory," she says with a cunning shrug. "Relax, Sav. We're not hurting anyone. Humor me, okay?"

"Okay." I swallow as a surprising rush of anxiety fills my body.

I don't think I like her theory. Not one bit.

CHAPTER 15

A Proven Theory

I should've broughta change of clothes to Marlow's place. If I had, I wouldn't be staring at Jesse's front door, looking like I completed my first-ever walk of shame. And the only shameful act committed last night was the misspelling of a Scrabble word which lost me the game.

But given the fact that I'm wearing leather pants and high heels at ten in the morning, I doubt a board game loss is the first thing that'll come to anyone's mind. My disheveled appearance already garnered a few judgmental glances on my walk back from Marlow's. A stranger's opinion of me doesn't matter. Not now. But behind this door? My heightened nerves tell me Idocare.

Sucking in a long breath, I wince, skittishly tiptoeing through the front door. Please be asleep. Please be asleep. Please be?—

"How do you like your coffee?" A chirpy, feminine voice coming from the kitchen stops me dead in my tracks. My stomach sinks. "I think you're out of cream."

Are you freaking kidding me?

"Black's fine."

A girl? He brought a girl home?! Surely, that's a girl's voice, right? I doubt Jesse randomly took up the art of impressions in the last eighteen hours.

One night. I'm out of the house for one freaking night, and he brings a girl home? Unbelievable. Actually, no, totally believable. Why am I even surprised? This is exactly?—

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