Page 95 of Space Oddities

I ruba hand down my face, uncaring about smudged make-up while the girls hoot and holler over Blow Job shots.

I knew Jackie was smart about space, science, and math. Even random trivia. But I didn’t know she could be so astute.

Not only did the girl figure out that I’m hiding something, but she made the correct logical leap that I’m on the run and leaving town soon.

“Blow Jobs for everyone!” Rose shouts, once more on her barstool rung perch, and the men in the bar nearly fall over themselves to cheer.

I guess having spent more time here and around these women than I have anywhere or with anyone over the past few years, I never realized how obvious my tells were.

Jackie, being Jackie, was bound to pick up on it.

Rose bows to her newfound fan base, then yells over to the bar, “Better run out for more whipped cream!” When the men see the bartender filling up shot glasses, they visibly droop. Rose cackles.

Jules helps her turn and sit, and Jackie is busy writing something on the table with her finger again. “How many ounces of whipped cream would you say are in a can?”

“Fuck, Jackie.” Jules rests her hand over Jackie’s. “Save the math for Flynn. You know he loves that shit.”

Jackie sighs like a schoolgirl. “Yeah. He does.” She reaches for her phone in her back pocket. “I’m gonna text him my alcohol level equation.”

“Nope!” Rose jumps down off the bar stool and swipes Jackie’s phone. “We agreed no men tonight. And that includes texts.” She tosses the phone in her purse.

She eyes Jules and me and raises her hand toward each of us, her fingers curling in a gimme motion.

Jackie pouts, the tulle and crooked glasses making her look more adorkable than usual. “But Flynn’ll be worried.”

Jules hands her phone over without issue. “No they won’t.”

I zip my purse closed, holding it securely on my lap, not wanting Rose to see the fifteen unread text messages and twenty-three missed calls from Ian on my phone’s screen. Not that I’ve been keeping count or anything.

“Why not?” Interested in this new turn of events, Rose forgets to collect my phone.

“’Cause of him.” Jules points to the corner, and we all turn. A large, lone guy sits at a bar with a full pint in front of him. “And him.” She swivels and points to the other side of the room where a serious looking man with a shaved head looks everywhere but at us.

Jackie perks up. “Who are they?”

“Security detail.” Jules takes a sip of her water.

“The fuck?” Rose’s eyes bounce between the two people. “Whose?”

“Mine. Ours.” Jules wipes more sweat from her brow. “Holt hired them.”

Rose blinks at her, open-mouthed. “And you’reokaywith that?”

Jules shrugs again. “He’s just worried about me.”

“You are so whipped.”

Rose and Jules continue to bicker while Amanda hustles over with a tray full of shots, dropping ours off before offering the rest to anyone in the bar who wants one.

The weight of my phone feels heavier by the second. Why did I get so mad at Ian? Why did I have to leave like that? He was just worried. My fingers tighten around my purse. Maybe I should—

Rose elbows me in the boob. “So are you going to drink this one or pass it off to me like you usually do?”

“No, you can—” I look at her sharply. “Wait, what do you mean?”

A snort and an eyeroll is all I get as Rose throws her shot back, a half-moon of whipped cream lining her upper lip. A guy walking past stumbles as she takes her time licking it off. She gives him finger guns and a wink.

Okay, so maybe it isn’t just Jackie who’s astute.

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