Page 37 of A Heart Worth Finding
“Rick’s? During Welcome Weekend?” Jessica asked, her forehead scrunching in confusion. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Jack said. “I was there. I’m sort of the reason she ran away from him in the first place. I guess she saw the MSU hockey hat I was wearing and booked it.”
“Okay,” Jessica said slowly. “It’s just…I was there that night.”
To Silas and Sofia, this comment probably seemed innocent. Like, ha ha, isn’t it funny that we could’ve met that night instead of right now?
But Jack’s entire body broke into a cold sweat at the implication.
Kenzie and Aiden had met on Friday of that weekend.
Jack had met Sofia the next night.
His mind spun.
Rick’s was not a big place, and it would’ve been so easy to find Jessica, to reconnect that night, before Sofia had ever come into the picture.
If only Jack hadn’t been so drunk…
No. He shook that thought off. He couldn’t go back and change anything, and there was still the matter of Silas. Even if he and Jessica had reconnected that night instead of last weekend, even if there were no Sofia, Jessica would still be in a relationship, and even if he didn’t like the way it looked from the outside, she had to be happy. Otherwise she wouldn’t stay…right?
Jessica didn’t strike Jack as the type of girl who stuck with a guy who wasn’t treating her well.
They finally arrived at LouHa’s, and the moment they were seated, Jack ordered his drink before his companions even had a chance to lift the menus from the table. He’d been here enough times to know what he wanted—he’d sampled everything—and tonight was a bourbon kind of night.
“Manhattan, please,” he said to the waitress.
She simply nodded, then turned her attention to the other three. Sofia and Jessica got margaritas—mango jalapeño forSofia, cucumber mint for Jessica—and Silas ordered a Tito’s and Red Bull.
Soft, Jack couldn’t help but think.
When their drinks arrived and food had been ordered, Jack dove into his Manhattan with gusto, but when he’d downed nearly half in a single gulp, he forced himself to slow and not drown himself in it.
And then his eyes rose, locking on Jessica at the exact moment her tongue darted out to scoop some salt off the rim of her glass before she sipped her drink.
As if she sensed his stare, her eyes flitted to his, their gazes holding.
They seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.
Instantly, Jack was transported back to the night they met. Tequila burning his throat, licking salt from her skin, the way her fingertips had brushed his lips when she shoved a lime wedge between his teeth.
The kiss that followed, and how tasting the liquor on her tongue had been the most addicting thing he’d ever experienced.
Tearing his eyes away, he scooted closer to Sofia, and her hand found his beneath the table—grounding him, anchoring him to this moment, with her.
Not the blonde across the table, whose boyfriend was wiping a stray drop of liquid from her top lip.
Jack was so royally fucked. He never should’ve agreed to this. His mind was a jumbled mess, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to survive until the end of the meal. If his stomach wasn’t screaming in protest over not being fed in hours, he’d get up and leave right now, damn the consequences. Uncomfortable, he tugged on the collar of his shirt, thankful he’d left his tie and suit jacket in his locker at the rink.
Silas and Sofia carried on a conversation revolving around some Greek thing that Jack tuned out. Neither of them seemed to notice the tension between him and Jessica.
And the thing was…he didn’t want there to be any tension. He wanted nights like this, where he and his girl could go out with friends. He wanted his attention solely focused on Sofia, not split betweenwantingit to be on Sofia and trying to keep it off Jessica.
He was a fucking mess, and this night couldn’t end sooner.
“So what’s your plan after college?” Silas asked Jack. “Got any interest from pro teams?”
Jack was saved from answering right away by the massive swallow of his drink he’d just taken, but Sofia answered for him. “Tons!” she said brightly. “He’s definitely going to play in the NHL, and I’ll be there to cheer him on.”
