Right Kind of Wrong(45)
She stares daggers at me for a few beats then snatches the phone from my hand. “Hi, Mama… uh-huh… uh-huh… okay… bye.” Hanging up, she shoves the phone back at me with a tight smile. “Looks like I’m staying here tonight.”
“Fantastic,” my mom says, grinning from ear to ear. “Now, come on in and I’ll get you set up for the night.”
As we follow my mother up the porch steps Jenna turns to me with a scowl. “I hate you.”
“Yeah.” I smile. “I know.”
13
Jenna
So tonight has been a little bit crazy. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely freaked-out earlier when it looked like every guy in the back room of that bar wanted to kill Jack, but weirdly, I felt safe the whole time. I’m not sure if that’s because I trust Jack so much, or because I’m clinically insane. But either way, I was more worried about Jack than I was about myself.
It did raise some questions in my mind, though. Hell, it gave birth to a litter of questions and encouraged them to run around like mad in my head all night. A part of me feels like I don’t even know Jack anymore. The guy standing beside me in that bar tonight was a stranger, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. But the guy sitting beside me right now is the same old Jack I’ve always known, and I know exactly how I feel about that.
Happy.
But it doesn’t hurt that Jack’s mom is entertaining as hell and keeping a constant smile on my face. Lilly Oliver is a piece of work—and I mean that in the best possible way. I can tell Jack’s trying to rein her in, but honestly I kind of want to see her run free.
“You like beer, Jenna? ’Cause we’ve got beer,” she says, swinging around the kitchen from cabinet to cabinet grabbing God knows what. “We don’t have wine because none of us can stand the sweet stench. And we don’t have champagne because, you know, ick. But we’ve got beer, whiskey, tequila, gin, and beer—shit.” She looks at me. “Do you even drink? If you don’t, that’s totally fine because we’ve got…”—she opens the fridge and scours the contents with a little hum—“expired milk, half of a Sunny Delight, and tap water.” She pulls a six-pack from the fridge and holds it up with a grin. “But we have beer.”
Jack rubs his temple. “I’m not sure if Jenna’s clear on whether or not there’s beer in this house. You might want to reiterate that fact.”
She gives him a disparaging look. “I’m just trying to be a good host.”
He nods once. “The key word there is ‘host,’ Mom. Not bartender.”
She ignores him and looks at me. “What would you like to drink, darling?”
Biting my cheek to keep from smiling at their exchange, I tap a finger to my mouth. “Hmm. I feel like the right answer here is beer.”
“Wait.” Jack holds up a hand. “There’s beer in the house?”
Lilly narrows her eyes as she puts the six-pack back in the fridge. “Do I need to beat you?”
Jack wrinkles his brow. “Why are all the women in my life so prone to violence?”
“Maybe because you drive them to insanity,” I quip.
“I can vouch for that.” Lilly scoffs. Still standing with the fridge open, she twitches her lips and slides her gaze to me. “So seriously, what’ll it be, Jenna? Sunny D? Water?” She winks. “Beer?”
I smile. “Uh… can I just have whiskey?”
A moment of silence passes where my stomach clenches in fear that perhaps I’ve just supremely offended Jack’s mom in some way. But then Lilly lets the fridge door fall closed and throws her hands up in glee.
“Finally! A girl with taste! I’m sorry, darling, but I just have to do this.” She comes over and kisses the top of my head.
“Mom,” Jack groans. “Can you at least try to be normal?”
I laugh as Lilly plants a second quick kiss on my head and pointedly looks at her son. “This is my normal. You just brought home a beautiful girl who drinks whiskey. That’s cause for celebration.” She scurries around the kitchen, collecting three glasses and a bottle of Maker’s Mark. “How do you takes yours, Jenna?”
“Just on the rocks,” I say.
As she fills the glasses with ice, she looks at Jack and mouths, I love her.
He mockingly mouths back, I can tell.
My phone buzzes and I see I have four missed calls, all from my cousins. I smile at Lilly. “Will you excuse me for minute?” She nods as I scoot out my chair. “I’ll be right back.”
I leave the kitchen and weave down a quiet hallway to the right as I call Callie. No answer. I try Becca. No answer. Checking my texts, I see that they were only calling to make sure I wasn’t dead and to know when I thought I would be home.