Page 21 of Back Home For Christmas

“I was there to see Jenna,” I said, as if that answered his question.

“Oh how is Jenna?” Mom asked.

“But how did you two end up having drinks together?” Darren asked, pointing his finger between Jay and I.

I ventured a glance in Jay’s direction. He turned to meet my eyes. I didn’t know why Darren was pushing this because the answer seemed self evident. Unless, of course, Darren suspected there was something going on between Jay and I, which now that I was getting mildly more sober, there definitely wasn’t.

“I guess we both just ended up there after stopping in the supply closet,” Jay said, his voice full of implication. “Cat saw me having a drink and stopped over. And,” jay shrugged. “We just had some drinks. That’s when she agreed to the date with Steve.”

“Oh my God. I didn’t agree to a date with Steve,” I said.

“Steve sure thinks you did.” was he teasing me? Did he think that I wasn’t good enough for Steve or that Steve was a loser? I couldn’t figure it out.

“Who cares about Steve?” Darren asked.

“Cat does,” Jay said. “Don’t you care about your sister’s love life?”

“It’s not my love life!” I was almost shouting. Me, Jay and Darren had all been neglecting our food during this exchange. My parents watched the back and forth like a tennis match.

“Steve would like it to be,” Jay smirked. Goddamn it. I had let him get under my skin again.

“You are impossible,” I said. Although I guess teasing me about Steve was better than telling everyone about what happened in my room.

“I don’t know why you two were at the bar, getting wasted when you should have been working,” Darren said.

“Catherine, are you drunk?” Mom said in a very clutching her pearls tone.

“A little,” I shrugged. “At least I wasn’t making out in the supply closet.”

“No, not in the supply closet,” Jay said. I could feel my face turning red, and I was tempted to punch Jay right in the face, even if it might give away the meaning of his cryptic response.

“The supply closet?” Dad asked.

“You are an asshole, Cat,” Darren said.

“Am I though?” I asked. “Cause I’m pretty sure you take that prize tonight. I thought Jay was your best friend. You always had his back when I came to you complaining, but you didn’t seem all that concerned with his feelings today, or mine, for that matter.”

“Wow, you are defending Jay? That’s really something. But is it really Jay you are concerned about, or is this about you like everything else?” Darren said glaring daggers in my direction. I met Darren’s pointy eyes and raised him smug condescension. Jay topped us all with emotionless indifference.

“I would like to have a nice meal,” Mom said. “I don’t know what is going on between you three, but perhaps we can put it aside for dinner?”

“Nothing is going on between us three,” I said.

“I think the meal is wonderful, Mrs. Lane,” Jay said.

“Kiss ass,” I leaned over and whispered to Jay.

“What am I kissing?” He whispered back. Then struggled to stifle a laugh when my cheeks burnt red.

“I will murder you,” I whispered.

“You seem pretty worked up, Kitty Cat. Don’t want to make everyone suspicious,” he whispered. I looked around the table and all eyes were on us. I dropped my eyes to my plate and started shoveling food in as quickly as I could. No one moved or said anything, as I finished my meal, pushed my chair back and brought my plate to the kitchen sink while still chewing my last bite.

I rinsed my plate and put it in the dishwasher before stumbling back upstairs. This trip home literally couldn’t get any worse.

Chapter Fifteen

When I got upstairs, I threw off my clothes, pulled on an oversized t-shirt and fell into bed, hoping sleep would numb my mind and provide some relief from my soul searing suffering. But my over thinking brain refused to turn off. I replayed dinner, wondering if everyone could tell that I had kissed Jay. Then I replayed that kiss. That stupid, impulsive, drunken kiss. What the hell was I thinking? Obviously, I wasn’t thinking at all, but I would have to live with that choice until I found a way out of here. Or until Jay went back to New York City.

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