Page 6 of Hate You Forever

Another week passesbefore I work up the courage to actually go into town, and that’s only because Dad said if I didn’t go grab us lunch, he’d kick my ass.

I’m driving down main street when I notice an old blue beat-up Jeep Wrangler parked at the post office. Without thinking, I quickly swing my GTO into the open slot right next to it. I look around for her, but she’s nowhere in sight. I open my door. Placing onefoot on the ground, I stand up to get a higher vantage point. That’s when I see her walking out of the building.

She hasn’t noticed me yet. She’s too busy pulling her keys out of her purse as she walks back to her Jeep. She has mail stuffed under her right arm, and her jet-black hair is in soft curls, bouncing as she walks. She makes a sharp left turn, walking between my car and her Jeep. She puts the key into the door and unlocks it.

“As I live and breathe. If it isn’t Jade Karma Seymour.” I can’t hold back a smirk.

At the sound of my voice, her back stiffens, and she slowly turns to face me. She looks me up and down slowly over the hood of my car, from the top of my chest to the top of my head. Her blue eyes take me in painstakingly slowly. Goosebumps prickle my skin. My smirk turns into a full-blown smile. Maybe this won’t be as hard as I thought it would.

She forces a smile onto her face, then slowly raises her middle finger into the air. She climbs into her Jeep without a word.

“Oh, come on, Jade.” I quick race around my car and over to hers. Her old Jeep has half doors and the windows are currently removed, so she has to listen to me no matter how badly she doesn’t want to. “How’a been?” I ask, leaning against the driver’s side door.

She presses her lips tightly together. It almost looks like she’s biting the both of them.

She doesn’t answer so I continue. “You’re looking good, Jay. You sure do know how to make a man regret his mistakes,” I say, looking over at her. Right now, there’s only one thing I regret, and it’s leaving her here alone.

She shakes her head as she reaches for the keys dangling in the ignition. She twists them, and the Jeep comes to life. She shifts into reverse, but I don’t step back or move. I want her to know I’m not going anywhere.

“You going to move, or do I have to run you over?” she finally asks, refusing to look at me again, instead keeping her eyes straight on the building in front of us.

“Only if you’ll have dinner with me.” I send her my flirtatious smirk, the one I used to get her to go out with me in the first place.

She scoffs and shakes her head. “Have it your way.” She hits the gas, and the Jeep rolls backward, the side mirror slamming into my arm—but it’s a Jeep so it just folds back. It’s enough to make me step away, though, before she runs over my foot.

“I’ll get you to talk to me again. Wait and see,” I shout as she comes to a stop and shifts into drive.

“You want me to talk to you?” she asks, stickingher head out the window. “I have a message for you.” She smiles sweetly.

I rub my hands together. Finally.

“Mrs. Tessle says if you speed down her street one more time, she’ll call the law.”

“Did she now?”

She shrugs one shoulder, her face indifferent. “You’re not above the law, Memphis, are you?”

God, the way she says my name has me ready to strip my clothes off and pull her against me.

“I guess not.” I laugh out.

She rolls her eyes at the same time she turns her head to look forward. Without another word, she hits the gas, and she’s leaving me behind.

Even though I know a part of her hates me, I know a part of her still loves me. Without that love, the hate would be gone. And she talked to me, she looked at me, she said my name. I’m not giving in until I have her back. I don’t care if I have to show up randomly at her house, if I have to follow her around town, or if I have to take Butter to the vet. She will talk to me, and I will explain. Jade and I, we started something a long time ago, and I ran off before it could be finished. I thought all these years would change something, but it hasn’t. The only thing that’s changed is how badly I want her. And that’s grown to an unexpected intensity.

I turn away and head into The Place, where I sit and have a beer while I wait for our food. During the day, it’s more of a restaurant than a bar. There are families gathered around the tables, having lunch and talking, and there are patrons seated at the bar, enjoying their liquid lunch. I left this place before I was old enough to even drink in here. Living in such a small town, a fake ID would’ve done no good when everyone knows how old you are anyway. I make a note to come back this evening and check things out and try and find some old friends to help pass the time. I’m handed a brown paper bag, and I toss a twenty on the counter before finishing off my beer and heading back to the garage.

Dad and I finish up work around five, and we both head back to the house to get cleaned up. I take a shower and pull on a pair of jeans and a fitted T-shirt. I grab my keys and head back out twenty minutes later. I’m driving down Main Street when I notice how full it is. Cars fill the small gravel parking lot of the bar and both sides of the streets. Surely, all these people aren’t at the bar, are they? I didn’t think that small building could even hold everyone.

I eventually find a place to park, and I have to walk almost a block down the road to go into the bar. The entire place is full. Every table is occupied, and a local country band plays on stage. The dancefloor is packed with moving bodies, and every barstool is taken. I stand at the end and order a double Jack on the rocks. When I’m handed the drink, I slide over the money and turn my back to take the place in, looking for a friendly face. It’s busy for a Friday night, with nearly the whole town here for drinks and their famous fried chicken dinner.

I see Jade’s friend Pearl sitting at a table by the dance floor, and at her side is Blake Winthrop. I was lucky enough to play a year of football with him before he graduated from high school, and even though we’d only known one another for that one year, he was a good friend and made a lasting impression on me.

With my drink in hand, I walk over to their table.

I hold out my hand. “Hey, Blake. You remember me? We played football together my freshmen year.”

He looks up at me, and his brows pull together as he thinks. “Yeah, Memphis Styles, right?” he asks, shaking my hand.

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