Page 4 of Only This Once
Jinx let out another gasping breath before pulling away, his arm wiping at his eyes. “Sorry.”
“You okay?” Julia asked again. “Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”
His arms wrapped around himself, and he just stared at the wall.
“You didn’t drink anything, did you?” she asked, but he didn’t look drunk or high.
“No,” he mumbled.
“I didn’t think you had. You’re too smart for that.” She patted his shoulder, but he ducked his head, making it impossible to read his face.
“Can you take me home?” he asked.
“Sure. That’s why I was looking for you. Phoebe left with Kyle, and I promised to get you home.” She stood, holding a hand down to him.
Jinx didn’t take it. He rose on his own, his arms still tight around himself.
The line outside the bathroom was even longer when they exited, and a few people muttered complaints. Julia told them to fuck off, but Jinx pulled into himself more.
When he got into the passenger seat of Phoebe’s car, he remained hunched, facing the door. Julia tried to ask him what had happened a few more times while she drove him home, but he just seemed to close down more.
She parked Phoebe’s car in the driveway, wishing she knew how to fix things for him. This wasn’t like Jinx at all. Even when the universe went after him, he always laughed it off.
“I’m sorry. I should have never let you go to the party,” she said.
He made a choked sound, and then he was crying. Not huge gulping sobs, but a quiet shaking, huddled against the door.
“Oh. Oh, hey.” Julia shoved the armrests up so she could reach him, tugging him toward her.
Jinx turned, burying himself against her chest again. She wrapped her arms around him while he cried. The sounds broke her heart.
She only wished she knew what had caused it, but he didn’t say another word that night.
Chapter 1
Julia sipped her ginger ale and wished she was anywhere but there. The medical crowd went to that bar often when they were off shift, and she could feel them staring at her. They probably had a lot to say after the mess she’d made. Not that she’d ever mess up at the actual job.
They just didn’t like who she had fucked.
To be fair, she hadn’t liked the guy much, either. Or maybe that was her spitefulness talking since he was a fucking liar.
She tapped her phone to see if Phoebe was close when a message popped up.
‘Sorry, something came up. I’ll make it up to you.’
Her frustration at her friend made her flatten the straw between her fingers. Phoebe had known Julia hadn’t wanted to come to this bar, but she insisted on it. This was the last time she’d cave. Next time, they would go to The Last Shot Tavern like Julia wanted. She liked to support her brother’s friends and family.
Besides, nobody hated her there.
She sighed, trying to unflatten the straw, but the side of it was sliced open. Folding it over, she took a sip from the glass itself, the bubbles from the carbonated drink sliding down her throat.
Julia had never been much of an alcohol drinker. She didn’t like losing control like that. Besides, alcohol messed with antidepressants, which she needed to function. She’d told herself the last time she ditched them that it would be the last time. If they helped her brain to work, then they were a good thing, despite what that pathetic voice inside of her tried to say.
If she hadn’t ditched them this last time, she never would have said yes to that doctor. Alcohol had never been her crutch, but casual sex sure as hell was. A quick fuck had turned into a convenient fling, which spiraled into disaster.
Nobody liked a woman who broke up a marriage. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t realized he was still married. Julia was the slutty other woman. She’d gotten the slap from his wife to prove it, right in the hospital where everyone could see.
She could own up to her own faults. Liking sex wasn’t the issue, but not asking any questions burned her twice. There were probably more one-night stands that could have bitten her in the ass, too, from the same problem.
