Page 5 of Only This Once
She swiveled her barstool, propping her elbows up on the bar behind her. The way she was feeling, it was time to risk another mistake. She scanned the bar to see if anyone sparked an interest, not surprised to see one of the off duty medical workers pointing at her while their group laughed and smirked.
The hunched shoulders and floppy blond hair of someone among them gave her pause. He wasn’t one of the ones laughing, but he was achingly familiar.
Julia felt a spark of joy at seeing him. It had been years. Phoebe’s brother had gone off to college out of state and rarely came home, but there he was, part of the group of workers she’d been trying like hell to avoid for the past month.
You’d think her best friend would have told her that her brother was back in town. Or hell, her new boss since she worked for their older brother. Charles Holden offered her a job after the hospital fired her. She was grateful, even though she was embarrassed by the pariah she’d become. For someone who normally followed all the rules, the label of misconduct hurt. It had also left her with very few options in the medical community, which was smaller than she’d realized.
One that Phoebe’s younger brother seemed to be part of, too.
Julia grabbed her glass and slid off the stool. Lips twisted on the other people at the table, but she ignored them to approach the boy who no longer looked much like one. The shoulders that had begun to fill out were even wider, and he had a shadow along his jaw.
“Jinx?”
Blue eyes flew up to hers, blinking. Then his polite smile shifted into a full-on grin. “Jules?” He pushed to his feet, nearly knocking his chair over, and they gave each other a quick hug.
It reminded her of how she’d held him the last time they’d seen each other, when he was crying in the front seat of Phoebe’s car, and Julia’s stomach swirled before she released him.
“It’s been a while.” Her eyes took in the shifting gazes of those at the table. “Are you working at the hospital here now? I hadn’t heard that.”
Jinx’s hand moved through his hair, making it more disheveled, though the curls bounced right back. “Yeah, it just happened. I’m still settling in.”
“Look at you. A college graduate.” Julia bumped his shoulder. “I heard you became a personal trainer?”
“Oh, you’ve been keeping up?” He flushed, crossing his arms and rocking on his heels. “Yeah, I’m working with some of Charles’s patients once they’re ready for PT. I enjoy it.” He rolledhis eyes. “Might as well put all my healing experience to good use.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You were obviously jinxed from birth.” She grinned at him. “I bet you’re good at it. I’m proud of you, Jinx.”
His cheeks shifted to a deeper red.
At the table, one woman mouthed the nickname to the person next to her and laughed.
“Er, you probably don’t go by that anymore.” She hated that thought. He’d always been Jinx to her, but she never wanted to embarrass him, so she took a breath and pushed on. “Is it Jesse now?”
Jinx shook his head, his smile as gentle as ever. “I don’t mind you calling me that. It makes me feel like I’m really home.”
“Oh. Good.” The tightness in her chest eased. “It would have been hard to switch, but I would have done it if that’s what you wanted.”
“You’ve always been like that, respectful about people’s boundaries.” He missed the way the table grew quiet. “I’ve always liked that about you.”
“Yeah, respectful,” a person at the table muttered. “That’s exactly her.” Snickers followed, and Jinx’s eyebrows drew together as he glanced at them.
Julia bit back her retort, regretting coming over. She shouldn’t fuck up his chances to network. “Well, I just wanted to welcome you home. I’ll let you get back to it.” She waved her hand and pushed through the crowd to find a quiet corner.
She’d give it a little longer so it didn’t look like their snickering drove her away. Her interest in picking up someone waned, though she was tempted to do it out of spite. They already thought she was a slut. She might as well prove it.
Her gaze kept shifting to Jinx, though. He’d become an adult while she wasn’t looking.
He was smiling like his old self. A part of her had held on to that last time she’d seen him, the way he’d trembled and cried. She didn’t see any of that in him now. No, his bright-blue eyes popped as he laughed with the joy that had always oozed out of him.
Julia relaxed against the wall, sipping her soda and feeling peaceful just watching him. She’d missed him, though it wasn’t until that moment that she was able to admit it to herself.
Even though she’d been best friends with Phoebe and not Jinx, he’d always been around. That had already begun to change when she and Phoebe started college, but him leaving town had been a shock. He’d only ever talked about following them to the local state college. Julia wasn’t sure when his plans changed and why none of them told her.
She’d considered herself a part of their family for years, and them a part of hers. They’d lived on the same block. She’d been over there as often as at her own house while her mother was in the hospital. Her mother beat the illness, thank God, but it had changed something inside Julia, as it had for all of her siblings. That something had only felt whole with the Holdens.
Lately, Phoebe had grown distant, despite how often they tried to get together. She was married, with kids and a lifestyle that Julia didn’t quite fit in with. Sometimes it was lonely.
Just like suddenly losing Jinx had been lonely. She’d worried she’d fucked things up that night of the party. She was terrible at taking care of anyone, and Jinx must have realized it back then. He’d seemed normal when they’d talked to each other just now. Had he been faking it?
