Page 62 of Only This Once
“This was perfect. Come watch me eat it.” She led the way to the living room, curling up on the couch and ditching the container top on the coffee table. The first bite was heaven. He’d even remembered her preference for strawberry ice cream.
Jinx settled on the other side of the couch, his eyes on her face as he relaxed into the cushions.
“Don’t be jealous,” she said around her second bite. “You should have gotten one for yourself.”
He shook his head. “I did, but a stroller got away from a mom, and I ended up dropping the bag on the sidewalk. That one looked good, but the other one ended up spilling all over.”
Julia could picture the scenario. The universe had been out to get him like usual, this time taking away ice cream. She filled her spoon with the perfect mix of flavors, leaning closer to him. “Fine, but just one bite.”
His cheeks were a bright shade of pink as he looked past the spoon into her eyes. Then he opened his mouth to accept her offering. She watched his mouth as she hovered, feeling a definite twinge of interest when his tongue teased the trace of whipped cream off his lip.
She pulled away, filling her mouth with another bite so she wouldn’t lunge for him. That was the worst idea. She didn’t want to give him false hope that things between them could be more. “This really is helping. Thanks, Jinx.”
“You’re welcome.” His fingers rubbed along the knee of his jeans. “I’m sorry your day sucked. If you want to vent, I’m here.”
The ice cream seemed to swirl in her stomach when she remembered the way the skeezy doctor had blocked her in. She wished she could have punched him in the face, but that would have been the worst thing she could do. The hospital was looking for a reason to ban her. “It’s not important,” she mumbled. She remembered the phone call with Phoebe. “Oh, right. Phoebe mentioned you had talked to her. Did that go okay? It sounded like she might have said something to hurt you.”
Jinx remained quiet, and she looked over at him, worried it was even worse than she’d thought. His eyes were soft, though, tracing over her. “It’s okay, Jules. If you don’t want to talk about your day, we don’t have to, but I don’t want you to shore me up tonight. I want to do that for you.”
Her throat tightened. Most of the ice cream was gone already. She leaned forward, putting the container on the coffee table and swallowing the constriction in her throat. “I was just pissed off and nobody wants to be around someone feeling all pissy.”
“Pissy makes it sound like you’re mad for no reason. I know you, Jules. You only get mad for good reasons.” He rubbed his jeans again. “I never mind being around you when you’re angry. As a kid, it made me feel kind of… safe, I guess. You’re the person I always wanted to be like.”
It was an echo of Phoebe’s words, but he said it so differently. There was no jealousy. It was almost like he was… she wasn’t even sure. Proud of her, maybe? No, that was ridiculous.
“I didn’t stick up for myself the way I wanted to,” she admitted. “I mean, I would have been professional no matter what, but there’s a part of me that will always want to fix things myself. I hate when I can’t just fix it.” She frowned down at her silky lounge pants as she curled her legs under her. “I reported the prick. Sure, he’s sexually harassing me because of my shitty reputation right now, but someone like him probably does it to other women, too.”
Jinx’s smile fell away, and his brow creased. “This happened at the hospital?”
She leaned toward him, rubbing her thumb over the wrinkles that had formed there. “Don’t look so worried. I can take care of myself.” Her fingers trailed down until she was cupping his face. The lightest rasp tickled her palm.
“You shouldn’t have to,” Jinx said.
She shrugged, pulling back before she gave in and drew him closer. “Stuff like this happens. More now, and he was a real creep, but apparently John has been running his mouth about me.” She really had been an idiot to keep sleeping with that asshole, no matter how good his dick had moved.
She hated feeling like an idiot. Regretting sex was the worst kind of shame she’d experienced.
“That really is shitty,” Jinx murmured. “I wish I could make it better. Maybe if I—”
She laid her finger over his lips to stop the words. “You can’t fix it. Just being here is enough. Besides, Charles stuck up for me. I’m lucky to work for him.” She pulled away again, watching him lick his lips as if trying to capture a taste of her.
“Charles is the best,” he agreed, but his pupils had dilated. She doubted he was thinking about his brother.
It’d be easy to lean into him and kiss him. She could forget about everything by having sex with him. That was the main thing she liked about sex. Done right, her mind emptied and her body relaxed.
“What do you normally do when you’re having a bad night?” Jinx asked.
She laughed, falling back against the couch and wrapping her arms around herself. “Of course you would ask me that.”
He blinked at her, tilting his head in confusion. She wondered what he would do if she jumped him. Probably freak out. She sighed, curling her arms tighter.
“Come on, you had to have something in mind before I showed up. What was it?”
Her ears heated when she thought about what her evening would likely have looked like. “I have a cell phone game I play sometimes. It’s silly.”
“Silly sounds perfect.” Jinx stood from the couch, reaching for the discarded container that used to have ice cream. “You grab your phone. I’ll clean up.”
She watched him head to the kitchen, and her heart felt full. It was a small thing, cleaning up the trash, but it made her feel cared for. Even more than him showing up had. She reached for her phone, pulling up the app. When she looked up, Jinx hovered near the couch.
