Page 41 of Jake Forever
Chapter 16
I squinted through the rain and sure enough, spotted Vince, calling out from the open driver's side window of a black sedan, idling at the curb across the street.
When our gazes met, he called out again. "You need a ride?"
I glanced around and hesitated for only a split-second before sloshing forward, dodging traffic as I crossed the street and circled around to his car's passenger's side, only to discover that it wasn't exactly empty.
In the passenger's seat, sat Bianca, Jake's former event planner and one of my least-favorite people.
Oh great. A twofer.
But even as I thought it, I reminded myself that I was incredibly lucky they were stopping at all. My gratitude was reduced only a fraction when Bianca opened her car-window barely a crack and said, "You're gonna have to sit in the back, you know."
Well, obviously.It's not like I was planning to sit on her lap or anything.
She pursed her lips. "And grab a towel or something, will you? These are leather seats."
I looked around. Where on Earth was I supposed to find a towel? And besides, weren't leather seatsmorewater-resistant than cloth? I hesitated, wondering what I should do now.
But from the driver's seat, Vince called out, "She's not serious. Now, c'mon, get in, before you drown out there."
That was all the prompting I needed. I yanked open the rear passenger's side door and dove inside, feeling an embarrassing surge of relief when I slammed the door shut behind me.
It wasn't even the rain, as uncomfortable as it was. It was that scary-ass guy, and the frizzy-haired woman with him, along with the fact that my clothes were plastered to me like a cold, second skin.
Stifling a shiver, I sat up and looked out toward the street ahead. From here, we were only five or six blocks away from Jake's place – not a long distance, but longer than I wanted to walk now, all things considered.
I reached up and shoved back that same annoying clump of wet hair. As thankful as I was to be huddled here in the backseat, I had to admit that I would be even more thankful if I could somehow make myself invisible.
I'd gotten only a quick glimpse of Bianca before diving into the car, but I'd caught enough to catalogue the basics. As usual, she looked like a million bucks. Her sleek, dark hair was perfectly styled. Her dress was a tailored, sleeveless number, in peach no less – a color that I could never pull off, even on my best day.
And today, was most certainlynotmy best day. My hair was dripping, my clothes were soaked, and I felt like I had goldfish swimming in my shoes. Still, I tried to sound normal as I said, "Thanks for the ride."
Bianca snorted. "You can thankhim. It wasn'tmyidea to stop."
From the driver's seat, Vince spoke in a tone was half playful, half serious. "Now Bianca, be nice."
Nice? Bianca? It wasmyturn to snort.
Bianca whirled around to face me. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I gave her my clueless face. "I didn't say anything."
She glowered at me. "Well, maybe not with words, but I know perfectly well what you meant."
Yeah? Well, I knew a few things too. Bianca was in love with my boyfriend. She blamed me for the fact that he wasn't her client anymore. And, if I wasn't careful, she'd trick me to making a fool of myself – not that I needed any help inthatdepartment.
Bianca and I had a history, and it wasn't a good one. Determined that this time, she wouldn't get the best of me, I summoned up a cheery smile and said, "Sorry. Should we hug it out?"
She drew back like I'd just offered her sex with a corpse. "What?"
"You know," I said. "Hug and make up." I spread my arms wide. "Aw c'mon, I'm willing if you are."
In truth, I wasn't all that willing, and given the fact that she was in the front seat, and I was in the back, it probably wasn't even possible. But none of that mattered, because I knew for a fact that Bianca wouldn’t be caught dead hugging anyone as soggy as me, even if we were friends, which we definitely weren't.
Her lips curled in obvious disgust. "I'm not going tohugyou."
"Oh well," I said, dropping my arms. "At least I tried."
