Page 110 of One Good Crash
From the kitchen, Allie called out, "It's her again."
As if I didn't know.I replied with a half-hearted thanks and tried to focus on a cheerier dilemma. He said to dress up. But what exactly did that mean? Obviously, I'd need to wear a dress. But how dressy of a dress?
Unless I wanted to risk answering the door in my undergarments, I'd need to figure it out fast.
Just two hours earlier, after that tense discussion in the van, Jax had driven me home and helped me haul my stuff up into the apartment. He'd even offered to help me unpack, not that I'd accepted his offer, as thoughtful as it was.
But the way I saw it, he'd done more than enough already. Plus – I smiled at the thought – I had a date to get ready for.
Yes. It was officially a date.
I glanced at the clock, and my smile faded. He'd be arriving in just thirty minutes. And that was assuming he didn't show up early.
I was dying to see him, but not in my underpants, at least not yet.
Trying to focus, I gazed down at the three dresses that I'd laid out across my bed. There was my one-and-only cocktail dress plus my two favorite sundresses.
The cocktail dress was several years old. The sundresses were newer, but not terribly formal. None of the dresses were expensive.
Would this matter? I sure hoped not, considering that I had no time to shop – or money to burn even if I did.
I recalled the dress I'd been wearing on the night of the crash.Thatdress was nice. And expensive.
It was funny to think that I still had it. But there was no way on Earth I'd ever wear the thing, especially in front of Jax, who'd seen my mom wearing an exact replica.
Jax hated my mom. That much was obvious. Considering how we'd met, I couldn’t exactly blame him.
But I didn't want to conjure up any funky memories either, which meant that the pricey dress was definitely off limits. This was probably for the best. Even after a good dry-cleaning, it still hadn't recovered from my little beach adventure.
Again, I glanced at the clock. Twenty-seven minutes.Yikes.
I would've been ready an hour ago, if only I hadn't lost track of time chatting with Allie, who'd arrived home just minutes after Jax's departure.
Eager for girl-talk, I hadn't been able to resist sinking down on the sofa and telling her everything that had happened. I didn't leave anything out either, which turned out to be a mixed bag. By the end, our conversation had strayed pretty far off course, especially when it came to my mom – as usual.
Alliehatedmy mom, possibly even more than Jax did. And she wasn't shy about telling me so.
Of course, it hadn't helped that my mom had called three times since then.
I hadn't answered, and not only because I'd made that promise to Jax. Oh sure, I was big on keeping promises, but even withoutthisone, I realized the folly of talking to her now.
I knew why she was calling. Obviously, she'd noticed the missing stuff and wasn't happy.
But seriously, what did she expect? I'd been on her doorstep at the exact time we'd agreed on. Plus, after packing up my things, I'd even left a note, thanking her for not throwing anything out.
Jax had justlovedthat.
But in my own defense, the note wasn't due to politeness or even affection. Mostly, I just didn't want my mom to think she'd been robbed or something.
I didn't need the drama, and neither did Jax, whether he realized it or not.
I was down to twenty minutes when the phone rang yet again. It was still ringing when Allie appeared in the doorway to my bedroom. With my phone in-hand, she said, "You know what you should do, right?"
From the look on her face, I was afraid to guess. One time, Allie had suggested that I take my mom on a cruise and then toss her overboard. But that had obviously been a joke.
I mean, it's not like I could afford a cruise.
Now, Allie was saying, "You should block her number."
