Page 4 of Wasted Memories
“I guess so.” I reached my hand up to curl around the back of his neck, sliding my fingers along his closely cropped black hair. I gave him a quick peck on the lips, but instead of letting me pull back, he reined me in to him again, kissing me deeper.
I could physically feel the eye roll Stella gave to the guys.
I kicked her shin, my mouth still mingling with Jett’s.
“Ow!” She laughed, rubbing her leg.
Breaking the kiss, I pulled my jacket on as Jett headed over to the bar.
“I took care of the bill,” I called after him.
“I know, baby.”
Stella was chatting with Brendt to my left when I turned to see Jett heading through the door to the back room with Craig. My forehead creased with confusion as I noticed Stella’s mystery man was also gone.
“I’ll see you ladies next Friday,” Luke said, giving both me and Stella a salute.
Needing to keep busy while I waited for Jett to come back out, I brought the empty glasses up to the bar, figuring it’d help make Craig’s night a little easier so he could get out of here sooner. I always appreciated it when customers piled their dishes together on the table in a neat tower before they left. It helped me mostly avoid having to stick my fingers in piles of ketchup and touch wadded up napkins stained with God-knows-what.
Setting the last glass down, I wiped my hands on the front of my black dress.
“Thought you said you weren’t a waitress?” The voice startled me, causing me to jump.
I swiveled my head to the man behind the voice. “God, you really don’t announce yourself when sneaking up on a girl?” I realized I had my hand clutched over my racing heart and pulled it away, trying to act like he didn’t just scare the shit out of me.
“A woman.” His focus was solely on me, like we weren’t standing in a bar full of better things to look at.
“What?”
“You’re a woman. Not a little girl. Don’t give yourself less credit than you deserve.”
When I didn’t reply, he raised an eyebrow at me, waiting. I’m sure that look made lots ofwomen'spanties fall off but all I felt right now was annoyed.
“I’m not a waitress. I mean, I am, just not here.” He didn’t need to know any of that, I just needed to fill the silence that was making my skin crawl. Who even was this guy? “Whether I am or not, it’s really none of your business," I added, then quickly regretted it. I was rambling. I glared at him, not sure why he thought he deserved answers out of me.
He was silent as he stared at me. Naturally, I stared right back.
Was I really having a staring contest with some stranger in a bar right now?
I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get some kind of reaction out of me, but I wasn’t going to give it to him.
“You ready to go, baby?” Jett interrupted, causing me to break eye contact with the wanna-be cowboy. Jesus, did nobody bother to announce themselves?
“Yep.” I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket, suddenly feeling cold even though we hadn’t left the bar yet.
Jett slung his arm around my shoulders, steering me toward the door. If he saw my interaction with the guy, he didn’t give any indication.
Stella walked out behind us, pulling out her keys. “I’ll text you later, Em.”
“Looking forward to it,” I joked.
She got in her car, starting the engine.
The night air was cold on my bare legs as Jett leaned some of his weight on me. I looked up at him, his dark brown eyes trained ahead as I grabbed the hand dangling over my shoulder. “What were you doing in the back with Craig?”
“Just catching up. Seeing how things were going with him and the wife. Luke already leave?”
Typical Jett behavior to change the subject. I knew if I pressed, I wouldn’t get anywhere, so I nodded.
