Page 58 of Wasted Memories
“What brings you to Wings and Wine on this fine evening?” I asked Brendt.
“Yeah, why aren’t you with the guys, Brendt?” Stella asked with a hint of attitude in her tone, accentuating his name.
Brendt cleared his throat. “I’m keeping my distance from them until Jett’s dad leaves town.” His eyes landed on me as he spoke, gauging my reaction.
I tried to act like none of what he said affected me, but from what I’d heard about Felix, he wasn’t the kind of guy you wanted to get caught up with. “His dad’s in town? Since when?”
“Since you two broke up. He’s been staying at Jett’s house.”
My breath caught in my throat. Is that who was in the house when I went to grab my clothes? Jett’s truck wasn’t out front, and if his dad flew in, it would make sense why there was no car parked outside.
“I’m going to need another drink,” Stella murmured.
“Why don’t we like Jett’s dad?” Jessica asked, slurping the rest of her drink.
“I’ve never met him, but Jett has told me some not-so-pleasant stories. I thought he was in prison?” I aimed the question at Brendt.
“He was. He’s out now.” Brendt didn’t look happy about the news either, but I was glad he was staying away from them. Something was going on between all of them and none of us needed to get tangled up in it.
Sam made her way back to the table, giving Brendt a full smile. “Would you like anything to drink, sir?”
He was practically eye level with her from where he sat. She wasn’t particularly short, but Brendt was six foot two, just slightly shorter than Wesley.
“Just a water, thank you. And another of whatever those two were having.” He gestured to Stella and Jessica. My drink was still more than half full. I wasn’t trying to get buzzed since I was driving.
Stella slid an inch away from him. “I don’t need you to order my drink for me.”
“I know you don’t. I wanted to. There’s this thing called being polite.” Stella rolled her eyes as Sam walked away.
I watched the two of them as I stirred my drink with my straw. “Didn’t you guys go on a date a few weeks ago?”
Stella pointed a glare at me and Jessica’s jaw dropped. “Why does no one tell me these things?”
“Because you never hang out with us,” Brendt admitted.
“Not true. I see Em multiple times a week at work.” She put her leg closest to me up on the seat of the booth, curling her ankle under her other leg.
“Key word: work,” Stella pointed out.
“I’ll try to be better about that. But back to the date, is that why you guys hate each other?”
Brendt threw his hands up. “I plead the fifth.”
“There’s a lot of reasons I hate Brendt.” Sam set the drinks down on our table and Stella immediately grabbed for hers, chugging half of it through her straw. I pressed my lips together to hide my smile. They’d get over it eventually. “How are you and your boyfriend, Jess?” Stella asked to change the subject.
“Todd? We broke up last week.”
“What?” We all said in unison as all our eyes shot to her.
Jessica shrugged. “Yeah. He was too into partying, I’m always at work. It just wasn’t working. But I’m not upset about it, it was mutual.”
“Mutual is what everyone says when it’s most definitely not mutual,” Stella said.
“It started to feel like we were just friends who hung out with each other every once in a while. Plus, I need someone who’s more mature.”
I raised my glass. “To finding men who are more mature.”
They all raised their glasses, including Brendt with his water.
