Page 40 of Once Bitten
Jordyn gripped the charts tighter and cleared her throat. “Oh? You’ve been there?” She set the charts down. “Steve, um, he likes that place,” she added, choosing not to say that they had met there or why she’d been there in the first place.
“Mmm.” Tina nodded, smiling, and leaned forward like she was going to tell Jordyn a secret. Jordyn had never been more grateful for the empty waiting room behind them than she was at that moment. Bracing herself for Tina's question, Jordyn kept a stoic face and leaned forward to hear what Tina was about to ask.
“Are you two going out?” Tina asked, watching Jordyn’s face.
Jordyn nodded instantly in response to her question, and Tina bit her lip. “You do you know about that guy’s reputation, right?” Tina asked, looking concerned.
“What do you mean?”
“That guy, um, Steve, I mean,” Tina corrected herself, seeing a dark look on Jordyn’s face at the use of "that guy." “Sorry,” Tina smiled apologetically “Steve’s…you know, just, uh...really popular.”
“Popular?” Jordyn laughed and cocked her head to the side.
“Yes, Jordyn. Popular as in a different woman every night. I’ve been going to Widow's Bite since I moved here, and I’ve never seen him with the same woman twice—until today.” Tina drummed her fingers against the counter, watching Jordyn. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, ok? I just want you to know what you’re getting mixed up in. I mean, he seems, you know…nice with you, but you’re actually a nice girl, and…” Tina’s voice trailed off, and she looked outside before saying, “I just don’t want him to be taking advantage of the fact that you don’t know how this stuff works. You’re, like, practically an innocent,” she said with an almost pained look on her face.
“An innocent?” Jordyn raised an eyebrow, her hands going to her hips. “I think you have the wrong idea about me, Tina...and besides, what is it that I don’t know? It all seems pretty straightforward.”
Tina blushed. “You were with the same guy forever, the same guy who gives purity rallies and speeches, and used to wave your virgin statuses around like flags to anyone who would listen,” Tina said, pointedly, crossing her arms.
Jordyn sighed because she knew Tina was right. She knew in her heart that Tina was just concerned, and so she took a deep breath and tried to sound kind, even if she wanted to tell Tina to get lost. “It’s really not like you think. Steve isn’t how you think. You just don’t know him like I do.”
Tina wrung her hands together, worriedly. “It’s just, Steve...I mean, he’s got a really bad reputation for just sleeping with and dropping women, okay? And you’re just not that kind of girl. People might start to talk, Jordyn.”
“Yeah, well, Alex also cheated on me with a woman from his office,” Jordyn told her, and when Tina’s mouth dropped open, she added, “on the copier machine no less.”
“Are you serious?” Tina gasped.
“Very serious. So now, you can see how much that purity talk meant to Alex, and Steve has been nothing but amazing to me since I met him. He actually---he actually cares about what I want.” Jordyn rubbed her hands together and looked at her feet. “I appreciate you worrying, I do, but like I said, Steve isn’t what you think. And I honestly don’t care what anyone says or will say about us dating. I’m proud to be his girlfriend.”
“Wait-what? You’re his girlfriend?!” Tina looked like she was going to hit the floor.
“Yup.” Jordyn grinned, liking the way it sounded out loud.
“Holy shit. You…you like, changed him. And instantly, too," Tina said, wagging a finger at her with a laugh. “Do you know how many women are going to hate you?”
Jordyn waved a hand at her. “Don’t know and don't care... besides, I didn’t change him.” She picked the charts back up. “He was always the way he is. It’s just nobody took the time to see it. He’s a good man.”
“Uh huh.” Tina watched Jordyn leave the room. She bit her lip and picked her pen back up. “She’s falling fast,” Tina said to herself and went back to entering in the appointments for the week, with a laugh at the thought of smooth-as-silk Steve Ryans dating Jordyn Summers, the most innocent girl Tina had ever come across.
“Well, maybe she isn’t so innocent after all,” Tina mused to herself.
* * *
“You’re supposed to be eating,”Steve whispered against Jordyn’s ear.
“I am,” Jordyn mumbled back. She turned her head and kissed him again, her sandwich forgotten on the bench next to them.
“Jordyn, stop. I have an appointment after lunch, and I’m not going to be able to focus for shit with how hard you’re getting me,” Steve groaned, pulling away from her. He rubbed a hand over his face and faked a scowl at the grin on Jordyn’s face. Her eyes darted down to his crotch, and he caught her hand when he saw her start to reach for him.
“Doll,” he warned, and she sighed, settling back against the bench.
“Okay, I’ll be good.” Jordyn picked her sandwich up, to show that she was going to stop.
“Just wait until I get you back to your place.” Steve leaned forward, his voice low, lips brushing her ear. She shuddered from it and nudged him away. “Be good,” she admonished with a wag of her finger, but she was smiling.
“So, you’re staying the night?” she asked, taking a bite of the BLT she’d gotten with Steve at the deli across the street.
“Mmm. Jamie is having a ‘friend’ over, but if you don’t want me to come over just tell me. I guess I’ll just have to wander the streets all night,” Steve joked but stopped when he saw the sudden seriousness of Jordyn’s expression. “Hey, what’s this?” he asked, tipping her chin back to look at him.
