Page 17 of Jesse's Girl
A small voice inside my head points out it’s interesting that I’m feeling the need to justify looking at Ada, but I quickly stuff the thought as I close in on the bar. I’m a few feet away when she notices me.
“Hey,” she says, filling a tumbler glass with soda and sliding it across the bar top to a customer. “How’s that pancreas?”
Playing along, I take a seat on an empty stool in front of her. “Was that your game? Destroy my internal organs?”
“Maybe.” She smirks up at me.
“Harsh,” I say, recoiling. “I’ve only been back a few days.”
She gives me a small smile, tilting her chin over to where Marcus and Renee sit with their backs to us. “Did you all want another round?”
“Yeah. Same again for those two,” I say, “but let’s save my pancreas this time. Maybe a gin and tonic?”
“Sure.” She moves to get another wine bottle from the glass shelves behind her.
My eyes drop against my will. Fuck, that’s a short skirt. I tear my gaze away, rubbing the back of my neck. I try to look around the room as she makes our drinks.
I can’t believe this is the same girl who used to tag along with us on our idiotic, teenage escapades. Without question, she’d held her own with the group of us older guys. She could deliver some epic trash talk when she kicked our asses playing video games, which she’d done more often than I’d liked to admit. Back then, we’d all kind of thought of her as one of the guys. It had been an unspoken understanding she could never be more than that to any of us. Kai had once made a crude, sexual joke about Ada, and Marcus had shut him down instantly. The message had been clear: don’t even fucking think about it.
I turn back to Ada and catch her watching me. My lips curl in an uncertain smile. “What?”
“Nothing. Sorry for staring. Just wondering if you’re cosplaying as Sasquatch, or …” she trails off with a soft laugh.
“Rough,” I reply, moving back in my seat, my forearms sliding across the bar top. I smooth a hand over my beard, though I can’t help but smile. Maybe that trash-talking kid is still in there. “That bad, huh?”
“Unexpected is more the word.”
“Fair,” I say, nodding as she slides me my gin and tonic. “Though I could say the same about you. Not the Sasquatch part, obviously.”
She barks a laugh, wiping down the counter. “Fucking hope not.”
“I was expecting that weird art kid with braces, to be honest,” I say.
She glances up. “Well, the braces are long gone, but I’m still a weird art kid, don’t worry.”
Except you’re definitely not a fucking kid anymore, I stop myself from saying.
“What kind of art?” I take a sip of my drink.
“Uh, I draw and paint. And I run these evening art classes for teens down at the community center. It’s a volunteer thing. Sometimes I do other activities with them too—outings and stuff.”
“Really? That’s cool.”
“Yeah, I really like it.” She takes a sip of water from behind the bar, long seconds passing before she speaks again. “Sorry for smashing into you earlier.”
“Oh, was that you?” I deadpan.
She laughs and I clear my throat. We share an awkward glance.
“This is fucked up,” Ada says, scrunching up her nose with a soft laugh. “Why you’re back, I mean.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it.” Sadness creeps into my awareness, remembering why I’m in town. I run a hand through my hair and push back from the bar, reaching for my wallet. Without looking, I gesture over my shoulder. “I should get them their drinks.”
“It’s on me,” she says, waving me off. “Consider it a sorry-everything’s-all-fucked-up gift.”
“Thanks, Ada,” I say, pocketing my wallet.
“Oh, and hey,” she says. “Can I make your mom a card? Draw her something?”