Page 14 of One Drink

Chapter 7

Jake

Watching Stephaniehang out with her friends from across the room was torture. I wasn’t sure what bothered me more—the fact that before we slept together, she would’ve scooted over in the booth and made room for me to sit, or that Kate and Zoe were also my friends and I felt like I’d been exiled. Maybe it was because she looked miserable.

It all made me feel like shit.

If I had known she was here with our friends, I would’ve insisted Robbie and I go somewhere else. I should’ve left, but leaving would’ve looked like I was running, and I didn’t want to run from Stephanie.

Running wouldn’t win her heart, and winning her heart was the end goal.

“So, are you going to tell me what this is all about, or are you going to keep me in suspense?” Robbie looked at me over the rim of his glass.

“Let me finish this drink first.” I swallowed my whiskey in one gulp and waved for the waiter to bring us another round.

“Ready now?” Robbie swirled his whiskey around the ice in his glass before tossing it back.

“No, not really.” This whole thing with Stephanie had me so messed up, I couldn’t even make eye contact with my best friend. I wasn’t nervous about telling Robbie what happened. I was nervous that he would tell me it was a mistake and I needed to let her go. Robbie didn’t know Stephanie as well as I did, but he knew about her issues with her father and how hard she’d worked for her independence. Robbie sympathized with her because of how harshly his father treated his sisters.

“Too bad.” Robbie leaned forward and stared at me until I shifted my eyes to his. “I can’t help if you’re silent. So, start talking.”

“Dude, be cool about this, okay.” I sighed and dropped my head back and stared at the ceiling.

“Oh, shit. It’s that bad?”

“I slept with Stephanie.” There, I said it. The hardest part was over. But when I heard Robbie’s glass clank against the table, I knew I’d shocked him. I expected the worst, but when I finally looked at him, he was smiling.

“Well, it’s about fucking time.”

“What do you mean, it’s about fucking time?” I didn’t have a clear vision of what my expectations were, but I knew that was not one of them.

“Come on, man. We’ve been waiting for years for you two to finally realize you’re perfect for each other.” The waiter brought our next round, and Robbie put in an order for another. He held his fresh glass up. “Cheers to you two.”

“You’ll change that tune after I tell you the whole story.” I took a healthy sip of my drink and frowned.

“Was the sex that bad?” His eyes narrowed, and I didn’t want to know he was thinking. Robbie was a good guy, but he definitely thought highly of himself when it came to satisfying women.

“No.” I smiled for the first time since sitting down, recalling how great her body felt next to mine. “The sex was amazing.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

I told him the entire story, from start to finish. Except for details about the sex. I’ve never been that guy. But I told him what he needed to know to understand why I was in such a miserable state sitting over here with him while she was sitting over there with her girlfriends. Our friends.

“I see.” He ran his hand over his short beard and leaned back. “She’s still struggling with her daddy issues if you ask me.”

“I am asking you.” Robbie furrowed his brows in silence and stared at me. It was creepy as hell. “She has to know I’d never ask her to give up her career. Hell, I’m the one that gave up my career for her.”

“You did do that, didn’t you?” Robbie chuckled. “I’d forgotten about that. How long did you agree to work at the magazine?”

“Two years, tops.” I answered.

“And how long has it been?”

“Three.”

“Shit, you’ve got it worse than I thought.” Robbie leaned forward like he was about to reveal some huge secret. “It’s not about you, man. It’s about her dad. You see, she knows you’d never hold her back. That’s not the problem. From what I’ve learned about her father is he’s a meddler and if she dates you, then there’s a chance her dad will interfere with you. He might try and get you to force Stephanie to quit her job.”

“Please, it’s not like I’d ever listen to him.” Stephanie couldn’t possibly think I would ever do something like that. Could she?