Bad Rep (35 page)

“Sure, why not.  Could be cool,” I agreed and Riley smiled.  “See, now we get a girl's day out of it!  Score for both of us!” I enthused.  Riley threw a pillow at me. 

“As long as you don't try to give me a makeover, we're good.”  I pretended to pout but I knew any efforts to dress my best friend would be deftly evaded.  The girl beat to her own drum, that's for sure.

“Jordan's taking me out on a date tonight,” I said, after Riley had turned the television back on. 

“Oh, yeah.” she said nonchalantly.  Okay, she sounded too blase.  Which could only mean... 

“You know what he's planning, don't you?” I asked, grabbing the remote out of her hand and muting the television.

“Hey, I was watching that!” she complained but she couldn't contain her smile. 

“What is it?  Where's he taking me?” I jumped up and down on the couch, holding onto her hand.  Riley laughed and shoved me away from her. 

“Calm down or you'll have an aneurysm.  Let's just say, the boy has romance in his soul.”  Now I was intrigued.  And really, really excited. 

Riley chuckled and rolled her eyes.  “Just shut up and let me mong out please.  Some of us have to work this evening.”  I snorted but slid down into the couch and propped my feet up on the coffee table.  I watched three episodes of the most obnoxious program ever made.  The dude with the beret had an obnoxious, nasally voice and made the most obvious and at times asinine observations.  But Riley loved it, and swore the beret dude was one of the sexiest guys on TV.  If Damien wasn't such a cutie, I would seriously question my best friend's taste in guys. 

I pried myself off the couch around 6:00 and went and got a shower.  Then I stood in front of my closet,  trying to decide what to wear on my mystery date.  I finally decided on a cute sleeveless maxi dress in off white with a brown belt around the waist.  I had gotten the dress for a steal from Victoria's Secret and was looking for an excuse to wear it.  Since we were experiencing a seriously hot Indian summer, I thought it would be perfect.  I dug out some adorable brown wedged sandals and completed the outfit with a chunky silver bracelet and some thin, dangly earrings with stars on the bottom.  I left my hair down, spritzing it with some salt spray and running my fingers through it to help bring out my natural wave. 

I opted out of a lot of makeup and just coated my lips with a pale lip gloss. 
Not bad
, I thought looking at myself in the mirror.  I noticed the irises I kept in a vase on my dresser were officially dead.  I scooped them out the glass and tossed them in the trash.  I would have to remember to get some more.  I was a sucker for fresh flowers, irises being my favorites.  So, I tried to keep them in my room most of the time.  At least until they died and I got around to getting some more.

I looked at the clock and shocked myself by seeing I still had fifteen minutes until Jordan was due to pick me up.  I sat back down on the couch, smoothing my dress underneath me.  Riley had left for her shift at Barton's thirty minutes ago, so the apartment was silent.  I didn't feel like watching TV, I was too antsy.  I grabbed my pack of cigarettes and went out onto the balcony.  I was making a conscientious effort to minimize my smoking.  But there were days when it proved difficult.  I pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it up, staring out into the court yard just behind our building. 

I heard the sound of guitar music wafting up from below.  I leaned over the railing, my hair dangling around me and saw Eli plucking at his strings just beneath my balcony.  Well, crap.  I hadn't seen Eli since I had text dumped him.  Which was surprising, considering how much time he spent at his cousin's apartment just down the hall. 

As if sensing my presence, Eli stopped playing and looked up.  His face went perfectly blank and he lifted a hand in a halfhearted wave.  “Hey,” he called up.  I gave a short wave back. 

“Hey.”  We didn't say anything and I realized I looked like an idiot dangling over my railing.  So I pulled myself up right and sat down in the white deck chair to finish my smoke. 

“Maysie!”  I heard Eli call out.  I tried not to groan.  But I didn't want to ignore him, so I got back to my feet.  Eli had moved so that he stood out in front of my balcony.  The guitar hung around his shoulders and I noticed off handily that he had let his hair grow out and that it was naturally curly.  Interesting.

“What's up, Eli?” I asked, trying not to sound completely bitchy.  But this was awkward.   Eli reached up and scratched the back of his neck.  He seemed nervous.  Which was weird because I don't think I had ever seen Eli anything but high and laid back.  Well except the night he and Jordan had gotten into it.  But I didn't want to think about that.

“How've you been?” he asked, dropping his hand to rest on the front of his guitar.  I took a last drag of my cigarette and knelt down to stub it out in the flower pot I kept for my butts.

“Um, fine,” I answered, standing back up and leaning my hands on the iron railing. 

“Good.  That's really...uh, good,” Eli said.  He was being strange.  Maybe he was on something. 

“So have you taken up serenading in your free time?” I joked, trying to alleviate some of the uncomfortable tension.  Eli chuckled and tapped a quick beat on the hollow wood of his acoustic. 

“Why not, the ladies love it.  You always did.”  He glanced back up at me and I recognized that look.  It was the one he always gave me before pulling me into a bedroom at his cousin's place. 

I cleared my throat.  “Well, I'd better get going.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the sliding glass door to make my point.  I turned around to head back inside. 

“So why haven't I heard from you?  In my world, wanting space doesn't mean you pretend the other person doesn't exist,” Eli called out just as I was about to open the door.  I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead on the glass. 

I turned around and went back to look down at Eli in the courtyard.  “Can we not do this now?  I mean, this isn't the best place to have this conversation,” I said shortly, kind of annoyed he was putting our personal stuff on display for the neighbors.  Looking over I could see old Mrs. Graves sitting on her balcony, pretending to read the newspaper.   But I knew that nosy lady was listening to everything we were saying.

“Well, let me come up so we can talk,” he insisted.  Where was this coming from?  I seriously thought he would be done with me by now.  Hell, I strongly suspected he was hooking up with other girls the whole time we were “dating.”  So why the sudden need to hash shit out with me? 

“Now's not a good time, Eli.  I'm getting ready to go out,” I said, trying to end the conversation quickly.  I figured Jordan would here any minute.

Eli ran his hands through his hair.  “I know you're with that other guy.  The dude from the bar.  I've seen him coming out of your place.  Is that why you needed
space
?” Eli asked sarcastically.  Okay, enough was enough.

“No you self-involved prick. I needed space away from your sorry ass.  Got a little sick of the drunken booty calls and then not hearing from you for days.  And let's not forget your attempts to take my clothes off in my place of employment.  Oh, and how about going off to parties with girls practically shoving their tongues down your throat?  Is that enough of a reason?” I bit off angrily. 

Eli at least had the decency to look ashamed.  “I guess I deserved that,” he grimaced.  I barked out a laugh. 

“You think?” I scoffed.  Eli ran his fingers along the strings of his guitar making them tinkle prettily. 

“I'd really like to talk to you though.  I mean, if that's cool with you.”  Before I could respond, someone else answered for me.

“No, she won't be talking to you, slick.  Because she's gonna be with her boyfriend.” 

I whirled around and saw Jordan standing in the open doorway looking pissed.  Well, he was hot too.  He had dressed in a worn pair of jeans that hung perfectly on his hips and a fitted gray t-shirt that made his body look downright edible.  But yeah, he was pissed.  I saw him click his tongue ring along his teeth and he came up beside me and gripped the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white.  He stared down at Eli, looking very intimidating.

Eli stiffened.  “Man, I wasn't talking to you.  So just back off,” Eli warned.  I saw Jordan's jaw clench. 

“And
I'm
telling
you
that you're not gonna talk to Maysie.  You got something to say, you say it in front of me, we straight?”  I swallowed thickly.  Damn, who knew Jordan was so freaking territorial.  I glanced over at Mrs. Graves, who had stopped all pretenses of reading the paper and was watching the drama unfold with avid interest. 

“This is not the place to be doing this.  Jordan, go inside, I'll be there in a minute,” I told him.  Jordan's eyes flashed to mine and his jaw ticked. 

“I am not leaving you out here to talk to that piece of shit.  I'm staying.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the railing.  I sighed.  I did not want to start our date like this so I didn't push him. 

I turned to Eli.  “I don't think we have anything more to say to each other, Eli.  So I'll see ya around.”  Eli's head dropped and I almost felt bad for him.  He looked back up and his eyes zeroed in on Jordan and they turned to ice. 

“Well, when you don't have this jack ass speaking for you, maybe we could have that talk.  It would be nice to hang out with you again.  But until then, I guess I won't bother.  Later, Mays.”  He swung his guitar around so that it rested on his back and stalked off.

I turned on Jordan, who was still standing there like a damn bodyguard with his arms folded over his chest.  His muscles flexed in a way that made me want to touch them with my mouth.  But that would have to be tabled for later because right now I was really mad.  “He's gone.  Happy?” I asked sharply, going into the apartment.

Jordan followed me and shut the sliding glass door.  “Babe,” he said and reached out to put his hand on my arm.  I tensed under his touch. 

“What was with the alpha posturing back there?  Don't you think you went a little overboard?” I asked, refusing to look at him.  Jordan let out a frustrated breath. 

“Just like you went overboard when you stormed out of my show last weekend?” he reminded me.  Damn him.  He was right.

I looked over my shoulder and he wore an infuriating grin.  “This isn't funny.” I frowned and tried to hold onto my anger.  Jordan shook his head and pulled me into his arms. 

“I'm sorry if I pissed you off.  I'm sorry if I acted like a fucker.  But I'm not sorry for chasing off that pansy ass that used to have what's mine.  Because you're my girl now and I won't have that asshole sniffing around where he doesn't belong.”  I didn't know if I should be thrilled or totally insulted by what he just said.

“Are you serious?” I asked with what I was sure was a stupefied look on my face. 

Jordan sighed and held me tighter.  “You and me, Mays, we're a fucking mess.”  He buried his face in my hair and I finally wrapped my arms around his back. 

“I'm not sure that's a good thing, Jordan,” I said, not being able to stop myself from pressing my nose into the front of his shirt.  I loved his perfect guy smell. 

Jordan pulled back, reaching up to run his fingers through my hair.  “No, it's a fucking
great
thing!  But, we've just got to learn to trust each other.  And to remember that when it comes to you and me, nothing else, and definitely
no one
else matters.”  I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face.  I smacked him in the chest.  

“It is impossible to stay mad at you!” I huffed out. 

Jordan grinned again.  “That's part of my charm, sweetheart.” He pulled me forward and kissed my mouth hard.  I nibbled at his bottom lip and he moaned.  “No, you can't start that.  I have plans for you,” he said as I tried to rub myself up against him. 

“Screw the plans.  Right now, I just want to screw you,” I said crudely.  Jordan laughed in surprise. 

“Damn.  My Maysie has developed a dirty, dirty mouth,” he said, his voice getting husky as he kissed me again.