Roommates (Soulmates #1) (10 page)

Chapter 19: Jenny

I was so relieved when he walked in.

Sure, I was embarrassed that I'd called him in hysterics.

But when he came through those doors, I felt like I could
finally let out the breath I'd been holding since he promised he’d come.

I didn't move while he talked to Ella.

I just sat on the couch, happy to be around people who seemed to
genuinely have my best interests in mind. I could feel Ethan looking over
Ella's shoulder at me as they spoke in hushed tones a few feet away.

Apparently, her husband owned this place, and his son was
Ethan's boss.

That was all news to me. Everything she said was, and once she
realized I wasn't in the mood to do much talking, she just took over, chatting
away as if it were the most normal thing in the world to babysit a strange
woman in your husband's hotel.

She mostly talked about how she knew Ethan and what a good
bartender he was.

She also made me promise that if we ever went to karaoke that I
would make him sing an Elvis song. She said he didn't sing anything like Elvis,
but apparently he’d perfected the moves and was guaranteed to bring the house
down.

It was strange to hear a complete stranger say they'd seen him
be silly. I'd never seen him do a silly thing in my life. On the contrary, he
always seemed so serious it made me feel giddy in comparison, and if the face
he'd been making since he walked in the hotel was anything to go by, he wasn't
about to bust out his hilarious.

Regardless, I needed to get a grip. I'd obviously blown my cover
as a competent woman about town, inconveniencing Ethan's friends to make
matters worse.

Fortunately, I was pretty exhausted from the emotional breakdown
I had after I left the studio, not to mention the hour I walked in circles
after my bleary eyes caused me to lose my way. But I was actually feeling much
better now- or not necessarily better, but tired. And safe at last.

"Come on," Ethan said, extending a hand in front of
me.

"You guys can hang out as long as you want," Ella
said. "Or if you'd rather have some privacy-"

"It's fine," Ethan said. "You've done enough,
thanks."

"Sure." She extended a pack of tissues in my
direction. "It was nice to meet you, Jen."

I took them and smiled at her. She was so pretty. Like a real
princess. "Thanks. You, too."

"I hope to see you again under more pleasant
circumstances."

I nodded and took Ethan's hand, relishing the wave of warmth
that coursed through my body as I stood up. I watched Ella walk away. When I
turned back to Ethan, he was staring at me, his eyes dark and intense.

"What happened?" he asked. "You had me worried
sick."

"I'm sorry." I cast my eyes down. "I just got a
bit upset and then I got lost, and I know I shouldn't have bothered you,
but-"

"Yes, you should've," he said, ducking his head to
catch my eye. "And a lot sooner by the sound of it."

He couldn’t have known how right he was.

"You happy to get out of here?" he asked.

I nodded.

He reached around and set his hand on my lower back.

It felt like an anchor that made the world around me stop
spinning.

As my feet moved across the floor, I hoped people weren't giving
him funny looks. After all, it wasn't his fault I was a hot mess.

When we got outside, he took his keys from the valet, walked over
to the curbside Range Rover, and opened the door for me.

I thanked him with my eyes before climbing in and watching him
walk around the front of the car. 

After he got in, he just sat there for a second. The air in the
car was heavy between us, as if we were the only still things in the whole
city.

"I'm sorry I didn't take you to your audition," he
said. "I should have offered. I wasn't thinking-"

"Don't blame yourself."

He laughed. "I don't want to, but until I know what the
hell happened, I can't help but feel like this is all my faul-"

"It's not."

"Did something happen at the audition?"

A horn sounded behind us and he scowled in the rearview mirror
before pulling out into traffic.

"You could say that."

"Did it not go well?"

I sighed.

"Well?"

I looked out my window. "I blew it.”

He pulled up behind a convertible and flicked his turn signal
on. "Are you sure?"

"Oh, I'm definitely sure."

"How did you blow it?" he asked. "Was it the
kiss?"

I turned and looked at him, my eyes dropping to his lips. A warm
shiver shot up my neck. "No."

He exhaled, his broad shoulders dropping.

"I didn't have to do it."

Half his mouth curled up into a smile.

"What the hell's so funny?"

"Nothing," he said. "It's just nice that you
didn't have to kiss anyone if you weren't going to get the part anyway."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Real nice."

"Any chance you'll get a smaller part?"

I looked out the windshield again. "Zero chance. In fact, I
might never get work in this town at all."

He laughed.

I glared at him.

"Sorry. I assumed you were being dramatic."

"I wish."  

"Are you hungry?"

I looked at him, searching his face for clues as to whether he
was still joking around. "You're serious?"

He shrugged. "I'm kind of hungry."

I let my head fall back against the headrest.

"But if you're too upset to watch me eat-"

"I could use a drink."

He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"No," he said. "Can I take you somewhere for one
or would you rather pick up some Mike's Hard and go back to my place?"

"I don't drink that shit anymore."

"Thank god."

"Just like I assume you don't drink Ice House
anymore."

He laughed. "Not even if it's on special."

I folded my arms. "You know I'm not the sissy teenager I
was when you left, right?"

"And I'm not the adorable rogue you fell for on the bus the
first day you saw me."

I swung my head around and narrowed my eyes at him. "What
did you just say?"

"Or am I?"

"If you're suggesting-"

"What?" he asked, turning the car into a parking
garage.

A smudge of blue paint on the wheel caught my eye.
"Nothing," I said. "You're just trying to get a rise out of me,
and I've had a shitty enough day as it is."

"I'm not after a rise," he said, taking a ticket and
waiting for the striped bar to go up. "To be honest, I'd settle for the
truth."

I groaned and slouched in my seat. "How about you drive and
I drink?"

"Fine," he said. "Save it for your diary."

Chapter 20: Ethan

I never got to see much of Jen’s teenage dramatics so seeing her
in a strop was kind of amusing for me.

However, not knowing what happened was still bothering me, and I
was getting sick of pretending she didn't have to tell me. After all, if it was
something fucking stupid, I'd know to stay calmer next time.

"Ella's nice," she said, reaching for a loaded potato
skin.

I watched her dunk it in a pile of ketchup and scrunched my
face.

"What?"

"Ketchup?" I asked. "On a potato skin?"

She craned her neck back and looked at the part she had left.
"What? It's basically a French fry. Just in a different shape."

I leaned back in the booth and lifted my beer. As I took a sip,
the Texas longhorn skull on the wall overhead edged into my peripheral vision.

"Don't you think?" she asked, stirring her comically
large margarita with the lime slice poking out of it. "About Ella?"

"Yeah, she's great," I said. "Why?"

"Are all the girls who come to the club like her?"

I shook my head. "No. Not even close."

"She said you're more than a regular bartender."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Which explains your whip."

I squinted at her. "Sorry?"

She lifted her margarita with two hands, took a sip long enough
to make the effort worthwhile, and set it back down. "Your car," she
said, licking the salt off her lips.

"I know what a whip is."

"Oh," she said. "Well, it's nice."

"For a bartender, you mean."

"For anybody."

"Thanks," I said, taking a potato skin from my side of
the plate.

"Whereas your place is so small-"

"This is New York."

"I know but-"

"But what?” I asked. “Your invisible place is way bigger?"

"Touché."

"So when are you going to tell me what happened?"

Her eyes fell to the plate between us as she reached for the
last potato skin.

I slid the plate away. "Come on."

"That one's mine," she said. "You already had
your four."

I craned my neck forward. "Yeah, I did. And I drove halfway
across town to pick you up cause you'd cried yourself blind, so if you don't
tell me what happened-"

She rolled her shoulders back and cocked her head. "What?
You’re going to eat my last potato skin?"

Perhaps I hadn't thought my bargaining chip through.

"You can have it," she said.

I groaned and slid the plate back towards her. "I don't
want it. I just want to know what happened today."

"I already told you," she said. "I blew my
audition."  

"And that's why you were so upset?"

She nodded.

"So much for your thick skin."

"So much for thinking you weren't as big of an asshole as I
thought."

"Did you sing out of tune or something?"

"No."

"Jen."

She raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not going to let this go."

She sighed. "If I tell you, do you promise not to make a
big deal out of it?"

I laughed. "I'm sure you made a big enough deal out of it
for both of us."

She clenched her jaw. Then she drained half of what was left in
her trough of tequila.

"Sorry. I don't mean to make light of it. I know today was
important to you."

She looked at me, her eyes glassy. "Promise."

"Sure, whatever. I promise."

"Promise you won't make a big deal out of it."

"Christ. I promise I won't make a big deal out of the big
fucking deal, okay?"

She leaned back on her side of the wooden booth and crossed her
arms.

I took a sip of my beer.

"After my audition, the casting director said he wanted to
see me in his office."

"Uh-huh."

"He's the guy that gets to decide who gets what part."

"Got it."

"Promise you won't tell your dad either."

"No problem. I haven't told him anything since I was thirteen."

She stuck her lower lip out and considered the obvious truth I'd
just told her.

"Go on."

"So at first things were going really well. He told me I
had a lot of potential, and that he thought I could bring a lot of energy to
the part."

"That's good."

"But then things took a weird turn, and he started saying
how it's all who you know and that all the big stars make their own luck."

I nodded.

"And then he touched me." Her voice fell several
decibels. "And he said the only thing standing in between me and getting the
part was…"

"What?"

She glanced down, nodding her head towards her lap.

I craned my neck forward.

"You know." She swallowed and nodded at her lap again.

I shook my head. "No, I don't know."

"He wanted me to-" She gestured towards her lap.

I felt the back of my neck burst into flames.

She kept her eyes on mine.

I could tell by the sadness in her eyes that she was telling the
truth. "He asked you to do that?"