Chapter Thirty
“You’re sure about this?” Jeremy asked as he held a bottle of chilled Patron and a bowl of oranges.
“Absolutely.” Jade smiled as she sat across from him on her couch, legs tucked under her as she bounced with anticipation.
She’d done exactly what Chloe advised. She’d gotten herself out of bed and slowly but surely started acting more and more like her old self. Jeremy had been relieved to see the change in her mood and was now convinced Chloe was a magical person akin to the Easter Bunny or Merlin the Magician. Jade kind of thought the same.
Although she still suffered from severe moments of sadness almost too heavy to survive, she pushed the melancholy thoughts away and focused on the positive. She allowed herself time to cry, alone in bed at night, but maintained as normal of a life as she could manage during the waking hours of her day.
It was a battle. Acceptance started when she stopped expecting others to understand her experience the way she did. Every day she reminded herself not to penalize her friends for their lack of trauma, which was the spiral she’d almost fallen into. This was no more her friends’ fault than her own and it was ludicrous to misplace the blame. Thanks to Chloe, she understood that now and was progressing toward a balanced, hopefully normal, state of mind.
Jeremy poured the smooth, crystal liquid into two tiny shot glasses and passed her an orange. “What should we toast to?”
“Life. That we never let the ugly parts overshadow the good.”
They raised their glasses and clinked them together. The fiery liquid tickled her tongue as the silky, cool flavor of tequila ran down her throat, seeping deep into her belly, warming her from the inside out. Her face puckered and she laughed as Jeremy flinched at the taste.
Her teeth sank into an orange, the juicy fruit soothing the delicious burn. With jagged motions, Jeremy did the same and gasped. “That’s terrible.”
“Only the first one,” she promised, tipping the bottle over their empty glasses. “The second shot’s easier and the third’s a breeze.”
As a self proclaimed beer and whiskey man, Jeremy did his best to abide the tart selection, keeping pace with her shot for shot. Tonight was about meeting her resolution to get very, very drunk.
As the evening progressed, their coordination suffered. Her worries faded with the passing of her inhibitions, and laughter fell from her lips, cleansing her soul as she reacquainted herself with old pastimes.
Sliding to the floor, she flipped through her iPod. “Oooh! Beyoncé!” Cranking the stereo, she jumped to her feet and clutched her microphone—a.k.a. the half empty bottle.
Her blood pumped as she gyrated to the fast beat. The world blurred and her lips stretched over her grin as she mouthed the words to Crazy Love. She let go.
Somewhere in the midst of their mortifying dance-off, she had a moment of hope. Jeremy still loved her. Not every relationship could survive such excruciating circumstances, but theirs had.
Twirling and giggling, she stumbled into his arms. He caught her and laughed as the music changed to yet another great song. They talked, danced, ate, talked some more, but most of all, they laughed, which was perhaps the medicine she needed most. It had been too long since she truly let herself go and it was magical, traveling there with Jeremy.
Jeremy chuckled as she swung her tight, little ass in his face. Parking the bottle on the coffee table, uncaring of the orange peels that littered the floor, she turned the volume up and reached for him.
She danced like a cat on speed and he perfectly content to be her scratching post. Fisting the neck of the bottle, she tipped it to his mouth. Adjusted to the sour taste, he swallowed back a swig. The song changed, this one heavy and fast, rattling the dainty decorations she’d posed on a shelf.
“Do you know how much I love you?” she shouted.
It couldn’t be more than he loved her. “How much?”
“Like this much.” She held out her arms and stumbled, but he caught her wrist and pulled her flush to his front.
Tugging her closer, he held her ass and brushed his lips to hers. “That so?”
“Oh, it’s so,” she slurred and he laughed.
Scooping her into his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist. “Well, I love you more.” He stole the first passionate kiss they’d shared in ages, as the rhythmic music filled the room.
Liquor-diluted blood thrummed through his veins and his body swelled. “I’ve missed you.”
Half lidded eyes studied him as he drew back and swayed at a pace incongruent to the fast song playing. “That’s why I love you, Jeremy. You only miss me when I’m gone. You never give up on me.”
Giving a slight shake of his head, he promised, “I can’t give up on you, Jade. I care too much that you’re happy.”
Her forehead pressed to his. “You make me happy.”
“You make me happy too.”
As an old Elvis classic came on, he chuckled. “And here I thought you only had shitty music on your iPod.”
She gasped. “My music is not shit. You take that back right now.”
“Fine. But this—this—is what I consider music.” He swayed, holding her to him, his focus drowning in her gaze as her legs clung to his hips.
“I can’t help falling in love with you, Jade Schultz,” he whispered.
“I was always afraid of falling,” she confessed, her breath ticking his neck as she rested her head on his shoulder. “But with you, I know you’ll catch me.”
“If you fall… I’ll always catch you.”
She hummed and pressed a kiss just below his ear. The romantic tune ended and some fast nightmare blared. He winced.
“What. Is. This?”
Her shoulders shook as she laughed and slid down his body until her feet touched the floor. Swaying as if the horns played for her the way a snake charmer plays for its serpent, she became a siren, a temptress, a woman he’d never be able to resist. He smiled as she pulled him into the rhythm, easily the sexiest girl he’d ever watched dance.
“You know what I want?” she yelled.
“What?”
“Bacon.”
Snorting, because that was not what he expected her to say, he laughed. “You want bacon? Now?”
Holding her hand over her mouth as if divulging a big secret, she shouted, “I only eat it when I’m drunk. But it’s soooooo good. We should make some bacon!” She cranked the stereo to the max volume, took his hand, and they congaed to the kitchen.