Thursday Nights (The Charistown Series) (24 page)

The water from the shower snapped off, then, and Max realized that he was still standing in the hallway with his hand on the doorknob.

Dazed, disturbed, and a little disappointed in himself, he walked back to the kitchen feeling less like the man in his fantasy and more like the coward he realized he had become. But nothing had changed. Trust wasn’t possible for him. He thought Chloe loved him, and he thought he loved her, but really she was pulling his strings like the puppet master she was, and when she was bored she found new puppets to play with until she was ready to come back to him for more. He was nothing more than her prop, a lap dog, a fool.

Max looked down at the chicken he was pounding.
I hope they like their chicken breast thin
, he thought.

You’d Better Be

Dressed in skinny jeans and a pink tank top, Janie whirled around her apartment making sure there were beer in the fridge and napkins on the table. The house smelled delicious by the time the group started to arrive, and she had to admit, Max really was helpful.

“Okay, Max, it didn’t suck having you here to help,” she joked. He didn’t need to know that she had a small moment of weakness in the shower where she let one or two or twenty tears fall. She loved him, and she wasn’t going to apologize for it. She couldn’t help being emotional; it’s who she was. But she was beginning to realize crying didn’t mean she was weak because every day Janie was getting stronger. She was committed to moving on, and each day would get easier.

A knock sounded on the door, but there wasn’t time to answer it because Ashley and Ryan just walked right in carrying cookies and wine.
Family.
Janie smiled to herself.
So this is what it feels like
.

“All I’m asking is, when you are ‘entertaining,’ that you be a little more thoughtful of the time. There is no reason why I need to hear that you are a ‘god’ until five in the morning,” Ashley complained.

Ryan smirked. “Sorry, Ash, I can’t help that I make the ladies happy.”

Max gave Ryan a high five, and venom spewed from Ashley’s hazel eyes. “Do
not
encourage this behavior, Max DeLucca.”

Janie looked at Ashley and caught something in the other woman’s face. She had seen that look before. Ashley left Ryan and Max at the door and walked over to Janie.

“You okay?” Janie whispered.

Ashley rolled her tense shoulders.“Whatever. He’s a free man, right?” Then she walked into the kitchen for a beer.

Danny and Julie arrived next, with cheesecake and brownies, Janie’s favorite. When the door opened again shortly after, the entire apartment went silent as Lyla walked in with Kyle in tow.

“What’s up, people?” Lyla greeted. No one said a word. Kyle looked almost bashful as he nodded his greeting. Danny smiled and clapped him on the back.

“Look,” Lyla addressed the room. “Kyle, here, can be an ass. That is no surprise. He said horrible, hateful things last week. We talked. He knows his words can never be undone, and he knows that it was his one fuck-up. It’s done. It’s over. So, let’s move on, shall we?”

With Lyla letting Kyle off the hook, everyone else had no other choice, so Sunday dinner went back to its formally peaceful state. Lyla went into the kitchen to grab a drink, and the rest of the women followed her.

“Are you really okay with this?” Janie asked. Lyla sent Janie a look so quick that no one else would have ever noticed it. It told Janie that Lyla was still hurting from last week, but that she was trying to get past it. “I want the full story later, Ly, you got it?” Lyla nodded her affirmative, and Janie couldn’t help but smile proudly. This was a huge step for Lyla.

“So, now that we’re huddled in the kitchen,” Julie quietly asked. “How was your date last night?” All eyes went to Janie. She felt her cheeks warm under the scrutiny.

“You know what? It was really nice, and—”

Before she could finish her thought, all the women echoed an “ohhh.”

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” Janie asked defensively.

“‘It was really nice’ is the equivalent of ‘she has a good personality,’ or ‘no, size doesn’t matter, it’s how you use it that counts,’” Lyla said. All four women busted out laughing until a little snorting followed.

Ryan came in to the kitchen. “Everything all right in here?” he asked.

“Yes! Get out, Ryan,” Ashley said with a little more bite than humor.

“That is the next topic up for discussion,” Janie said through her hiccups. Ashley gave her a scathing look.

“Anyway,” Janie continued. “It was more than nice. He is really hot—in fact he’s beautiful to look at. We had dinner and cocktails on State Street––”

“I’ll bet you had
cock
tails!” Lyla snorted at her own joke, and laughter peeled out of the women again.

“Ly, stop. I’m trying to tell you he was a real gentleman. We talked. I mean, we really
talked
—about so many things. He even discussed his past with me. You know, ex-girlfriends, old drama, the works. I mean, my God, you-know-who is shut so tight I don’t know if he was born or hatched, but
Owen
…he
wants
to share with me.”

“This all sounds…wholesome.” Sarcasm dripped from Lyla’s upturned lips. “But did you kiss him?”

“Lyla! You are a piece of work!” Ashley ran her fingers through the newly dyed purple streaks in her sun-kissed blonde hair. “So…did you kiss him?”

“I’m not one to kiss and tell,” Janie said demurely.

“Yeah, right! But you are obviously one to lie like a fucking rug! So spill it!”

Leave it to Lyla to call me on my bullshit.

“Yes, okay, we kissed. He even asked my permission—it was really sweet. The kiss was kind of hot and sexy, though.” The smile that painted Janie’s lips was genuine.

“Are you going out with him again?” Julie asked, an eyebrow raised.

“He already asked, and I already accepted,” Janie beamed.

While the ladies were in the kitchen, the guys were in the family room razzing on Kyle.

“I can’t believe you had the balls to talk to her face-to-face,” Ryan teased.

“Don’t be an ass, Ryan. He owed her at least that. I’m proud of you, son,” Danny announced.

Kyle, drinking only water, lifted his bottle. “To Lyla. I don’t know what she does when she’s not with us, but thank God she doesn’t keep swords in her house.” Kyle looked thoughtful for a moment and then added to his toast, “at least not ones that she has unpacked yet.” The four men laughed and lifted their drinks to Lyla.

“So,” Ryan interjected. “Speaking of our ladies of myst—”

“We were talking about Lyla,” Max cut him off.

“Right, and now I’m talking about Janie. What were you doing here so early? You’re never the first person here on Sunday.”

Max flipped his middle finger at Ryan and then addressed the guys.

“Well, dipshit over here went to talk to Lyla, so I thought Janie could use some help with dinner prep.” Max didn’t tell them that he had been with her earlier—they would never let that tasty little morsel drop, so he kept it to himself. Besides, no one but Danny knew his true feelings for Janie, and he had no intention of explaining that being with her was the only time he was truly happy.

Max was so stuck in own thoughts that he missed the conversation turn.

“I know—Ashley’s probably getting the scoop right now.” Ryan smiled to a nodding Danny and Kyle.

“What did you say? I totally missed it.”

Kyle huffed. “And you guys think I’m fucked up. Pay attention, Max. We were just talking about Janie’s date last night.”

Max felt his stomach drop like a cinderblock. With the remaining air left in his tightening lungs he managed to squeeze out a “What?”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “Ashley went to Lyla’s house yesterday to help with unpacking so that Janie could get ready for her date. Apparently some teacher from her school.”

Max looked over at Danny, who shrugged his shoulders. Max quickly shot up off the couch and headed for the door.

“Where you going?” Ryan asked.

“Just for some air,” Max answered. “I’ll be back before dinner.”

As he closed the apartment door he heard Danny’s gravelly voice. “You’d better be.”

The women came out of the kitchen with smiles and drinks for everyone. Janie looked around for Max, but he wasn’t there.

“He had to run out for a minute. He’ll be right back,” Danny answered Janie’s unasked question. “So, tell us about your date, honey.”

Janie felt her eyes go wide. They all knew she went out last night?
Oh no
.
Is that why Max left?
She could feel her cheeks grow warm with irritation—he didn’t want her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either?
Nice, Max. Nice
. The thought was immediately followed up with,
Narcissistic much, Janie?

Janie shook off her inner monologue. “I went out with a co-worker. We’ve been hanging out at school for the past week, and he asked, so I accepted.” Janie looked around the room. All eyes were pasted on her. “He is really handsome and kind and sweet. Danny, you would like him. He’s not a douche at all.”

Danny let out a deep belly laugh. “Good, honey. I’m glad!”

“We had dinner, and he didn’t even make me pay the tip,” she joked. “We’re going out again—”

Before Janie could finish her statement, Max reentered her apartment. The room went silent for a brief second before Lyla announced that dinner was ready. The group went to the table, the quiet a bit uncomfortable, and sat down to eat.

Max was tense. His head hurt and his teeth ached, but he couldn’t seem to lessen the clamp of his jaw. It presented a slight problem in regards to eating, but Max wasn’t concerned about that just then. He had setup the rules, he reminded himself. He had refused her.
It’s not you, it’s me
, he’d told her. He couldn’t now keep her from dating. He wasn’t being fair, and he knew it. He knew that he had no claim to her, but hearing Kyle and Ryan discuss Janie’s love life made Max want to vomit. So that’s what he had done. He’d gone outside and puked his guts up. Then he went to the pharmacy and got some mouthwash before coming back. The whole thing was like a knife through his gut, and now he was bleeding out with no one to blame but himself.

As he sat, he watched as his family—the one he had by choice—sit around the table and eat dinner together. They laughed at each other’s jokes and called one another out on their bullshit. This was the life he had dreamed of when he and Chloe first started dating. He’d thought they would have a house full of friends and family. He thought they would share dinners and holidays, and when he couldn’t be with his family of blood, he would be with his family of choice. But she gave him nothing and took everything.

“Max, you don’t look well. Are you okay?” Janie asked.

He stared wordlessly for a second as he looked at her face.
The face of an angel
, he thought.
An angel who had a date last night and spent the whole day with you and never bothered to mention it
. He could feel the bile rising in the back of his throat.

“You know what, Jane,” Max said weakly. “I really don’t feel well. I’m gonna head home. I’ll see you all later.” Max got up and gave the table a wave and a head nod before walking out of Janie’s apartment.