Layover (Open Skies Book 1) Page 15

  “I’m way the fuck past pissed. I’m about to get drunk at The Draft.”

  “Shit. I’ll be there in ten.” Kraft hung up.

  Jason jerked his car door open. He wasn’t sure he wanted company while he nursed his anger, but if anyone was going to join him, he would want it to be Kraft. Hell, he hadn’t even asked the man why he was calling in the first place. He was furious with Libby and on top of that, a shitty friend.

  After grabbing two beers from the bar—both intended for himself—Jason slumped into a booth and downed the first beer in one long drink. It took the edge off just enough that when Kraft walked in, Jason’s heart wasn’t beating quite as fast.

  Kraft immediately slid into the booth across from him and got the waitresses attention, ordering two more beers. “What happened?”

  “I’m an idiot. That’s what happened. Apparently, I didn’t learn a damn thing from Veronica.”

  Kraft winced. “Libby? Surely you don’t mean to tell me that Libby is anything like Veronica.”

  Jason ran a hand through his hair and then took another swig. “Possibly worse.”

  “What did she do?”

  “She has no spine. Not only did she not tell her parents about us still, but she’s fucking dating other men.”

  Kraft’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like Libby at all.”

  Jason gave a sardonic laugh. “Oh, trust me. I’m sure. I saw her. I went to the restaurant where she was currently out with her latest blind date, courtesy of her mother, and saw her with my own fucking eyes. She was even smiling at the guy as if he was the best date she’d been on in months.”

  Kraft winced. “What did she say?”

  “I didn’t give her a chance to talk. I was too angry. And besides, what the hell was she going to say? There was nothing to explain. I caught her with another man. Period.” Jason picked at the label on his beer, tearing it into strips until a pile of curled soaked paper piled up in front of him.

  Kraft looked skeptical, but he didn’t argue the point further.

  “I had a chat with her roommate earlier this evening though. She said she would go out with you. If you want her number, get it from Libby. I’m done with women.”

  Kraft set his elbows on the table. “Christa? The blonde?”

  “Yep.”

  “Okay, let’s return to that subject another time. For now, let’s discuss what you’re going to do about Libby. I know this isn’t casual for you. You’re totally into her. You’ve been a different person since you started dating her. She’s important. Dare I say more important than Veronica ever was.”

  Jason blew out a breath. Kraft was right. He was so screwed.

  Kraft continued, his voice calmer. “I think you need to talk to her. Let her tell her side. At least do that before you toss her into the lake.”

  Jason groaned as he tipped his head back. The second beer was doing its job. He might feel like shit tomorrow, but he didn’t care right now.

  “Why did you come here?” Kraft asked.

  “So she couldn’t find me.”

  “That’s what I figured, which means you think she will try to find you, which tells you she has something to say. You’re hiding.”

  Jason laughed out loud, manically. “Yep. That’s me. Hiding. It’s in both our best interests that I remain in hiding for tonight. If I don’t, I’ll end up saying things I can’t take back.”

  Kraft smiled. “See? If you’re also worried that you might stick your foot in your mouth, that tells me you care.”

  Jason downed the rest of his beer and grabbed Kraft’s second one. “For now, I just want to get drunk. It doesn’t matter if I care or not. I’m done with conniving women who only keep me around as some kind of side toy.”

  Chapter 25

  Libby was a mess by the time she rushed into her condo a few hours later.

  Christa was on the couch watching TV. She jumped up when Libby entered. “Oh my God. What happened?”

  Libby knew she looked awful. She’d been crying. Her face was streaked in tears. Her eyes had to be puffy and red. She dropped onto the sofa next to Christa and started crying yet again. “I fucked up.”

  “Oh shit. Did Jason find you? He came here looking for you. Said he wanted to go to your parents with you. I gave him their address. I’m so sorry if I overstepped.” Christa’s voice wobbled.

  Libby shook her head and wiped at her tears. “Not your fault. This is on me. He could have tracked me with the GPS anyway. He asked me to tell my parents about us repeatedly. I was weak and chicken, so I didn’t do it. I was going to tonight. I meant to. But then my mother sabotaged my evening with another one of her blind dates.”

  “Oh no.” Christa winced.

  “Yeah. He must have gone to my parents’ house first. I bet my mother was more than happy to tell him in her flourishing way that I was on a date and where I was.” Libby grabbed a pile of tissues from the end table and wiped her eyes.

  “Why would you go out with someone else even if you were blindsided?” Christa cautiously asked.

  Libby groaned. “It’s complicated. Javier was in the same boat as me. We decided to commiserate together and share our stories. It was harmless.” Libby sat up straighter. “And I’m furious with Jason for not even letting me explain. He just took off. I ran after him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  Christa cringed. “Can you blame him?”

  Libby shook her head. “No. But I’m still angry. He didn’t trust me.”

  “What happened next? Why are you here instead of groveling?”

  “Because I couldn’t find him. He didn’t go home. I waited for a while outside his house, but he never showed up.”

  “He can’t stay gone forever,” Christa pointed out tentatively. “It’s his home. He probably needed to cool down somewhere before he spoke to you.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m exhausted and pretty angry with myself now, so he can have all the time he wants to cool down. I’m going to bed.” Libby shoved off the couch and stood. She leaned down and hugged Christa. “Thanks for listening. I’m sorry to dump on you.”

  Christa smiled. “Any time. You know that. We’re friends.”

  Libby swiped at another tear. “I know, but…well, thank you.” She turned and shuffled toward the stairs. This was not how she’d imagined her evening ending. Not by a long shot. She’d spent the day imagining arguing with her parents and possibly being kicked out of her childhood home by an irrational mother. In that scenario, she’d pictured ending up in Jason’s bed at the end of the night, probably crying on his shoulder until he calmed her down.

  Libby stripped out of her clothes and pulled on an old T-shirt before turning off the lights and climbing into bed. She curled onto her side and let another wave of tears fall. She was mad at herself for not being more assertive with her mother. She was mad at her mother for being so intolerant and putting Libby in this position in the first place. She was also mad at Jason for being so stubborn that he wouldn’t listen to reason.

  Why does everything have to be so damn complicated?

  Something he’d said came rushing back into her mind. Been there. Done that. Won’t do it again. She wondered what the hell he’d been referring to. It was such a specific thing to say. And it made no sense.

  Libby groaned as she rolled onto her back and remembered everything that had transpired last night. She tossed her forearm over her eyes to block the light coming in from the open blinds that she hadn’t bothered to shut the night before.

  After a few deep breaths, she reached for her phone on the nightstand and found no new texts or calls.

  Shit. She couldn’t decide if the ball was in her court or his right now. After all, he was the one who stormed off and sped away from her while she was trying to explain. Then again, she was the one who had no spine, which caused him to find her in a compromising position in the first place.

  She considered sending him a text and then spent at least fifteen minutes typing and rety
ping words before finally hitting send.

  Can we talk? Please call me.

  She didn’t expect an immediate response. After all, it was early in the morning. He was probably out late and sleeping in. However, an hour later after she’d showered and dressed and had some coffee, she switched from thinking it was too early to thinking he was ignoring her text.

  An hour after that, she was pissed. Fuck him. If he didn’t want to listen to reason, fine. She didn’t need that shit in her life.

  Two hours after that, she decided to go to the grocery store and run a few errands. There was no food in the condo. She still hadn’t eaten yet today, and her stomach was rumbling, but the thought of chewing and swallowing was more than she could handle.

  Christa was in the kitchen grabbing a soda from the fridge when Libby returned with an armload of grocery bags. “Hey,” Christa said softly. “You okay? Did you find Jason?”

  Libby shook her head. “Didn’t even try.”

  Christa’s eyes went wide. “Why not?”

  “I sent him a text first thing this morning asking him if we could talk. He didn’t respond. I get that I’m partly to blame for this fiasco, but if the man won’t even let me explain myself, I’m not going to go over there begging and groveling.”

  Christa cleared her throat. “Maybe you should?” she hedged.

  Libby put the carton of milk in the fridge and turned around. “Nope. Not going to happen. I’ve worked my entire life to be strong and independent. I’m not going to let anyone make me feel like I’m not worth listening to.”

  “When do you work next?” Christa asked as she unloaded one of the bags.

  “Monday afternoon.”

  Christa yanked the bag Libby was holding out of her hands. “Go.”

  “Go where? What are you talking about?”

  Christa pointed to the door. “Go find him. Make this right. Do it now. Don’t spend the next day and a half moping around kicking yourself and him. Face him. Talk to him.”

  Libby rolled her eyes. “Give me one good reason why I should be the one to confront him when he drove away from me last night and didn’t answer my text this morning.”

  “Because you’re in love with him.”

  Libby sucked in a breath, blinking at her friend.

  Christa narrowed her gaze. “Deny it.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Go.” She pointed toward the door again.

  Libby hesitated a few more seconds and then leaned in to hug Christa. “Thank you again.” She grabbed her keys and rushed back out the door.

  Chapter 26

  Jason was sitting on his back deck, nursing his second cup of coffee when movement to the side of his house caught his eye. He jerked his gaze to find Libby entering his backyard through the gate.

  His breath hitched as he watched her body sway with every slow step in his direction. He didn’t say a word, but he was unnerved to realize that even though he was still nursing a solid mad, he was attracted to her.

  She looked chagrined. After taking the two steps up to his deck and sitting on the side of the second lounge chair facing him, she drew in a breath. “You didn’t answer the door but your car was in the driveway, so I thought maybe…” She glanced down at her lap, fisting her hands together.

  He furrowed his brow, reminding himself that she’d treated him badly and nothing she could say would make up for the way she’d behaved. He’d gone over everything that happened last night several times this morning, and in no scenario did she redeem herself.

  She changed the subject. “You didn’t answer my text.”

  He lifted one brow higher. Part of him didn’t feel the desire to even respond to her. “I wasn’t up when you sent it.”

  “You’re up now.”

  “And I’m still too angry to talk to you.” That much was true, though at this point he’d decided it would never subside. “Besides, I don’t have anything to say.”

  She took a deep breath and sat up straighter. “Okay, well, maybe I could talk, and you could just listen.”

  He shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or another.

  “When I got to my parents’ last night, I had a whole speech ready. I promise. And then I opened the front door and there were several people in the living room. My mother had been hounding me to meet her neighbors’ grandson. I’d put her off every time, telling her I had to work or that I was too busy.”

  Jason knew all this. Or he could piece it together.

  “She stepped way over the line this time. Putting me in an awkward position.”

  Jason groaned and dramatically rolled his head back to stare at the sky. She thought she was in an awkward position? What about him?

  “I know. I know. I should have told the entire room that I couldn’t go out with Javier because I had a boyfriend. I should have confronted my mother in front of her neighbors and stood up for myself once and for all. It just all happened so fast. In seconds, she had introduced me to Javier and shoved us out the front door telling Javier I would take him to dinner and show him around town.”

  Jason lowered his head to shoot her with a glare.

  Libby released her hands to pinch the bridge of her nose. “As soon as the door closed, I realized Javier was actually very understanding. He could sense my discomfort. He immediately guessed that I had a boyfriend. And, on top of everything else, it turned out we had a lot in common. His grandparents treat him the same way my parents treat me—as if no person who isn’t Guatemalan will ever be good enough.”

  Jason couldn’t hold back his sarcastic thoughts another moment. “Well, isn’t that just perfect. You two will be so happy together. I wish you all the best.”

  Libby shook her head. “No. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m trying to tell you that it was innocent. I talked to Javier about you and he spoke to me about his previous girlfriend whom he lost when he didn’t put her first. He made me understand that I have to put you first if I really care about you or I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”

  Jason swung around to sit on the side of his lounge chair facing her. His blood was boiling. “You needed to go out with another guy to realize you care about me?”

  Her bottom lip was trembling and she glanced down at her lap again. “No. I didn’t. But I was blindsided, Jason. I didn’t want to cause a scene in front of Javier’s grandparents. We chose to appease them and walk away. I get that you don’t understand how I’m feeling or how much pressure I’m under, but I’m trying.”

  Jason jumped to his feet and started pacing. “You don’t have the first clue what I understand, Libby. I may not have a college degree like you, but I’m not stupid. I’m just some dirty little secret you keep on the side with no intention of ever telling anyone about me. Some dumb guy from Iowa who grew up on a farm and never went to college. Sure, the sex is great, but that’s about it. Why bother to upset your family when you don’t intend to keep me around when the sex gets boring anyway?”

  Libby jerked her head in his direction. “What the hell are you talking about? Dirty little secret? You’re not any such thing. I brag about you to all my friends so often they’re growing tired of me. I didn’t even know you were from Iowa. You’ve never talked about your childhood. I didn’t know you don’t have a college degree either. Nor do I care. Why the hell would that matter to me? When have I ever once insinuated I thought I was better than you?”

  Jason stopped pacing when he realized he wasn’t speaking to Veronica. He was speaking to Libby. Somehow during the last twelve hours, he’d converged the two of them into one person. He ran a hand through his hair and came back to sit facing her, several inches separating them. Silence reigned for several moments before he finally took a deep breath and let it out. “I had a girlfriend three years ago. Her name was Veronica.”

  Libby froze, not saying a word.

  Jason braced himself to share this story, a tale he’d kept buried deep inside most of the time, not wanting to bring it out or confront it. �
�I met her at a bar when I was on leave during the holidays. She seemed sweet and kind and fun, so we started dating.”

  Libby reached out as if to touch Jason’s thigh but then pulled her hand back and gripped her knees.

  “She was rich. Her family owned a department store. Weeks went by and she never once suggested introducing me to her parents or her siblings. Every time I mentioned it, she put me off, saying she didn’t want to waste our time together sharing me with other people.”

  Libby sucked in a sharp breath but didn’t interrupt him.

  He continued, glancing at her fleetingly. “It took me months to realize all I was to her was arm candy. She liked to go out with me because she was attracted to me and she thought we made a cute couple. The sex was good, too.” He at least had the decency to lower his voice as he said that last part.

  “What happened?” Libby whispered.

  “I woke up one morning and wandered into my kitchen to find her on the phone. Her back was to me, and she didn’t hear me approaching. She was talking to her fiancé. Her real boyfriend. The man she intended to marry in six months. The one who was good enough for her and had her family’s approval.”

  Libby pursed her lips. She looked close to tears.

  Jason kept talking. He needed to finish. “When she hung up and spun around, finding me leaning against the table with my arms crossed, she stuttered and then gave me this lame pile of excuses about how much more fun I was and how her regular life was not her own. She pleaded with me to not only continue seeing her but to do so even after the wedding. Totally in secret.”

  “Jesus, Jason. I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you ever tell me all of this?”

  He swiped a palm down his face. “Because it’s humiliating and I try not to think about it.”

  “Except you did think about it…all the time. You worried that what we have would end the same way.”

  “Yes.” She was right.

  “I’m not Veronica, Jason. I don’t have another man I’m secretly seeing on the side. Nothing about you embarrasses me. You’re amazing. You’re smart and hard-working and sexy as hell and you rock my world in the bedroom. I don’t give a single shit about how much education you have. Hell, my degree is downright embarrassing. Nearly everyone I tell gets a laugh at my expense. Who works their ass off to get a liberal arts degree and then goes to flight attendant school?”