Page 102 of We Drank the Dawn

Immediately, I backed to my doorway and reached for the handle. I pushed my front door open and glanced back just in time to see Jackie stepping out of the passenger’s seat. She laughed. “Hey! It’s just us.”

Us?

She hadn’t told me she was bringing someone else to dinner.

I turned, making my way down the front walkway to the car. Jackie wore black pants and boots and a slouchy white tank top.

Jackie stepped forward and held out her arms to hug me. I went into them and hugged her back. “Whose car is this?”

“Well,” she tipped her head to the side, “I actually have a boyfriend now.”

“Oh! When did this happen?”

“Just a few days ago. So, it’s pretty new and he wanted to hang out tonight. I hope it’s alright that I invited him along.”

“Sure,” I said but struggled to hold my smile. “Where’d you meet him?”

“Tinder, actually. We’ve been talking online for a couple weeks and met up for the first time last weekend.” She opened the front passenger’s door again and pulled a lever on the seat to push it forward, providing the tiniest gap for me to squeeze through to get into the back.

I hesitated with indecision. Should I drive on my own?

I didn’t want to sit in the backseat, and I didn’t know this guy. What if they wanted to stay out later than I did? My first massage was at the fitness club at seven in the morning. But, hating to be rude after they came to pick me up, I slipped through the gap and adjusted my knees away from the back of Jackie’s chair as it slid into place and made me feel claustrophobic. I had to practically sit sideways.

Jackie plopped in and called over her shoulder. “Sarah, this is Andre.”

Andre lifted his gaze and looked at me through the rearview mirror. His hazel eyes held mine for a fraction of a second before turning to his gear stick and pushing the car in reverse. He had short, cropped hair and wore a leather jacket. A diamond stud pierced his ear and a tattoo stretched over the back of his neck. For reasons I didn’t understand, my skin prickled. I didn’t like him. At all.

“Nice to meet you, Sarah.” His voice was silky. “Thanks for letting me join in.”

I wanted to tell him I didn’t let anything, but held my tongue for Jackie’s sake.

She turned in her seat to look at me. “So, I know we were talking about going to that winery, but I think I have a better idea. Want to hear it?”

My heart churned with anxiety. “Sure.”

“So, not too far away is this courtyard type thing where there are a lot of food vendors, an outdoor bar, live music, and dancing. And we can all choose whatever type of food we want. I’ve never been there but Andre goes all the time and he says it’s awesome. Do you want to try it?”

It took all my self-control to hold back an indignant snort. At least I was being asked about this change of plans. Couldn’t she see I was dressed for a winery? I had a flowing teal skirt and white turtleneck sweater. By the time we ordered food, the temperature would steadily drop and it would get cold outside. Plus, I’d been on my feet all day and didn’t want to stand in line at a food truck. I wanted to plop into a quiet booth and nibble bread and sip wine while I waited for a medium-well steak that I would eat with A1 sauce and a buttery potato.

I opened my mouth to say no, but stopped short when I realized that Jackie was basically the only person I had in my life at the moment. Last night, she’d gone to that fancy rooftop club with me and she’d called and texted to check in on me every day. She’d even showed up at my house and stocked my freezer with Ben and Jerry’s despite me insisting that I didn’t need break-up ice cream. She had been a really good friend when I’d needed one and I hated to do something that would put us at odds.

For all of Jackie’s quirks, she was an invested sister and took an active role in the Thompson family. Genuinely, I was thankful. And also concerned? Because Andre smelled weird and gave me the creeps. Maybe I could return all her kindness by watching out for her tonight.

Forcing a smile, I said, “That sounds great.”

Jackie gave a soft squeal of excitement and turned back to face the road as Andre whipped his car out of the driveway.

I balanced a flimsy container of Thai food on my lap, trying hard not to let the curry sauce dribble onto my skirt as I shoveled angry bites into my mouth. Thai cuisine would never be my first choice, but it was the food vendor with the shortest line which I assumed meant it would have the fastest service. Boy, was I wrong. I waited at the counter for my food for twenty-five minutes, and by the time I sat down with Jackie and Andre, they were over halfway done with their dinner and on their second round of drinks.

We were situated on tiered paths with benches that faced an outdoor stage where an extremely sub-par band covered country songs about beer and hook-ups. We just so happened to visit this venue on a western night and everywhere I looked there were cowboy hats, glittering belt buckles, and bedazzled boots. It was funny to me to watch all these city folks pretend to be cowboys.

When they sang All My Exes Live In Texas, I thought of Peter’s phone numbers and accidentally stabbed my fork through the bottom of the styrofoam to-go box as the lyrics cycled through women’s names. Chasing my dinner around, I stabbed another hole, pouring my rage onto an innocent piece of baby corn.

The three of us made a little small talk but the volume of the music made it hard to converse. Not that I really wanted to talk to them anyway. Jackie had had many boyfriends over the years. Her black cat vibes typically attracted super nice guys though and, of the ones I got to meet, my favorite was Henry. I cried when he broke up with her a couple years ago. Of course, Jackie brushed it off and acted like their split was no big thing, but based on the fact that she hadn’t dated anyone for longer than two weeks ever since made it look like she still had feelings for him.

Andre had his hands all over Jackie, constantly touching her lower back and possessively curling his arm around her. When they finished their dinner, his hand slid up her thigh, dangerously close to touching between her legs. I wanted to throw my Thai food at his face. What was Jackie thinking, letting him get that close to her? My mind was blown.

Peter and I waited so long to touch and kiss each other that the idea of a guy encroaching on my upper thigh after knowing him only days sent anxiety skittering through my chest. Granted, maybe I was comparing apples to oranges because Peter and I were kids at the time. I was fifteen when Peter gave me my first kiss and we weren’t intimate until much later.