Dave: Junior Year (Three Daves #2) Page 7

  “How are you enjoying college?”

  “One year left, huh?”

  “What do you plan to do after school?”

  “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  “No? A pretty girl like you? What’s wrong with those boys?”

  “Don’t worry, the right one will come along.”

  “That’s right. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.”

  The most recent line of questioning struck a nerve just as Jen’s last drink kicked in. She took another swig from her glass and slammed it back down on the table, harder than she’d intended. She glared at the glass, thinking to herself, “What I want to know is, how many toads’ dicks do I have to suck on before I find him?”

  When she looked up, she was surprised by the stricken looks on the faces of the middle-aged women she’d just been chatting with. They were all gape-mouthed and staring straight at her.

  Oh, no. Had she said that out loud? How many toads’ dicks do I have to suck on? Oh, no. Ohnonononononono! She tried to form a sufficient apology in her mind, which unfortunately had decided the whole thing was very funny. Stupid freakin’ vodka.

  She was rescued by a low rumble that marked the beginning of her Aunt Lou’s distinctive laugh. Jen felt a rush of warmth for her godmother as her barking laugh came on full force. Jen giggled and slapped her a high five. The ladies across the table tried to cover their horror with weak smiles while they exchanged covert, judgmental glances.

  ***

  Jen was greeted the next morning by the now familiar headache she’d begun to think of as her dependable sidekick. It remained as a dull ache when she climbed into her parents’ SUV for the long ride back to CIU. The ride seemed even longer as she tried to nurse her hangover without giving her dad any clue she had one. The hours spent slouched in the passenger seat staring through the window at cornfields gave her time to think—not something she particularly wanted to do.

  She couldn’t get the picture of her mother’s friends’ shocked faces out of her mind. What must they think of her? Jen had a pretty good guess. Their expressions had been a blend of pity, disgust, and an assurance that America’s youth was paving a direct road to hell. They weren’t looks Jen liked having directed at her. Would she ever be able to change their opinions of her? Could she change her opinion of herself? She was going to try. With a deep sigh, she resolved to say goodbye to the hangover headache for a while.

  Jen arrived at Netherfield Park Apartments with a new attitude and a new sense of purpose. She’d stop getting wasted every time she went out and would clear her mind of any and all romantic ambitions. She’d also refocus on her studies and find a summer internship. She didn’t need a boyfriend to give her life purpose.

  Jen didn’t have to look far to reinforce her conviction that romantic relationships were a bad idea. Over break, Jake had come right out and told Kate he wanted to be free to see other people while he was in England. He’d told her she should do the same. She’d resigned herself to it, but walked around in a glum fog. All those weekends spent running to Chicago to be with her boyfriend didn’t seem to have done Kate any good

  Tom started coming around the apartment again, but he brought a strained tension with him, and he never stayed long. Maria usually became misty-eyed and found an excuse to disappear into her room soon after he left. The formerly doting boyfriend wasn’t doing her much good, either.

  Chapter 9

  Late in the semester, Jen went out with Marcy and other friends from the business school to celebrate the internships they’d landed. Jen’s was unpaid at a mid-size advertising agency in the city. She’d taken the train to Chicago for an interview a couple of weeks earlier.

  Feeling like mature, responsible contributors to society, the new internees kept their celebration tame. They sat around a table near the window at Quarters—probably the one Chris had been dancing on at the beginning of the school year, Jen thought—sipping their drinks at a respectable pace and musing about whether anything they’d learned at CIU would be applicable in the real world. About midway through the evening, Jen excused herself from the table and headed to the bathroom. It was early in the week, so the bar wasn’t as crowded as usual. On her way, she noticed Dave sitting alone along the bar.

  She averted her gaze and kept walking. When she reached the bathroom, she was surprised to find that her heart didn’t race the way she’d expected it would if she ever saw him again—there was no pang of regret over losing him, not even any anger. All she felt was a mild curiosity to see how he’d react if she approached him.

  On her way back to the table, she took the route that caused her to walk close to the bar. Dave looked up at her before she got to him. The bruises and cuts that had decorated his face the last time she’d seen him were gone, and she once again gazed upon physical perfection.

  His lips spread into his devastating smile. “Hey, Gigi. What’s up?”

  Jen smiled, too, happy to be reinstated as Gigi. “Good to know you remember who I am.”

  Something in his expression changed ever so slightly. Was that a twinge of remorse she’d seen flash through his eyes? “How could I forget you, Gige?” He wrinkled his nose. “Guess I was kind of an ass to you, huh?”

  “More than kind of.” She nodded and chewed the inside of her cheek, wondering what to do next—be cool and walk away or make polite chit chat to prove she was over him?

  While she debated, Dave glanced around and asked, “You Vidless tonight?”

  “What? Oh, David. He’d never come here. I’m actually shocked to see you here.”

  “Me? I go wherever the wind blows…and wherever the whiskey shots are half price.” He raised his glass and spun on his stool so that his lean, panther-like body faced her. Resting both elbows on the bar, he narrowed his sparkling, green eyes at her. “What’s with you and Viddy-boy, anyhow?”

  She scrunched her brow. “What do you mean?” She hadn’t seen David since the night he’d walked her home.

  Dave opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it. He shrugged and downed his shot. After swallowing, he exhaled the fumes and said, “I just think someone ought to tell him he’s not your big brother.”

  Jen thought that after the lessons in his dorm room a year earlier, David knew very well that the two of them were in no way blood relatives, but when she thought about it, brother-sister was probably what their relationship had developed into during the past year. And David was a pretty damned good big brother. Something in Dave’s sneer told Jen that he, on the other hand, wasn’t a fan of “Viddy-boy” at the moment.

  “Are you two rooming together next year?” she asked, fishing for details on what the problem might be.

  “Next year? No way—I’m shipping out at the end of the month.”

  “That’s right. You’re a super-senior. Congratulations on finally graduating.”

  “Graduating might be too strong of a word for it, but either way, I’m outta here. Besides, Vid’s getting a place with Ellie.”

  “Really?” Jen shouldn’t have been surprised by this bit of news, but she was.

  “Care to make this sailor’s last days memorable?” Dave asked, lowering his seductive eyelids and twitching a corner of those delicious lips. The tip of his boot tickled along the side of her calf. “I may not make it back alive.” His last statement came out as a deep, sensual growl.

  He’d proven what a charming, manipulative jerk he could be, and yet she felt a cascade of tingles up her arms and in the pit of her stomach at the idea that he still wanted her. She tightened her jaw, forcing a casual smile, and patted his shoulder. “It was nice seeing you again, Dave. Enjoy the whiskey.”

  She turned and went to her friends, walking tall—and only half acknowledging that one reason she’d left him so quickly was because she was afraid to give his superpowers a chance to work on her again.

  ***

  Talking about David had made Jen realize how much she missed him. For the last sever
al weeks, she’d kept an eye out for him in all the usual places, but he’d never turned up. She thought about calling him, but with him and Ellie getting serious enough to move in together, she wasn’t sure that wan an okay thing to do. Jen understood her relationship with him was brother-sister, but Ellie might not.

  Meanwhile, Maria and Tom found their way back to each other. Jen would’ve described them as back to normal, but there was a definite difference. Maria was more attentive to Tom—greeting him at the door with a peck on the cheek instead of simply shouting for him to come in, always touching him in subtle, affectionate ways. She looked at her boyfriend with a new glimmer of devotion, and Jen realized there’d been an upside to Tom discovering the truth, after all.

  During the week of finals, Jen sat at the kitchen table with the two of them, studying. From their seats opposite each other, Maria and Tom locked into a long, amorous gaze. Jen tried to ignore it, but the heat from their stares practically crackled. She was relieved when they looked back at their books, but a few minutes later, they leered at each other again. Filled with a sudden and overwhelming need to get away from them, Jen hopped up from the table and walked away, grabbing her phone. Neither of them seemed to notice.

  Without giving herself time to think about what she was doing, she shut the door to her bedroom and pressed David’s number. She couldn’t leave for summer break without at least talking to him one more time. “Hi, stranger!” she chirped as soon as he said hello.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Not much. Just taking a study break.”

  “Well then, I guess I will, too.”

  “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to wreck your mojo. We can talk later.”

  “No. Just give me a second.” Jen stayed quiet, waiting for him to speak again. A few moments later, he said. “Sorry. I was in the stacks. The librarians are Nazi’s about quiet areas during finals.” After a pause, his voice took on a note of hesitation. “How are you doing?”

  Jen knew he was referring to the Dave situation. “I’m fine, David. I saw him last week.”

  Dead silence followed from David’s end.

  “Not like that,” Jen rushed to add. “We ran into each other by accident at Quarters. We talked for a little bit, and then he propositioned me, and I walked away.”

  “Smart girl.” David’s tone was bitter.

  “Is everything okay between you and him?” she asked.

  “Doesn’t matter now. He skipped town two days ago.”

  “He’s not even taking finals?”

  “Wasn’t much point to it.”

  David’s clipped answers inspired Jen to change the subject. “Guess what—I have an internship this summer in the city.”

  “Nice!”

  Jen told him more about her job, and David filled her in on his plans for the summer. CIU had received a special grant for the science department and he was staying on campus all summer to work on the research project it would fund. He didn’t mention anything about getting a house with Ellie, and Jen didn’t ask about it.

  Before they hung up, David thanked her for the study break. “Wait—I thought you didn’t call boys.”

  “Well, it’s not like you’re a real boy, anymore,” Jen teased. “At least not to me.”

  David let out a small grunt that may have been a laugh. “That’s right. Just call me Pinocchio.”

  “Pinocchio.”

  As she hung up, Jen had a flicker of a wish for a blue fairy who could turn David into a real, datable boy for her. She brushed it off as a leftover yearning from the “what if” days. He had Ellie now, and Jen’s life was too full for a boyfriend. Besides, they were better as friends. And yet…

  A Peek inside David’s Head

  During Chapter 3 of Dave: Junior Year

  (Three Daves, Part 2)

  Dave comes across the warehouse with Jen. “Look at your girl, Vid! Doesn’t she look amazing in leather?”

  Jen is blushing furiously, and she looks ridiculously cute in Dave’s stupid jacket. Why does it have to be Dave? I can see by the way he looks at her and keeps a possessive arm around her shoulders that he’s into her—for the moment. She’s not going to be able to resist that. No girl ever can.

  Ellie says, “Ooh, yeah. I’ve got a thing for leather. What do you say, Jenny?” She leans toward Jen like she’s going to kiss her. She’s pissed because of something I said the other day.

  We were playing “First Thing that Comes to Your Mind.” She asked me, “If you could have one free pass to sleep with whoever you want with absolutely no consequences, who would it be?”

  The rules are don’t think, just say, so I said, “Jen Whitney.”

  Ellie got cranky after that. Apparently I was supposed to say the name of a movie star or some other mythical creature. I didn’t know famous people were fair game. But even if I had, I’d probably still have said Jen. We had great chemistry.

  I wonder if Jen can even realize exactly how good we were together since she’s never been with anyone else. Of course, Ellie has no idea Jen and I have already slept together. That’s none of her business. That’s nobody’s business but mine and Jen’s.

  I don’t think Ellie is going to actually kiss her, but you never know how far she’ll take her vengeance. Jen jerks her head away from Ell and looks at me with panic in her eyes.

  I grab Ellie’s arm and tell her to knock it off.

  Ellie’s still being a snot. She shoots me daggers and shrugs. “Guess she’s not into it.”

  Dave wheels Jen around, and they start moving toward the bar. He calls back, “You’re such a freak, Ellie.”

  Ellie bristles at Dave’s comment and is probably pissed that I don’t defend her, but what can I say when he makes a good point? I watch them walk away and feel an unexplained satisfaction that in Jen’s panic, she looked to me for help, not Dave.

  ***

  I clench my jaw and stare at the black, glossy windshield, trying not to listen to the slurping noises coming from the backseat of the packed car. There’s nothing I can do about it. Jen’s a big girl and makes her own decisions.

  But Dave? Why does it have to be Dave?

  God, that sucked when he asked me for her number. But what was I supposed to do? Ellie was sitting there, glaring at me. I had to give it to him. Besides, what right did I have to keep that from him? It’s not like Jen isn’t ever going to date a few jerks. I certainly wasn’t any prince.

  But why does it have to be Dave?

  She must’ve detached her mouth from his because he groans out to Jason to take them to our place. My heart stops. But Jen’s quick to assert that she’ll be going back to her apartment. Good for her. She’s not going to fall into Dave’s seductive trap. I realize I’m smiling when Ellie gives me an odd look.

  We get to Jen’s building and Dave doesn’t even get out of the car to walk her to her door. What an asshole. I’m so proud of Jen, though. If she’s able to resist Amazing Dave, she’s going to be okay.

  With her gone and off of Dave, the air in the car is thinner, breathable. I turn and look at Ellie. She smiles and nuzzles into me. She feels nice. Ellie’s like a cat. Independent, sleek, and aloof. She has sharp claws, but she has her soft side, too.

  And Ellie is tough as nails. She flares, but she’s made of stone and can’t be burned. I know anything bad I do to her might piss her off, but it won’t hurt her, not really. Jen acts strong; Jen is strong, but Jen can also break. I watched her break last year. Even while she put up all that armor against me, I watched her break. I didn’t like it, and I won’t do it again.

  If Dave breaks her, I will break him.

  Without realizing it, I’ve returned my gaze to the window. Ellie turns my face back toward her and touches her lips to my chin. She wants to have sex tonight. Who am I to say no? We’ve been sleeping together since day one, which I was all for, but it’s strange. It’s like it isn’t much more than kissing to us. At this point, I don't think that's going to change. No matter how long we’r
e together, sex with her will never be more than taking care of physical urges. Tonight that thought strikes me as sad. Even though Jen and I had only been engaging in lessons, it’d always felt like it meant something. Something neither of us ever wanted to talk about.

  Ellie runs her hand slowly, seductively down my arm. I’ll take her home and I’ll make love to her…and I’ll try not to think about Jen.

  Preview of Big D: Senior Year

  (Three Daves, Part 3)

  Chapter 1

  Jen entered her senior year at Central Illinois University with something new to put on her resume. Thanks to her summer internship, she now had tangible experience at making corporate coffee and waiting in line for the copy machine. She joked with her roommates about how invaluable these new skills would be when she took the marketing world by storm after graduation. Only one more year at CIU.

  She, Kate, and Maria had renewed their lease at Netherfield Park Apartments. Kate expected to be around more on weekends since her boyfriend Jake was in England for his semester-long law program. They’d decided to be non-exclusive while he was away, so she was free to date other guys for the first time since starting college.

  Now that Jen was a senior, she could no longer put off taking U.S. Government and History. It was a graduation requirement. Her dread turned to delight when she walked into class on the first day and saw David sitting alone at the back of the room. His dark brown eyes sparked when they fell on her, and he grinned.

  His hair was shaved close on the sides now, but the top was still long, giving him a hipster look. He combed his hand through his thick bangs, brushing them off his forehead. For the first time in a while, Jen could see his whole face. The angles of his features struck her as sharper than the roundness she remembered from when they’d met freshman year. He wasn’t a boy anymore. He was a man. An irritatingly handsome man.

  “We saved you a seat!” a familiar female voice called from a desk closer to the front of the room.