Jessa James - Bad Reputation

Forest scowls. “No.”

“Are you sure? Because I could see Addison giving you all kinds of shit over the fact that you still live with Gunnar. I imagine a girl like Addison, who’s obviously from money, doesn’t love your current living arrangements.”

There are a few seconds of silence, when Forest looks at his coffee cup. I was mostly kidding, but clearly I’ve accidentally touched a nerve.

“I don’t like your lack of response. What’s up with you? Are things okay with you and Addison?” I ask after a minute.

Forest looks up at me, a note of pain shining in his eyes. “It’s nothing.”

“Bullshit. What’s going on?”

Forest opens his mouth, but the waitress arrives with our plates just then. She sets down my omelet and Forest’s eggs and fries, then refills our coffee.

“Do you guys need anything else?” she asks.

“No thanks,” I say, trying not to let my impatience show. As soon as she’s gone, I turn my attention back to Forest. “Spill.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m sure it’s not even a thing.”

I pick up my fork, intending to dig into my still-steaming omelet. “It’s enough of a thing to worry you, obviously.”

I take a bite of my food, burning my mouth a little. It’s so good, though. I reach for the hot sauce, to slather on my food indiscriminately.

“Okay, okay. Addy’s parents… they are not normal people. You know that they’re super rich, houses in Beverly Hills and Aspen, all that jazz. They’re super wealthy and connected.”

I raise a brow. “I don’t know them, but I definitely get a little rich girl vibe from Addison.”

“Well, they definitely don’t like me. I found out this week that Mr. Montgomery only said yes when I asked for his blessing because Addy threatened him.”

I pause with a forkful of food in front of my face.

“Wait, why don’t they like you?” I’m a little baffled by this.

“As it turns out, Addy apparently told them that I’m not from the best circumstances, family wise. In the year we were dating, before I met them, she told them all about my tragic past, I guess. She’s so fucking melodramatic.”

He punctuates that statement by shoving several french fries into his mouth. I frown at him.

“Well that’s shitty. What are you supposed to do about it?”

He shakes his head. “I mean, there’s nothing I can do about it, I don’t think. And every time I talk about the wedding now, Addy gives me this look. Like… if I were a paranoid guy, I would say it’s a knowing look. She has something planned, or something she isn’t telling me.”

I pause. “Like what?”

“I don’t know, man. I just get some really negative energy, flowing from her to me.”

“You think she’s going to call off the wedding?”

He takes a second to eat some of his eggs, thinking that over. “I don’t know. It’s just bugging me. Like an itch that I can’t scratch, that won’t go away.”

I nod, finishing my last bite of food. I sip my coffee, thinking it over. “What are you going to do about it?”

Forest shrugs. “Probably nothing. I’ve asked her about it, a few times. She says nothing is wrong.”

“Well, I am maybe not the best source of advice on this. Everyone knows that I’m fucking dumb—”

“Don’t say that,” he says with a frown.

“Seriously? Anyway—”

“I’m dead serious. You’re one of the smartest people I know.”

“ Anyway ,” I say, deliberately talking over him. “If something feels off, it probably is. I don’t think it’s weird that you’re worried about it.”

He sighs, pushing his plate away. “Thanks, dude. It is kind of nice, knowing that you think so too.”

That wasn’t what I said, exactly, but I let it go. I finish my quickly cooling cup of coffee, and the waitress comes by with a coffee pot for a refill.

“So… since this has turned into brotherly bonding time…” Forest says.

I look up at him, curious. “Yeah?”

“Are you gonna tell me who the girl is that dumped you?”

I glower at him. “Who says there’s a girl?”

“I’ve been watching you at work lately. You’re all distracted, and you’re in a bad mood half the time. That’s after like a straight month of easy, breezy especially carefree Jameson. I would have to be blind not to notice that something was up.”

“Girls come and go,” I hedge. “You know that.”

“I’m just saying, since you were all blissed out for a while there, maybe she turned your head the right way. You should consider the power that begging has in any situation.”

He sips his coffee. I wad up a paper napkin and throw it at him.

“That’s for assuming that it was my fault,” I intone.

“Ah! So there was a girl. I knew it!” He grins. “Was it someone I know?”

“Like I’m going to tell you.”

He squints at me for a long second. “It’s not Maia, is it?”

“What? No. You and Gunnar are so damn obsessed with her, it’s not even funny.”

“She’s hot!” he says defensively.

“All right, Mr. Is My Fiancée Cheating On Me.”

He glares at me. “Don’t turn this around on me. We’re talking about you.”

“Are we talking about why you assume that she dumped me? Because I want you to know, I was the one who did the breaking up.”

“Yeah, normally I would believe that, but you were so happy when you were with the mystery girl. So if you did do the breaking up, it was because you had to. Like, you were forced to do it.”

I look down at my coffee mug. He hit way too close to home. “Maybe I just didn’t like her that much.”

“To quote you, bullshit. I’m looking at you right now, and you can’t even look at me when you say that.”

I give him my surliest look. “So what?”

“So what? So I’m saying, if you’re really so hung up on this girl, apologize for whatever you did.” I start to argue, but he puts a hand up, stopping me. “Don’t even bother trying to tell me that you didn’t do something worth apologizing over. I’ve been watching a lot of The Bachelorette, because that’s Addy’s favorite TV show. The guy is always the one that is in the wrong. Every single time.”

“You’re so full of shit,” I say, reaching for my wallet. I pull out two twenties, dropping them on the table. “Excuse me for not taking advice from you, okay? I still remember when you were thirteen and you kept getting in trouble for drawing naked women in the bathrooms at school, okay? I think I’m good on advice from you.”

Forest rolls his eyes. “It’s been literally eighteen years since that happened. Are you ever going to let that go?”

“Fat chance.” I slide out of the booth, ready to go.

Forest talks about needing to order some more cases of whiskey while we walk out of the restaurant, but I’m not really paying attention.

Because of course Forest is right. Way more right than he knows. I really ripped out Emma’s heart and trampled over it, because I knew Asher would find out.

And I couldn’t risk losing my best friend.

But if Asher were suddenly erased, just gone? I would be on my knees, pleading with Emma to take me back.

I sigh and follow Forest out into the bright light of midday.

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