Chapter 3
1236 Words
I stood there for a while longer. I knew that I should have been inside getting ready, Jena was going to be coming in here any minute, yelling at me about wasting time and how I should have been showered by now and working on my hair and make-up. Fun fact, I'm not girly enough to take more than five minutes to do things like and it drives her insane. I don't like the way foundation and all those products feel on my skin. It doesn't matter what she uses or how little she applies, my face feels heavy and itchy. I hate it.
"Dylan Jones!" Ah, there she is. I chuckled to myself. "Get your ass in that damn shower!"
"Yes, mom!" I turned from my view and hurried into the bathroom. Jena had turned the volume up even louder, some popish country tune was playing when I stepped out of the shower and started to dry off. I was just finishing up with blow drying my hair when Jena appeared in the mirror behind me.
"You did bring it." She smiled.
"I did." I laughed. It was one of my signature looks, high waisted pleather pants, I need to be able to feel like I can breathe in the fabric, a black tank tops that fit tightly against my chest with a grey vest to tie the whole look together with a thick black belt pulling, Jena loved how I looked in this outfit because she said it's one that shows off my hourglass shaped, but I feel covered enough to not be too worried if I look okay. She said the first time I ever put something like this on, that it caused me to ooze confidence.
"Are you leaving it down?" Jena asked and flipped my hair.
"For now. I'll probably put it up later." I shrugged.
"You're gonna have all of Owen's attention tonight."
"Yeah, sure." I rolled her eyes.
"Almost ready?" Jena asked, ignoring me.
"Just need a little of this." She ran the mascara brush through her thick, long lashes a few times and a clear gloss over her full lips.
"I hate you."
"You love me, shut up." I smiled and walked over to my bed where my black heels were sitting. "All set." I shrugged and pulled the French doors to the balcony shut.
We were laughing as we walked down the stairs. Jena was in a form fitting solid black dress with chucky colorful jewelry and orange heels.
As we were stepping into the kitchen a sharp, "Damn!" from the living room caught my attention. I looked to see Liam and Owen were waiting for us. "You ladies look incredible." Liam said and twirled Jena. His beach boy charm shown through his dark jeans, white t-shirt and black dress coat.
"I bet it didn't take much." Owen said as he stepped into the hall. "f**k my life." He breathed out. I was standing next to the counter swapping my debit card, license and keys from my purse to my matte black clutch that Jena insisted I brought with me.
"Breathe dude." Liam nudged him.
"Trying man, trust me, I am trying." I pretended like she couldn't hear what was going on not fifteen feet away from me, but I was failing as I tucked my hair behind my ear and smiled.
But as my phone started ringing, my smile disappeared. "Damn it." I threw her head back and whined.
"Who is it?" Jena asked and laughed. Owen jumped at the sound of her voice.
"It's Jeremy."
"Boyfriend?" Owen asked.
"Pain in the ass." I shook my head. "He won't take no for an answer."
"Here." Owen walked over and took the phone from my hand. "Hello?" He said as I reached for my phone. He just winked at me and switched ears causing me to lean further into him.
"Hi, I'm looking for Dylan. Is she available?"
"She's getting ready for our date at the moment, can I take a message?"
"Date?" He sounded disgusted. "She's been there for a week and she already met someone?"
"First day she got here actually, it took me a week to get her to say yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a gorgeous woman to take out for a night of fun." I was shocked at his matter of fact tone, I leaned away from him as he looked down at me. I didn’t catch the rest of the short interaction, I couldn't hear anything over the sound of my heart pounding in my head He smirked at me, said… something that I'm assuming was to piss Jeremy off before he hung up on Jeremy. He looked phenomenal in his dark jeans and dark grey button up. He left it untucked and rolled his sleeves to his elbows.
"You didn't have to do that or say that." I shook my head.
"What did I do?"
"You lied to him."
Owen smiled. "What part did I lie about?"
"The part about a date with a gorgeous woman."
Owen shook his head and scanned from my feet up to my eyes as he spoke. "I may have lied about the date part, I definitely didn't lie about the gorgeous woman."
I tried to clear my throat. "Are we ready?"
"Yeah." Jena nodded and giggled.
"We can take my truck." Liam said.
"We'll follow you." I smiled.
"No, Dyl." Jena said. "We're riding with them."
"I don't know them." I shook my head, I could feel the panic starting to set in.
"I know." Jena linked her arm with mine. "It'll be okay. I already explained the anxiety and you will not be in the truck with them alone."
"Please, J, let's just take the Jeep."
"If it's a driving thing, we can take the Jeep. You can drive. I just figured because you're new to the area that this would be easier." Liam suggested.
I took a deep breath and fought against the irrational feeling building in my chest. "No, Jena's right. I'll be okay."
"Are you okay?" Owen placed his hand on my shoulder.
"It's a very long, very personal story. But yes, I am for now." I closed my eyes and took another deep breath.
"We don't have to go," Owen started. "if this is stressful for you, we can just stay here and hang out."
"No, we're all dressed up and you guys said you were meeting friends." I shrugged and wrapped my fingers around his wrist giving it a soft squeeze. "Thank you, though."
He turned his palm to touch her cheek. "I'm serious." He rubbed his thumb against her skin. "I just wanted to talk to you, we can stay here and do that."
"Why?"
"Why not?"
"Do you always answer questions with other questions?"
"Are you saying that I'm not giving you a solid answer?"
I glared at him. "That's exactly what I'm saying." I pushed his hand away and headed for the door.
We all climbed into super boxy style Land Rover, that I was pretty sure was older than I was. It smelled like ocean and sunscreen. I sat quietly looking out the window, completely drowning in my anxiety.
"Hey, all good?" Jena squeezed her knee.
"Yeah." I sighed and nodded.
"Promise?" Jena smiled and stuck her pinky out.
"Promise." I wrapped my pinky around Jena's and we kissed our hands.
- Writer
