Last Call Read online

  Eyeing me, Jax stood up, held out his hand and stated simply, “Take it with you.”

  Best advice all night. We joined our friends on the floor for a night of dancing, drinking and having fun, as Riley pumped out more techno-crap than I’d heard in my entire life.

  “Holy hell. Did you catch the new bartender, Candace?” Sara shouted over a stall in the ladies room.

  “Did I ever. Hubba hubba. I want a piece of that.”

  “Oh geez, you little hussies.” I grinned. Candace winked at me and slicked coral lipstick over her lips.

  “Did you see him? No wonder the bar is so packed with desperate housewives. He is easy peasy, sexy squeezey.”

  Sara came out of the stall fixing her skirt and spoke before I could. “Our girl has been too busy checking out Jax to pay attention to a hot bartender.” She wagged her brows suggestively at me. “Right, Savannah?”

  “He’s nice.” That was all I was giving my nosy roomies for now. In all honesty, he was better than nice. We had danced the entire night, and he bought me two more drinks. His hands lingered on my back or hips lightly a few times as we swayed with the music, but he never overstepped his boundaries.

  “Girl,” cried Sara as she grabbed me by my upper arms. “He’s more than nice. He’s like you, with a different set of tools. Jump on this one. I think you’re perfect for each other.”

  We erupted into laughter as we opened the door to leave the restroom. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Sara. She just met the guy…” Suddenly she yelped, stopping abruptly in front of us.

  My face turned cherry red when I spotted Jax standing not five feet away waiting on us. His hands were in his pockets and he was scanning the bar with his eyes. The perfect look of a person casually waiting on someone.

  “Hey,” I called to him, stepping around my giggling friends when he looked our way.

  “Hi. Sorry I’m stalking you outside the ladies room,” he spoke over the crowd noise.

  “Eh, happens all the time,” I shrugged.

  I turned to wave the girls off when he asked, “You want to get out of here?” My hand stilled and I’m pretty sure my jaw dropped as I looked over at Candace and Sara.

  Sara practically answered for me, jumping forward and kissing my cheek. “Go, he’s a nice guy. You’ll be safe.” She pulled back, looking pointedly in my eyes before grabbing Candace’s hand to leave us. “You two have fun. See you later Jax,” she called in their wake.

  “How about some breakfast?” he asked; his face already wreathed in an overconfident smile.

  We’d danced and shared a little small talk, but so far we hadn’t been able to talk much over the loud music. He was nice, cute, driven… oh, what the hell. “Sure, I could go for something.”

  Thirty minutes later we were sitting across from one another at the local IHOP. I hadn’t been on a date since freshman year, and that one was a disaster. Daniel had definitely turned me off to guys and dating.

  We exchanged pleasantries while we waited for our pancakes. Favorite movies - his, the Bourne trilogy, mine, Pitch Perfect; favorite food - BBQ and Mexican; books - he didn’t read and I read too much. When it came to our favorite vacation spots, he laughed at me profusely.

  “Disney World?”

  I threw my wadded up straw wrapper at him playfully. “Yeah. What’s wrong with Disney?”

  “It’s for families and kids. I would’ve thought you’d be a tropics girl.”

  “Nah, I’m a total kid at heart. I love roller coasters, greasy food, and feeling like a little girl again.”

  “Cute.”

  When our food arrived we ate in relative silence. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and I wished to God I’d dated more the past few years.

  “Damn,” he muttered. His curse coming out of nowhere caused me to flinch in surprise. I’d finished up my food a few moments earlier and was telling him about my plans for the summer - minus the wedding from hell.

  “Sorry, I was…” He paused for a moment. “Hell, I’m pissed that I have to leave tomorrow.” He got up with our ticket in hand and stalked off to pay the bill, leaving me to follow in his wake.

  Ummmm, hello?

  Gulping down one last sip of water, I grabbed my purse and ran after him. By the time I caught up with him, he’d paid the cashier and was holding the glass doors open for me. His red car was parked right in front, so I stopped on the curb by the passenger door.

  “I thought you were looking forward to your internship?” I asked.

  “I was,” he acknowledged, stepping into the parking lot and opening the door for me. Stepping down further from the curb, I walked around his body and then stopped; placing my hand on top of the open door.

  “So what’s wrong?”

  “I met you tonight.” He spoke those four words boldly, his focus not moving from my face.

  I stumbled back a step and slid into the seat, mumbling a barely audible “Oh.” For a moment he stood there holding the door for me. I slid my legs into the car and he shut it firmly behind me; walking slowly to the driver’s side. He slid in and put the keys in the ignition before dropping his hand and turning his body to me.

  “Too much?”

  “What? Well no…it’s unexpected, that’s all.”

  “You were unexpected.” He grazed my arm with his fingers, causing a delicious shiver to run down my spine. He dropped his hand as quickly as he raised it, and started the engine.

  I gave Jax directions to my house, all while cursing the fates that would introduce us on his last night in town for almost three months. Just my luck. When we made it to my small house, he met me at the front of the car and held my hand as he walked me to the door.

  The brazen side of me wanted to invite him in. The cautious side knew it was a bad idea, yet I considered it anyway. Neither side got to make the decision though, because Jax took it all into his own hands. Bending down slowly, he chastely kissed my cheek and stepped back.

  “I’m going to do the gentlemanly thing here and step away, Savannah. I’m really glad we met, and I hope that you’ll give me your number so we can stay in touch while I’m in New York.”

  Gentlemanly thing? What? my brain shouted at him.

  “Where’s your phone?”

  He handed me his phone and I entered in my number for him.

  “Thanks for a great night. Have a safe trip tomorrow.”

  “Okay. I’ll call you. Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” I said; flabbergasted that a man in this day and age could drop off a girl without a proper good night kiss.

  I leaned in the doorway until I heard the sound of his engine come to life, and then watched him drive away. Shutting the door behind me, I stepped into the house.

  “Details?” crowed Sara as she popped out from the dark hallway.

  “AHHHH!” I jumped, slamming my head against the door. “Ow. Damn it, Sara, what the hell are you doing?”

  “You mean what are we doing,” added Candace, peering over Sara’s shoulder. “We were sitting here waiting up for you so we could get all the dirty details.”

  “It’s after two in the morning. You couldn’t wait until tomorrow for details?”

  “Hell to the no, my dear. Soooo?” Sara prodded as she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room.

  “It was fun. He was a gentleman.”

  “Ahh, too bad,” muttered Sara under her breath. I gave her the evil eye and continued.

  “He’s leaving in the morning for New York for the summer.”

  “He’s what?” screeched Candace as she turned on Sara. “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “Shit, I didn’t know,” she hollered back, her voice as loud as mine. “Savannah, I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t have bothered if I’d known.”

  Holding up my hand to quiet them both, I sighed and leaned back in the chair; kicking off my shoes.

  “It’s alright. I liked him, and he said he’s going to call me. Who knows, Sara? You may have made a love connect
ion.”

  “But a whole summer gone? What about the wedding?”

  “What about it? I don’t need a date. I already told you two,” I said less than convincingly.

  “Yes you do. You’re not going on your own, and neither one of us can go with you.”

  “Wait - you can’t,” I pouted, shooting them both questioning glares. Our plan for the wedding was date first, best friend second.

  “Nope, my mom finally sent me the dates for the family reunion event that they’ve been planning for the grandparents’ golden anniversary,” Candace whined.

  “Let me guess - same weekend?” She shook her head in confirmation and I turned to Sara. “Why can’t you come?”

  A huge smile wreathed Sara’s face and she pulled an envelope out from behind her back; waving it while she practically jumped up and down.

  “You got in?” I screamed, lunging forward to grab the letter from her hands. I recognized the logo and hugged her. “Oh my God, that is so amazing.”

  The house filled with screaming and cheering as we celebrated. Sara had applied for internships with radio stations and producers all over the country. She wanted to market and develop musicians for a label someday, but for now she was looking for some experience.

  “It’s local, but you know I’m not gonna have any free time once I start.”

  “Oh, I don’t care Sara. I’m so happy for you. I’ll figure something out for the wedding. Hell, maybe I won’t go.”

  Bald-faced lie.

  There was no way my mother was going to let me skip this event. Image was everything to her.

  Bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz

  The vibrations from my phone startled me. I pulled it from my purse and clicked on the text message symbol by an unknown number:

  Unknown: i shouldn’t have been so gentlemanly

  A huge grin spread across my face before I could stop it.

  “Is that Jax?”

  “Ask him to the wedding now.”

  My roommates jumped in as I got up and paced the floor. “No, I can’t ask him now. We just met. Let me talk to him.”

  I all but skipped to my room where I threw myself across the bed and responded:

  Me: why is that?

  Unknown: i really wanted to kiss you

  Oh boy. Warmth spread through my veins as I texted him back:

  Me: i would have let you

  Unknown: yeah?

  Me: yep

  Unknown: damn it :(

  Me: LOL

  Unknown: i think it might be worth the wait tho

  Me: :) you think?

  I was getting seriously girly here. Smiley faces?

  Unknown: well, don’t go kissing anyone else until we can see how ours goes??

  And then it buzzed again.

  Unknown: ok, that was bold. i can’t ask you not to date. BUT save a spot for me.

  Without thought I typed the first thing that came to mind:

  Me: i need a wedding date for June 15, you free?

  Pause. Crap, what if that was asking too much too soon? URGH, I growled, seriously wanting to kick myself in the head for opening my big mouth. My phone vibrated and I read his reply:

  Unknown: i would be honored

  Me: :)

  Unknown: call you tomorrow for details? well and to talk?

  Me: okay!

  Unknown: ‘night

  Me: goodnight!

  Tuesday - April 23, 2013

  The Plan

  I found myself wandering around the house waiting for Jax to call me each evening when he got home from work. We’d already ironed out the details of the wedding and had talked every evening since he left. Strangely enough, I was cautiously excited about our budding relationship. I didn't exactly know what was between us, but I was looking forward to June 15 and seeing what this was. That was, until I hung up the phone with him one night.

  Candace and Sara walked into the house to find me lying on the couch after hanging up with Jax. Pulling my bummed ass into a sitting position, I greeted them both when they walked in the living room.

  "Uh oh, who died?" Sara joked, eyeing my oversized tee and yoga pants. It was scary how well she knew me.

  "I was on the phone with Jax, and we hung up a minute ago," I moaned. I flopped back on the sofa dramatically and hugged a pillow tightly to my chest. "He can't go to the wedding."

  Sara kicked off her shoes and hissed, "Why the hell not?"

  "He has to work. Apparently there are conferences for him to attend all summer, and he can't confirm his schedule so he didn't want me to rely on him."

  "That sounds like a weak ass reason if you ask me."

  "Sara…" Candace slapped her on the arm, and Sara walked out of the room mumbling "Pushover" under her breath. Candace looked at me with sympathy. "Sorry hun, I know you were starting to look forward to the date."

  I nodded. "You know what though? Sara’s right. That is kind of a weak excuse. Maybe he wanted to back out?"

  "I doubt that, Savannah. He seems pretty into you." Candace wrinkled her pretty little forehead as she spoke. She sunk down into the chair next to me and stared blankly at the ceiling.

  "Well I'm not going to sit here all summer and do nothing because I'm pining over some guy I barely know!" I barked; the comment coming from out of the middle of nowhere. Throwing the pillow across the couch, I stood up; anger propelling me towards the large picture windows covering the front of the living room.

  "Sara - get out here," I thundered, and turned towards a shocked Candace. "I'm no longer the meek little southern belle I used to be. It's time for me to get my freak on."

  "Did I hear that correctly? Did you say ‘Get your freak on?’" echoed Sara from the hallway.

  "You heard me. What happened to Operation: Get Savannah a Hot Date? It’s time to put that sucker into full effect, girls."

  "Oh my. Girl, what are you on?" Candace placed her hand on my forehead, her face a mask of mock horror.

  "Now we're talking. I've already got you a line up, chica," Sara admitted as she wrapped me in a hug. "I was just waiting on the word."

  "A line up? What’d you do, take out an ad?"

  A look flashed between Sara and Candace and they stepped back, looking mighty guilty.

  "Oh, hell no. Please tell me you didn't"

  "Ok, we didn't," heckled Candace as she rushed out of the room.

  "Relax. We have this all figured out. Trust us. I've got you a list of gorgeous guys who are begging to go out with you."

  "Sara." I gritted my teeth, trying not to lose my patience. "Where exactly did this list come from?"

  "Guys from school, the station, the bar. You know, the normal places you meet guys."

  In the same way she could read my face, I could read hers. And right now I knew she was holding something back. "Where else, Sara?"

  "Stop worrying. Damn, girl. You wanted to get your freak on, right?" she evaded by walking into the kitchen. I was left standing in the living room trying to keep my cool.

  "Sara!"

  "Alright, alright, mom, don't get your panties all in a bunch. Yes, we put an ad on the campus site. Big deal. I've used it before."

  "Not a glowing recommendation, Sara," quipped Candace from her open room.

  I thought back to last year when Sara had used the campus dating site to try and find a date to help her get over her latest flavor of the month. She'd shown up at a local restaurant all dressed up and ready for her hot date with Joe, except Joe was Jo. A girl who was into girls. Amazingly enough, after laughing at the mix-up, they went on to have dinner and drinks and both lamented on their recent break ups. They still hung out occasionally to this day.

  "Look, I promise to check and double check all of the facts before I set you up with anyone. Loosen up for once. What's the harm, huh? Go out with a few guys and have some fun," she prodded. "You might meet your future husband."

  "That's doubtful." Feeling less than confident, I gave in and warned them, "Okay, I’ll do this - but I'm meeting for dr
inks and drinks alone, at The Garage between six-thirty and seven. I'm not going anywhere else with these guys on a first date, and I don't want to be stuck with some crazy loser for hours on end either."

  "Babe, please have a little faith in my skills," Sara blustered; rubbing her hands together as she grabbed her phone and started fiddling with it.

  "What about Jax?" questioned Candace as she strayed into the living room again.

  "What about him?" Sara answered for me. "She's not a nun, Cand."

  "We’ll still get to know each other by phone, but I can't continue to sit around and wait for him to call me every night."

  "That's not an option, Savannah. You're right - this is our last summer together, and we’re gonna have some fun."

  Wednesday - April 24, 2013

  She Dropped a Bomb

  "What kind of madness is this? What was I thinking?" I stomped around the living room like a madwoman, tossing my phone on the couch.

  "What's your damage, Heather?" called Sara, coming down the hallway ready for her first day of work. The phrase came from an eighties cult movie we all loved and it made me stop seething, even for a moment.

  "I just got off the phone with Erika," I offered; sneering my mother’s name.

  "Well of course…it’s either your mother or they canceled ‘The Vampire Diaries’. Those are the only two things that could cause irrational anger in you. What'd she do this time?"

  "She dropped a bomb on me." Fuming, I walked into the kitchen to get some coffee. "Apparently the wedding of the century will be a weekend-long extravaganza, and I am expected to be there for every minute detail."

  Slamming a mug down on the counter, I recounted the entire, painful conversation with my mother to Sara. Mimicking my mother’s thick southern accent, I drawled out every detail.

  "There will be a special cocktail event for all out of town guests and family on Thursday night, as well as an afternoon tea on Friday, followed by the rehearsal dinner later that night. The ladies are having an early morning spa day at the club Saturday with brunch before the big event."