“Grant,” Jessa’s soft voice says. When I look down, I see her hand on my forearm.
“Sorry.” I shake my head back and forth, trying to come back to reality.
“Did you know him?” she asks, her voice still tentative.
“No, I didn’t know him,” I say. It’s the truth. I didn’t know him before it happened, and I really only know one thing about him. He’s a selfish bastard.
“Come on. I’m sure you’re hungry after playing.” She puts her arm through mine and leads me to the table.
I don’t miss Brady’s look. I never knew if he heard the rumors around school, but based on the expression on his face, I’m guessing he did.
“You did an awesome job tonight, man,” Brady says, playfully hitting my shoulder. “I have a proposition for you,” he says.
“What’s that?” I ask, acting as though I am perusing the menu.
“Play with us for the rest of the year. We aren’t going to continue The Invisibles after graduation anyway.” Brady leans back in the booth, extending his arm around Sadie and she cuddles up into his side. They are the most annoyingly affectionate couple I know.
“I don’t know. I have so much on my plate,” I admit.
“You get Rob’s share. It’s not a ton of money, but it will probably bring in more than what Barbells pays you.” He nudges me a little more.
“I can’t leave Chuck. He’s invested too much in me,” I say, although, I have to admit it’s tempting.
“You were really good tonight. Did you enjoy yourself?” Jessa asks me.
“I did,” I confirm and close the menu in order to give this conversation my undivided attention.
“It seemed like it,” she says.
“Yeah, you looked hot up there,” Sadie chimes in, and I give her a doubtful look.
“Let’s not get carried away, baby,” Brady tells her, pulling her closer.
“No worries, I only have eyes for one Invisible.” She giggles and kisses his cheek.
“Technically, I’m not an Invisible,” I add.
“It’s up to you, Grant. You’re the best I know, and you already know most of the songs. I know that with a couple practices, you’ll be up to speed. Hell, you helped me write some of the parts,” Brady continues, trying to influence me.
“You should really consider it. I wish I would’ve taken pictures of you up there. It’s the happiest I’ve ever seen you,” Jessa says.
“You’ve only known me a couple months, Jessa.” I lean back, straightening my arms out and pushing against the back of the booth.
“She’s right, Grant, and I’ve known you a little longer,” Sadie adds.
“I’ve known you the longest, and even though we’ve had our differences, I haven’t seen that smile for years,” Brady says. “Come on, man. Just like old times.” He extends his hand out for me to shake on it.
I contemplate the decision. It’ll be tough to add another activity, but they’re right, I had way too much fun out there not to do it. “Alright, I’m in,” I agree and shake Brady’s hand.
“We’re going to have so much fun, man, just wait.” Brady’s ecstatic and it rubs off on me.
Jackie aka “Jacks” comes over to the table and takes our order. Brady orders for both him and Sadie. I order my cheeseburger and fries with a Coke. When it comes around to Jessa, she says, “I’ll have a chocolate sundae with whip cream and extra nuts.” We all bust out laughing.
“What? I like my desserts. I might steal a couple fries though,” she says and chuckles, looking my way. All I can think is that I’m happy to give her more than my fries.
We finish our meals and Brady asks me to come by tomorrow to practice. Since I don’t have to work at Barbells until Monday, I accept. The anxiousness flowing through me at the prospect of playing again both surprises and pleases me at the same time.
Brady and I split the bill and all four of us walk outside. “Do you want me to drive you home?” I whisper to Jessa.
“I would hate for you to go out of your way. I might as well go with them, since we’re going to the same place,” she says, pointing to Sadie and Brady ahead of us.
“Right.” I shove my hands in my pockets and follow them.
“Thanks for the meal. Sorry that I stole more than a couple fries,” she laughs. A couple is an understatement. First she poured vinegar all over them and then doused them with salt. On top of that, she polished off the rest of them. I could care less, but it scares me how natural it felt to put my plate between us and share with her.
“No problem.” I shrug my shoulders, trying to appear indifferent.
“Well, I guess I should get going,” she says as she slowly starts walking backward toward Brady’s car.
“See you, Jessa,” I say.
“Bye, Grant.” She grins at me and turns around to climb into the backseat of Brady’s Camaro.
I get into my truck and drive back to the fraternity house. For the first time in the last hour, I allow myself to think about Lizzy. She and Jessa couldn’t be more different. I wonder if that dagger-tattooed man wouldn’t have ruined us, what our future would have been or if we would have had one at all.
Jessa
I want nothing more than to be in that truck with Grant as I watch him pull out of the parking lot. If I would have had to guess which car was his, it definitely wouldn’t have been the beat-up truck. It doesn’t fit him at all. I saw the embarrassment in his eyes when he opened the door for me to get in. Although the inside is clean and kept up, the outside needs some serious cosmetic work. The funny thing is, seeing he isn’t completely perfect only makes me want him more.
As I watch Brady extend his hand over the center console and place it in Sadie’s, a pang of jealousy hits me. I so desperately want that. If I’m being honest, my relationship with Rob was just a distraction from what I really crave. He wasn’t the best for me, and that’s why it’s probably better he never met my dad. I imagine my dad might have kicked him out of the house.
And although I have no proof, I sometimes wonder if he strayed. The fact that I never truly cared to find out should’ve told me something. Bottom line though is that Rob isn’t what I want for my future; he was just a stepping stone on my road to reinvention.
We pull up to the house and I’m back to wishing Grant was dropping me off. I think about the possibility that he would’ve kissed me. But then his words ring in my head, and I know I have to be done with Rob before I go to him.
All three of us walk in the back door just as some blonde is leaving. She doesn’t seem happy, and I only need one guess as to where she came from.
“Hey, date over so soon?” I kid Trey, who’s sitting at the table eating a sandwich and drinking a beer.
“They’re not dates, Jdoll,” he smiles up to me.
“Do you think you’ll ever just pick one?” Sadie asks, grabbing a water bottle and taking a seat at the table.
“Why? I don’t want any drama in my life. Just look at you guys,” he says, pointing the tip of his beer bottle at each of us.
“Hey, I don’t have any drama,” I tell him, and all three of them smirk over at me.
“Are you kidding? By the way, have you talked to Rob yet?” he sarcastically asks.
“He only left a few hours ago,” I counter.
“No texts?” Trey challenges, and I know where he’s going with this. He’s not exactly Rob’s number one fan.
“Cut it out, Trey,” I say, sitting down at the table and taking a swig of his beer.
“I’m just saying, Jessa,” he starts to say, putting his hand on my forearm while his eyes stare directly into me. “If you were mine, I would’ve already called and texted you, making sure you knew how badly I missed you.”