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***Fiona***
By the time Lucy was done throwing up and Jake and I loaded her into his SUV, he was shaking with anger. Lucy was curled around her seatbelt on the backseat, her mouth slightly open as she slept like a rock. Jake stole glances at her through the rearview mirror every minute or so, silently checking to make sure she was okay. I stayed quiet, unsure what would help or hurt in the situation.
“Megan bought them the liquor.”
Those five words hung heavily in the air between us. He’d been so much angrier after joining me and Lucy at the car and it made sense if that’s what he’d learned from the other girls.
“The youngest girl in that bunch is thirteen. The oldest is fifteen.” His grip on the steering wheel was white. “Megan bought them three bottles of tequila. She even set them up with secret flasks so they could sneak it into the park.”
I inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly. “Shit.”
He let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah. Shit. I don’t know what the other parents are going to do and I don’t care. They probably should press charges against Megan. A group of drunk girls at a music festival. Jesus. What the fuck was she thinking?”
I glanced back at Lucy and frowned. “Why would she do that? Anything could have happened to them. Thankfully you spotted them.”
He heaved a giant sigh. “Lucy’s probably not going to speak to me for a month once she realizes all her friends are in trouble because of me.”
“You’re worried she’s going to be mad at you? She was worried that you’re going to hate her.” I reached over and rested my hand on his thigh. “You two are a lot alike. And since I know how much you love her, I’m betting she loves you just as much. If she does get upset, she’ll get over it, Jake. You did the right thing.”
“She said that? She thinks I’m going to hate her?” He looked stricken.
“She said a lot of shit before vomiting up everything she’s eaten in the last week. Something about wanting to play the drums.” I held up my hands when I saw his face shutter. “Forget I said anything. It’s not my place. I just told her that you love her.”
He growled and hit the steering wheel. “I’m sorry. I just… Can we talk about it later? Right now I can’t think past ripping Megan a new one. You were wondering about exes fighting. Well, now you’re getting a front row seat.”
I shook my head. “A front row seat?”
He shot me an apologetic look. “I called Megan while I was walking back to the car. She’s meeting us at my place to check on Lucy.”
I was already shaking my head halfway through his sentence. “No. No, thank you. I already met one ex-wife last night and that was more than enough. You can just drop me off at the closest bus stop.”
“I’m not dropping you off at a bus stop. What’s your fascination with taking the bus? No.” He growled out his next words. “Just… No buses.”
“I’d rather get run over by the damn bus than face another pissed off ex.” I sat up and looked around. “There’s a bus stop right there.”
“Would you stop? I’m not dropping you off.” He ran his hand over his head. “I need to get Lucy home or I’d drive you home, angel. I know this isn’t ideal and I’m at risk of you not answering my calls for a few days, but I don’t know what else to do right now.”
I could see how stressed and upset he was about Lucy so I just nodded and looked out the window at the multiple bus stops we passed. I didn’t want to make his life harder when he was struggling but he was putting me in an uncomfortable position. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time to talk about it. I tried to make myself feel better by thinking that maybe Megan wasn’t as awful as Sara. Maybe Megan didn’t care about Jake dating again, so therefore she wouldn’t care about me.
The moment we pulled into the garage under Jake’s loft I knew I’d been blowing smoke up my own ass. There was a stunning woman in what looked like a clubbing outfit standing behind a brand new Mustang with her arms crossed under her chest and a scowl on her face bigger than Texas. Her eyes landed on me through the windshield and I sighed. She definitely cared about Jake dating again and she definitely already wanted to claw my eyes out.
Jake, lost in his own anger, didn’t seem to notice. He parked next to his ex and glanced over at me. “I’m sorry.”
I bit my lip and shrugged. “It’s fine. Take care of Lucy.”
He winced and hesitated but only for a second before stepping out of the car. I turned to look at Lucy and nearly screamed when I saw her eyes open and watching me.
“You scared the shit out of me! Are you okay?”
She shook her head before leaning over the seat and throwing up on Jake’s floor. She’d already lost most of her food and was down to just bile by that point. She leaned back and looked at me again. “She’s going to be mean.”
A chill ran down my spine and I was tempted to let my weak stomach win and vomit right next to Lucy’s. I was starting to think Jake might deserve to have all that vomit in his vehicle if the warning Lucy gave me was fair.
Jake opened the back door and stepped out of the way so Megan could lean in to look at her daughter. Instead, her eyes went to me and narrowed. Lucy tried to sit up but Megan put a hand on her shoulder and held her where she was.
“Rest for a minute longer, baby.”
