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“Aren’t you up next?” Leo leaned in while asking the question, his musky smell tingling her senses once again.
As his question sank in, Jazz felt butterflies start to build in her stomach. She shouldn’t have had that last glass of champagne. The fizzy bubbles that she had gleefully swallowed earlier now felt like bubbling lava in the pit of her anxious belly. There was nothing she hated more than having to get up and talk in front of people.
As she stood, her chair screeched loudly across the floor. The sound echoed in the banquet room as if it were a sound effect from a horror movie come to life. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to the older gentlemen at the table next to hers as he glared at her and turned down his hearing aid.
“Hello everyone,” Jazz said with a little wave. “I didn’t prepare a long speech tonight. Instead, I’m going to save that for the wedding reception when it’s too late to fire me as the maid of honor.” The beginning was met with some chuckles from the crowd but not many. “I’ve known Winter for only a few years, but I honestly can’t remember a time when she wasn’t in my life. We were perfect strangers when we moved in together but that didn’t last long. I like to say that Winter adopted me, mostly because from the moment she moved in, she made that empty apartment feel like a home. She’s funny, smart, generous, but most importantly, she’s real.”
Jazz looked over to the table where Winter and Will were sitting. Her best friend was already dabbing at the corners of her eyes with a tissue.
“It wasn’t until she met Will that I realized how much I depended on her to balance me out. At first, I was a little pissed off that this hunky firefighter thought he could barge in and take away my best friend—” At that statement a few of their mutual friends booed in Will’s general direction. “But it didn’t take me long to see that these two belong together and I wouldn’t be the awesome best friend,which I obviously am, if I had a problem with that.”
She raised her glass to the happy couple with a smile. “Congratulations, you guys. I wish you nothing but happiness.”
The moment she could, Jazz slumped back into her chair in relief. When she glanced up, her eyes locked with Leo’s. “Thank God that’s over. Are you giving a speech tonight too?”
“No.” He shook his head, the light catching the small silver hoops piercing his earlobes. “Will’s dad wanted to speak tonight figuring that he would be too emotional to toast at the actual reception. I didn’t object.”
“I’m sure you didn’t,” she snorted with a little laugh. “Next time, help me figure out a way to get out of a toast too, okay?”
“Your speech was great. You have nothing to worry about. The only stories that I have about Will are single guy tales and firehouse shenanigans.” Leo set his beer down. “You really didn’t know each other when you became roommates?”
“Nope, not at all,” Jazz told him with a nod. “I know it sounds crazy to some people, believe me, but it worked out in the end. I can’t imagine not having Winter in my life.”
“You weren’t scared you were going to get a psycho? What about like that movie with the single chick and the lady tried to steal her identity.” Leo’s description made her laugh because that’s exactly what she had thought.
“I held interviews and did background checks. Thereweresome scary ones that applied…I almost changed my mind a few times, but I’m glad I stuck it out.” She looked across the room at her former roomie and frowned. “I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do now that Winter’s moved out. I’ve been putting it off because I haven’t wanted to deal with it all, but I guess I should probably stop stalling and put up an ad again.”
“Have you thought about getting a smaller apartment?” Leo scooped up a bite of pie off his plate. The banana cream caught the top of his lip, leaving a creamy smudge.
Without giving it a second thought, Jazz reached forward and wiped the whipped cream away with her finger before licking it off. When she realized what she’d just done, she froze like a deer in headlights.
“Sorry,” she whispered, her cheeks burning in mortification.
“No worries.” Leo’s eyes twinkled as he ran his own fingers over the area on his lip where she had caressed.
“What were we talking about?” After the look he gave her, she could barely remember her name.
“Smaller apartment?”
“Oh, yeah…smaller apartment. Well, there are a couple problems with finding a smaller place. First, I’m lazy.” She smiled when Leo let out a gruff laugh at her honesty. “I hate packing and moving and lifting and everything that goes along with the entire relocation process.”
“It’s not that bad,” he argued with a laugh. “I just finished a big move, and it didn’t kill me.”
“You’ve got more muscles than He-man,” she said with a snort. “Have you seen my arms? They’re weak. Boxes are literally my kryptonite. Did you know that Winter accused me of faking the stomach flu to avoid helping her move in with Will a few months ago?”
“Did you?” he asked, obviously trying not to laugh.
Casting a furtive glance around quickly, Jazz leaned in close. “I was taken down by another nemesis of mine. Dairy.” She shook her head sadly. “I flew too close to the sun and thought I could follow up a grilled cheese basket—cheese curds on the side—with a large custard concrete. I told her it was the flu to get out of another cheese lecture—and moving, of course.”
Leo laughed at her confession. It was so loud that the booming sound caused a couple of people to look in their direction. “Are you being serious right now?”
“Yes, and if you ever tell her, I will skin you alive,” she threatened, holding up her butter knife.
“Noted,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Do you have any other issues with downsizing, other than the actual physical labor it would take?”
“I don’t like being alone,” she answered, wrinkling her nose. Any time she thought about leaving the second bedroom empty or downgrading to a one bedroom, the weight of potential loneliness reared its ugly head. She needed someone there to keep her company or she’d go crazy.
When Leo opened his mouth as if to speak, she was already a step ahead of him and held out her hand, palm open, to halt his words. She knew what was coming. “And don’t say I should get a dog.”
