AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No.
Did she want to date a divorced bariatric doctor she’d never met?
No.
Was she ashamed of Leo?
Absolutely not. He was smart, funny, sexy as hell, and he treated her like a queen. She was obviously in love with him.
As Jazz drove to her neglected apartment, tears slipped down her face. She didn’t have the energy to wipe the steady stream away. She was too busy thinking of how she’d fucked things up to care that she probably looked like a psycho to anyone else on the road.
Parking her car in front of her apartment building, she grabbed her phone from the passenger seat and left her bag of clothes on the floorboard. The last thing she wanted to do was carry it up the three flights of stairs while crying. With her luck, she’d fall and break her neck.
The phone in her hand buzzed with an incoming alert that she quickly swiped to open.
Plan to come to the house for dinner on Friday night. Your father and I need to discuss a job opportunity that will suit you.
Before she could change her mind, Jazz tapped out a quick reply.
Mother, I wasn’t available this morning because I spent the night at my boyfriend’s house, and we slept in. Cancel dinner AND the dress. I don’t need either of them. I start my new job soon and I need to get my volunteer hours in while I can so I’m going to be too busy to make any extra trips into KC to be lectured about living my own life. FYI, I am a size 18 and Leo loves my curves.
Hitting send, she sighed at the relief that swept over her.
From here on out, there were going to be clear boundaries between her life and her parents. It was past time she made her own choices when it came to things. Choices that started with answering the call from her mother right now despite knowing how painful the conversation was going to be.
She braced herself as she hit the answer icon.
“Mother—” Jazz took a huge breath, the weight of their expectations lightening as her resolve strengthened. “We need to talk, but first I need you to listen.”
Chapter 19
“I’m here and I have alcohol!” Winter shouted from outside, her voice followed by a heavy banging sound.
“Hold your horses, crazy!” Jazz had no idea what Winter was thumping against her front door, but it sounded hefty.
Swinging the door open, she smiled sadly at her best friend who stood there with her giant purse swinging from her elbow, the obvious culprit of the thumping. Her bestie also happened to be juggling a box of goodies from the local liquor store.
“You’re a life saver.” She sighed, taking the burden out of Winter’s hands before she dropped it. “Dear lord this is heavy. How much did you buy?”
“I panicked! I never in my life expected your mom to callmeto plead her case. I mean, seriously. Why would she think that I would take her side? She fucking hates me!” Winter grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet over the microwave. “Everyone knows that.”
“She doesn’thateyou; she just doesn’t like you very much,” she explained. Her mom didn’t like much of anything. Jazz dug into the chip bag Winter had opened, with a scowl on her face. “She told me that I’m ruining her life. Can you believe that shit?!Meruiningherlife!”
“Damn,” Winter breathed. She plopped down on the couch next to Jazz and took her own handful of chips. “What all happened on that call? I didn’t understand half of what you tried to tell me over the phone and your mom didn’t make much more sense when she tried to argue her side. I kinda tuned her out after she called Leo ‘that boy’ but even before then her story wasn’t adding up.”
Jazz tried to remember exactly how much of the rundown she’d given Winter before sending the SOS to come over. “Okay, I told you about the texts and what happened with Leo this morning, right?” When her friend nodded, she jumped into an explanation of what happened after that—which was a lot.
“Wowza.” Winter slumped back onto the arm of the couch, her eyes big and round. “What are you going to do now?
“I have no idea.” She took a couple long drinks from the bottle she was holding. That was the million-dollar question. “What if Leo never wants to see me again? You should have seen his face, Win. I hurt him so bad.”
Winter took the drink away from her and set it down on the coffee table. “Don’t you do it, Jazz. Don’t you dare cry. I can’t handle it when my friends cry in front of me. It will make me cry and then we will be two crying, boogery messes. I’m like Truvy, nobody can cry in my presence alone.”
Jazz sniffed, trying not to cry but failing miserably. She couldn’t help it. Her heart was so sad that the tears were uncontrollable.
“Things are going to be okay,” Winter assured her with a nod. “Your parents will realize they can’t cross the boundaries you’ve set. You’ve made yourself clear, now you just have to stick to it.”
She rubbed her aching forehead at the memory of the conversation she’d had with her mom earlier. “I don’t think I have ever heard my mother be so hateful. I never imagined she would ever talk tomethat way.” Her breath caught in her chest. “She made me feel like I was less than nothing.”
