Chapter 51: Chapter 16: About Jack

Jamie

He held my hand as we walked into the club. With drunk people dancing around us, I was definitely feeling out of my comfort zone.

It had been a while since I’d been in a nightclub. It just wasn’t my scene anymore. Jack seemed happy that we were here though. This was all his idea.

“Are you excited to meet my friends?” he asked.

He seemed excited about it, but as for me, I was just feeling nervous.

“Sure, I can’t wait!”

“There they are.” He led the way through the crowd toward the people sitting at a high table.

Jack met my family, and so he thought it seemed fitting that I meet his friends.

I was nervous about meeting a group of new people, especially since I wasn’t sure if we were there yet in our relationship. Things seem to be moving a little too fast.

Maybe I was just nervous because Jack is the first guy I’ve dated in a while. I wasn’t exactly a pro at relationships. I was actually pretty sucky when it came to dating.

“There he is. I just knew you would be late!” A man stood from the table, and I could immediately see how tall he was.

His hair was sandy blond in color, and he looked to be around the same age as Jack.

“Sorry. It was Jamie’s fault!” Jack joked.

“My fault. Is that so?” I looked at his friends.

The tall blond seemed to be the single one since he hadn’t taken his eyes off my breasts since we walked in. There was a short-haired brunette and the guy that she was sitting next to.

“He’s lying. I was the one actually waiting on him. He was late picking me up.”

The brunette laughed. “That sounds like our Jack.”

“Hey, I’m not late all the time. Just sometimes. I’m a doctor, so I get a little busy, you know, saving lives and all that. What else can I say?”

He looked at me and smiled. “So, Jamie, these are my good friends, Gavin, Sara, and Luke.”

“It’s nice to meet you all!”

“It’s nice to finally meet the famous Jamie. You know, Jack has talked a lot about you these past couple of weeks,” Luke said.

“Oh really?” I looked at Jack. “You talked about me?”

He smirked. “Yeah, maybe a little!”

“A lot, actually. We couldn’t get him to shut the hell up.” Gavin chuckled. “Let’s get another round of drinks. I don’t know about all of you, but I plan on getting drunk tonight.”

“I’ll go with you.” Jack pressed a kiss to my cheek, and I blushed, seeing as it was in front of his friends. “I’ll be right back, babe.”

I removed my jacket and sat on a high stool at the table. I was alone with Sara and Luke, so I decided to use this opportunity to find out a little more about Jack.

“So, how long have you known Jack?”

“Well, I’ve known him since college. He was a little crazy back in those days, but he’s tamed himself a little since he’s become a doctor,” Luke said.

“What do you mean a little crazy?” I asked and smiled. “Should I be worried?”

“No, you have nothing to worry about. He just liked to party back then, but who doesn’t when they’re in college?”

“Sure, I understand. I liked my college days too.” I looked at Sara. “So, what about you?”

“Just since I started dating Luke here.” She wrapped her arms around him. “I’m from Germany originally, so when I moved here, I had no one. That was until Luke came along.”

The two of them looked at each other and smiled before sharing a kiss. It was like no one else was in the room for those few seconds, just the two of them. “You guys are so sweet!”

“We’ve been together for a couple of years. I’m so glad that after this long, the romance is still there.” Sara drank from her beer bottle. “So. Jack mentioned that you have a daughter. How old is she?”

“She turned one last week.”

“He also mentioned an ex that keeps getting in the way. Is he going to be a problem?” Luke asked, and Sara glared at him. “I hate to hit you with hard questions. I just don’t want him getting hurt.”

“It’s fine.” Of course, it wasn’t. I now felt even more uncomfortable on my high stool. “No, there won’t be a problem. Mason’s in my daughter’s life, not mine.”

“And you don’t have any feelings for him?”

I cleared my throat and smiled lightly. “No, I’ve no feelings toward him. I’ve moved on now.”

He smiled because I had given him the answers that he wanted. His girlfriend, on the other hand, looked a little uncomfortable, just like I did.

“That’s good to know. Here they come with the drinks.”

Jack placed a drink in front of me. “They didn’t tell you any embarrassing stories about me, did they?”

“No, only good things, I promise.” I picked up my drink. “Thank you for the drink.”

“You’re welcome, babe.” He inched his face toward mine and captured my lips in a kiss. “Tonight is going to be a good night. Maybe you can stay at my place.”

I smiled to cover what I was feeling.

Uncertainty about sleeping with him was what I was feeling.

Too soon. I don’t know. We’d been seeing each other for a couple of weeks. I couldn’t keep him waiting forever.

~I like Jack. He’s a good guy, and he’s very handsome. Why wait?~

As the night went on, it had become clear to me how much Jack liked to drink. I didn’t expect him to get blind drunk tonight, but he was definitely getting there.

The three men had taken themselves to the bar for their second round of shots.

Sara and I were the only ones at the table, and I couldn’t help but feel like she was being a little standoffish with me. “Are they always like that?”

“Oh definitely!” She chuckled lightly. “They go a little crazy when they’re all together.”

“It’s funny. I’ve just never seen that side of Jack before. He’s usually so reserved.”

I guess his party side came out tonight. I was learning a lot about him that I didn’t know before.

“Hmm. That’s just the side he wants you to see.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Sara shook her head. “Nothing, just forget I said anything.”

She looked at me, knowing well that she had to explain and that I wasn’t just going to let her comment go.

“Jack’s not always the perfect gentleman that he makes himself out to be.”

“I don’t understand.”

She glanced to the left, noticing that the guys were walking back to our table. “Look, I like you, Jamie. You seem like a nice girl. Just be careful of him, okay?”

“Hey, what are you two talking about?” Jack asked and slung his arm around my shoulder.

“Nothing much. Just girl talk.”

I looked at Sara, wishing she could tell me more, but the moment was gone. She couldn’t tell me anything now. At least, not tonight.

It was close to eleven when I walked out of the bar with Jack. He was drunk, and I wasn’t, and he left, not because he’d had too much to drink, which he definitely had, but because I was leaving.

“I’ll just see where my keys are.” He reached into his pocket.

“You can’t drive home, Jack. You’ve had too much to drink.”

Originally, Jack had picked me up in his car, and we drove here. He’d told me we would get a taxi if he decided to drink more than one. He’s clearly not thinking straight.

“I’m fine to drive, babe. I’ve sobered up already.”

It was quite clear to me that he hadn’t, and I wasn’t comfortable with this situation at all. “Let me get a cab, and you can come back and pick up your car tomorrow.”

I flagged down a cab straight away, thankfully. It was a cold night, and I wasn’t exactly dressed appropriately for the weather. I opened the cab door for him.

Jack turned around and looked at me. “You’re not coming with me?”

“Not tonight, Call you in the morning?”

“Sure, babe. I’ll see you later.”

Jack got into his cab and left. He was too drunk to even realize that I had to take a cab home alone. Usually, a guy would be worried about that sort of thing when it came to his girlfriend.

“Jamie.”

I turned around when I heard the familiar voice call my name. “Eoin. Hi!”

“What are you doing down here?” he asked as he walked closer.

I noticed a takeout bag in his hand, and I then remembered that he lived in the area. Not that I’d been to Eoin’s place, but I remembered him mentioning it.

“I was just out with some friends. Well, Jack’s friends, actually.”

“Jack. The new guy, right? Mason told me about him. Was that the guy I just saw getting into a cab? Did he leave you here to get home alone?”

“Well, yes, but he was drunk,” I replied, and he looked even more unimpressed.

~I suppose he thinks Jack is an asshole now.~

“Jack didn’t know his limit, I guess. I just wanted to make sure that he got home safe.”

“Well, it’s not exactly safe for a woman to take a cab home alone. I live around the corner. I can drive you back.”

“No, that’s okay. I’m sure you have things to do.”

“Honestly, it’s fine. I don’t mind bringing you as long as you help me eat all this? I kind of ordered half the menu.” He smirked.

I chuckled. “Okay, sure! I can do that.”

I was standing in the living room of Eoin’s small apartment, looking at the few family photos he had on display.

Although Eoin and I had become somewhat close when Mason was gone, I had never seen the inside of his apartment. He’d been at my home quite a few times, but I’d never been to his.

“These are cute. Your family looks so happy.” I picked up the framed photo.

“It hasn’t always been that way.” Eoin walked across the room with two beer bottles in hand and handed me one. “We went through a tough time when Aunt Penelope died.”

“How so?”

“Well, we were close, spent weekends and holidays together, that sort of thing. But after she died, Harry and Mason drifted away from all of us. We didn’t hear from them again until years later.”

“That’s sad. I’m sure they didn’t want it to be that way. At least now you’re making up for lost time.”

“That’s why I’m here in New York. I wanted to make up for lost time. Family is important.” He took the picture from my hand. “This one is my favorite.”

Eoin set the picture down and took a seat on the sofa. My phone vibrated on the coffee table, and I picked it up.

It was a drunken message from Jack telling me that he was thinking of me.

“Is that him? Jack?” Eoin asked.

“Yeah, he’s just checking in to make sure I got home safe. I’ll text him back later.” More like in the morning. I’d let him sleep it off first.

“So, are you serious about him? It seems like you are, considering you went out with him to meet his friends tonight. Mason mentioned that he was at Penelope’s birthday too.”

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t exactly invite him to her birthday.”

I settled down on the sofa beside him. “Jack’s a good guy, and I like him. But I don’t know where we’re going yet. Maybe it’s too soon to tell.”

“Does your hesitation have something to do with Mason?”

“Um. A little, maybe,” I sighed. “I was perfectly happy with Jack until Mason decided to kiss me. Now I’m just so confused.”

Eoin chuckled. “When did this kiss happen?”

“After Penelope’s party last week. He wants to get back together. But I don’t know if I can trust him again. He left before. There’s no guarantee that he won’t up and leave if things get too much.”

“I understand. I’m sure Mason does too, deep down. I know he desperately wants you to trust him again. He’s trying hard to prove himself.”

He sighed. “But at the end of the day, it’s your choice to make. You’ve been hurt by him. If you can’t forgive him fully, then it might be better to move on.”

~Forgive him fully! I don’t know about that.~

He’d come back into my life and messed with it. He’d expected forgiveness right off the bat. I didn’t know if I could trust him again. I didn’t even know if I wanted to put myself through all that uncertainty.

I drank from my beer bottle. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll see.”