Hard to Find

Chapter Twelve - One Step at a Time

Sometimes I forget how much she's done for me, for us.

She has worked hard enough to get her own house and practically start over with little to nothing. Although we get in arguments or I don't tell her things, she will always be the one I look up to.

"That's nice," Jayden smiles. "I've lived here for nine years too. I moved here for college and stayed when I finished, even though my family is in Philly."

"I thought your family was from Ohio?" I question.

Dylan and Jayden share a look and Jayden says, "Yeah they were, now they're in Philadelphia."

Wyatt changes the subject, asking Jayden about his time in law school. The guys listen to him talk while Marlee and Raven chat on the side, in their own world. But I focus on Jayden, wanting to know more about him.

He delves into his bar exam experience and I feel something brushing my leg under the table. Instinctively, I look down to find Jayden's foot playing with mine. A faint smile quirks my mouth upward and I glance at him, he's smiling too, but not in my direction.

"Right now—" Jayden begins, albeit I'm too distracted by the warm feeling coursing through me to listen. "I'm helping a friend find his kid. There are a lot of legal issues surrounding it."

I move my foot up the inside of his leg.

"You deal with a lot of legal stuff too, right Sky?" Wyatt asks and I nod, giving examples. That's when I feel Jayden's foot creeping closer and closer to my inner thigh. Although I enjoy the feeling it brings, I grab his foot and yank it as discreetly as I can. He jerks forward in his seat.

"You good, dude?" Dylan's eyes grow wide, righting Jayden's slumped body.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how that happened." Jayden glares at me and I can't help the laughter from cracking out of my lungs. When no-one is looking he mouths, "You're asking for it, Killer."  I shrug my shoulders, acting like I don't know what just occurred.

After clearing the dinner table, the guys retreat to the living room while Marlee, Raven and I cut dessert in the kitchen.

"You guys aren't talking much." Raven comments.

"Yeah, what the hell Sky, I had this dinner so you two could mingle!"

I let out a hearty laugh, pretending we didn't just play footsies under the table like high-schoolers. "Am I supposed to flirt with him in front of all of you? The night is still young, my friends, don't lose hope yet." I pat their shoulders and leave the kitchen.

I meander down the hall toward the bathroom. As I'm closing the door,  it's abruptly yanked open. A slew of swearwords leaves my mouth, and I squint my eyes, attempting to see in the dark, even though I already having a strong inkling who it is.

"What are you doing in here?" I say to Jayden. My breathing hitches because of how closer our bodies are. And suddenly, it's one-hundred degrees hotter in this tiny bathroom. 

"I needed to talk to you."

I pause, trying to collect my thoughts. "Couldn't we have done this in the living room?"

"Yeah, we could've, but this is much better."

I pause again and thank the Lord he cannot see the cheeky smile on my face. Neither of us has yet to reach for the light; maybe it's because it will make this situation way too real.

"So, what did you need?"

"After this, get in your car and drive to The Little Jane. We're having a redo of the night we met."