Wild Girl (READ DISCLAIMER)

Chapter 12: A Surprising Evening

Jade's POV

I stare at Tori, her question ringing in my ears. 'Do you think I'm pretty?' I repeat over and over in my head, my face freezing slightly. "Uh, excuse me?" I ask her, staring at her, hot believing what she just asked.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" Tori repeats, staring at me. "You said your friend found me pretty. Do you?" She asks, sitting up more.

"Yes. Yes, I do." I admit with a sigh. "I think you are very pretty. Beautiful, even." I say, facing her fully.

"Really?" Tori asks, hope filling her eyes as she starts to lean towards me a bit. "You're not messing with me?" She asks, a lot of the words she's heard on t.v. and movies coming out.

"No, I'm not messing with you." I say with a genuine smile. "I mean it, and I felt that way about you for a while." I admit, sitting up more an shifting towards her a bit. "Since before Beck and I broke up, honestly."

We stare at each other, both of us leaning forehead a bit. Before our lips meet, my phone goes off, jolting us out of it.

"Hello?" I say into my phone after pushing the 'accept' button, clearing my throat.

"Jade." A deep voice I easily recognize as my father's says from the other end.

"What do you want dad?" I say, laying back, slightly surprised when Tori lays down beside me, her head resting across my breasts, her favorite pillow.

"Why did Beckett call me and say you had a dog?" My dad asks, sounding disinterested.

"No idea. I don't have a dog." I say, not lying, technically. "Why would he call you anyway? You two hated each other." I ask, rubbing Tori's back with my free hand.

"If there's no dog, then what gave him the idea you had one?" Dad asks with a grunt, ignoring my question.

"A friend of mine was over. She was in character for a play she was thinking about auditioning for." I say, not giving much detail.

"No dog?" Dad asks, no emotion in his voice, a usual for him.

"No dog." I verify. "That it?" I ask, my hand trailing down lower than her back, resting on her hip.

"That's it. We'll be home mid next week." Dad says, hanging up.

"Fine by me." I mumble, hanging up and setting my phone on my bedside table. "You still awake?" I ask Tori, my hand going up to her back when I realize where my hand was.

"Yes, I'm awake." Tori says with a small smile, sliding up until her head is beside mine. "Who was that?" She asks, turning her head to lock eyes with me.

"My dad. You'll be meeting him in less than a week, unfortunately." I say with a sigh.

"Why's that?" Tori asks, her body now half-covering mine.

"He's not exactly a father-type. He's usually here for about a day or two before he's off on another business trip. And even when he's in L.A., he's usually at the office. Only here for the night to sleep, here from essentially ten at night to six thirty in the morning. Eight hours of sleep, a half hour of showering and changing before he's gone for the day." I explain, holding her close with both arms, not exactly realizing it at first.

"What is 'Where The Boys Aren't'?" Tori asks suddenly, causing me to freeze.

"What did you just say?" I ask, surprised at the question.

"I found this DVD in one of your DVD books a few days ago while you were at school." Tori explains, sounding not as hoarse now that she's using her vocal chords on a daily basis to talk to me. "It shows a group of women naked on the front." She says, getting up and heading over to my entertainment center, grabbing a small DVD book of my, adult, movies.