4. Annie
1946 Words
4
Annie
Fine.
I’d just said fine.
Here I was, in Jordan’s truck, with two ten-minute drives in front of us. Jordan and I had been circling each other for years. It was impossible not to be around him when I was best friends with his cousin, my brother worked with him, and we existed in the same circle in this small West Texas town. Still, I’d managed to keep my distance.
It wasn’t like what he’d done was so egregious. I’d had worse done to me by other assholes. Much worse if I was honest. I just hadn’t expected it from Jordan, and that made everything so much harder.
I couldn’t keep my typical vivacious, extroverted personality in his presence. Which was why my arms were crossed and I looked determinably out the window as we pulled away.
“Where is this place again?” he asked.
“Just go north on 27, like you’re going to the airport.”
He nodded and took the exit for the interstate. The silence stretched interminably. His hand drifted to the radio as if he was going to switch it on before pulling back. I’d never been good at quiet. I liked to fill space, but I couldn’t fill this one. I was too defeated from this brutal day to even consider it.
“So, what’s this party about?” he asked, finally breaking.
“You know, I really don’t want to talk about anything.”
Jordan clenched the steering wheel. “I’m doing you a huge f*****g favor, Annie. You could maybe seem a little grateful.”
I whipped my head to look at him. “Grateful? Are you f*****g serious right now?”
“I’m just saying. I had an important meeting that I ditched for you, and I didn’t have to do that. Sulking and staring out the window and then jumping down my throat really doesn’t help anything.”
“Oh, excuse me, Prince Charming. Allow me to fawn all over you,” I growled. “So sorry about your date.”
“Date?” he asked with wide eyes.
I snorted. “And you didn’t even notice. Wow. Same old Jordan.”
“Sophia and I are not dating.”
“You might be the most oblivious guy on the planet. Did you not see the way she fell all over herself when you showed up? Or are you just used to that from the rest of the female population?”
He gritted his teeth. “I know she’s into me, but we’re not dating. I don’t even know why you’re getting upset about this. It’s not like you want to date me.”
“You’re f*****g right about that.”
“Annie—”
“No,” I said, cutting him off. “I don’t want to have this conversation.”
We’d had this conversation before. Jordan and I’d had a one-night stand. One of the best nights of my life. He’d told me he was leaving, going back to Vancouver. He hadn’t mentioned that he was moving here. Which meant, of course, that he hadn’t wanted me to know. Fine by me. If that were where it’d ended, I’d have just shrugged it off, and we wouldn’t have this distrust between us.
But it hadn’t ended there. He’d brought his girlfriend to Jensen and Emery’s wedding a month later, and it had all gone downhill from there. I still didn’t even like to think about that wedding.
Somehow, the best night of my life had been tainted by one of the most humiliating. I’d been vulnerable with Jordan, and now, I knew better than.
“One day, we’re going to have to get past this,” Jordan said softly.
I tipped my head back and closed my eyes. The worst part was that he was right. One day, I would have to get past this. It wasn’t like we were suddenly going to be in a different circle of friends. He was a Wright. And I’d known Sutton Wright my entire life. I was on a rec soccer team with his brother, Julian. None of this was going away or getting easier.
And my day sure as hell wasn’t helping anything.
Deep down I knew that I was taking out my anger on Jordan. He was an easy target.
I deflated a little at that. Jordan was doing me a favor. Maybe I could shelve my resentment for the next half hour and get through this day with his help.
I breathed out heavily. “Sorry,” I said with a sigh. “I’ve had the worst day. Like, honestly, the worst day in existence.”
He startled at my apology. He clearly hadn’t been expecting that. “What happened?”
My body relaxed back into the seat. I hadn’t even realized all the tension I was holding in my back and shoulders until he asked. “Well, my house flooded. Like, completely flooded, and I don’t have a room right now.” I got choked up at the thought. “I lost all my shoes!”
“Holy s**t, Annie!”
“I know. I’m still recovering from the loss. The landlord is going to cover everything, and he has insurance, but it’s pretty terrible. Hence the impractical snakeskin shoes.”
He laughed softly. “And I just thought those were you.”
“I was about to donate them. It’s a mess.” I shook my head. “I almost got into a car accident on the way to the party. Then all of…this.” I shrugged. “Wine dilemma, car trouble…” You. I trailed off. Keeping him as the last problem to myself. Ten minutes ago, I would have slung it into his face, but there was no point now.
“I’m so sorry. That sounds terrible. No wonder you’re so mad. I would be, too.”
“Understatement,” I agreed. “So…what was your meeting actually about? What does Wright Construction have to do with a small wine business?”
“Nothing,” he said with a laugh. “You’re never going to believe this, but I’m considering going in with Julian and Hollin on buying a local winery.”
My eyes widened. “You’re going to go in on the winery?”
“I know. It’s ridiculous.”
“I thought that was all Julian.”
Julian had always been the wide-eyed dreamer to Jordan’s stoic business practicality. But their cousin Hollin Abbey had worked at a defunct winery on the outskirts of town, and at soccer matches for months, Hollin had cajoled Julian into purchasing it. I’d never have guessed that Jordan would actually want to invest in it, too.
“And how do you know about it?”
“Soccer.”
“Ah,” Jordan said with a nod. “Yeah, well, it was Julian’s idea. Hollin’s idea really. But Julian kept badgering me to run numbers and look into distribution and check something or another. I gave up fighting him on it. If I’m going to do all the legwork, then I’m going to get a piece of the pie.”
I laughed. God, that was so Jordan. “So, what you mean is that you can’t say no to your brother?”
He glowered at me. “Yeah, I guess.”
“How do you have time for this?”
He shrugged. Which meant that he didn’t have time for this. And like the workaholic he was, he was just going to push himself to death.
“Turn left here,” I told him.
The Spirit Ranch came into view. The trees were strung with fairy lights, and the tent glowed. I could see that they were nearly finished with setup. Inside somewhere, a very anxious Cézanne was pacing, waiting for all the wine to show the f**k up. She’d probably messaged me, but I didn’t have the energy to even check my phone and deal with her stress.
“Whoa,” Jordan whispered. “It’s actually…beautiful.”
“I know, right? I love it out here. You should see it in the spring when everything’s in bloom and all the peacocks are out.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Peacocks?”
I laughed at his expression. It mirrored mine the first time I’d been here and seen the strutting peacocks all over the property. “Yeah. For some reason, there are peacocks. They’re gorgeous.”
“Lubbock is weird,” he concluded.
“You are not wrong.”
Jordan backed into a spot in the rear of the building, nearest to the kitchen. I hopped down onto the gravel in my too-high heels, already cursing the stupid flood again for putting me in this predicament.
A bunch of eager med students flooded out of the back of the building when they saw all the wine in his truck. Jordan went into a managerial role and directed everyone as they unloaded.
“I’m going to look for jumper cables,” I told him and then headed inside without waiting for a response.
I found Cézanne pacing, just like I’d thought she’d be. Her clipboard was clutched tight in her hand, and she looked ready to bang it against someone if everything didn’t settle itself out. She’d have a real career in event planning if this doctor thing didn’t work out.
“Annie! Oh, thank God!” she said, pushing her one stray box braid behind her ear. “I’m assuming this means we have wine for the party.”
“We do. No thanks to Bryan.”
“He’s been handled,” Cézanne assured me.
I was sure that he had been. Until the next time he f****d up.
“It’s being unloaded now. I had to recruit Jordan Wright to deliver, but yeah, it’s here.”
Cézanne arched her eyebrows. “Jordan Wright, huh?”
Cézanne had been there that first night I met Jordan. When I’d looked at him across a crowded bar and said if I had a type, it’d be him. I’d been right—and so damn wrong.
“Yeah. Serendipity,” I muttered. “He was there for a meeting, and we got the wine in his truck. Anyway, my car died, and I don’t have jumper cables. I assume you do.”
She crossed her arms and smirked. “And you…drove over here in Jordan’s truck?”
“Did you want your wine or what?”
“Uh-huh,” she said, grinning at me in a you can’t fool me way.
“Stop,” I groaned.
“I’m over here, dealing with your friend Bryan, and you get Jordan Wright.”
I rolled my eyes. “Again, Bryan is not my friend.”
“If you say so.” She tucked the clipboard under her arm. “Come on. Of course I have jumper cables. Who do you think I am?”
“Cézanne, the goddess of organization.”
“Precisely.”
Once we acquired the cables from Cézanne’s car, she insisted on carrying them over to Jordan. He’d just finished unloading the truck. He hopped down out of the bed, landing at our feet. He slammed the tailgate closed and smiled that charismatic smile that got him anything he ever wanted. Even me.
“Hey, Cézanne,” he said amicably. “You’re our savior tonight.”
She shot me a look. She certainly hadn’t missed the use of the word our. I hadn’t missed it either. Not just my savior…but his, too?
“Sure am.” She passed him the cables. “I like saving Wrights. Always good to have a favor owed.”
He shook his head. “I help Annie out and somehow end up owing everyone else favors.”
“Well, you owe Annie enough to never be out of her debt.”
My cheeks colored at the comment. Even in the dim light, the blush against my freckled cheeks was obvious. “Thanks, Cézanne. You’re a lifesaver. Now, go kick ass at this party.”
She squeezed my hand, recognizing the dismissal. I loved her to death. But anything that didn’t come out of her mouth was surely written all over her face. If she liked you, you knew it. If she didn’t, you sure as hell knew that too. If she thought you were an i***t, like poor Bryan, good luck ever feeling like anything else in her presence. And for Jordan Wright, well, if he hadn’t known that he owed me before, he did now.
He held up the cables, his eyes lighting as they caught mine and held. “Shall we?”
I swallowed. It was probably safer to wait until after the party and take the cables with Cézanne. To keep Jordan Wright owing me favors forever. To never let him have the chance to clear what was between us. But that car ride had released a valve. What could it hurt, driving back with him?
Three years ago, I’d said that he was my type, if I’d ever had one. And that hadn’t changed a bit. Because that damn smile still did me in.
“Let’s do it.”
- Writer
