Stay For Me - Megan Smith Page 0,28

against her glass. I know what she’s about to say and before she can I walk over to an empty booth and sit down.

Jaylinn sits across from me, her mouth opens and then closes a few times looking like a fish out of water. She glances back over at Layla who is trying to keep her eyes on the task at hand. Jaylinn turns around laughing.

“You—”

“Shut up.” I growl just as Jackie walks past us. I don’t want anyone knowing. I personally don’t care but I’m sure Layla does since she is the one with the boyfriend.

Jaylinn leans across the table and says just loudly enough for me to hear her. “You kissed her. Eli, you fucking kissed her, didn’t you?”

I shrug my shoulder. I’m not about to gossip like some girl. If Layla wants her to know she can tell her the details.

Jaylinn still laughing shakes her head. “I can’t believe it. She didn’t even tell me.” She turns to glance back at Layla but then does a double take. Her wide eyes meet mine. “Cooper’s here.”

All the traces of laughter are long gone now. I sit up and lean forward so that I can see Cooper. He gives me a head nod back towards his office and walks away before I can even nod back to him.

“Shit!” Jaylinn says with a panic to her voice.

I reach over and put my hand over hers. “It’s fine. This is what we wanted remember.”

Tears pool in her eyes. “I know but he’s pissed Eli, like really pissed.”

I offer her a smile although I know it’s not going to help. “At least it’s getting a reaction out of him. It means he still cares.”

She wipes a tear that has fallen. “Right, a reaction is better than no reaction at all.”

I stand from the booth and hold a hand out to Jaylinn. We walk towards Cooper’s office, letting go of her hand I put both hands on my hips acting like he better have a good reason for calling me in here. Jaylinn is cowering behind me like a scared little girl who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“You want to explain what the fuck I just saw?” Cooper seethes.

I cock an eyebrow. He can’t be serious right now. He asks me to practically babysit Jaylinn and now that we are out having a good time he has a problem with it?

“You were kissing my mother fucking girl, Eli!” Cooper spits. “What the fuck? I leave for a few weeks and you swoop in for the fucking kill?” He bangs his fist on the desk before knocking everything off of it in one swoop.

Shit, he thinks that Jaylinn kissed me when she was leaning over the table.

“Fuck!” Cooper charges me. “You fucking promised you wouldn’t ever go after her. I fucking told you shit was complicated between us but you couldn’t help yourself, huh?”

I can’t even get the words out of my mouth. I thought we were better friends than this. How could he really think I’d go after his girl?

Cooper grips my shirt in his hands, ready to lay shit down when Jaylinn wedges her little body between ours and pushes against Cooper’s chest.

“Stop it.” She yells.

Cooper doesn’t even look at her, his eyes trained on me ready to hit me. “You’re going to let her defend you?”

I smirk egging him on. Go ahead, asshole, make yourself look like a bigger ass right now. “You ‘bout done?”

“Oh,” Cooper laughs bitterly. “I’m just getting started, asshole.”

He tries to lunge for me but Jaylinn steps in again pushing against his chest. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not your damn girl, you gave that right up.”

Good girl, Jay, give him the hell he deserves.

“I saw you.” Cooper yells. “I fucking saw you!”

I huff forcing a laugh. “Whatever you think you saw, you didn’t.” He’s seriously making me doubt our friendship.

“Fuck you! I saw it with my own eyes.” He reaches past Jaylinn and shoves my shoulder. “You kissed her.”

The room grows silent; the only sound is coming from Cooper breathing heavily. I glance to Jaylinn, her body is stone still, I’m not even sure she’s breathing right now. The tension in the room is thick it’s kind of hard to breathe.

I take a step back into his office shaking my head. “I would never do that to you.”

Jaylinn gets her bearings about her and pushes Cooper against the wall. “I can’t believe you would ever think that I could