4. Jules

CHAPTER 4

jules

I'd really thought it would be fine. I hadn't seen Ginger since… Ugh. Just before I eloped.

Whatever. My shitty marriage had ended a year ago. I was ready to date again, and everything was fine. It definitely shouldn't have hurt to see her.

Hell, I'd known she would be there tonight. I'd prepared myself. There was no reason for any of this.

Except… I hadn't seen her dressed like that before. She'd always worn khakis and her Lupe polo or something that was, at most, business casual. Now she was wearing one of those multitiered, thin cotton skirts that swirled around her ankles. Her beadwork jewelry was spectacular, plus that delicious strip of tan skin between her simple white tank and her waistband…

And her curls . Those perfect coppery curls.

It was too much. Just as I'd decided to shove it down, maybe say hi to her, Leo burst into the place and started talking about being engaged and how he couldn't wait to have babies with her.

What the actual fuck?

To be fair, Ginger had once shyly admitted to me that she wasn't sure if she was a lesbian. She wondered if she was bi or pan but simply couldn't stand the thought of being with another man after what she'd been through.

At the time, it had made it impossible for her to know what was real, and worse, it'd made her feel like she was doing queer wrong. I'd tried to reassure her but could tell it hadn't landed.

And now Leo—who she'd practically raised—was talking about having kids with her, and… No.

Seriously, what the fuck did that mean? Was she somehow okay with dick now? Did that mean she could've been okay with me if I'd just been a little bit more patient?

"This was a mistake," I whispered to Roly. "I'm going to wait in the van."

"Are you sure?" he asked, handing me his keys. "Maybe it was some sort of inside joke. I don't really see her with someone like Leo."

"They're super close." Oh, and… "Fuck."

"What?"

"They've been roommates, or whatever, for years. She's not even that much older than him."

They were roommates.

I wanted to throw up.

"I'll see you after the show."

"Okay, prima." Roly pulled me into a hug and whispered, "I'll let the others know."

Ginger was still chatting with her betrothed as I snuck out the door. Gruene Hall was the epicenter of the town's quaint historical area. The setting sun overlaid everything with a golden glow. I didn't know what the hell I'd been thinking, coming here tonight.

I jaywalked, trying to get to the parking lot as quickly as possible. Roly and Heath had picked me up in their minivan, so maybe I could put the middle seat down and go to sleep for a while.

"Jules?"

Honestly, I'd rather repeat boot camp barefoot and naked than feel this way again.

"Jules?"

I was so deep in my head that I startled when someone tapped my shoulder. I spun on my heel and nearly fell when I saw Ginger standing there.

"Oh, sorry." She stepped back, her copper hair and bronzed skin set aflame by the waning sun.

"God, you're beautiful," I breathed out. She was divine. Magic in human form. I realized too late that I'd been staring. "Sorry. So sorry. I'm gonna hang out in the van and stay the hell out of your way."

I spun back toward the big unpaved parking lot. My knees felt like gelatin that hadn't yet set, and I was dizzy from the way she shimmered like a goddess. I had to escape before I said something really stupid.

" I'm not marrying Leo ," she called after me.

I stopped short, causing passing tourists to alter their paths around me like a stone in a creek. My brain had processed Ginger's words but not their implication. My heart couldn't take it if I'd read too much into… any of it.

"Jules, can you turn around and look at me?"

I smoothed down my ponytail and did as she asked, terrified of what I'd see in her eyes.

"You're beautiful, too," she said, stepping in so close that I could smell her summery scent.

"He said you were planning on kids."

She rolled her eyes heavenward. "Fucking Leo."

"Are you?" I asked, bound and determined to shove my foot all the way into my mouth. "Fucking him, that is?"

Her rich laughter rolled through my soul, but I didn't know what it meant. " No ," she said, grimacing. "God, no. I would never, ever sleep with Leo."

"Then what was he?—"

She held up a hand. "It's Leo, Jules. He was trying to, I dunno, make me feel better? Probably?"

"Why?"

Her curls danced as she shook her head, but her eyes went sad. "It was the big wedding, and he and I were both in a bad place. We joked that we'd get married if I was still single when I turned thirty." Before I could ask, she explained, "We wouldn't have sex, but we could adopt kids. Or, according to Leo, go the turkey baster method."

"God, he knows how to paint a visual." Even as I laughed, though, I had to clarify. "I thought maybe I hadn't been patient enough, and now you could have sex with…" I let the words die as a family passed us.

"Uh. No." She fiddled with the tie on her skirt. "When we last talked I wasn't sure, but… Yeah, no. I'm definitely a lesbian."

"That's good to hear," I said, as stupid hope burned away in the early evening sun. "I mean, I'm glad you've figured out what's right for you. You deserve to feel comfortable in your skin." I swallowed painfully. My heart was as brittle as ancient ceramic, and I had a feeling that it was about to break all over again.

Before I could think of anything else to say, a big dually truck rolled by with a couple of rednecks hanging out the window, making kissy sounds as they slurred ugly words in our direction.

The bigoted insults for Mexican and biracial women hadn't changed much over the years, and Ginger and I rolled our eyes—we'd dealt with worse. Even better, we both shot them the finger, then laughed when we realized we'd done it more or less simultaneously.

Shut up, heart.

The drive-by assholes, however, took exception to our response. The truck squealed to a halt in the middle of the street, and two corn-fed motherfuckers in snapbacks climbed out.

Acting on instinct honed by years of military service, I stepped in front of Ginger as they approached. These two had made a serious error in judgment; they just hadn't realized it yet.

The bigger one laughed as he pointed to me. "What does this Mexican Barbie–looking bitch think she can do to us?"

"Why don't you find out?" I asked, making my voice light and feathery.

Ginger, who knew the score, snorted. That she knew this part of me made me fly and ache in equal measure.

The bigger one was coming in fast, so I adjusted my stance and let him step into a punch to the ribs. I got him at the perfect angle, and he dropped like a stone, gasping for air. The other guy, who weighed half as much and looked twice as stupid, kept coming. He tried to throw a haymaker but had started the move from too far away and hadn't planted his feet properly. I grinned as I evaded his sorry attempt, then cocked back and punched down, straight through his fucking kneecap.

Our minor scuffle attracted a crowd of onlookers, though the fight was over by the time a few Texas gentlemen joined us. Asshole number one was still on all fours, and asshole number two was rolling around holding his knee, screaming about some old football injury. The gentlemen were amused by the burly guys on the sidewalk with the two slender women standing to the side.

"You okay, ma'am?" a guy in a Stetson asked, cradling my hand in his enormous mitts. He was tall, with light brown hair and intense blue eyes. Had I a preference for men, he'd have been a nice consolation prize. "I ain't never seen such a sweet thing take someone down like that before. You didn't even muss your hair."

Ginger stepped in beside us as the local PD rolled up. She cleared her throat, sending my belated knight a sharp, unfriendly grin. "That's so kind of you. Could you get my friend here a bag of ice from the store?"

She punctuated her words by wrapping her arm around my waist, and he blinked. Doffing his hat, he nodded. "Of course, ma'am. I'll return to let the officers know you were simply defending yourself."

"Thank you, kind sir." I waited till he was a few steps away before letting loose a giggle. I glanced down at Ginger's arm, still wrapped around my waist, then gave her a significant look.

"Shut up," she said, tightening her hold on my hip.

Maybe a few things had changed.

I motioned a zipper across my lips and tossed the key. In the meantime, the crowd directed the cops to the men on the ground, and an officer approached us. "You two okay?"

We nodded and gave her the brief rundown of what had occurred. She took one look at my knuckles and laughed. " You took them down?"

I tugged at my skirt and gave her a brief curtsy. "Spent a little time in the Marine Corps, ma'am."

"Oorah," she said, her eyes appreciatively tracking down my body.

"Yeah, oorah," Ginger retorted, shooting daggers at the armed woman.

The officer chuckled, shaking her head. "Message received."

We were interrupted by the gentleman in the cowboy hat, who came bearing baggies of ice and a couple of bottles of water. The officer led us to a bench, giving me a moment to get my hand situated.

"Ladies, looks like you've been through quite a bit," she said, eyeing my slightly busted-up knuckles. "Let's go over what happened so that you can get back to your evening."

She efficiently took our statements, along with our contact information. I was worried I might be taken in for questioning, but she didn't want to have to bring in a woman for defending herself.

God love an accidental gender affirmation.

Just as we were agreeing to make ourselves available for any potential court dates, the sounds of the band starting their second set filtered from the old building. Roly popped his head out the front door, and his eyes widened when they landed on the pair of ambulances that had arrived for the two idiots.

Roly waited for the officer to finish with us before approaching. He held his hands out, open. "What the hell happened here?"

Ginger gestured at me. "It was this one. They were shouting at us, and she threw them the finger."

"Excuse me," I said. "You did the same thing."

"Yeah, but I'm like an Oliver Twist character, not expected to follow the rules of gentility. You're a marine. You're supposed to set an example."

"Do you hear this bullshit?" I asked Roly, whose smile was pure instigation. "Don't start."

"Wasn't gonna."

Mm-hmm.

Ginger nudged me with her shoulder. "Roly-man, you should have seen it. Jules punched that one guy in the ribs and fucked up the other guy's knee. It was glorious."

Roly slapped his leg and laughed. "That's my prima, kicking ass in a pretty floral dress."

I flushed and lowered my face to my hands. "Shut up."

Roly, who'd always been a little too smart for his own good, glanced between me and Ginger. "It's nice to see you two talking again. Even if it did have to involve law enforcement."

Ginger linked arms with me. "Want to hang out at the picnic tables while the band plays?"

My cheeks flushed as I slipped Roly the van keys. "I'd love to."