Trigger Warning

Eight

Jayden knew it was going to be an awful day from the moment she spilled a margarita on her favorite shirt. Then she had a drunk douchebag hit on her. It was one in the afternoon and she already wanted nothing more than to go home. This was always a bad sign.

She wouldn't even get to talk with Daniel until three when he got over there after school.

There was a pit growing in her stomach and Jayden could feel that something awful was going to happen. She couldn't get the man who broke in out of her head. She was starting to read too much into it, she thought. Maybe she was just paranoid, but with every passing minute, Jayden felt like she could breathe a little less.

Helen showed up two hours later with Daniel and Jayden felt a lot better. She finally managed to shove the memory of the man to a dark corner of her mind and spend a few minutes laughing with Daniel.

During some down time, Helen started telling a particularly adorable story about when Daniel was little and wanted a pet so badly that he tried to steal the neighbor's bunny by putting it down his pants.

Daniel's face was glowing bright pink as he retorted to his mother, "Yeah, and that trip to the hospital could have been prevented had you just bought me a fish or something."

Helen cocked a hip, "I would have if you'd of just done your chores, darling."

"I told you I would have done my chores had you have bought me a pet."

"It wasn't a compromise situation."

"It could have been."

Jayden couldn't help smiling at the two of them as she cleaned the counter.

Five o'clock rolled around finally and people started slowly piling into the bar. Some for dinner, others to get drunk.

A cold, frigid breeze blew in when the door opened, but that wasn't what sent goosebumps down Jayden's arms as she stood behind the bar. A cluster of emotions shot through her--anger, grief, guilt.

She wouldn't look at him. She couldn't look at the man who'd walked in. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing that she cared.

"How's the book coming?" she wiped the bar table off in front of Daniel's binder, needing to do something, anything with her hands.

He shook his head and glared up from whatever he was writing, "I gave up and just read the sparknotes, then found this website that gives chapter by chapter quotes."

Jayden laughed, sending a Sprite Daniel's way.

"Hey, babe, I'll take a Bud Light." the voice makes her squeeze her toes together to keep a shiver from going down her spine as the man sat down in the stool next to her godson.

"Sure," she popped the cap and slammed it down in front of him with calculated precision.

He smiled a slow, lazy grin up at her that brightened his brown eyes. His black hair was unruly, sticking out in every direction. "Well, look at you," he drew out the sentence, scanning his eyes down her body, "All grown up and running a bar. Daddy would be proud."

"That's cute how you think I care what my father thinks." she wiped down the counter, "At least I had the guts to make my own decisions."

The man chugged down a sip of the beer, slamming it down onto the counter and crossing his arms. "At least I had the loyalty to stick around."

"Jerick," she hissed in warning.

"Jayden," he mimicked her tone and then winked. "We need to talk."