The Ink That Brands Us ✔️

Chapter Fourteen

"Jensen! What are you doing here?!" I looked around for a moment afraid that he might be here on a date. Honestly, that would probably ruin my night, but luckily he was alone.

    He smiled down at me and took a seat beside me.

    "How's it, luv?" he asked, then looked around. "Where's your date?"

    "Getting drinks," I answered. "Jensen, what are you doing here?"

    He shrugged.

"I saw you guys come in. Thought I'd come over and say hello." He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

    The way he said it made me think it was a lie, so I narrowed my eyes.

    "What?" He chuckled.

    Instead of answering, I shook my head and scanned the crowd for Alex before turning my attention back to Jensen.

    "Are you mad at me?" I blurted, taking him by surprise. His hard features softened and he leaned forward, taking my hand.

    "Of course not, luv." He frowned and looked down at our joined hands. "I'm just mad at myself really."

    I pulled my hand free and reached forward, lifting his face to meet mine. "You know you can talk to me about anything. You're my friend, Jensen. You can trust me."

    He pulled away from me and recrossed his arms.

"I know."

I could see the turmoil in his eyes and decided that maybe a subject change was in order.

    "So, do you come here often?" I asked, not really caring. I had to do something about that sad look in his eyes.

    "Sometimes, but I haven't been in a while." He looked away from me as an attractive woman passed winking at Jensen. His eyes lingered long after she disappeared into the crowd.

    "Do I need to steer clear of the apartment tonight?" I asked, playfully.

    When he looked back to me there was an intense look in his eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing, luv." He nodded to the crowd and I spotted Alex making his way towards us.

I smiled up at him as he came to a stop at the table.

    "Jensen," Alex said, nodding in his direction. He sat our drinks down on the table and motioned for Jensen to get up. "This is my date, so you can go now."

    "Well we live together, so I thought I'd check and make sure she was okay." The way Jensen said it made it seem like more than it was.

    "You two live together?" Alex asked, looking at me in confusion.

    "We are roommates," I said, narrowing my eyes at Jensen. "How do you guys know each other?"

    "Oh, we go way back. Isn't that right, mate?" The way he said it made me think they weren't friends at all.

Alex just glared at Jensen.

"What exactly are you doing here? Besides stalking your roommate." This was getting out of hand fast and I was afraid to know what would happen if this continued.

The way Jensen was glaring at Alex gave me a pretty good idea of how this would go.

"He was just leaving," I said, giving Jensen a pleading look.

"Right. I'll let the two of you get back to your, ah, date." He looked around like he disapproved of the venue Alex had chosen. Jensen looked to me and smiled brightly, then leaned in and brushed a light kiss across my cheek, causing me to shiver. "I'll see you at home, luv." He didn't wait for Alex or me to say bye. He just disappeared into the crowd