| September 27 | Wednesday |

The kiss seemed to only last a second before both Jas and I were pulling away from each other.

"I'm so sorry," she claimed. "I don't know why..."

I held up my hands but couldn't find any words.

"I took a few shots with some customers," she confessed. "It was a mistake."

"As long as it doesn't happen again," I answered. "You know I have a girlfriend, Jas."

She couldn't seem to look at me. "I know."

With that I made my exit and tried not to freak out.

Okay, so we had kissed. Well, it was more like she kissed me. I surely didn't kiss her back. She knew that, right? That there had been no reciprocation? Shit... why did this always happen to me?

I attempted to distract myself for the rest of the night while Jas avoided the bar altogether. I honestly didn't have the guts to find her so I let it be. God this was just gonna make things awkward now.

After last call and cleaning up I ran the checkouts of Sara and Quinton and let them go, leaving me and Jas to close for the night.

Jas finished wiping down one last table. "Sam, please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad," I claimed while counting the cash in our register. "Just confused."

"Tequila just makes me wanna make out."

I raised my brow. "Really?"

"Yes really."

"So the kiss meant nothing?" I wondered.

She only hesitated for a second, but it was a second too long.

"No it didn't mean anything."

"Alright." I nodded and closed the register. "I think we should go."

We parted but I was too upset to even turn on the radio on my way home. Megan had been right and I totally ignored her, and now I had to go home and tell her she had been right at one-thirty in the morning.

I fished for my hidden pack of smokes in the door of my Camaro, knowing I shouldn't but decided I needed one. After tonight I just needed a small vice. And it's not like I smoked half as much as I did back in the day.

I pulled up at our apartment complex and wondered if I would regret telling Megan about the kiss. I mean, none of it had been my fault. And she wanted me to be honest all the time, right?

I threw the end of my cigarette out and let myself in, hoping I didn't wake her. I knew if she woke I wouldn't be able to avoid the conversation.

But before I could escape to the bathroom for a shower she rolled over.

"Sam," she called.

I groaned internally. "Go back to sleep. I'm gonna go shower."

"Come here first."

I stood at the foot of the bed and prayed she didn't get up. But my luck ran out when she sat straight and held her arms out.

I moved in to hug her regardless of taking a shower.

"I had a bad dream earlier and you..." Then she trailed off. "Why do you smell like smoke?"

I pulled back. "Uh, I work in a bar love."

"The smoking area is outside."

Shoot.

I sighed. "I may have had a cigarette on the way home."

She tilted her head. "Hard night at work?"

I should tell her now. There was no use beating around the bush, right? I had nothing to be afraid of. Well, except for Megan and her wrath.

I sat on my knees across from her. "Jas kissed me."

I watched her reaction, which wasn't much of a reaction at all, and tried to slow the pounding in my chest.

Then after about a whole minute of silence she answered.

"That bitch."

I flinched at the word.

Then she scoffed. "But she doesn't like you, right?"

I exhaled. "She wasn't completely sober."

"And?" She leaned forward. "Did she kiss you in front of everyone?"

"No," I said. "There was an incident with this drunk guy and it upset her, so I pulled her to storage so she could calm down. She hugged me and then..." I stopped. "I didn't kiss her back."

"You better not have," she stated.

I leaned in. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

Her upset blue eyes found mine. "I can't blame you. You're oblivious to most things."

"Am not."

"You literally can't argue with me on this one."

I gave her my best puppy eyes. "Are you mad?"

"Well yeah, cause now I have to kill her."

"Megan."

"Why can't you be less attractive?"

I began to laugh. "I have to keep up with you."

She gave a heavy sigh. "I'm not mad at you. But now I don't like Jas even more."

I just gave a sad smile.

"Thank you for telling me."

I leaned into her. "I learn from my mistakes."

Her lips met mine, yet I couldn't help but feel guilty even though none of it had been my fault. I should've listened to her. Megan wasn't irrational. If she saw something she was usually right, at least majority of the time. This whole thing could've been avoided.

She pulled away. "Now go shower. You smell."

"You know I love you, right?" I said through the dark.

One hand cupped my face. "I know. And I love you too." She paused. "Even though everyone wants you."

I stood to go shower but she called out one last time.

"Tomorrow's ladies night?" she wondered.

I nodded. "Yeah. It's our first, actually."

At that she just said "okay" and laid back down, leaving me with questionable thoughts for the rest of the night.

* * *

Then next morning I was woken by Megan joining me in bed with a plate of food and a mug of coffee.

"Well good morning to me." I sat up. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion." She smiled. "Just know you've been working really hard and wanted to show my appreciation."

I just stared at her. "Are you sure there's no bad news?"

She tilted her head. "No?"

I shrugged. "Fine. Thank you."

We enjoyed our breakfast in bed and Megan talked about how well her classes were going. I found joy in listening to her ramble. Even though we lived together our schedules were different, which didn't allow us much time together. At least for the time being.

"I should get going," she said. "Usually I'm the first one to class."

"Overachiever," I teased.

She gave me a wink. "Shooting for Deans List this semester."

I crawled over the bed. "Gotta have brains to balance out all that beauty."

She shoved my head. "Don't be corny this early in the morning."

"But you love it."

"You're right I do." She leaned down and kissed me. "I'll see you later. Stay away from the home wrecker."

I gave her a frown. "Of course."

"I love you!" she shouted on her way out.

"I love you too!"

Then I stayed in bed, wondering what the hell Megan had up her sleeve. She was sweet, don't get me wrong, but there was always a catch the over-the-top behavior. This would be no different.

I just had no idea what she had planned.

* * *

Our first ladies night was going much better than expected and I was having a blast behind the bar. Jas was busy on the floor and away from me, which I found relief in. As much as I still liked her as a person, somewhere deep down I knew things would be different no matter what, and that bummed me out.

And no matter how hard we tried to avoid each other interaction was inevitable.

She came up to the bar. "I need five house shots, a Long Island, and two Coronas with lime."

I took no time at all to fix and place the drinks on her tray. The tension between us was also noticeable, because Sara and Quinton continued to give us odd glances every now and then. Maybe I should talk to her tonight to clear the air...

After Jas dropped off the drinks she made her way back to ring them up. Avoiding eye contact with me the whole time.

"Okay seriously, what's going on between you two?" Quinton asked.

"Yeah, usually y'all are all buddy-buddy," Sara added.

"Nothing's wrong," Jas lied. "Were just busy right now."

I just received unconvinced looks from the two bartenders.

Then the front door opened and caught all four pairs of eyes, and pretty much the entire bar.

There Megan was, dressed in dark shorts and a low-cut blouse. Her hair was curled and teased, falling over her exposed shoulders. Those long tan legs elegantly made their way through the crowd as I tried my best to keep my cool behind the bar.

"Sam your girlfriend is hot," Quinton claimed.

I was too preoccupied to answer him.

Megan leaned on the bar, giving all of us a sight. "Hey."

I leaned in too. "I'm sorry, but where's the straight A, innocent overachiever I saw this morning?"

"You said I had to balance out my brains with beauty, right?" She tilted her head. "I thought you'd like it."

"Oh I do."

"Excuse me, but I'd like a hello as well," Blair complained next to Megan.

I forced my eyes off Megan and to Blair. "Hi." Then I looked back at my girlfriend. "Any specific reason as to why you're out?"

She shrugged. "No. Just wanted to enjoy ladies night."

"And Blair needed a study break," Tony claimed. "She was driving me crazy with her flash cards."

I could feel the tension surface, and not the good kind, as Jas passed me and left from behind the bar. I couldn't help but notice Megan's eyes watch her leave.

"I know what you're doing," I claimed.

She raised one brow. "Oh yeah?"

God, she looked so hot right now, I thought. Screw the tension. All I could muster was a swallow.

"I need a drink," she purred. "And a tequila shot."

This time I raised my brow.

She smirked. "Tony's driving."

"I hope so."

"Unless you want me to stay till close." She leaned closer and whispered. "Then you can take me home."

Okay, as ridiculous as Megan was being right now I couldn't help but thank God for this opportunity. Don't get me wrong, Megan was hot all the time. But her looking like this and flirting with me purposefully in front of everyone made her nearly irresistible.

"You two are so weird," Blair claimed.

I just gave her a small glance before watching Megan wink at me from behind her shot glass.

* * *

Now that the night had flown by and most of the customers were gone, we began cleaning up to leave. Megan of course stayed behind and was currently telling Blair and Tony bye.

"Thanks for coming out with me," she slurred, dragging out the "me" a little too long. "You guys are the bestest friends..."

Blair was so drunk all she could do was laugh at my girlfriend. "Couldn't let you intimidate the home wrecker alone."

I froze and looked around for Jas but didn't see her. Oh God, I couldn't believe Megan had told Blair.

That's when Jas popped her head out from the storage room. "Sam can you come see?"

This caught everyone's attention but I tried to play it cool. She wouldn't try anything with Meg here, right?

I disappeared into the back. "What's up?"

"Look I'm really sorry about last night but I really don't want things to get awkward between us," she said.

"Too late," I deadpanned.

She just gave a heavy sigh.

I shrugged in defeat. "Look, you said it didn't mean anything. So that's that. Let's just put it behind us."

I could tell there was more she wanted to say but instead she held back. And I didn't want to know what she was thinking.

But before we could exit Megan was barging through the door to the storage room, basically falling into me.

"Sorry," she lied. "I was just looking for the bathroom."

I rolled my eyes. "No you weren't."

It fell quiet for what felt like forever, so I decided to break the silence.

"Everything's fine, right?" I wondered.

"I don't know. Last time you two were in here alone, Jas kissed you," Megan accused.

I could feel the tension thicken as Jas's eyes widened in horror. God, why had I let Megan get this drunk?

"You told her?" Jas asked me.

"Of course she told me!" Megan fumed.

I grabbed Megan and began guiding her out of the room. "Come on. You're too drunk for this."

"I'll close the bar," Jas stated.

I just gave her a nod before guiding Megan out of the bar and to the parking lot. I knew she was mad, but the last thing I wanted to do was address this problem in the middle of Columbia while she was plastered.

But Megan didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me as she stormed towards my car. For just a moment did I think it was humorous considering she couldn't go anywhere without me. Plus, she was still really cute when drunk.

She stood with her arms crossed next to the passenger side of my car. A frown on her face.

I moved closer. "Megan."

"I want to go home," she ordered.

It was getting hard to keep a straight face.

I held back my smile. "You're cute when you're all protective."

"Well then I must be gorgeous right about now."

"What can I do to make it better?" I wondered.

She shrugged. "You can't do anything because none of this is even your fault."

I wish I could relate to what she was feeling, but I couldn't. Megan had been hurt like this before, even prior to our relationship. And I knew she trusted me, but that didn't stop the nasty thoughts from swarming around her head.

I cupped her face in my hand. "Baby, I can promise you that nothing is gonna happen."

She let her arms fall.

"Unless you and Jas are cool with sharing," I joked.

She just slapped me on the arm. "I hate you."

"I'm just kidding." I opened the passenger door for her. "Now get in drunkie."

"I'm not that drunk."

I sat in the driver's seat and gave her a "really?" look.

As I drove home I didn't hesitate to slip my hand into hers for comfort. I knew she was still upset, but there was only so much I could do. Quitting Jinx wouldn't happen, and Megan would never ask me to. But there was no easy way to distance myself from Jas either.

She would just have to trust me.

"You looked really beautiful tonight," I broke the silence.

"You just liked seeing my cleavage."

"Yeah, and?"

This got her to laugh.

I pulled up to our place and helped her inside since her heels seemed to make walking difficult. Then I led her to our room.

"Would you like help changing?" I teased.

She flopped herself onto the bed and stared up at me. "Yes. The rooms spinning."

I smiled. "Just don't throw up."

I started with her heels and threw them back inside her closet and then removed her shorts. In the moment, I went to grab her clothes for bed.

"Sam."

I looked up from the dresser and saw her sitting up on the bed.

"What? Do you need to puke?"

She shook her head.

I made my way over to the bed and knelt in front of her. Her hands cupped my face and brought me closer to her for a kiss.

I could feel her tongue teasing against my lips and to be quite honest, I was so tired. Yet, I knew refusing her would probably make her feel worse.

I climbed on top of her and continued to kiss her even though I felt she was too drunk to go any further than this. It didn't take long for her to catch on.

"You don't want to?" she wondered.

"Trust me, I always want to," I confessed.

"Then what's wrong?"

I sighed. "You don't have to prove anything, Megan."

This must've resonated with her because I saw her body relax.

"I don't want anyone else," I admitted. "And I love you. Like a lot. Danna even said it kinda grosses her out how much I love you."

She laughed even though I could see some tears in her eyes.

"I promised that I would never lie to you, or hurt you like I did back then," I finished. "And I don't plan on going back on that promise."

She took a deep breath. "I trust you. I swear I do... I just don't trust her."

I kissed her head. "I know you don't."

"I'm sorry I acted the way I did tonight," she apologized.

I rolled over and looked over at her. "I don't blame you. I'd do the same thing."

"Except you probably would've fought Jas if you were in my shoes."

"You're right."

She pushed her nose against mine. "I'm always right."

Instead of responding with word I just kissed her, letting her know things would be okay. Even if Jas did like me it didn't matter. I was in love with Megan, and nothing would change that.

And I had no problem proving that to Megan as long as she needed me to.