Then Jordan turned to Olivia. “And you. How could I be so wrong about someone? I thought you were better than this,” he said with obvious disappointment and Olivia's eyes brimmed with tears. But Jordan wasn't done. Finally he turned to the table full of his brothers.
“And the bunch of you can seriously f**k off. I told you I was done with Pi Sig. Well I'm done as of right now. Fuck the lot of you and your hypocritical bullshit. You sit around spouting brotherhood. You don't know the first thing about being a brother. Or being a man. Because a real man sure as hell would never have disrespected a woman the way each and everyone of you have disrespected Maysie.”
Jordan climbed up onto his chair and addressed the rest of the room. “And if the rest of you can't do more with your lives than talk shit about someone you don't even know; then maybe you need to look a little closer at yourselves and ask what kind of person does that make you? And if I hear of one more person saying something derogatory about Maysie Ardin, you'll need to take it up with me.”
You could have heard a pin drop, the room was that quiet. My eyes widened as Jordan climbed down and looked at me. “I'm sorry Maysie. I should have done that a hell of a lot sooner.” And with that he picked up his bag and tray and left.
I looked back down at the table where my former sisters were sat, looking shell shocked. Well, damn. “Okay then, have a nice day,” I said and turned on my heel and left. Gracie and Vivian followed me outside.
“That was the most amazing thing I have ever seen!” Vivian shrieked, hugging me. Gracie was grinning from ear to ear.
“You freaking rocked! I wish I had half your courage! And, god, the way Jordan stood up for you in front of everyone? That was the most romantic thing ever,” Gracie gushed.
I smiled wanly, scanning the quad, looking for him. But he was gone. And I knew he may have stood up for me, but that didn't change the way things were between us. Not a damn thing.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“I know he's off tonight. It's safe to go to Barton's. Not that you should be avoiding him like you're in middle school or something,” Riley snarked, pulling me by the arm up to the front door of Barton's. I hadn't been inside my former place of employment for months. Not since my first, magical date with Jordan. I should have known this place was the beginning of the end for us.
Too much bad mojo. Maybe I should suggest to Moore to let me smudge the place with some sage or something. “So the place is Jordan Levitt free. Meaning we can commence in getting ridiculously drunk,” Riley singsonged, shoving me through the door.
Walking inside was like a bad case of de ja vu. My eyes drifted over to the bar out of sheer habit. Lyla and some other guy were slinging drinks to the customers. My eyes caught sight of Gracie and Vivian, who were waving us down. Jaz hurried up and gave her normal squeally greeting. After being embraced far too tightly, she let me know she'd join us as soon as she got off.
I looked at Riley who shrugged. “I thought you could use a good old fashioned girls' night,” she said, seeming a little embarrassed at being caught doing something thoughtful. I grinned and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“You're good people Riley Walker,” I told her.
“Shh. Don't tell anyone please,” she threw back but smiled anyway.
We made our way to the bar and I was stopped every few feet by the other employees who acted genuinely happy to see me. I felt a distinct pang in my stomach and realized I missed working here. When we got to the bar, Gracie got up and gave me a big hug. “Hey girl. Guess what?” she asked, bouncing up and down.
“I don't know. What?” I asked, laughing at her excitement.
“Viv and I withdrew from Chi Delta today. We went apartment hunting earlier in the week and found a place a few streets over from you. Vivian's staying around next year, wanted to take a year off, so I won't have to search for a new roommate when she graduates. Isn't that awesome?” Gracie asked jovially.
“Wow. Um, I can't believe you did that. But if you're happy, I'm happy,” I told her and Gracie nodded.
“Oh yeah, we were so done. The tension is even worse now that Olivia and Milla are on the outs,” Gracie said, picking up her beer from the bar and taking a swig. Gracie had told me that Olivia and Milla hadn't really spoken since my outburst last week. I wasn't sure what went down between the two of them, but they were keeping their distance from each other. But I really didn't care.
I looked over at Vivian and noticed she was sitting super close to a guy with shaggy, dark hair. His back was to me but I could tell by Vivian's body language that she liked him. I leaned against the bar and waved to Lyla who came over. She reached over the counter and gave me a hug. Wow, I was getting hugged all over the place tonight. Good times.
“Maysie, girl! We've missed you around here!” Her eyes sparkled at me and I knew she was referring to one particular person missing me. I waved my hand in dismissal.
“Oh, I think you guys have survived just fine without me.”
“Don't be so sure,” she said wiggling her eyebrows as she slid a Sam Adams toward me. I didn't say anything, and instead drank half of my beer in one gulp. Damien was still on shift but he came down periodically to give Riley a kiss or to say hello. They had morphed into one of those toothache couples. So sweet, it was borderline nauseating.
Vivian and her mystery guy had yet to acknowledge our presence so Gracie, Riley and I proceeded to drink our weight in beer. We were laughing with Lyla and the new bartender Jay, who had just started a few weeks ago, when Vivian jumped out of her seat and finally came over to us.
“Hey chicas!” she giggled. I patted the hand that she had thrown over my shoulder.
“Hey yourself. Having fun I see.” I teased.
“Yeah.” She let out with a self-satisfied grin. The guy had turned around and my stomach dropped. It was Cole. Generation Rejects' lead singer. Oh, just freaking fantastic.
“Hey, Maysie,” Cole said, tipping his drink in my direction. I inclined my head in his direction.
“Nice to see you again, Cole,” I said, though less than happily. Cole smiled in a way that said he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“We've missed seeing you around. Don't be a stranger.” Cole said sincerely as Vivian came back around to sit beside him again. He put a hand on her thigh and she lit up.
“Yep.” I responded, letting my mouth pop around the word.
Gracie looked confused. “Cole's the lead singer for Generation Rejects,” I explained and her eyes brightened with understanding. We fell into an awkward silence. What was there to say? Oh, hey sorry I f**ked over your friend royally...wanna be best buddies?