Kissing Jenna (Big Sky 2)
I don’t have anything until I report to Vancouver to start filming Luke’s movie in February.
What I’m going to do with a month on my hands, I have no idea.
Except, I want to go to Jenna. To talk some sense into her and find out what really happened that last day because I don’t believe for a second that she just turned off her feelings like a light switch.
***
“You should go somewhere tropical,” Nina says the following morning. We’re having breakfast in my outdoor space, which overlooks downtown and all the way to the ocean.
The view is killer.
“Not in the mood.”
She sighs and takes a bite of her fruit, looking at stuff on her computer. I’m reading the newspaper, trying to ignore her. I’d rather be alone, but she won’t leave.
“You can’t keep moping,” she says. “Christian, you’re starting to worry me.”
“Don’t worry about me,” I reply, shaking my head. “I’m fine. I just don’t want to go somewhere fucking tropical. Why, do you want to go and you’re hoping you can tag along?”
“I mean, that wouldn’t suck.” She bats her eyelashes, but I don’t think it’s funny. “Are you just going to mope around here until it’s time to go to Vancouver? Jesus, you just spent weeks in the frigid cold, I would think you’d be clamoring for somewhere warm.”
“We’re sitting outside, aren’t we? It’s warm enough in L.A.”
“You’re so damn moody.” She returns to the computer, and a few moments later, I hear, “uh-oh.”
“What?”
“Well, you’re going to see it sooner or later, so I guess I’ll be the one to show you.”
She flips the computer around to face me, and there on the screen are side-by-side photos. One of me kissing Jenna’s cheek in Sweet Scoops, and the other of her hugging and smiling up at a strange guy in Drips & Sips.
The headline says, Brokenhearted ex-lover of Christian Wolfe has moved on!
“What the fuck,” I mutter and skim the article. It’s one paragraph about how she was spotted getting cozy with some guy in Cunningham Falls.
“She moved on pretty quickly,” Nina says, and I glare at her, shutting her up.
My blood is on fire. Every muscle in my body tense and ready to deck someone.
I stand and pace the patio, then stop and stare at the view.
None of this is worth a damn without Jenna.
“I mean, it hasn’t even been two weeks.”
“Shut the fuck up, Nina.” I whirl around, and her eyes are wide. “Jesus, just shut up. I love her, and you’re just talking about her like she’s meaningless. She’s not.”
“Christian—”
“No. Stop talking. I’ve had it up to my fucking neck with you talking shit about her. I don’t know what your deal is, but you got your wish. We’re not together. But I don’t need you rubbing it in my face every damn day.”
“That’s not what I’m doing.”
“Yes. It is. And I’ve had it.”
“Have you tried calling her?”
“I’ve called. I’ve texted. She won’t answer me.” I pace away again, frustrated. “It’s like something happened, and a switch was thrown. She went from loving and affectionate to completely closed-off from me, and I don’t know what happened because she won’t talk to me.”
“Well,” Nina says, and I turn at the sound of her voice. It’s weaker, the way it is when she’s about to confess something. “I might know what happened.”
“What, Nina?”
“I said something to her.”
“When?”
“When you went to pack your things.” She swallows hard. “Christian, she’s not meant for your life. She’s a small-town girl, and you’re People magazine’s sexiest man alive. How could that ever work out?”
“Who the fuck are you to decide that we’re not right for each other?”
She cringes, but I don’t stop.
“Jesus, Nina, you’re my manager and my sister, but you’re not my keeper. You don’t make my life decisions for me, and you just sabotaged the best thing that has ever happened to me. You don’t even know her.”
“I know that she made you forget your responsibilities,” she fights back, standing from the chair at the table. “You never would have let someone take a video of you kissing someone before. You know what shit like that can do to your image, and you were finally recovering from the DUI shit storm.”
“That shit storm was my life. But you don’t care. All you care about is my image and what it does to my bottom line.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s exactly true. I love you, Nina, but maybe I’ve given you too much say in what happens in my life.”
“Christian, I didn’t know that she meant that much to you. It’s not like you called to talk to me about it. I saw everything through the press, and it looked like she was worming her way into your life and causing you to make mistakes. We can’t have mistakes. And don’t forget, I’ve spent my entire life watching people around you try to take a piece of you, including our own mother. I am your manager and sister, and goddamn it, I’m your protector.”