Caught In The Shadow [Jenlisa]

Epilogue 6

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Jennie liked to see a lot of movies and read a lot of books. She often lamented not being able to read as often as she'd like because her life was so busy between work, school, and dividing her free time between me and her friends. I often changed the subject when she brought up the last bit. I knew she wanted me to meet them.

However, the idea of surrounding myself with typical twenty-year-olds was less than appealing. I had nothing in common with most people—less with those who had never shot a person at point-blank range. At least Jennie and I had that in common!

"Thanksgiving is next week," Jennie said as she slid into the car. We'd just finished watching Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and another movie. Jennie had insisted we have a marathon to catch me up before we went to see the film. Surprisingly, I genuinely enjoyed the movies. "Lisa."

"Yes?" I looked toward Jennie and smiled. She sighed.

"You know where I'm going with this. Don't make it difficult for me."

"Come on, Kitten. Again? I have enough friends. I don't want any more."

"You don't have any friends, Lisa."

"You're my friend." I winked at her as I started the car. She was a sucker for my flirting.

"Gah!" She threw up her hands sarcastically. "You are so irritating! If you weren't so pretty, I'd punch you in the face." I laughed.

"Come on, Lisa. Don't be an ass. I've been really patient, but this is important to me. You're important to me... and so are they. Please don't make me choose."

Despite her playful tone, I could tell how serious the situation truly was. I'd put her through a lot. After all, an evening with her friends had to bode better for me than it had for Jennie when she'd spent time with mine.

"What are we going to tell them about me?"

She shifted in her seat and gave me a look of tempered excitement.

"Oh my god, are you asking me because you're actually considering it?" I rolled my eyes.

"I suppose," I grumbled. I wasn't prepared when Jennie took off her seatbelt and jumped on me with a squeal of delight. I tapped my brakes and heard a horn blaring behind me.

"Jennie! What the fuck? I'm driving!" She was completely unapologetic.

"I'm so happy! So happy, happy, happy." She danced into her seat and put her seatbelt back on. "Kreisha is going to flip her shit when she sees you. Rubio is super polite, but Kreisha is a bit of a chatterbox. So expect her to talk your ear off. Sometimes she gets kinda personal, but I'll warn her ahead of time how grumpy you are. Ohmygod, what are we going to eat? I hope the grocery store has turkeys. Big turkeys!"

My anxiety levels were rising. What the hell had I just agreed to?

"Jennie, it's not going to be that easy. We have to be careful if you don't want to send me pen pal letters in prison."

Her excitement dwindled slightly. She rested her hand on my arm.

"We'd run before I ever let that happen, Lisa." She was dead serious. My chest felt a little tighter.

"Besides," she continued, "the FBI is far from here and they don't check on me unless I reach out first. Kim calls sometimes, but now that she knows I have friends and don't sit around moping over you, I don't hear from her much. We're okay, Lisa. We're perfect."

I smiled despite myself.

"We're pretty far from perfect, Kitten. I'm the most fucked up person you know."