Golden Boy

T W E N T Y-E I G H T

Maggie reappeared at our booth, seemingly more frustrated before she left. Her conversation with the women hadn't gone well as she recounted to us. Haven, the target for the night, was currently sitting surrounded by really good-looking couples who swarmed in closer as soon as Maggie got up from her spot on Haven's right. 

Neither looked to be happy to see the other, but Maggie still managed to plant seeds in for whatever Jace was to do next. It was his turn to get try his hand with Haven. Jace downed his drink in one gulp, slapping the table as he got up. "Alright, I'm going in," he said, slipping out of the booth to go and magic his way past the bouncer. 

"She's going to chew him up," said Maggie, shifting closer to me in the booth. "So, how's it going trying to keep Jace's secret and everything."

I played with the stem of the martini, rotating it between my fingers. "Uh... it's going good, I guess." 

"Still can't believe Dayna did this on purpose. If I were you, I would run away when he's not looking," she laughed, throwing her head back, suddenly trying to play it off as if she wasn't thinking about ripping my head off at some point tonight.

"Yea, that's what I plan to do after I graduate. I'm thinking about UCLA for the fall."

Maggie perked up at that. "Cool, you want to be a Cali girl. That's nice. I really hope you get In."

"Thanks, I hope so too."

"Does Jace know that you want to go to school in California? I'm sure he's mentioned his opinion about that by now?"

"Yes, he knows. I don't think he cares much though."

"I'm sure he's already schemed up a way to keep you here," she said. "I've never seen Jace not get what he wants until of course you came along and Dayna pushed you into his life."

"I doubt it, really."

"No, I'm serious. He has become so attached to you that I can not imagine him being so willing to let you leave." 

I eyed her carefully, trying to figure out what she was getting at. I couldn't tell if she was being serious about Jace getting attached to me. I had noticed that he was less of an ass recently, but I attributed that to the fact that he accepted that I wasn't going anywhere for a while. 

"I don't feel like that's really the case."

"Really? He brought you here tonight, didn't he? When it wasn't necessary and without even letting me know. I think he hasn't figured out yet how he feels about you, but I can tell. He doesn't want to let you out of his sight," she glanced over her shoulder in Jace's general direction. "He's looking right at you now, in fact." 

My head snapped to where Jace sat next to Haven. We made eye contact and he immediately looked away. "Oh, you were being serious."

"I wouldn't lie to you, unlike Jace."

"Really, so why were you and Jace having a yelling match earlier tonight?"

Maggie stiffened, avoiding eye contact. She took another sip of her drink to stall from answering the question. "I think Jace is making a mistake by focusing so much of his time on you. He's risking a lot by keeping you so close to him, and it's going to make a lot of people angry once they realize that he's not up to doing certain tasks anymore. You need to convince him that you are not interested in him so that he can move on and refocus his energy on his job."

"You know I don't have feelings for him, right?"

Maggie perked up, sitting up straight in her chair. "Great, now make sure he knows that."