Read Random (Going the Distance) for Free Online Page B

advice. What can I really do tonight?
    We dance. We drink. The band is not that great, honestly. Jake is good, with a gravelly voice that’s sexy and raw, but Rick is only decent on guitar, and the bass player covers for him. I have a good ear, tuned by my mom and step-dad, who played music all the time—every kind of music you can think of, though not too much country. Sometimes she’d give me little quizzes in the car: “Who’s this, Jessie?” my mom would say, turning up the radio. I’d answer, The Beatles or Billie Holiday or Guns N’ Roses. If it wasn’t for Jake’s voice, they wouldn’t have a band.
    But they’re good enough for dancing, for losing yourself. By the end of the first set I’m sweating and happy. The rum and Coke has loosened me up, helped me forget the bad day and the fact that I have no job. When Rick comes over to sit with us, I give him a kiss. “Great job.”
    “You look hot tonight,” he says, running his hand up my back. In my ear, he says, “Watching you on the dance floor gave me a hard-on.”
    I laugh, but it’s kind of thrilling. I love to imagine him looking at my body as I dance.
    “Enough, you two.” Jake sits down and gulps a beer. Sweat dots his forehead. “A friend of mine said she saw you at the Musical Spoon this afternoon, Jess. You trying to read poetry or sing folk songs?”
    I give him a half grin. “No. And no way. I applied for a job. One of their cooks was at Billy’s this morning—” Just this morning? “—told me they were looking for servers.”
    He grunts, his eyes glittery hard. That’s the thing about Jake—he’s smart and cold, and you’re wise not to forget it. I’m always wary with him. I can see something sharp in his eyes. A few times, when he’s wound up or drinking a lot or maybe had something stronger, he’s attacked me out of the blue.
    “You know they turned us down, right?” he says.
    “You don’t really play the kind of music they like.” I say it calmly, add a shrug.
    “It wouldn’t have hurt them to give us a shot. I told them we could go acoustic.”
    I take a sip of my second drink, remembering to go easy this time. “Not sure what to say to that.”
    “Don’t work there.”
    “Right.” I roll my eyes. “Like I can afford to turn down any job.”
    “He’s right, babe,” Rick says, his hand on my thigh. “That would look bad for us.”
    “I don’t see how, but it doesn’t matter. I need a job.”
    “Oh, really!” Jake finishes his beer in two seconds, slams the glass back down on the table. “Would you work in strip joint, then?”
    I glare at him. “Don’t be stupid.”
    “Or maybe we could just get you a job with an escort service and you could turn tricks.”
    Lucy says, “Jake,” and settles her hand on his forearm.
    He shakes off her hand. “Don’t try to soothe me. Get me another beer.”
    “Maybe when you’re in this mood it’s better not to drink.”
    He swings around. “Get me a fucking beer.”
    She sends me an apologetic glance and stands.
    Leaving his full attention on me. “Well, would you?”
    “Would I what?”
    “Take a job as an escort.”
    I roll my eyes and give Rick a look that says, Hey, jump in any time, dude.
    Jake warms to his subject, and as he speaks I can see he’s spoiling for a fight. “If you’d have sex for money, why don’t I just give you some right now and you can come in the bathroom and give me a blow job.”
    In the split second it takes for me to really hear what he’s just said, Rick has sprung to his feet and swung a fist past me, a fist that lands right in Jake’s face. Jake punches back, and I duck, trying to get out of the way, but his fist clocks my ear so hard it knocks out my hearing. I try to get out of my chair and out of the way, but now they’re reaching for each other and my hair is in my face so I can’t maneuver. Something spills all over my jeans. Rick is shouting and Jake is swearing, and I take another punch to the face.
    It