Sugar and Spice_ An L.A. Candy Novel - Lauren Conrad [31]
“I’m handling it,” Jane told Caleb after a moment. “Sort of. I mean, I’m trying to take the high road, you know? Just because, um, other people are being jerks doesn’t mean I have to be.”
“That’s not always easy,” Caleb said. “Hey, you know what I do when other people are being jerks? I act really nice to them. It totally messes with their heads.”
Jane laughed. “Kill them with kindness, huh? You would do something like that.”
“Yeah? What’s that supposed to mean?” Caleb leaned toward her, bumping her playfully. The contact felt warm and familiar, and Jane didn’t move away. Was the vodka going to her head?
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Jane said. “I just meant, you always know how to handle stuff in a funny, positive way. When people are jerks to me, I get all worked up and want to start throwing things. But I don’t. I just get really quiet and angry inside.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Caleb said, rolling his eyes.
Jane punched his arm. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just messing with you, Janie. Besides, I used to like it when you got angry, because then we got to make up afterward.” Caleb reached for her hand. “Remember?”
Jane remembered, but was not about to stroll down that memory lane. Luckily, her cell rang, which gave her an excuse to extricate her hand from Caleb’s hand—reluctantly, because it was kind of nice, having him flirt with her like this. Wow, the vodka was going to her head, and she was only on her first drink.
She glanced at her phone. DIEGO NERI CALLING. D! D was one of the first people she and Scarlett met in L.A. Jane hadn’t seen much of him lately due to her crazy schedule, although he’d come to the season premiere party and they’d gone to a fun new club afterward. She missed him.
“Do you mind if I get this?” Jane asked Caleb. “It’ll just be a sec.”
“Yeah, of course,” Caleb said, turning to watch the game on TV.
Jane swiveled around on her bar stool and hit Talk. “Hey, D!”
“Miss Jane!” D sounded hysterical. Of course, he always sounded somewhat hysterical. “I’m soooo glad you picked up!”
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Your lover is not. Sorry, ex-lover. I thought you should know—he’s in the hospital.”
Jane’s chest tightened. “What happened? Braden . . . is he . . .”
“No, not Braden, you adorable little slut! Jesse. He was in a car accident. He was driving drunk on the freeway. I got a tip from one of my sources, and I just confirmed it. He’s at Cedars-Sinai.”
“Ohmigod!”
Caleb touched Jane’s shoulder and whispered, “Is everything okay?” Jane held up a finger, to indicate that she’d explain in a moment.
“That boy was asking for it, ya know?” D was saying. “I know that’s a bitchy thing to say at a time like this. But the way he’s been partying these past few months . . .”
Jane thought about the message she’d left on Jesse’s voice mail. Guess it didn’t do any good for her to reach out. Or maybe she should have made that call way sooner?
“When did this happen? How bad is he? Was anyone else injured?” she asked D. She squeezed her eyes shut, praying silently that Jesse hadn’t hurt other people.
“He smashed into the center divider and there wasn’t much traffic, so no one else got hurt,” D replied. “I guess the accident happened this morning? He was admitted but he’s not in ICU, so that’s good news, right?”
“I’ve got to go see him. You said St. Vincent’s?”
“Cedars-Sinai, sweetie.”
“Thanks.”
Jane ended the call and turned to Caleb. “I’m so sorry, but I’ve gotta go. My friend was in a car accident, and—”
“I kinda figured. I’m driving you to the hospital.”
“No, I’m okay, I can—”
Caleb stood