Page 12 of Unofficial

Something catches his attention from his peripheral, and he turns to see Jess damn near run outside. "You tried to keep me from seeing her?"

"She doesn't want to talk to you," he says. "And like I said, I think what you did to her was messed up."

"You picked sides? You knew me first, remember?" Kade says and stands, slamming a twenty on the counter. "Some loyalty."

"Sorry, man, but she’s a good girl."

"I didn't see her car in the lot," he mutters and walks outside.

Looking around, he doesn't see her Benz, and he knows it wasn't in the lot when he pulled in. He looked, just like he does every night, and it wasn't parked here. There's no way she arrived after him because he definitely would've seen her. No, she parked out of sight so he wouldn't know she was there.

He takes out his phone to call her, pausing for a brief moment as her contact pictures brings him back to the memory of when he took it. She lies in bed, just a sheet covering her, and she wears a naughty smirk because she had no idea he was taking her picture. She'd be mortified to know he not only took it but set it as her contact picture, but he loves it too much to risk having to delete it.

The phone rings three times before he hears her voicemail. She declined the call, but he can't help but listen to her voicemail saying she's unavailable and to leave a message. It feels like forever since he last heard her voice, and he misses it. Misses her. Hanging up before the inevitable beep, he calls again to get the same result.

"If you want to play this game, I'll make it impossible for you to ignore me."

Climbing into his pickup, he drives the short distance to her place and pulls into the driveway. Looking in the small window of her garage, he sees her car. She came home. After trying one last time to call her, he walks up to the front door and knocks.

It's the first time he's been back here since the night before she caught him with Lena. The memory of chasing her up the stairs to the bedroom, both laughing and shedding their clothes before climbing into bed and finding pleasure with each other twists something inside him. Again. This keeps happening, and he doesn't know why.

The blinds shift as he knocks again, and he catches Jess peeking through the curtains. Caught her.

"I know you're home," Kade calls through the door.

"Go away."

He knocks again. "Come on, Jess. Open the door."

"No."

"I want to talk. Please?"

"About what?" Jess asks. "What could we possibly have to talk about?"

Resting his head on the door, he sighs. "I don't like how we left things."

"There was no other way to leave things, Kade."

"I can think of a few ways."

"Okay, let me rephrase. There's no other way we could have left things that didn't involve me compromising my dignity or integrity."

Is that really what she thinks? "Sure, there is."

"Like what?"

"We could've said we'd stay friends. Still talked and kept in touch."

The door swings open, and he almost falls inside with the heavy wood he leaned against disappearing on him. "And what would that have done?"

"I meant it when I said I like you, Jess. I'm just not able to be what you need in a romantic relationship."

"I don't need another friend. Especially one who's seen me naked."

"How many friends do you have who have seen you naked?"

Rolling her eyes, she leans on the doorframe, blocking any option he has of stepping inside. "None."

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