Page 56 of Unofficial

"How the hell did this happen?"

"You found the right girl. Too bad it was the wrong time."

Chapter Twenty

Over a week. It's been over a week since Kade last spoke with Jess, and he listened to Drew's advice. He didn't reach out, even though he feels like he's slowly dying inside. Like the part of him that keeps him alive and thriving shrivels and blackens.

"Is this what she felt like when we ended things before?" Kade asks himself as he stares at the ceiling of his bedroom. "Did she want to reach out but stopped herself every time, feeling like she's slowly going insane?"

Thinking about what Jess thought and felt and experienced when they were apart seems to be the recurring theme in his head lately. He hasn't gone to the bar in weeks, maybe even over a month now, and he wonders if everything he thinks and does is the same as what she thought and did.

Did she click on his contact in her phone and stop right before she hit call? Did she type out a text message only to delete it rather than hit send? Because he's lost count of how many times he's done that since their last conversation.

Calling Drew, he taps his foot. It's only six, so he shouldn’t be interrupting bedtime.

"Dude, it's dinnertime," Drew answers, his mouth full of whatever his wife made for him and the kids.

He remembers when Jess would cook for him. She's a damn good cook. And she looks so hot in her apron in the kitchen, making whatever she decided that day with the ingredients on hand with delicious smells floating throughout the home. He never did get the chance to ask her to cook for him with sexy lingerie on under that apron, and now he may never get the chance.

"Sorry."

"What's going on?"

"She hasn't reached out."

Clanging from his fork on the plate reminds Kade he hasn't eaten since yesterday.

"We kind of thought this might happen."

"Has it been long enough to call her?"

For someone well-versed in women, Kade can't seem to get a handle on how to deal with the situation he has with Jess. Probably because every other situation he's been in hasn't had as high of stakes as this one with Jess. His heart is on the line, and he can't figure out what to do.

"Hold on," he says, and Kade hears the chair scrape on the linoleum floor. "Okay, I had to walk away from the table. Sarah's giving me the evil eye."

"Tell her I'm sorry," he groans. "I'm a needy girl at this point. Tell me what to do, Drew."

Drew laughs. "Hang on, Sarah wants to talk to you."

"Oh, goodie."

He switches the phone to speaker and hears Sarah's voice echo in his bedroom, "Why do you keep interrupting family time, Kade?"

Her tone sounds stern, but he knows she's just giving him shit. "I need dating advice."

"Dating advice? You can't get girls back to your place like you used to? Are you losing your touch?"

"Not the one I want, no."

"Who?"

Rolling his eyes, he sighs. Drew clearly hasn't shared the information Kade told him with his wife. Which could be because he has loyalty to Kade, but he suspects it's more to avoid getting Sarah's hopes up of having Jess back in their life. "Jess."

"Jess-Jess? The woman we all love but you let go of because you're an idiot who can't see she's the best thing that ever happened to you? That Jess?"

"Yes," he grits out.

"Oh, hunny, you're screwed."

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