Page 57 of Unofficial

He closes his eyes and puts his arm over his eyes. "Thanks, Sarah. Very supportive. Can I talk to Drew again, please?"

"Okay, but he's too nice to tell you that. I'm not, though. Good luck, but you're screwed."

Drew takes the phone and tries to hide his chuckles. "Okay, you haven't heard from her at all since last week?"

"No, and it's killing me. Can I call her now? See if she'll go out with me and listen to me beg her for forgiveness? Again?"

"Is it worth it, Kade? Are you setting yourself up for failure? If she hasn't reached out to you, maybe she's trying to tell you she's done. Officially done."

He runs his tongue over his teeth as he thinks about it. "Maybe, but I have this weird feeling. I have since early this week, but I pushed it down because you told me to leave her be."

"What's the worst that can happen if you call her?"

"She doesn't answer?"

"Then call her."

Kade moves his hand and stares at the ceiling. "Is it really that easy?"

"Yeah. I mean, she's not going to cuss and scream at you if you call, right?"

"She wouldn't do that to anyone. Not even her mom. And that woman deserves it sometimes. She's a piece of work."

"Okay, so she either doesn't answer, or she answers and tells you to get lost in a nice manner. Do you know what you're going to say if she does answer?"

He hadn't actually gotten that far. "No, not really."

"You might want to come up with a plan first. It'll be a little awkward if she waits for you to talk, and you have nothing to say."

"What should I say?"

"I can't do everything for you, Kade. You're the one in love with her."

"You're right," he says and sighs. "Thanks, Drew. Sorry for interrupting family time. Again."

He laughs. "Okay, now go call her and stop being such a girl. God!"

Kade hangs up and stares at his phone. He has no idea what he's going to say to her. Apologize? Tell her he has no idea what he's doing, and he freaked out because he got jealous and scared she fell in love with Landry? Yeah, that's the honest truth, and she appreciates honesty. He thinks. Maybe it’s too much honesty for their situation right now.

He calls her, but she doesn't answer. She doesn't usually screen calls, so he gives it an hour to see if she calls back. Hopefully, she's not ignoring him because she's with Landry like that first night he drove by to talk to her.

After an hour of no call back, he calls again but still doesn't get an answer. He can't decide if she's ignoring him or missed his calls. Either way, he has a weird feeling in his gut.

"If she won't listen to me, maybe she'll read what I have to say," he says and opens up his text messages.

Kade hates brunch. With a passion. He's only ever seen it as an excuse for girls to drink on Sunday morning. But Jess loves brunch. And it's time to step up and make sure she knows he's willing to do what she likes to do.

He starts to worry when she doesn't respond, but when it finally comes through half an hour later, he can't help but wonder if there's an underlying meaning or not.

Is she really sick? Or is she doing what he did when he blew her off to see Lena? Or is this her way of telling him to stay away?

"No, she's not blowing me off. That's not her style. She must really be sick because no matter how mad she is at me, she would never turn down brunch."

"Tuesday?" he exclaims. "It's Friday!"

Jess has taken care of him on more than one occasion, but they were usually self-inflicted. A couple of nights where he went a little too hard and one when he lost a dare to eat gas station sushi. That last one was embarrassing, and he should've known that if a woman was willing to stick around after witnessing and cleaning that up, she was a keeper.

Jumping out of bed, Kade grabs his keys and wallet and heads to his pickup. If she's sick, she should be taken care of like she takes care of others. He races to her house, oddly concerned. He knew he should have checked on her earlier this week when he had that weird feeling. Damn him for listening to Drew and not his gut.

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