Page 103 of The Wedding Engagement

He tried to gather his thoughts. Had Jess said she was bringing Jayce over tonight? He’d thought that he was picking him up tomorrow. A glance behind her confirmed she was alone.

“Arran?”

“Yeah, sorry,” he said, stepping aside to let her in. Then he realized something. “Where’s your car?”

She stumbled a little on the way past, and he detected the smell of alcohol. “I got a taxi over.” She removed her shoes and carved a wobbly path toward the kitchen.

He followed her, frowning and confused. “Are you pissed?”

“Nah,” she said, rummaging in his cupboard and getting out a bag of crisps. “Just tipsy.”

This was weird.

“Sit down and I’ll make you some tea,” he said, moving over to the kettle.

“Thanks.” She sat and began munching on the crisps.

Arran glanced up as he made the tea. “Where’s Jayce?”

“He’s at my mum’s,” she said through her full mouth. “Staying over.”

That’s good. Seeing as you’re as pissed as a fart.He brought over a couple of mugs, handing one over, then sitting across from her with his. She continued to munch on the crisps. When she saw him watching her, she gestured the open end of the packet toward him.

Arran waved his hand. “No, thanks.” He watched her for a few more seconds, waiting for her to explain her presence. But she just continued crunching on the crisps. He cleared his throat. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

Her eyes welled up, and she hiccuped a couple of times before getting her words out. “Me and Rory had a fight.” She sipped her tea, blinking.

Arran felt bad for her but couldn’t fathom how any of this was his business. “Sorry to hear that. Why didn’t you go to your mum’s?”

She hiccuped again. “I didn’t want Jayce to see me upset.”

“Uh-huh.” Kind of fair enough, but still weird. “And…why come here?”

Her voice broke. “I didn’t know where else to go.” Tears began to fall and Arran felt like a dick for being blunt.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he soothed. Although, she did have any number of friends she could have gone to.

“Thank you,” Jess said, giving him a watery smile and reaching over to squeeze his hand. Instantly he felt uncomfortable, and snuck his hand from under hers to grasp his mug.

“Can I stay over?” she asked.

How the hell could he say no to a distraught, tearstained woman? “Yeah.” He sighed. “That’s fine.” She could have his bed and he’d stay on the couch. “I’ll drop you at your mum’s in the morning and pick Jayce up at the same time.”

She swallowed. “Thank you.” Taking another sip of her tea, she eyed him. “Aren’t you going to ask what the argument was about?”

Arran was so weirded out he felt like departing for the sofa right that instant. “Nope. It’s none of my business.”

Jess ignored him. “It was about you.”

“Me?” he asked, his pulse spiking. “What the hell have I got to do with anything?”

Jess met his gaze. “Rory reckons I’m still hung up on you.”

For fuck’s sake. This was fast becoming painfully uncomfortable. “Okay,” he said, placing his palms on the table. “I’m going to get ready for bed.” He scraped his chair back and got to his feet.

Jess stood. “Me too.”

She followed him up the stairs and went into the bedroom while he opened the linen cupboard and got out the spare duvet, leaving it at the top of the stairs to take down. He just needed to fetch his favorite pillow. Sleeping without it was an impossibility.

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