Page 39 of You are the Reason

Tanner - Tell Jesse I always knew he had a killer skincare routine, and bring some of that home for me too.

Home,he did it again.These little words and gestures; he probably doesn’t even realise what he is doing. I am most likely just overthinking again, but he’s breaking through the barriers I have always had so firmly in place. I respond with a laughing emoji and a heart.

Patting my face dry with a towel, Jesse’s words from Friday night ring in my ears,‘I don’t think he would run, Kins. I really do think you could tell him.’God, I wish that were true. Even if it were, can I really tempt fate by finding out? If Kyle and Jesse were right, if these guys are intertwined deeper into my family than I thought, I need to keep Tanner as far away as possible.

There is a knock at the door and Lou-loo barks. I swear by the sound and speed of his footsteps Jesse is running excitedly to the door. Wrapping myself in my dressing gown, I attempt to seek comfort in its warmth, grounding myself with the familiar fluffy material.

In the lounge, Jesse has pillows scattered on the floor either side of the coffee table, Monopoly set up in the middle and more beer and pizza than we will be able to consume. I wonder if he realises it’s a Sunday night? Why he decided to become a teacher when he could never turn up to school on time is beyond me.

“Better than ice cream and two spoons, right?”

A slither of guilt bites at me. “We should have invited the other two over, don’t you think?”

Jesse pins me with a look of disgust. “Toourgames night? I think not.Jeez Louise.” At the sound of her name, Lou-loo barks and I laugh. “No, Lou-loo, not you. It’s a figure of speech.” She cocks her head to the side. “Never mind,” he mutters, waving her off and she huffs, lying her head back down on the floor.

“Okay, well, if we are really doing one of our old school game nights, we are playing by the old rules.” I challenge him with my brows high.

“Oh, you are on, Fallon.” He sits down on one side of the coffee table and cracks a beer. “Each time you land on a chance card, instead of picking it up, you get to ask the other person a question. Deal?”

I nibble my bottom lip. “I’ve got nothing to hide from you Jess. You’ll get bored … I on the other hand have loads I could ask.”

Jesse smirks playfully. “Roll the dice, Meadow.”

Jesse

I roll a five, moving the little silver dog forward until I find that I’ve landed on a chance square.

“Buckle up, Meadow.” Kinsley rolls her honey-coloured eyes whilst stuffing her face full of pizza. “Let’s start with something easy,” I say, even though all I want to do is hit her with some hard truths about opening up to Tanner.

“Okay, I’ve got it. Your first kiss?” I smile coyly, knowing full well this will embarrass the shit out of her. Somehow she manages to swallow her mouthful without spitting beer everywhere before her face turns bright red.

“Jesse!” she gasps. “You already know the answer to that!”

Kinsley hides her face behind her hands, shaking her head. “Leroy Morgan, seventh grade … It was a dare, okay?”

When she peeks out from behind her hands my head is tipped back and I can no longer contain my laughter. “The poor guy, he had the biggest crush on you. Don’t know how you could ever be so mean,” I tease.

“Yeah, yeah. Just you wait.”

We go around the board twice more, and I consume another four beers by the time Kinsley finally lands on a chance.

“Finally! I was almost going to give up,” she giggles, the alcohol making her giddy — as per usual. “I want to know everything!”

“That’s not how this works, Meadow. Ask me a question.”

“Did you and Sophie go on another date? After the double date. I mean — actually, I need to rephrase. Have you guys seen each other outside of our group catch-ups?”

“No.”

“No?”

“That’s what I said …” I pick up the dice, but Kinsley grabs my hand.

“Hey, I’m not finished my turn yet!”

“One question Kinsley, that’s all you get.” She pouts and I consider what I could tell her so she will drop it. If I don’t tell her anything, she will quiz Sophie tomorrow. “Soph is awesome and we get along great, but we both kinda just friend-zoned each other straight off the bat. It’s no biggie, Kins.”

Her brow furrows, I study her face not knowing what direction she will go next. She almost looks defensive.Oh no.Kinsley is a little more than giddy from the alcohol and she thinks Sophie has given me the cold shoulder, this isn’t going to go down well.

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