Page 102 of Crossing the Brooklyn Briggs
Jordan: I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about us. I think it’s something we should wait on.
Is that because he doesn’t see this going anywhere? I shake my head as soon as that thought hits me. At what point will I stop immediately thinking the worst in every situation?
“Are you coming, Blondie?” Houston asks, looking over at me with an eyebrow raised.
I hold up my phone, glad he’s too far away to see who I’m texting. “Sorry, I just need to finish this conversation.”
Me: So you think he’ll take it hard?
Jordan: I think I would rather tell you my exact intentions before we give your brother the wrong idea.
My stomach does a flip, making me dizzy. That could mean any number of things, and my mind wants to go straight to the bad stuff. He wants to keep things casual. (Possible, with his dating history.) He sees me as just a friend. (That one is ridiculous, with the way he kissed me.) He is ready to drop to one knee and ask for forever. (As laughable as it is improbable.)
He texts again before I can fall into a downward spiral.
Jordan: I’m in this, Queens. You and me. I want to make sure you know that beyond a doubt before we flip Houston’s world on its head. Okay?
I smile, feeling the weight of his words. It’s notI love you,but it’s so much better than anything a man has ever said to me.
Me: Okay. Will I see you tomorrow?
Jordan: I have a lot of organizing to do with work, but I’ll text you as often as I can and hopefully get enough done by the time you’re done with school.
Jordan: And if you don’t hear from me, please text me. I want to think you’ll never be far from my mind, but I told you the other day. I’m a mess.
Me: We can be a mess together.
Is that a weird thing for me to say? It should bother me that Jordan knows he’ll slip again, but I have also been on my own long enough that I don’t need constant communication. Maybe a little too used to it… We just have to find a balance and help each other out as we figure out this relationship.
Jordan sends a GIF of someone making a heart with his hands, and I fight against my grin. I don’t need Houston demanding to see what I’m smiling about, as I know he will.
By the time I make it back to the couch, Houston looks like he’s fallen asleep with his head tilted on the back of the couch. His initial exuberance has made way for exhaustion, which has me thinking more deeply about what Jordan said about last night. Whatever came up that kept him away, it had to do with Houston.
“Rough day?” I ask.
He opens his eyes with a groan. “You have no idea. How are the kids this year?”
As I settle on the couch, I narrow my eyes at him to tell him I won’t let him get away with changing the subject.
He squirms.
“You want to talk about it?” I push.
He clearly doesn’t, but Houston knows me too well to think I’ll drop the subject. “There’s a journalist who won’t get off my back.”
If it’s that brunette one who did the interview after the game, the one he ran away from, I’m going to be way more intrigued by this problem than Houston will like. When I ask if it is, he gets an odd look in his eyes, and I have a feeling Houston is going to be distracted by more than just his pretty neighbor, Darcy.
Looks like there may be a story brewing with Tamlin Park as well.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Brooklyn
October 23
“Hey Briggs, do you havea second?”
I’ve just finished inputting some grades during my prep period, though I need to head to the auditorium for a school-wide assembly. Hard to do when Mark is standing in my office doorway. He must have just sent his class down the hall, though I have no idea why he’s here. We haven’t even made eye contact since Monday.
