Page 54 of Kissing Chaos
Reaching a hand out, I push back a loose strand of hair. “No shit, you are more beautiful than you give yourself credit for. You far exceed any other woman I know. Now tell me what had you out of sorts yesterday.”
The up tilt of her lips isn’t a smile, but it is progress. “Joey—my ex. He texted me yesterday, and I didn’t handle it well. Clearly. Jumped right into old habits I thought I’d knocked off years ago.”
I force my hands to stay lax, but my heart rate picks up at the mention of a guy who had this perfect woman and gave her up.
“It wasn’t even anything big. He just reached out to see how I was doing. Which is a very Joey-like thing. We were friends before we ever started dating, and he always wanted to make sure everyone in his life was okay, happy.” Her hand finds mine under the blankets. “It’s not whatever you’re imagining right now. I don’t miss our relationship—we needed to end—but it has taken hours of therapy sessions with Kristen to realize that I am stronger without Joey in my life. Sure, if we’d ended sooner, it wouldn’t have been as painful. But he wasn’t in love with me, and I was just comfortable with him. I can admit that now.”
“So, how’d that result in your drunken escapade?”
She shrugs. “I overthought things. Realized it has been four months since everything started falling apart. Things between me and Reece are strained still. I’m trying to stand on my own two feet. Didn’t want to bother you when I knew you hadn’t gotten in until late Saturday.”
“You keeping tabs on me, chaos?”
That shoulder tilt again. “I like knowing you’re home before I go to sleep,” she says bashfully. This girl.
At that, I lift the blankets off of us and pull Jett into my arms. I tuck the blankets back around the two of us before she can protest. “So, back to what you were saying. Did you text your ex back?”
“Not exactly. According to my call log, I dialed his number and his best friend before I went to Riley’s. No clue what I said, but since they were both only minute long calls, it couldn’t have been much. I keep waiting for one of them to call me back, but they haven’t.”
“Do you want them to?” I ask, waiting on bated breath. I won’t sit back and let this loser have her. Not without a fight.
“A little. I promise it’s not because I want to get back together. The only guy I want is here in Havenwood.” She grins up at me, those emerald eyes cutting straight into my soul. “But I miss my friends, and I would like to think we’d be able to get back to some of that back if I can get past the hurt.” She lets out a dry laugh. “Then again, can anyone get past finding their boyfriend getting it on with their friend in the living room after a long day at work?”
I play with the hand that she still has in mine, rubbing circles on her palm. “I think it depends on if you’re both truly happy in your new situations. Would I like the girl I care about hanging with her cheating ex? Probably not, but I’d like to think I’m secure enough to accept it.”
After a minute of silence, I ask, “You know my brother married your brother’s ex while they were still supposedly in a relationship?”
“That…actually makes Reece’s issues with you make a lot of sense.”
“Apparently, I’m the only one who didn’t know why until recently.”
“It’s a stupid reason. Some if it is also because you’re an elevator mechanic and our dad always talked shit about you guys. Again. Stupid reason to not like the coolest guy in town.”
I keep my gaze on the television but silently bask in the warmth her words provide. “Communication can go such a long way. Instead, idiots assume things and create easily avoidable and unnecessary confrontations. Anyway, the girl that Trace just split with was your brother’s girl when she and Trace eloped.” Shaking my head, I let myself squeeze Jett’s thigh again, my fingers trailing up ever so gently.
“I convinced myself romance isn’t real after the Joey and Ella thing. First, my parents split because it was just a marriage of convenience and Mom fell in love with her assistant. She and Jared have twin daughters who are pre-teens now.”
“Do you get to see them often?”
“Not really. I struggle with a relationship with my mom. She had trouble understanding me as a teen anyway, and then when Dad moved to Kentucky after the split, it was and still is a rocky relationship. But her husband and my sisters are cool.”
“Are you and your dad close?”
She smiles. “Oh yeah, he’s the best. He doesn’t get to come down from Kentucky often, but we talk on the phone all the time.”
I lean down to kiss her temple again, loving the feel of her in my arms. “Since we are telling each otherall the thingsas you like to say, you promised talk of a first date.”
A groan slips through her lips that makes me smile. “I did, didn’t I?”
“Tell me what’s off-limits. I don’t want to go planning something that’ll ruin a chance at a second date.”
She sits quietly for a moment before slowly nodding her head. “Crowded places are a big no for me when I can help it. Um, I prefer places I know, too.”
“Do you have any aversions to going somewhere by hiking or horseback?”
“No, not really. It’s been a hot minute since I rode anything, though.” When she looks at me with a soft blush seeping up her neck at the sexual inuendo she accidentally let slip, I can’t help but lean forward and touch my lips to her temple.
“Okay, new topic. How’s the freelancing going? Still have clients pouring in?”
