Page 25 of Hypothetical Heart
My anxiety, however, is not.
“You were overwhelmed, we could all tell,” Genevieve sympathizes.
“Still, that doesn’t give me the excuse to be mean tohimof all people.” I only say that because Logan is the nicest of all of us. He never gives an attitude or makes mean remarks. He’s just perfect.
“It’s okay,” Eloise assures me.
Genevieve nods. “We forgive you, and who knows, you and Logan might be having anactualsleepover tonight.”
“Funny,” I reply sarcastically.
“I don’t care as long as there’s some thick drywall between us,” Eloise jokes, clearly referencing the shared wall between her and Jameson’s room.
Genevieve glowers at her. “Don’t even?—”
“Have you done anything with him?” I ask.
“I’m choosing to stay silent on the topic,” she replies.
Genevieve has never been one to shy away from sex topics. She’s not ashamed, even though her last hookup ended catastrophically, and she usually doesn’t see the point of being embarrassed by taboo topics like I do.
Eloise must be thinking the same thing. “Come on, you’ve never held anything back before.”
Genevieve focuses herself elsewhere, stacking the raw patties up on a paper plate. “This is different.”
“Jameson?” I ask. It’s hard for me to believe he would care if Genevieve were to tell us these things. He’s equally shameless, just slightly quieter.
“My relationship with Jameson is different,” she concedes. “I’m not rushing anything like I have in the past because there are different circumstances with him.”
“Circumstances?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Jesus Christ,” Eloise curses. “Just say what you mean.”
Genevieve steps back from the counter, closing her eyes as she takes a deep breath. I will never understand why this is so hard for her, I just know that it is.
“I love him,” she says, and I can hear the way her voice threatens to clog in her throat. “I love him, and I can’t bear the idea of taking our relationship too quickly and losing him.”
“I’ve never even thought about being involved with a man, let alone having sex with one,” Eloise says, making us laugh. “But what I can tell you is that from an outside perspective, we all know that Jameson loves you too, and he has no doubts that he’s going to be with you forever.”
“She’s right.” Genevieve just about jumps out of her skin when she hears the voice behind us.
“How much of that did you hear?” She whips around, facing Jameson, who's standing in the kitchen’s entrance.
“Enough to know that you love me.” He smirks, placing a hand on her lower back.
“Whatever,” she grumbles, leaning toward his embrace.
Jameson leans down, whispering something in her ear before he grabs the plate of burgers from the counter. “Thanks, girls,” he says, nodding as he walks back outside.
“Did he just—” I’m baffled. We’ve been so worried about which of us was going to have to start the grill, just for Jameson to do it for us.
Genevieve laughs.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Eloise hops off the counter, pointing a finger at Genevieve. “You knew that your precious boyfriend was going to cook the burgers this entire time?”
“You really thought I would grill burgers?” She laughs in reply. “I may be stubborn, but I know what I do and don’t want to do, and I definitely don’t want to do that.”
