Page 61 of Fighting For You
She looked poised to strike—would she take my constructive feedback that a nice round house to his head would be a good starting place?
Probably not.
As reactive as she could be to me, she seemed to haveherself on lock when it came to Kurt. She must’ve grown a few inches, her spine perfectly straight, chin high, and a look so unimpressed I was surprised he didn’t shrink on the spot. Energy coiled around her, like if he gave her any excuse, she’d not only lay him out, she’d also serve him his pinkies on a platter before he caught his breath.
Damn, she’s impressive.
“Oh, don’t you worry.” Kurt glanced up and his attention snagged on something.
I followed his stare and sure enough, there was a group of girls giggling and chatting loudly on the way to the parking lot.
I caught Jess’s eye—she’d seen where his gaze had gone, too. I felt too good about things between me and her to feel the usual anger when it came to him, but the way her face fell made me want to introduce Kurt to my fist.
“Anyway, we’re all friends, right? We’re all on the same team. And right now, I actually have a little side project I’m doing for the producer Anthony Pollusk, so I’ve got to get going. Have a good night, you two.” He winked at Jess and took off toward the women.
“I guess ‘side project’ is his new euphemism for harassing women?” Jess rolled her eyes and turned her back to the way he’d gone in favor of the mountain view.
The man had given up having everything with Jess. How had I missed it, and how had she? I wanted to understand how she could ever stand to be with him, though right now, I wanted to forget him. Because of course, he’d interrupted us in the middle of what’d been a nice little moment, and all I wanted was to forget about him for a while.
Maybe there wasn’t an us just yet, but she’d shown she was open to the possibility. Because of this, and how she’dinitiated contact last time, I approached her from behind and set my hands on her shoulders. “He’s a jackass.”
She tucked her arms against herself and shook her head. “I know. And sometimes, it hits me the wrong way that I was ever with him.”
She’d read my mind, but I didn’t want to bear down on the past or dredge up any more sorrow over our previous choices. My thumb swept over the soft skin at her neck. “For what it’s worth, I think he’s more overtly terrible now. I think he used to use the charisma for good at least part of the time.”
I’d consoled myself with the same thought more than once over the years, though of course I hadn’t been around him to realize just how big of a jerk he’d become until this week.
She turned and glanced at me, a hundred unvoiced thoughts in her dark eyes.
My stomach clutched and I couldn’t tell if the wanting there was for all those secrets, or for more closeness with her. More time.
More everything.
Yeah, that sounded about right. I’d always wanted more of Jess than I’d had, and I’d spent so much energy banishing that desire and embracing the distance and enmity. But now, there was a chance for more, a window opening after a firmly shut door, and I would embrace it.
“So our first date is to the diner, huh?” she said, lightening the mood and strolling toward the parking lot.
We couldn’t do anything about what lay behind us, and we weren’t ready to fully define what we wanted now. I’d stopped short of saying more—of saying all the ways I wanted her and just diving fully in because she’d made a point I couldn’t skate past. It’d been worming its way intomy head more and more—the fear that maybe we did have too much between us, too many hurts and wrongs done to one another, even with the reparations we’d begun.
But what we could do?
We could embrace now. It sounded like that’s what she wanted, and so, I’d grab onto it, too.
“I’ll treat you right, baby,” I said, winking at her with a stupidly obvious shut of one eye.
She burst out laughing. “Oh, no. Am I discovering that instead of a broody grump, I actually have a cheeseball on my hands?”
I hid my pleased grin and stopped her, all serious. She waited, face growing concerned as I waited to speak.
“As long as I’m in your hands, I’ll be whoever you need me to?—”
She swatted at me, and I didn’t bother holding in my laugh. Damn, it felt good, just to laugh with her.
“You are ridiculous.”
“I have never claimed to be smooth.”
This time, she stopped and slipped her hand into mine. “I don’t want smooth, Jude. I just want you.”
