Page 21 of The Heart Shot
“Oh, can it with that crap. I know you’re lonely. I know you better than anyone, so trust me when I say I hand-picked the perfect guy for you. Why would you walk away from that?”
I scowled at her through the phone. “I’m not answering that when you already know why.”
Maya huffed. “You are impossible. Jameson is literally your perfect match. I’ve done a lot of couples shoots, Els. I’ve never seen anything like that.” She paused, and the sound of a mouse clicking filled the background. “Here, I’m sending you a few of the pictures so you can see what I’m talking about.”
My phone buzzed a second later. “Maya…”
“Just look at them before you say anything else.”
I sighed before opening up our text thread.My breath caught in my throat at the first one.As much as I despised admitting it, Maya wasn’t lying.
The first picture was Jameson with his hands on my waist, my own on his chest, as we stared into each other’s eyes. It was a seemingly harmless pose, except for the way my body melted toward him. But what really caught my eye was the way he looked at me. It wasn’t uncomfortable like looking at a stranger should have been, or even polite, simply being pleasant because Maya asked him to.
No.
Jameson’s eyes crinkled in the corners, his mouth pulled into a half-smile, as if he genuinely enjoyed being there, holding me—like maybe he’d felt the spark between us that I had.
I swiped to the second photo. This time my back was to him, and his arms were wrapped around my front, nose nestled into my neck. My own expression had me pausing this time. There was a bright smile on my face, one I hadn’t seen myself make in quite some time. My eyes were closed, in the middle of laughing.
Iwas clearly enjoying having his arms around me.
And then I got to the third photo and let out a gasp. Maya laughed through the phone.
“Aha. You see,” she said smugly.
Jameson was dipping me backward under a drooping sunflower. His one hand held me tight around the waist, and he had interlaced his fingers through mine with the other. I would be lying if I said the look on his face wasn’t joy personified.
I swiped the photos away, closing the thread. “Okay, fine. We have chemistry. But that’s all it is, Maya.”
She scoffed. “Prove me wrong then. Meet him for coffee.”
“Maya—”
“It’s just coffee. If you don’t feel anything for him afterward, then fine. Part ways and that’ll be that, but at least give him a chance.”
I rubbed at my temple, a headache forming from this conversation.
Come on, what’s the harm, Elsie?Smitten Elsie crooned.He sure was handsome, and you know you loved the way his arms felt around you.
I swallowed hard at the memory, refusing to admit that my inner romantic was right.
“I’ll think about it,” I sighed. “But that’s all I’m committing to.”
An evil giggle came through the phone. “That’s my girl.”
Jameson
Iwas fully aware of how ridiculous it was that Elsie’s rejection made me feel like I had been kicked where the sun didn’t shine, but there was no other way to describe it.
I wasn’t the type of guy who became a lovesick puppy over a girl. I’d always been the cool, calm, confident kind. I wasn’t afraid to talk about feelings, but I didn’t go out of my way to express them, or dwell on them.
The fact that she never called or texted me after I called her, when I really hoped she would, got under my skin and itched. I found myself repeatedly checking my phone, thinking I heard the text tone, but my screen remained blank.
It was absurd because I barely knew her. We spent three hours taking cutesy photos together, and even when we did talk it wasn’t a super deep conversation.
And yet, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Couldn’t stop thinking about her soft skin, or how she fit in my arms like a missing puzzle piece.
Sure, she was a little quirky, maybe a tad clumsy, too, but I found it…endearing.
