Page 35 of A Heart Worth Finding
“Oh, no, you don’t have to do that,” she said.
“It’s fine, Jess. My moped is out there, anyway.”
And how could she argue with that?
The silence between them was oppressive as they walked toward the doors, and the moment they pushed through, Jessica gulped down the cool night air like she’d been without oxygen for days, thankful for the refresh it brought to her senses, for the way it cleared her mind.
“Jess?” someone asked, and Jessica turned to Jack, confused.
“Wasn’t me,” he said.
“Jess!”
She spun to her left and found Silas walking toward her, a beautiful dark-skinned girl at his side.
“Jack!” the girl squealed, then threw herself into his arms.
Wait, what?
“You guys know each other?” Jack asked Silas when he’d returned the girl to her feet.
“Who, me and Jess?” Silas asked, stepping forward to sling an arm over Jessica’s shoulders. “Yeah, she’s my girlfriend.”
“What?” Jack asked, incredulous.
“Yeah, babe,” the girl said to Jack. “I told you Silas has a girlfriend.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t…think it was Jessica.”
Somehow, Jessica knew that wasn’t what he’d been about to say, and the gears in her mind spun. But then the girl looked at her and extended her hand.
“Sofia.”
“Wait,you’reSofia?” Jessica asked. This world was too damn small, and shrinking further by the moment. “Like…Kenzie’s friend?”
The girl cocked her head to the side, her black hair cascading across a bare ebony shoulder. “You know Kenzie?”
“I’m her sister…sort of. My sister is married to her brother.”
“Oh my God,” Sofia said. “You’re Jessica from the text messages!”
“Yes!” Jessica said. “And you’re Jack’s…?”
“We’re just hanging out,” Sofia said quickly, cutting an unreadable look at Silas.
And, okay, this was getting weirder by the second.
“Wait,” Silas cut in, finally catching on to the one thing Jessica desperately hoped he wouldn’t. “You two know each other?” He darted a finger between Jack and Jessica.
“Uhh, yeah, sorta,” Jessica said, silently pleading Jack to play along. She didn’t need another fight with Silas. Not here. Andnotabout this.
“We uhh…we know each other through Kenzie and Aiden,” Jack said quickly, and Jessica didn’t miss the hurt that flashed across his face, so quick she was certain both Sofia and Silas missed it in the dim exterior lights of the arena. She didn’t like lying any more than he did, but it was for the best—for all of them.
“This is so freaking weird,” Sofia said. “We should go get a drink. Seems like we all kinda know each other anyway, so let’s hang out!”
“We’re down!” Silas said, tugging Jessica further into side and planting a kiss atop her head.
Jessica and Jack shared another look, so many things passing unspoken between them. There was no way out of this, not without explaining things that were better left unsaid, and they both knew it.
