Page 72 of Friends with Benefits

‘By all means.’

She sips her margarita and licks the salt that has transferred from the rim of her glass to her finger.

‘Here’s what I think. One, you and Jess know everything about each other and still worship each other. A-ah, no talking, Jakey. This is Sarah’s spotlight.’ She holds up two fingers. ‘Two, somewhere along the line, one or both of you decided it would be a good idea to start sleeping together. Be quiet! The fact is, you had your reasons for doing that but for sure, you were sexually attracted to each other.’

‘It was her idea, initially.’

‘Which only serves to prove the point I’m going to make. Keep listening.’ She holds up three fingers. ‘Three, if you hadn’t already realized it, you have both fallen for each other. It seems to me, you both have shit to figure out because… well, who doesn’t, right? Jake, silence. For your part, the mess is obvious. You were messed up over the Emily and Brandon thing. Now, it seems you worked out that you were never actually into Emily and, while I hate to say it, those two are cute together.’

‘Maybe now is a good time to race to the finish line.’

She shrugs and sips her drink again, taking her time and taking control, just how Sarah likes things. ‘The rest I have to guess at but let me tell you, I’m very good at reading people, and I’m very good at reading love. Oh, don’t look like that; everyone around this pool can see you are 100 per cent, prime time in love with Jess.’

‘You stole that line from Meg Ryan in Top Gun. I use it myself.’

‘I did. But I added my own twist. Anyway, my guess is this. Jess is in love with you too.’

I swallow hard. ‘You think so?’

‘Baby, I know so. And I’m willing to bet she’s a runner.’

I snort. ‘What makes you think that?’

‘I know about her parents and her ex-fiancé. I’m certain there’s a heck of a lot more that’s gone on in her life that you know and I don’t. So, yes, the fact she’s not here now tells me she’s a runner but so does her past, Jake. Of course she’d run.’

‘You think I didn’t know that? I tried not to come on too hard.’

She smiles and leans her head to one side, as if she knows something I don’t. ‘Oh, Jake, don’t you get it? This isn’t about you coming on too hard.’

‘Then please enlighten me as to what the hell it is about.’

‘For the record, your tone is a little shitty. I don’t approve.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Accepted. When we were at the bar the other night and you got all silverback over Brandon and Emily walking in and Jess kissed you, I spoke to her outside. She was upset, Jake. Not because she thought you wanted Emily but because she was afraid she might be jealous.’

I lift my cap and scratch my head. ‘You’re losing me.’

She rolls her eyes and sighs. ‘You boys are so damn dumb. She was afraid, Jakey. If she was jealous that meant she wanted you to herself. Are you following now? She loves you, Jake.’

‘But if… I mean… why run then?’

‘You said she was the one who suggested sleeping together? Well, I could be wrong but I’m going to throw out the idea that she thought she could control how she felt about you if you could be friends and she could control how much she wanted to…you know, bang bang, hump hump.’

‘Bang bang, hump hump?’ I laugh. It’s short-lived but an unbelievable feat given the way I feel today. When I stop, I think about what Sarah is saying. ‘So, when I realized I wanted to be with her…’

‘You took away the safety net. She was relying on you being too messed up over Emily to want more than your friends-with-benefits arrangement.’

‘She knows I don’t want Emily.’

‘Yep.’

‘She knows I want her.’

‘Yep.’

‘And she’s running because she wants me too?’

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