She couldn’t be here. That was simply…too much to hope for.
But when Aiden stepped onto the patio, and Kenzie and the blonde followed him out, Jack rose slowly from his seat, all the blood leaving his face. All thoughts of Sofia, or any other girl he’d been with—hell, even his own name—flew from his head.
“Jessica?”
Aiden and Kenzie stilled, and out of the corner of his eye, Jack clocked Asher and Luke staring up at him, sharing a glance, then looking behind them.
“Jack?” Jessica responded, so quiet he was surprised he heard her from this far away.
“Holy shit,” he breathed. “It is you.”
Their gazes held, the moment lengthening, stretching out across every single second of the years he’d spent missing her.
Jack stepped toward her, but with a small shake of her head, Jessica spun on her heel and disappeared inside. After a brief, whispered conversation with Aiden, Kenzie followed her.
“What the fuck just happened?” Asher asked.
Dazed, Jack lowered himself onto the bench, eyes still fixed on the door inside, willing Jessica to reappear.
“That,” he said, surprising himself by the steadiness of his tone, “is the one who got away.”
THEN: April 5, 2020
Jessica Daniels woke witha start, the shock of cool water splashing her sunbaked skin instantly forcing her upright.
“What the fresh…” she began, but the curse she’d been about to utter was cut off by the sight of the boy in front of her.
As he pulled himself from the pool, using nothing but the flexing of his arms and the clenching of his abdominals, water sluiced over the ridges of his muscles, setting his bronzed skin sparkling in the midday Mexican sun. He settled a green-blue gaze on her, mouth stretching into a smile, revealing two rows of straight, pearly white teeth.
That smile blinded her nearly as much as the sun, and she blinked rapidly under its glare.
“Come play volleyball with us,” he said when he reached her side, blotting out the sun and dripping water onto her thigh.
“What?” she asked dumbly.
The boy laughed, a low, husky sound that, despite the balmy air, sent goosebumps skittering across her skin.
“Come play volleyball with us,” he repeated, slower this time.
“I…why?”
Smooth, Daniels.
“I’ll play!” Bethani said, hopping up from the lounge chair next to Jessica’s. “C’mon, J. It’ll be fun!”
The boy turned to Jessica. “J?” he asked.
She rose and extended her hand, suddenly wishing she was covered by more than three flimsy triangles of fabric so she could wipe her clammy palms. “Jessica,” she said.
The boy gripped her proffered hand in his and pumped her arm once, twice, sending a jolt shooting up her arm.
What is happening to me?she thought.Is the sun short circuiting my brain?
No, it wasn’t the sun. It was simply that she’d never laid eyes on a more beautiful boy in her life.
“Jack.”
Jessica had to admit, the name suited him perfectly. With floppy blond hair, turquoise eyes, and a tall, well-proportioned frame, he definitely looked like a Jack.
