“So, um, I’m assuming you still have power?” I ask, trying not to choke on the awkwardness I feel.
“Yeah, I’ve got the generator hooked up just in case. The damn news said it was only supposed to be a couple of inches, not a foot of snow with blizzard conditions.”
“Well, I hope you guys stay warm, but Macy is trying to show me something, so . . .” I trail off.
Dad coughs, clearing his throat. “You guys too. We’ll schedule dinner soon.”
“Sure. Bye, Dad,” I say, and he hangs up, but I feel beyond drained from that short interaction.
I drop my head against the headboard, and Jack reaches for my hand, squeezing it to offer his quiet reassurance. “You okay?”
I can’t help smiling when I look at him because there’s nothing like seeing a dick drawn on the forehead of the guy looking at you like he wishes he could fix all your problems. “Yeah,” I say, squeezing back his hand dwarfing mine.
“This might be a dumb question, but why wouldn’t they have power?” Jack asks, yawning.
“The snowstorm turned into a blizzard, and we’re officially snowed in. You’re stuck with me for the night.”
“I don’t mind. I like having you around, even if I’m shitty company at the moment.”
My heart turns to mush at those words. “I enjoyed watching you get in a bubble bath.”
He chuckles, his eyes drifting shut again as he relaxes into the pillows. “I knew you had an ulterior motive. If I find out you sent pictures of me lounging in bubbles to the group chat, I’ll . . .”
“You’ll what?” I taunt, and Jack shivers.
“I’ll figure it out later. I’m too tired.”
I pull my hand from his, still holding mine, to brush his hair from his face. Jack’s full lips quirk upward into the ghost of a smile as I help pull the blankets further up to cover him.
I’m in deep shit.
CHAPTER 25
Jack
My forehead burnsfrom how long I spent trying to scrub the permanent marker off my face, but all it did was make it more noticeable.
I’m going to kill Dylan. What the fuck was he thinking pulling this shit when I fell asleep in the bathtub?
What makes it worse is he got Al to go along with it, and she didn’t even say anything while we were talking afterward. I give her a side-eye, wondering what else he could’ve talked her into since they’ve become such good friends.
I couldn’t even begin to explain how pissed off I was to see it in the mirror, waking up from the haze of a fever dream alone.
“I can’t believe you let him draw on my face,” I say, and Alondra sputters, much to the delight of myformerfriends.
“Woah, it wasn’t my fault you fell asleep in the tub. I even tried to stop Dylan,” she says, trying to defend herself, but as someone who’s been on the other end of an argument with her, I don’t think she tried very hard.
“She did,” Dylan adds, and I flip him off.
“Count your days, Jones,” I warn, and Ellie giggles at the counter, working on her homework.
I know I started this shit with what I did to Coop’s hair, but in my defense, how was I supposed to know a gloss meant it would be semi-permanent?
“You know, normally I’d agree with you, Jack, but you did start this shit with Coop’s hair.”
Coop tugs a hand through his blond waves. “Do you remember how long it took for this to grow back? Too fucking long considering I never would have had to buzz it in the first place, asshole.”
He’s being dramatic. He should have noticed the color difference when he put the shampoo in his hands. I was sick and defenseless.
