“We could.” Jae grimaced. “But is that the right thing to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“We need those manuals.”
I laughed. “We do. But as we don’t have manuals, we need to figure out how to muddle through together.”
“Together,” Jae whispered. “I like that word.”
“So do I.”
Our stares locked. A heartbeat passed. Then we were kissing with a desperate eagerness, as if a kiss could solve everything or, at the very least, make everything beyond the two of us melt away. It couldn’t. I knew we were delaying the inevitable. Jae had to know it too. That was probably why we broke apart and stared at our laps rather than each other and why guilt weighed heavily in my gut.
I grasped Jae’s hand and squeezed gently. “Let’s call Dillon.”
“Now?”
I took a deep breath. “Now.”
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
JAE
“Put Dillon on speaker,” I said. “We should tell him together.”
Xander nodded, selected Dillon’s number, and put his phone on the sofa between us. It rang and rang. For a moment, I thought Dillon wasn’t going to pick up. Then he did.
“Hey, Xander. Sorry, I was in the middle of cooking.”
“No problem,” Xander replied. “Want me to call back later?”
“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve turned everything down, so it’ll be good for a bit. Are you just calling for a chat, or…? Wait. Am I on speakerphone? The line is echoey.”
“Uh, yeah, you are. Jae’s here.”
“Hi.” For some reason, I waved, even though Dillon couldn’t see me.
“What’s wrong?” Dillon asked. “Did today’s modelling agency decide they made a mistake by not signing you then and there?”
I made myself laugh. “No.”
“Are you okay? You’re making me worried.”
“You’re also not letting us get a word in edgeways,” Xander noted.
“Oh, right, sorry. I’ll shut up and let you speak.”
Xander looked at me. Neither of us spoke. I was pretty sure we were about to blindside Dillon with our news.
“You’re not saying anything,” Dillon said after two minutes had passed. “What’s going on? First, you worry the hell out of me, and now you’ve gone quiet. Are you two fucking or something?”
He was joking. I could tell he was joking.
“Guys?”
Either Xander or I had to say something, but I couldn’t move my tongue to speak. My hands had gone clammy. I wished I could turn back time to before we’d agreed to call Dillon. Then we could decide not to so we could enjoy an evening in our circus tent blanket fort.
“Shit. You are. Aren’t you?”
