“It does.” Jemma held her phone up and was scrolling through images again.
“Maybe I can try to ask Ryker more questions tonight and see what I can find out.” I looked at the clock and saw that he would, in fact, be here in about twenty minutes. Nerves shot through me.
I hadn’t been this nervous for a date in a long time. There was something about how easy it was with Ryker that scared me. I let myself be open and honest with him, and yet I was realizing that I barely knew him. I needed to start asking him more questions about himself tonight, not just inquiring more about gaming.
“I’ll see if I can get more information out of Beckett or if he is just going to keep brushing it off again.” Jemma now had her phone so close to her face that her nose was almost touching it as she looked through each of Beckett’s photos.
“Is this your excuse to talk to Beckett more?”
“No.” She didn’t move her gaze from her phone as I stared at her. “Yes.”
I laughed at her admission.
“What’s changed?”
She finally moved the phone away from her face and met my gaze.
“Ugh.” Her shoulders sagged, and an agonizing look graced her face, almost like a fake cry. “We’ve been messaging a little bit every few days about you and Ryker, and I don’t know, I feel myself falling for his stupid fucking southern charm that I hate so much.”
“You still haven’t elaborated more on Beckett and how you two know each other.”
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that full conversation yet.” Jemma glanced back at her phone, a notification popping up.From where I was standing, I could see Beckett’s name on the screen. Jemma flopped back onto my bed, arm over her face.
“What about just a little something so that I can stop playing the guessing game?”
Jemma blew out a puff of air before she told me anything.
“I mentioned that I knew Beckett since we were kids and knew each other well into high school. We had a falling out, and I never saw him again after I left Tennessee.”
“That is practically what you already told me, and there’s a lot of information missing still.”
Jemma sat up and grabbed her phone.
“Our families knew each other, probably still do. We saw each other every single day. We were inseparable for a long time.” Jemma’s eyes met mine again. Tears were welling up in her eyes.
‘Fuck.” I sat down next to her, grabbed her, and held her in my arms. She wasn’t one for much emotion, but when it came to home and family, she broke down. No matter how much time passed, it was always hard for her to think about her past life. “How can I help?”
“I honestly don’t know right now.” She wiped a tear away. “Make it so that the feelings I had for this man growing up don’t come creeping back up. Make it so he can’t break my heart a second time.”
“Jemma.” Her name was a whisper on my lips.
The rumble of an engine came from out front.
Jemma wiped away the rest of her tears, stood, and shook off everything she was just feeling.
“Let’s get you on a date, hun.”
“This conversation isn’t over.”
“It is for the moment.”
I stood next to her, taking her into another hug before she shoved me toward the front door, but I stopped just right before.Ryker was going to come to this door and take me out. He was at my house, and he only lived a short drive away. He could come over here more often, or I could go to his place.
“Is this moving too fast?” I asked Jemma, who still hadn’t made her escape out the back door.
“What do you mean?” She was at my side now.
“I barely know this man.”
