"For one, it's none of their damn business what I do in the privacy of my own home. For two, I don't need to proclaim my innocence. Sleeping with you wouldn't mean I did something bad, so why do I need to ensure they know I didn't do it?"
I rub my chin. "Those are both valid points."
"Thank you very much." She takes my empty mug and walks inside.
I go to the couch that was my bed last night and pull on my socks and shoes. Jessie walks with me to the front door.
I pause at the threshold, looking back at her. Careful to keep my eyes from straying down her body, I say, “Thanks for letting me stay over. Driving would've been a bad idea."
“You’re welcome.” She holds out her hand. “Give me your phone.”
I fish my phone from my pocket and hand it over. She opens a new text message and begins typing.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't interrupt me," she smiles slyly up at me, then looks back down and keeps typing. "I'm very busy right now." She hits send. A muffled ding comes from her purse on the kitchen table.
She hands me back the phone and opens the front door. "Have a great day. I'll see you later."
I squint at her in suspicion on my way through the door, and she gives me a wide smile. "Bye," she says brightly. The door closes.
I shake my head as I make my way down the three stairs and out to my car. Once I'm inside, I pull the phone out and look at my texts, then laugh. She texted herself, sayingHi, Jessie. It's Sawyer. Dinner tomorrow night? I'll pick you up at seven.
The response bubbles pop up while I'm reading. Her text appears.I'm not sure, Sawyer. I feel like you should work a little harder for a date with me.
I grin and look out to the cabin. Jessie stands in full view in the living room window, watching me. A smile takes over my face, and I begin to type. I try not to think about what to say, and type with my heart.
You're beautiful, intelligent, funny, and sexy. You also make a mean cup of coffee. Would you please do me the honor of having dinner with me?
My finger hovers over the send button. Is it too much? Maybe. Is it how I see her? Yes. I send it, and watch her read it when it comes through. Her eyes widen and she smiles and shimmies her shoulders playfully. She lifts her phone to her mouth and speaks her response. I read her lips, so I'm already grinning when her message pops up.
You sir, have yourself a date.
She winks at me and walks from the window.
I'm feeling a hundred different emotions when I drive along the long road that leads back to town. So much so that I don't think about my mother's car accident at all.
16
Jessie
I step into my parents'house, toeing off my shoes and leaving them beside the door.
In the living room, a fire blazes in the floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace, the leather couches look as soft and buttery as always, and the framed photos on the walls are the same as they have been for years.
Wes is standing in the kitchen with Dakota when I walk in, and before they see me I overhear her say the wordshelpandASAP. Colt is on her hip, one meaty leg slung over her burgeoning stomach.
I'm not sure what I've walked into, but it doesn't feel pleasant.
"Hey, guys," I say, looking back and forth between them. "Just grabbing some coffee," I lie, going to the cabinet for a mug. The heavy silence draws out the four seconds it takes me to fill it up. I back out, saying, "Wes, come talk to me when you're done."
My coffee sloshes in my cup in my haste, and I take a big gulp to avoid spilling. "Damn," I mutter, biting down on my tongue after I burn it.
I walk all the way out of the kitchen and into the dining room. Gramps sits by himself at the head of the table, with a large cup of black coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs. The mailer Wes came to ask me about this morning lies on the table beside his plate.
"Hi, Gramps." I sit down two seats away. "Want some company?"
He grins, his eyes brightening. "Looks to me like you've already answered the question for me."
