“Me too. But at least we found each other again. Better late than never.” I attempt to re assure her with a kiss on her head.
She takes another sip of wine before turning to face me. Her smile is playful and her lips catch my eye. I kiss her softly.
Deepening the kiss, my hands touch her body more. Urgent to bring her closer to me.
My throat starts to close just as the three words I’ve been holding back are about to leave my tongue. My nerves tighten, and just as I finally gather the courage to say it, she pulls away.
“Jess, hold on.” She pushes on me gently. Her face is unreadable, but I still try to make sense of it.
Giving her the space she seems to want, I watch her sit down on my couch and follow.
I sit beside her. “What’s going on?”
She fixes her hair and sighs. “I’m distracted.”
I reach for her and rub her back. “Distracted?”
“Yeah.” She tucks her hair behind her ear and shifts her body.
“I wasn’t planning on more, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, I know you weren’t.” She sighs deeply, standing up and beginning to pace. “It’s something from the other day …”
“What happened the other day?”
“You have to promise you won’t freak out,” she warns, raising a finger at me. My body tenses as fear washes over. That’s the last thing I want to hear.
I shake my head. “Ella …”
“It’s Addison.”
“What about her?”
“The other day, when I got to the house to help your mom decorate …”
“Yeah?”
“She was upstairs with Brantley.”
I stand up, my heart starting to race. “Was anyone else home?”
“No.” She lets out a quick breath to finish. “But I don’t think anything was going on,”
“Well, then what were they doing? What did she say?” My voice is turning tight.
“She didn’t say, she just told me not to tell anyone. Especially you.”
“Well, if that’s not a red flag then I don’t know what is.” I scoff.
“They were downstairs in seconds. I don’t think it’s what it seems, but for some reason I still felt like I should—”
“Why didn’t you tell me when I got there? I could’ve said something.”
Her eyes flicker, caught off guard. “Because I didn’t want to cause a problem. She didn’t want me to say anything.”
“Doesn’t that speak for itself?”
“I don’t know. I guess. This is why I wasn’t even going to say anything.” She shakes her head, looking away from me.
