“Yes. But less of those.”
Jas looked down at his phone and typed all the words in his soul.I love you.
Delete.
He hesitated, then typed again.I love you.
Delete. No. That was something to be said in person, not over text.
He typed, a third time.
He only started panicking after he hit send.
Chapter Thirty-One
“WHAT DOES ITsay?” Rhiannon shoved Jia aside, but Katrina held the phone against her chest protectively.
“It’s private.”
“You don’t want help answering?” Jia bounced. “This is so exciting.”
“What did it say?” Rhiannon repeated, this time asking Jia.
“I don’t know, she was too fast.”
“Katrina, we areinvested.”
Katrina came to her feet and walked away from her friends, and then reread the message.
I love you. I always have.
Holy motherfucking shit balls.
She couldn’t stop the leap in her chest, every romantic part of her bursting into action. She placed the cursor in the reply box, then paused. She did need help. “He told me he loves me.”
“Oh my God.” Jia clutched her face. “Say you love him too!”
Katrina started typing, then deleted. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, now that he’s made himself vulnerable, you are free to make yourself vulnerable,” Rhiannon lectured. “But not in excess of his vulnerability. That’s the rule.”
Katrina waved the phone. “Tell me what to say.”
“Okay, right.” Rhiannon leapt to her feet. “Thank you very much. I return your affections.”
Katrina tried that, and immediately erased it. “Never mind. I’ll do this on my own.”
“WHAT DID SHEsay now?” Andrés demanded.
Jas dropped his head in his hands and stared at the phone in his lap. The scotch had made his head fuzzy, but not fuzzy enough to dull the pain of this torture. “Dots. Three little dots.”Evil dots.
“What does that mean?”
Gurjit hushed Andrés. “She’s typing.”
Typing, typing, typing. Forever.
When the text did come, Jas almost passed out releasing the breath he was holding. “Well?” Gurjit clutched Andrés’s hand. “What’s the verdict?”
