“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he said, glancing at Kate. “Also, nothing is impossible, Will. You only feel like it is because you’re assuming you don’t have a choice.”
I let out a short laugh. “I don’t.”
“Of course, you do.”
I frowned. “How do you figure?”
“Things have changed,” he said simply. “Alex just needs to know that.”
God, he’s not wrong.“You might be onto something there.”
He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever you decide, I’ve got your back.”
I glanced over at Eliza again. She was smiling at something Kate said, her whole face lighting up in a way that made my chest ache. Finally, I nodded at my brother. “I’ll bring it up at the party.”
One way or another, this whole thing was going to blow up, but Alex wasn’t the bad guy in our story. If I just gave it to him straight, maybe he could help me fix it so that after the explosion, once the dust settled, I would have a chance at winning her back.
CHAPTER 28
ELIZA
By the time we got back to the townhouse, a quiet had settled between us that felt wrong. Stretched too thin.
I’d had fun with his brother and Kate, but Jesse had spent most of the night talking to Nate in low tones or not saying anything at all. Kate had filled his silences effortlessly, but as I closed the front door behind us, I’d had enough.
Jesse shrugged out of his jacket so slowly, it was like he was trying to give himself something to do that wasn’t looking at me or even acknowledging my existence. Meanwhile, I was standing only a few feet away, feeling like I was either unraveling or losing my ever-loving mind.
“Okay,” I said before I could lose my nerve. “I need to ask you something.”
He stilled for half a second, the lack of movement so subtle that most people wouldn’t have noticed, but I did. When he turned to face me, his features were also just a touch too smooth. “That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not,” I said, then shook my head. “Actually, it is. A bit. Or it might be.”
I thought he might crack a smile, but his lips didn’t even twitch. “Okay. I’m listening. Go on.”
“You’ve been off all day. Longer than that, actually.” He didn’t interrupt, just watching me and obviously waiting for the question. “You’ve been doing that thing people do when they answer questions without actually answering them. You’ve been disappearing into your own head in the middle of conversations. It’s odd.”
“Thank you,” he said dryly.
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“Jesse—” As soon as I said his name, there it was again, that flicker that was gone almost as quickly as it had come. I inhaled a long, slow breath as nerves knotted in my stomach. “Are you having second thoughts about this? About us?”
He didn’t answer immediately, looking at me like I’d asked a far more complicated question than I actually had. “This was never going to be simple, Eliza.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No, it’s not, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”
Frustration flared from deep within my being, hot, sharp, and sudden, clashing with the worry, vulnerability, and uncertainty that had been roiling around in my bloodstream all day. “Then give me one, Jesse. Give me a bloody answer.”
He exhaled through his nose, his gaze shifting briefly past me before coming back, more focused this time. A lot more intense too. “It’s not about second thoughts.”
“Then what is it about?”
His jaw tightened, like the words were fighting him on the way out. “It’s about me.”
