“No promises,” he said lightly.
She laughed and was already turning to shout at someone else about moving a chair.
“See?”I said to Jesse.“A lot.”
He nodded, but there was something different in his eyes.A sharper edge than I’d seen before.
We made our way around, talking to people I knew, but Jesse seemed to fade back.Something… shifted.
It wasn’t one moment.
It was gradual.
Like a slow turn of a dial I didn’t realize was moving until the sound changed.
He drank.I talked to people.
One beer turned into two.
Then three.
Then more.
And with each one, the easy version of Jesse I’d been getting used to started to slip.
Less steady.
More impatient.
He laughed, but it wasn’t as natural.
He talked, but there was a bite to it now.
People didn’t seem to notice, or maybe they did and didn’t care.
I noticed, though.I couldn’t not notice.
We ended up outside near one of the picnic tables after a while, sitting across from each other as the party kept moving around us.
It had been about two hours and the initial rush had settled into something more relaxed.
Still loud and busy, but less chaotic.
“Should we get some food?”I asked.
Jesse leaned back slightly, his eyes dragging over me in a way that made something in my stomach twist.Then he shook his head.“I think we’re good.”
I blinked.
Twice.
Okay.
Maybe he meanthewas good.
Not us.
I shifted on the bench, turning slightly away, trying not to overthink it.
