I shake my head. “No. You’re the only hookup I’ve ever had.”
“Really?”
“Jesse, you’re the onlyanythingI’ve ever had.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t laugh.”
“I would never.”
I give him a look, and he returns it with a cheesy grin.
“Before the night I met you, I’d only had sex once, and not to completion.”
“Not to…completion?” he repeats under his breath. “You mean you didn’t come?”
“Uh-uh. She didn’t either. It wasn’t right. Parts of it felt okay, I guess. I mean it’s a dick, if you rub it, something’s going to happen. But I didn’t really find it enjoyable. I just never liked sex.”
“You seem to like it well enough with me,” he says, sounding rather cocky. “But there’s not been anyone else since that night? At all?”
I shrug. “I’ve never met anyone else I felt interested in.”
“Ever?”
I shake my head. “Maybe it’s because I didn’t really put myself out there. Or maybe it’s because I was still so overwhelmed with the memory of you. And not just the sex. I felt something the first time I saw you. A recognition or awareness that I’d never experienced before and haven’t since.”
“So I’m the only one you’ve ever come with?”
Why does he sound proud of that? I want to die, but I nod, holding my breath and looking away from the screen so I don’t have to see him process what a loser I am.
Jesse groans.
“Sorry.”
“What? What are you sorry for?”
“I dunno, bringing the mood down. Making it weird. That’s probably too much to put on something so new, and we barely know each other.”
“You didn’t make it weird. What’s weird is how much I like the idea that I’m the only one who has ever had you this way.”
He pumps his eyebrows and I hide my eyes with my hand. “Pretend I didn’t say anything. I’m still delirious from what you put me through with that picture and then those panties.”
“These panties?” Jesse holds up the panties with one finger, and I can see they’re completely drenched.
“You’re trying to kill me.”
“No,” he says simply. “And you’re not allowed to die, anyway. I think we might be soulmates, Luc Martín. I’m keeping you.”
“Soulmates?” I say skeptically. “Really?”
“I never believed in that sort of thing before,” Jesse says, laying his head on his pillow and blinking up at me with earnest green eyes. “But tell me what else it could be.”
FIFTEEN
JESSE
The power in the arena flickers, rain pelting the roof so hard it sounds like it might cave in. Me, Naz, Ari, and Will are camped out on couches in the greenroom, waiting to find out if we’ll be doing sound check any time soon. Blake is pacing one end of the room, playing middleman between his director and the venue manager, who is standing just inside the door looking stressed. Gage, our equipment manager, is sitting with his feet kicked up on the small dining table, scrolling on his phone.
