“I think I’ll leave you all to it. Gotta get up early for my shift. Can’t give Jenkins a reason to fire me.” Pushing to my feet, I glance at Rose. “Thank you for dinner. It was amazing.”
“Anytime.”
Nodding, I scan the rest of the faces. “I’ll see you guys around?”
Not waiting for an answer, I go for the door, tugging at the collar of my shirt. It’s late, and there’s a chill in the air that I welcome wholeheartedly as I inhale a deep breath.
Maybe I should go out for a run.
You cannot outrun your demons.
I can damn sure try.
“Matthew!” The door slams closed behind me. “Wait.”
“I’m really not in the mood, Becky,” I mutter, itching to get the hell out of here, but my sister has other plans.
She catches up to me, her fingers wrapping around my wrist, forcing me to stop and face her. “About earlier…”
“It’s fine. I get it. Trust me, I’ve always known Jessica Richards is way out of my league.”
My sister studies me for a moment in silence, and that familiar restless feeling grows inside me. Rebecca might be only four years older than me, but since our dad died and our mom got depressed, followed by getting diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s, she’s taken on the role of our mother. She has always been the one to look after me and Chase, making sure we had everything, that the house was spotless, and that nobody went hungry. For all intents and purposes, she was the one who raised me. She’s the glue that holds our family together.
“She’s not out of your league.” She lets out a sigh. “I’m just worried about her. About both of you. I love both of you, and I don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
“I won’t hurt her,” I promise.
And it’s a promise I plan to keep.
Just like the promise I made to Jessica.
Three months, then we’re going our separate ways.
I lift my hand, rubbing the middle of my chest.
My heart, though?
I’m not so sure about that one.
Because while she might be right where I left her, to me, she’ll always be the one who got away.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JESSICA
“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you think Jasper will regret not inviting me to the homecoming when he sees me in this?”
Emily comes out of the changing room and gives us a little twirl so we can see the dress in question. It’s hot pink, with tiny straps that hold up the heart-shaped bodice. The silky material wraps around her every curve, the skirt falling down in a straight line with a slit up the side that gives a glimpse of her leg with every step she takes.
“Eleven!” Amy shoots her a wicked grin. “But forget about Jasper. Who cares about him when there are all the other boys waiting for picking?”
Em nibbles her lip. “Didn’t you say it’ll be just a girls’ night?”
“It is a girls’ night,” Amy insists, a wicked gleam shining in her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t find some boys to tease.”
Although my sisters were born only eleven months apart, and physically they’re more like twins with their long, dark-brown hair and brown eyes speckled with gold, they couldn’t be moredifferent. Emily is the calmer and more reserved of the two. Amy, on the other hand, is loud, opinionated, and completely unapologetic about it. Some days I envy her that, wishing I were more like her. Maybe then my life wouldn’t be such a mess.
“Jessy!”
