Page 32 of Jesse's Girl

Only for the summer. It could work. We do get along well. I’m overthinking things. He needs a place to live, and I need a roommate. It’s a purely practical arrangement—an elegant solution, really. Plus, he’s one of my oldest friends. He’s safe. Not some serial killer or human train wreck.

Probably.

“You won’t leave your toenail clippings on my coffee table, or anything, right?” I ask him.

He laughs. “I promise I won’t.”

Is this happening? I think this is happening.

“Okay,” I say, throwing up my hands and plastering on more confidence than I feel. “Why not, right? Let’s live together.”

A slow smile spreads over his face. I want to take it all back, because now I’m staring at his mouth and…

Stop it right now. This is exactly why not.

I swallow.

“Great,” Marcus says, sounding cautious. “Two birds, one stone, I guess.” He gives me a pointed look. “Hey, can I talk to you for a sec? In private?” Pushing up from the table, he gestures for me to follow him into the kitchen.

“Ooh, in private? Awfully formal.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

Maybe I should get a T-shirt that says, “When in doubt, snark it out” because, apparently, it’s my go-to fallback for any remotely uncomfortable situation. Throwing a skeptical glance around the table, I follow my brother into the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind me.

“What’s so important that we had to have a secret sibling meeting?”

“You sure you wanna do this?” He keeps his voice hushed, clearly not wanting the others to overhear us, and crosses his arms. “Have Jess move in?”

I frown. “I dunno. I guess?”

It’s not like I’ve had much time to think about it, dumbass.

But I can sense something bothering my brother. “Why?”

He scratches his jaw. “You don’t think it’ll be awkward?”

“No,” I lie. “Why would it be? Like Mom said, we’re friends.” For some reason, I’m suddenly extremely aware of my facial expression.

“Okay.” He’s watching me closely. Too closely.

“Okaaay,” I say, drawing out the word. “So, are we done here? Like, can we go finish dinner or…?”

“Just thought I was picking up on, like, a weird vibe.”

I balk. “What vibe?”

Oh, God, he knows.

“I dunno, forget it. I’m just saying. He’s my best friend. He’s a good guy. And I’m not blind. Dude is ripped.”

“Oh my God,” I say, doing everything in my power to deny Jesse’s had some kind of hot Viking glow-up. But I can’t let Marcus know I’ve noticed, so I swing my sarcastic barbs his way instead. “Does Jesse know you’ve been checking out his hot bod? Have you told Renee?”

“Fuck off.” He shakes his head, obviously sick of my shit. “Just… don’t get attached, alright?”

“What the hell!” I seethe. “What do you even mean by that? It’s just fucking Jesse.”

He rubs his forehead. “Fine. Okay.”

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