Page 32 of The Sandover Beach Billionaire

That sounded like such an excuse. Then again, it wasn’t like people were mature in high school. This reasoning sounded like the next evolution of a boy pulling a girl’s braids on the playground when he liked her.

“What book did you keep the picture in?”

He did not answer right away as though surprised or embarrassed by the question. Hopefully it wasn’t the kind of book he might be embarrassed about. That would take all of this in a totally different direction. “You don’t have to tell me,” she said quickly.

“War and Peace,” he said after a long pause. She could hear a smile in his voice.

“You’re joking. You read War and Peace back in high school?”

“Nope. It was just my cover to hide your picture. Very effective.”

She giggled. When he laughed along with her, the vibrations warmed her chest. It reminded her of a purring cat. Tension started to slip from her shoulders. When she wasn’t fighting against Jackson—or was it fighting her feelings for Jackson?—he had a calming effect on her. She felt safe, even here.

“That was definitely not the confession I was expecting. I mean, not that I expected a confession at all. I didn’t think you knew who I was back then. Except for the whole trying to date my sister thing. Wait—if you liked me, why did you try to date Rachel?”

Jackson groaned. “If I could go back and kick some sense into myself, I would. Don’t hate me. I thought maybe if I dated Rachel, you’d notice me.”

“You were using my sister to get to me?”

Though she and Rachel looked similar, something in her sister’s bubbly personality had always made her outshine Jenna. It shouldn’t have been flattering that Jackson tried to use Rachel to get to Jenna. That was messed up. And yet, it made some small part of her happy. He had wanted her.

The idea that Jackson had liked her made Jenna’s heart start racing, but not like it had when the elevator stopped or when the lights went out. This was a pleasant rush of emotion that made the corners of her mouth tug up.

“I know. That makes me a terrible person. And it didn’t even work, obviously. Just left you with years of pent-up anger toward me.”

“I wasn’t mad that you tried to date her, but about the rumors. Which, until a few days ago, I thought you started.”

Jackson groaned. “We have your buddy Steve to thank for that. Though I should have done more to stop them than punching him. Sure did feel satisfying, though. What did you see in that guy? That was something I never understood.”

Jenna realized that she was clutching his back again. She loosened her fingers, searching for an answer. When she thought back to Steve, there were warring emotions. She could see the boy who’d been missing a front tooth and was always up for an adventure. She thought of her first kiss, Steve’s lips on hers while they sat in the dunes, sea oats brushing against her shoulders as they waved in the breeze. Then there was the Steve who had showed up at her house this week, the one with something dark in his eyes and a new scar on his face. And of course, the Steve who didn’t even see her in the hallways because his arm was around Anna.

“He was my friend,” Jenna said. The words sounded defensive. Was she defending Steve? Should she? She didn’t know how else to wrap up all their history, which she still felt conflicted about.

Jackson made a noise in the back of his throat. Just like with his laugh, she could feel the sound in her body. It gave her a thrill, being so close that his sounds moved against her.

“He never deserved you.” Jackson’s voice sounded tight, like it was wrapped around a passion that he barely contained. For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, Jenna felt hot tears in her eyes. She didn’t disagree with Jackson, but it also made her angry to hear him say it.

It reminded her of Mark and the pain of finding text messages from another woman on his phone. Not that she had been looking. Nope, she’d been clueless up until that moment. Jenna had been trying to update something on his calendar while he was in the shower. He had even given her the passcode to do it. She wondered later if he had wanted her to find out. A text came through while she was adding in a dentist appointment. The contact name was Andrew. But the words and then the image that came through were definitely not an Andrew.

“And you think you did deserve me?” she whispered.

Jenna sniffed, wishing that she could suck back the tears that were threatening to fall. Jackson tensed up. The words cut her to say, but it was like she couldn’t help herself. The heaviness of the moment started to crush her and she lashed out. Not that it made this right.

His hand on her back stilled. She hadn’t realized that he was still making circles over her shirt until he stopped. A single tear squeezed out and ran down her cheek. She didn’t want to move her hands from where they clutched his shirt to wipe it away.

“I know that I didn’t,” Jackson whispered. “Still don’t.”

His words turned something over in her heart. As though his acknowledgment of not being good enough somehow assured her that, in fact, he was.

“Jenns?” A shadow moved in front of the light as Rachel called down. It sounded like she had put her mouth to the crack under the door.

“I’m here.” Not that she could have been anywhere else.

“I got the guy on the phone. He’s Off Island today so he recommended I call the fire department. They’re on the way.”

“Perfect,” Jackson muttered. One of his hands left her back and she could see the movement in the dark as he ran a hand through his hair.

“I hate to bring this up now,” Rachel said. “But the meeting with the realtor is right now. I almost forgot. Should I call and cancel?”

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