Page 72 of Love Is…?

Jayde paused immediately, and jerked away.

“What? Are you okay?” Her eyes were filled with concern, and Tessa almost wavered in her decision.

“I…I, uh, should go.” She wriggled out from under Jayde’s body. “I’m up early tomorrow because I’m that extra helper for Grace’s hike, like I said.” She hauled on panties, shoved her dress over the top, and bunched her bra into her left hand. All the while, Jayde’s forehead wrinkled, and her mouth gaped. “So, I should get a good night’s sleep, you know?” Tessa was aware she was babbling.

“Tessa…” Jayde spluttered. “What?”

Tessa quickly leaned over the bed, and kissed Jayde on the lips, taking in the confused expression.

“I know this is such a cliché, but it’s not you. You’re perfect. I just need…” Tessa shook her head, then abruptly spun on her heel, nearly running out of the bedroom. She picked up her bag and shoes from the front door, and was down to her car before Jayde would have exited her bedroom.

Chapter

Fifteen

Tessa had appearedin the pub’s doorway last night, and it had taken all of Jayde’s willpower not to write ‘Not Yours’ on two-hundred Post-It notes, then whack each one into the palm of every patron.

That red dress, the cute haircut, the makeup.

Now, having showered after a day of articles, reports and rumination, Jayde had to admit, as she walked out of the bathroom, that it was clear everyone had also enjoyed the vision that was Tessa. However, Jayde was positive that nobody had seen what Jayde saw; the innocence, the joy, the vibrancy.

Jayde shoved on her jeans, shoes, a turtle neck, and her jacket.

So what had happened later when they’d been touching, kissing, stroking? When they’d been in the throes of passion? Tessa had certainly put the brakes on. But it really hadn’t seemed like Tessa’s decision, which was?—

“Illogical, but that was kind of how it felt,” Jayde said to the entirety of her bedroom. If anything, it felt like Tessa had been scared. No. Not scared. She’d been anxious. The very thought of it punched at Jayde’s heart.

“Did I make her anxious?” She sighed. It was probably the hundredth time she’d asked that question since waking that morning. Not that she’d had enough sleep to warrant using the word ‘waking’.

Alongside sitting on her backside at a laptop all day, she’d sent innumerable texts to Tessa, which were all versions of, “How are you?” and, “Are you okay?”

There hadn’t been a single response.

Jayde dug out her phone from her jacket pocket to check once again. Nothing.

“I just wish she’d talk to me,” Jayde muttered, dropping the mobile back into the pocket. Just before she hurried away, Tessa had said that she needed something. Needed what? That was the question sitting at number one on Jayde’s list of ‘What Happened Last Night?’

Jayde slipped her Metro card into her jeans pocket, and walked to the front door. Tessa clearly needed space and when she was ready, Jayde would be right there, ready to listen, but also talk, because Tessa needed to know that she wasn’t the only one with some anxiety.

In the middle of all that anxiety, and stress and the not knowing and the article writing and fruitless texting, Luce had rung and asked if Jayde wanted to catch up for a drink atKings and Queenslater that night. Luce wasn’t queer, but had said, at one of their group get-togethers, that the atmosphere of a queer bar was far more palatable than the atmosphere in general population pubs.

Jayde had laughed. “General population pubs? Makes it sound like the clientele are inmates in a jail.”

Luce had given Jayde a long look over the top of her beer glass, then slowly nodded.

At least the pub Luce had chosen wasn’tQueerBeers. Jayde didn’t think she’d be able to stomach that.

Of course,Luce was late. Jayde rolled her eyes, and tried to catch the attention of the bartender. Jayde felt like the only person who valued hand locations on clocks. With the drink delivered, Jayde turned and sipped, resting her heels on the rung of the stool.

The bar was busy but not overly so. Sunday nights atKings and Queenswere fairly relaxed, with enough bodies to kick up the vibe but not enough to make you feel like you were stuck inside an escape room with a disco ball and a football crowd.

Luce suddenly appeared in front of her. “Hey, good. You’re here,” she said, leaning past Jayde’s head to hold up a finger at the bartender.

“Hi to you, too,” Jayde replied, pushing out the nearby stool with her foot. “Eight o’clock?”

Luce scoffed, ordered her drink, then plonked herself onto the stool. “What’s time got to do with it, got to do with it?” she sang, then grinned, and Jayde laughed.

“Tina would be horrified. So, why are we catching up? Because if this becomes a habit, we’ll have to call ourselves friends.”

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