Page 46 of It's Complicated

Jace and I look up from our screens and smile. Then he drops his forehead onto mine and whispers, “We’d better go.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “But mingle too much with the sister of the bride and I’m not responsible for my actions.”

He drops a soft kiss on my mouth. “You don’t have to worry about that, I promise.”

I flash him the goofiest smile on the planet as I interlace my fingers with his to guide him back to our table where the others are playing a drinking game. As we sit on the couch next to each other, Aiden pointedly asks Jace to switch places with him. And I feel like an unruly kid in school who had to be separated from her partner in crime.

And that’s a bit how it feels to be with Jace tonight. As if we were doing something we weren’t supposed to do. But doesn’t it feel good?

And, separated or not, gosh, the stares he throws me from across the table are scorching. He’s basically undressing me with his eyes.

But as the night draws to a close and people start to go home, I get nervous again. Especially since Jace regains a hint of Mr. Frost. I never want to see Mr. Frost ever again; I only want Dr. Sizzle.

So, as we wait outside for a cab, I keep hold of his hand, even if we’re both wearing gloves. “I think we should talk,” I say.

Jace looks sideways at me with an expression that if I didn’t know better I’d say is pure dread.

“Not tonight, Lola.”

Is it fear of this thing that is growing between us? Fear that it’ll ruin our friendship? Or is it fear of commitment? What is it? I will never know if I don’t ask.

“Why not tonight?”

“It’s freezing cold out here and we had too much to drink, we need to clear our heads.”

I nod, a little disappointed. His words make perfect sense, but I can’t help but feel like he’s already pulling on the brakes, and I don’t understand why.

Still, I wish him goodnight with a chaste kiss on the cheek and get in a cab alone like a good girl.

I give the driver my address, but as we zoom past the tall skyscrapers of downtown, I can’t shake the feeling that a piece of the puzzle is missing. That Jace is keeping something from me. And I could wait. I could give him space like he asked. Wait until our heads were clearer and we weren’t still so strung up by that kiss.

But, honestly, I don’t want to.

I knock on the glass separating the back seats from the driver and say, “Excuse me, I’ve changed my mind.”

19

JACE

I crash into my apartment like a hurricane, the tipsy buzz from this evening still lingering in my body. Without turning on any of the lights, I head straight for the wall-wide windows and end up standing with an arm braced on the cold glass overlooking all of Chicago’s glowing beauty.

I’m hiding. Lori wants answers, and I’m not giving them to her because the only ones I have to give are scary as hell.

What am I supposed to do? Confess everything I’ve been feeling for the past fifteen years? Play it cool? Act as if this attraction between us is as new for me as it is for her?

I’m not even sure what this is for her. And I’m too scared to ask. Too scared to find out she only needs me to survive Aiden getting married.

I’m digging myself into a hole and I don’t care.

I punch the glass, I’m about to do it again when my phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s a text from Lori.

From Lori:

You’re a great kisser

And just like that, I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips as I hit reply.

To Lori:

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