Page 43 of Summer with a SEAL

“Yes, please!” Amy joked. “I never hear the end of you two talking about Ryker and Jacob.”

“Sorry, hun,” Jessica said.

The women kept walking, and Jessica smiled to herself. It had been a few days since she’d last seen Jacob, but they’d talked on the phone every night and made plans for the following weekend. He didn’t have any more days off, so she’d resigned herself to waiting for Friday night to roll around.

“He texted me earlier,” she said. “I think the guys are going out to unwind later on. He mentioned some pool hall nearby.”

“We should totally crash that party,” Michelle said.

“I think it’s just guy time tonight. You know, to chill out and have a few beers after all that training they’re doing. Jacob and I are planning on dinner Friday night, and then I’ll see him again this weekend.”

“Oh my God, they’re here!” Michelle suddenly shrieked. “Perfect timing.”

“Who’s here?” Jessica asked, glancing over where Michelle was pointing.

“The guys. I thought they were going out to shoot some pool, but that looks like Mason walking into Anchors. Maybe they came here for drinks first.”

“He might’ve stopped by to see Taylor,” Jessica said with a shrug. She pushed a strand of her hair back from her face, and the three women walked inside the crowded bar.

Music blared from the speakers, groups of men and women stood around chatting, and glasses clinked together. Waitresses darted between tables, and Jessica glanced around, looking for Taylor. “Is she working tonight? I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Look, the guys are in the back!” Michelle said. She waggled her fingers, grinning, and started sashaying toward the back of the restaurant.

“All right, let’s go see who else is here,” Jessica said, glancing at Amy. “I thought they’d be over at the pool hall all night.”

The two women began walking to the back, listening to the roar of laughter from a group of rowdy guys near them.

Uneasiness began to fill the pit of her stomach as they got closer. If Jacob was here, would he want her randomly showing up? It had sounded like he was looking forward to some down time with his buddies. They might not want the women crashing their little get together. Then again, why’d he say they’d be at the pool hall if they were coming here?

Her gaze swept over the group seated around the back table: Michelle was already nestled on Ryker’s lap, Mason was laughing with Taylor, Noah was sitting there with his arms crossed, his standard aviators perched atop his head, and Colton was standing beside them, beer in hand.

She didn’t see Hunter anywhere, and then her heart stopped as she spotted the back of Jacob’s head. He was laughing with his buddies, a pretty blonde at his side. For a flash, she thought it was Bailey, but the woman glanced her way, and she realized it wasn’t her at all.

Hesitantly, she took another step forward.

Was she…the waitress? Someone they all knew who’d stopped by to say hi?

The blonde reached out, running her hand over Jacob’s cropped haircut, her pink manicured nails standing out against his dark hair.

She threw her head back, laughing at something, but teasingly ran her hand over his head again.

Jacob turned toward the blonde, clearly comfortable with the woman standing beside him. “I’ll see you next time, hun,” he said in his deep voice.

“You better be back soon,” she teased, ducking down and planting a kiss on his cheek with her glossy pink lips.

Hurt seeped through her, and she felt bile rise in the back of her throat. He lightly grabbed the blonde woman’s arm before she left, his muscular fingers wrapping around her forearm as he told her something, and Jessica turned, hurrying back toward the front entrance.

“Jess, hey, wait up!” Amy said, rushing after her through the doors. “I’m sure that’s not what it seems like. She must know Jacob or something.”

“She just kissed him!”

And he’d reached out and taken hold of the blonde woman’s arm like he didn’t want her to go. He’d touchedherwith those muscular hands—caressed her breasts. Run his hands all over her entire body. Kissed her intimately.

And for him to go out and flirt with a random woman while he was out with his friends? It was insulting to say the least. Tears smarted her eyes, and she hastily called goodbye to Amy. Brushing past a few people on the boardwalk, she swiped at the tears rolling down her cheeks.

She was being ridiculous. There had to be a perfectly good explanation for what she’d just seen. Why was she running, then? She hadn’t confronted him. She hadn’t gone over and introduced herself like nothing was wrong. She’d turned around and fled.

What did that say about their relationship if she couldn’t even talk to him about it? If she wasn’t even willing to fight for it?

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