Page 72 of His Secret Gift

“Hi Jack.”

He stands up and approaches her.

She’s honestly even prettier than I imagined her to be. She’s wearing a long and pink chiffon dress, and her dark hair is half up and half down. She is also carrying a clutch, and she has an ivory bangle on her wrist.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I—” she pauses and looks at me over his shoulder, but I just glance around like I wasn’t watching them. “I wanted to see you.”

“Why?” His voice is gravelly.

I glare over again, and her wide eyes are blinking widely. “Well, because I love you.”

He scoffs before wiping at his chin with his hand. “You—you love me?”

She reaches for the collar of his shirt. “Of course, J Bear.”

J Bear? Puke.

He removes her grip on him. “You don’t cheat on people you love, Harper.”

She pouts. “That was a mistake.”

He then starts pacing. “Oh, yeah? A mistake it took you months to realize that you made?”

“But that’s why I’m here. I want to make amends.”

Okay, I really shouldn’t be here.

I stand up and start walking away.

“Kayla!”

His voice startles me, and I turn around slowly to face them again. “Yeah?”

“There’s absolutely no reason why you need to leave. You were here first. We’ll go.”

He takes his ex by the upper arm, and they hurry away.

What the hell?After that, I’m just standing there by myself. But I assume Callie and her man friend aren’t finished yet, so I set back down.

However, I do look toward the direction Jack and Harper went in. I’m not sure why—perhaps I was hoping he’d come back, tell me he told her to leave for good, and then kiss me again.

I bring my fingers to my temples and shake my head.That’s ridiculous, Kayla. You have no claim on him, and he’s made it clear on more than one occasion that he doesn’t—or can’t—have you.

Suddenly, Denver stumbles inside.

Part of me hopes he doesn’t see me, but he does.

“Kayla!” he yells.

“Denver! Shhh!” It’s late, and I’m sure those of us that didn’t go out are fast asleep.

“Oh, right,” he’s whispering now, and he sits next to me. “What’s up?”

Of course, my first instinct is to gossip and tell him all of the juicy details about Harper’s return, but I don’t want to think too much about what it means for any future he and I might have, and I also don’t want to be “that girl.”

If the word about it got around now, it would be pretty obvious that I was the blabber mouth, as I assume I’m the only person who has seen her so far.

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