Page 109 of California Wild

Jesse could feel her glance up at him, fingers curling into the hem of his shirt.

“Yeah—Jesse, me, Dom.” Isaac crossed his arms. “Jesse is on guitar.”

And now Hayley was very curious. She was thinking about it… and what exactly that meant.

“It’s not a crowd,” he said, tone easy. Then he met Jesse’s eyes, steady. “You could use it.”

Jesse didn’t answer right away.

Isaac didn’t wait. He took a step back, already moving. “I’ll text you.”

Then, with a glance at Hayley: “Don’t make me show up at your door.”

She huffed a laugh. Jesse didn’t.

Isaac just gave him one last look—cool, even, knowing—and walked off without another word.

Classic.

Leave it open. Let it hang.

Jesse hated how well the fucker knew him.

And hated that he was probably right.

When he was gone, Jesse let out a breath. The air felt heavier now.

Hayley reached for the grocery bag. “You okay?”

He met her gaze. “You want to go?”

Her fingers curled tighter. “Do you?”

“I go where you go.”

She blinked.

It was a different answer than she expected. It was the truth.

And Jesse? He wasn’t used to saying shit like that.

Not before.

Not when it was all whiskey and missed calls and promises neither of them could keep.

But now?

Now it felt real. And that terrified the hell out of him.

* * * * *

Jesse adjusted the weight of the grocery bags in his arms as they walked back to his place, the soft crunch of sand and sidewalk beneath their feet. Hayley was beside him, her fingers grazing the paper bag he carried, her other hand brushing the hem of his t-shirt as if she couldn’t help but reach for him. It was subtle. Almost absent-minded. But Jesse felt it like a brand.

She was quiet at first, and he could feel the gears turning in her head. She was waiting, biding her time.

Then—

“So,” she started casually, tilting her head up at him. “You are in a band?”

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