Page 30 of Heart Strain

After a minute, I notice him looking a little sad or something, so I finally relent. “Will you stop frowning if I let you help?”

“Yes.” He smiles, just a tad.

“Fine,” I groan. “Help me with the potatoes.”

“Yes!” Jameson grins widely and hops off the stool. “I knew you’d cave.”

I laugh. “Was your plan to sit there looking all sad and pathetic until I did?”

“I was going to start sighing dramatically to add to the effect.”

I elbow him in the side with a chuckle and catch his gaze again. I can feel his warmth radiating off him because he’s standing so close to me. The moment I lick my dry lips, I see his eyes track the movement, and my breath catches. Does he want to kiss me as badly as I want to kiss him?Don’t look at his lips, Holden. Don’t look at them!

I look at his lips. Dammit!

But I catch myself, clear my throat, and force my body to move away from him.

Lucky for me, Jameson isn’t a huge awkward nerd like I am, and he ends up talking about the movie while we cook. Before I know it, he has me laughing again.

After he drops Peanut and me at my parents’ old house and we go for our nightly run, I pull out my phone to call Gavin after grabbing a shower.

“Hey, how’s everything?” he asks when he answers.

I groan. “Jameson’s driving me crazy.”

“Is he being a dick?”

“Ha! No. The opposite, actually.”

“Ooohh, so we’re back to wanting to have his babies, then.”

I laugh as I make my way into my room and plop on the bed. “Would you quit it with that, you weirdo.”

He chuckles. “Talk to me.”

I sigh. “He’s really sweet, and I guess… I’m…” I groan again. “I hate being in this house by myself, Gav. I hate it. So… I’ve been spending as much time as I can with him. I think he’s lonely, too, you know? Maybe I need to go out and get laid or something so I stop feeling so… ugh around him.”

“I’m sure you could find someone close; use an app. You do it all the time at home.”

“I know, it’s just… I don’t feel like it.”

“What’s the problem, Holds?”

I roll my eyes at myself. “He has these lips.”

Gavin snickers. “I’m glad he has lips.”

“Shut up,” I laugh out, then sigh and whisper, “I hate this.”

He sobers immediately. “I do, too. I wish I was there.”

“Me too.” Peanut jumps up on the bed and lies over my stomach, so I pet behind his ears. “I hate it here.”

“So you’ve said.” He sighs. “Holds, have you thought about renting a place or something while you’re there? You could probably find a month to month rental or something. It’d get you out of that house.”

“I’ll look into it.” Before I can say anything else, my phone beeps with an incoming text, so I look at it since the only person besides Drix that I text is currently talking to me.

Jameson: Thanks for dessert and dinner. I had a good time. I’ll cook tomorrow night.

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