Page 90 of Return to Us
I glance over at the clock. “The sitter can keep her until six.”
“We should probably get dressed then.”
“I’d rather we stay naked.”
Jessica laughs. “That would be the talk of the town.”
“We’re already that.”
Since my sister announced that Jessica and I slept together, it’s been question after question. We’ve done a good job of avoiding committing to anything, mostly because neither one of us can really answer it anyway.
Are you guys back together? Did you tell her you love her? Does she love you? Have you convinced her to stay this time? What does all this mean? What happens when she is cleared to leave again?
None of those questions are things she and I are ready to face yet. Regarding how I feel, there’s nothing about what I want that is slow.
It’s as though I want it all—now, which is fucking stupid.
Jessica sits up, her dark hair falling down, creating a curtain around her face. “I hate this town. Why can’t we just . . . be?”
“Because they’re rooting for us.”
She laughs once. “Not everyone.”
No, not my parents. “The people who matter are.”
Jess turns her head, eyes filled with a myriad of emotions. “You don’t care about what your parents think? Not even a little?”
“Not even in the slightest.”
“So, if they were to cut you off and fire you from the inn, that wouldn’t matter?”
Little does she know that’s exactly what Friday night’s dinner conversation was. Mom going on and on about appearances. Dad talking about the family money and how he’d do everything in his power to make sure that it was protected. Stella and I sat there—stunned.
Not that I should’ve been. My parents are both assholes.
Still, to be so openly hostile about her, after all this time, it was ridiculous.
After I finished my salad, I stood and walked out. Stella sent me a text after fifteen minutes, thinking I just went to get fresh air, but I left. I’m not a kid and I won’t listen to it.
“Would it matter? I guess. It would be hard for Stella and my brothers to have to pick a side. It would make it financially difficult, but if we were more than whatever this is then, no, it wouldn’t matter. I’d find a way.”
Jess tucks her hair behind her ear. “This is insane, you know that? We’re adults, and I am not a bad person. I don’t get it. I don’t understand why your parents hate me so much. I was poor, oh well.”
There’s a reason, and it’s one that I will never tell her. Jessica’s mother and mine were once friends, there’s a reason they’re not anymore. My father tried to start something with her mom, but she turned him down. However, my mother doesn’t believe her and, to this day, thinks that she left with him.
“It doesn’t matter. It wouldn’t matter to me. I guess that’s what I’m saying.”
“Do you want . . . more?” Her voice is small, the vulnerability breaking me.
“What do you think?”
Her hand lifts, touching my cheek. “I think we are fools who are pretending we’re not already more.”
I wrap my fingers around her small wrist, bringing her palm to my lips. “I won’t beg you to stay. It has to be your choice. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
Tears fill her eyes. “I knew that all it would take would be one look in your blue-green eyes and I’d be done for. I knew that I would fall right back in love with you. It’s why I stayed away.”
“And now?”
