Page 79 of Only This Once
“What? Would it be so terrible to date someone who you’ve admitted you like?”
“I don’t date,” Julia said, but her tone sounded weak to her own ears.
“You’re acting like you can’t, though. You haven’t wanted to in the past. If you want to now, who says you can’t?” Rachel’s eyebrow rose. “That’s what you all said to me when I was stalling last month.”
Julia’s head spun even more than before, but there was also a fluttering in her stomach. “Do I want to, though?”
Maria squeezed her shoulder before pulling her hand away. “Only you can answer that.”
Heather lifted her glass in a toast. “To Julia’s something good.”
Rachel was the only other one drinking, and they laughed as they clicked their glasses together.
Jinx was something good, for sure. Whether he was Julia’s, she still wasn’t certain, but she needed to figure it out soon. Before she really did break his heart.
Chapter 23
Jesse didn’t bother to change out of his scrubs after his Saturday shift. He collapsed onto his bed and pressed his face into his pillow instead, telling himself for the fifth time that he shouldn’t call Julia. It’d been a week since he’d seen her last, and he craved her company.
They had texted throughout the week, but he was pretty sure he’d ruined things by telling her he loved her. It had been impossible to hold the words back, though.
He reached for his phone, scrolling through their texts. She’d asked him if he was okay a few times this week. His stomach churned. Knowing Julia, she was worried she’d hurt him by not saying the words back.
It had hurt. But then he’d just wanted to be near her again. He let his phone drop, rolling to his side. He was such a mess.
“How was your shift today?” Charles asked from his doorway.
Jesse sat up. “Good. The sessions in the pool are helping.”
Charles frowned. “You’re using hydrotherapy? I didn’t realize that.”
“It’s pretty standard for some of the injuries I work with, isn’t it?”
“You around water seems like a terrible idea,” Charles admitted.
Jesse rolled his eyes. “The setup is perfectly safe, and I’m careful with the clients.”
Charles’s lips twitched. “Didn’t you fall into the lake a few weeks ago?”
“It’s not like I got hurt that time. Clothes dry.” Jesse remembered how Julia had gone in after him. And then she’d kissed him. He pressed a hand to his warm cheek.
Charles ruffled his hair like he was a little kid. “I’m surprised you’re not hanging out with Julia today.”
Jesse flopped onto the bed with a groan. “Please don’t ask me about that.”
Charles perched on the edge of the bed. “Well, now I have to ask. Did something happen last weekend? Besides you spending the night at her place again? Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
Jesse flushed. “That part wasn’t a problem. I didn’t stay over for—” He cleared his throat. “I mean, that wasn’t the reason, but—”
“No details, please,” Charles interrupted, raising his hand.
Jesse was relieved. He really needed his brain to catch up with his mouth.
“I was just asking because you had stressed it being a one-time thing. So, you two are good?”
His chest ached at the question, and he pressed his hand to it. “We were, but I messed up.”
Charles rested a hand on his shin. “Did you blurt out your feelings while you were… being intimate?”
