Page 44 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
Reaching over, he stilled her hand. "Stay."
"Yeah?" She released a breath. "Okay." Walking into Jesse's house right now held more appeal than going home to her empty one.
Jesse flashed her a nervous smile before darting into the rain and kicking the door shut behind him. Charlotte followed him over the soft ground to the stoop. He pushed open the blue front door and ushered her into a quiet entryway.
Water dripped from her clothes onto the white tile below, creating a puddle where she stood.
The quiet only lasted a moment longer before two little boys came barreling at them, yelling for Jesse. Each held a foam sword in front of them.
"Calm down guys." There was no harshness in his tone, only indulgence as he bent to look into the identical boys' eyes. "You okay?"
They nodded before the one on the right spoke up. "It's raining, and we can't go outside. Dad won't play with us. He's watching the news." He scrunched his face up in distaste.
Charlotte laughed and clapped a hand over her mouth. The kids were cute. They both jerked their gazes to her as if noticing her for the first time.
"Jess," one of them started. "You have more friends than Rome?" He said it so seriously and without the slightest teasing tone, Charlotte couldn't suppress her smile.
Jesse straightened. "This is Charlie." Charlotte stopped correcting him when he used that nickname. If she were being honest, she liked the idea that someone other than Hadley felt comfortable enough to use it.
Both boys stepped around Jesse to regard her. "Do you want to play with us?"
"Easy there, kiddo." Jesse put a hand on each of their heads. "Charlie, this is Will and Eli." He gazed down at them. "We're going to dry off, and then I'll start dinner."
Their expressions fell, and their shoulders sagged in disappointment, but they ran off the way they'd come.
Jesse turned an apologetic smile on Charlotte. "My house is a little... different."
"Good different." She'd always wished she had siblings. Then maybe she wouldn't feel so alone all the time.
He smiled at her assessment, not breaking eye contact until Cassie appeared in dry sweatpants and a t-shirt. She extended a towel to each of them. "Do you want something dry to wear?"
Charlotte looked down at her sopping clothes and the mess they created. She could only imagine how she looked. "Yeah, that would be great. Thank you." As she followed Cassie toward the stairs, she looked back over her shoulder to where Jesse watched with a puzzled expression on his face. She didn't have time to figure out what had him so confused.
Cassie led her up the long staircase to the farthest door. She pushed it open to reveal a ridiculously organized space. Her aqua comforter was folded over her made bed, looking as if a professional did it. The desk was a perfect workspace.
Vacuum lines striped the plush carpet. After seeing the overgrown front of the house, she wasn't sure what she expected of the rooms inside.
Cassie dug through a drawer as Charlotte squeezed her braid with the towel. She walked to the far wall where pictures hung at perfect intervals. Jesse and Cassie smiling. The boys causing mischief with some kind of Nerf gun. An older man with Cassie and Jesse she assumed was their dad.
The final picture was the sweetest. Cassie and Jesse were only kids, and they crowded each other in a woman's lap.
"My mom." Cassie's voice made Charlotte jump.
"She's beautiful."
"She was." Cassie smiled sadly as Charlotte turned. Was their mom gone? Cassie held out clothes for Charlotte—a pair of black leggings and an oversized sweater that would no doubt swallow Charlotte whole.
"Thank you."
"Take your time. I'm going downstairs, so you can change in here." She shut the door on her way out.
Charlotte changed and gathered up her wet clothes. When she stepped into the hall, she froze. The door beside her stood partially open, revealing a shirtless Jesse, every perfect inch of his chest on full display.
No, not perfect. She couldn't think like that.
His lifted his eyes, finding her watching him, and her face flushed. With a crooked smile, he shrugged on a t-shirt and flopped wet hair out of his face. He opened his door wider. "You sure blush a lot."
"Sorry." She averted her eyes.
