Page 21 of The Second Kiss
“What do you think he wants?”
I jump down from the fence. “Maybe he thinks I still have some of his stuff.”
“Do you?”
I clench my teeth. “Nothing I haven’t burned.”
A grin plays around the corners of Jacob’s mouth. I think he’s trying to decide if I’m telling the truth about burning Brad’sthings. It was just one sweatshirt. The one Brad draped over my shoulders when I told him I was cold one morning after we went running. I took a bit of sadistic pleasure in watching flames destroy that piece of our history.
“I’d better go see what he wants.” I start towards Brad’s truck. I don’t want him to come close enough for Jacob to hear us talking.
“What if he says he’s sorry, and he wants you to take him back?”
That makes me stop. I’m not sure if he’s teasing me or why he wants to know. “Not a chance.” I say over my shoulder.
“Good girl,” Jacob says.
Brad has that grin on his face. That, ‘I can charm anyone with this face,’ grin. I used to think it was adorable; now it rubs against my nerves like sandpaper. “Hey, Jess.”
I skip the pleasantries. I want him gone as soon as possible. “What are you doing here, Brad?”
“I came to see you. I was hoping we could go somewhere alone and talk. Maybe go for a run.” He reaches for my shoulder, but I take a step back.
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
He tries to look hurt. “Don’t be like that. I’ve missed you.”
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that. You have your face stuck to Lexie’s all the time.”
He leans against his pickup, crosses his arms, and grins. “Lexie’s not like you.”
“Wow.” I say dramatically. “That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He moves toward me like he’s gained ground. “C’mon, Jess, just a short run. For a friend?”
Friend isn’t a word that has ever been used in our relationship. Our breakup wasn’t the “I hope we can still be friends” type.
He leans in like he has some great secret. “We had something good. We could have it again.”
He expects me to forget everything he did. Throw my arms around him, kiss him, and go back to being a happy couple. He’s more delusional than I thought.
I glance over my shoulder, but I can’t tell if Jacob is watching us or worse, listening. “I think you should leave.”
“I know you’ve missed me too.” He slips his fingers through my hair, the way he used to, the way I used to think was so sweet. Now it makes my skin crawl.
I jerk away. “What’s wrong? Did Lexie finally get smart and dump you?”
“No,” he says slowly, “Lexie’s still around, but she's not who I thought she was. I think I made a mistake." He hesitates, and I try to judge the sincerity level in his voice–somewhere between the apologetic hiss of the snake that just bit you and tears from the crocodile that took your arm off. "That's one of the things I wanted to talk about. We could go for a drive. I’ll get your favorite milkshake.”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to tarnish your reputation.” My voice drips sarcasm. “There are some pretty bad things being said about me at school.”
“I know you.” He moves forward like he’s going to touch me again and then stops. “I would never believe those things. I’ve stood up for you, lots of times.”
“Yeah, right.” I glance back at Jacob. “Listen Brad, even if I thought I could believe anything that came out of your mouth, it wouldn’t change what you did.” I turn around to walk away.
“What exactly did I do?” The tone in his voice is part challenge, part fear.
I whirl around to face him. “How about spiking my drink?”
