Page 62 of The Second Kiss
“Your dad?” he sounds nervous.
“I hope not.”
He kisses me again, quickly, before I open the door. “Good-night,” he whispers. “Thanks again.”
“Good-night.” I whisper back.
My mom is standing inside the doorway. I can’t believe it was her behind the curtains. She’s usually a lot better at giving me my privacy.
“Did you guys have fun?” she asks.
I’m still kind of in a daze. “Uh huh.”
“It’s really late.”
“Sorry.” I head upstairs.
Mom stops me. “Maybe you can explain to me why you’re soaking wet and barefoot in the middle of winter, why you’re wearing Nathan’s sweatshirt, and why you're both covered in mud.”
twenty-nine
Watching
Iget up by 7:00 a.m., even though it’s the first day of winter break. I couldn’t sleep, I’m going running to clear my head before I see anyone today. I’m not sure I can face Gage or Jacob or Nate.
Nate.
I’m so confused. Kissing him left me on a weird high, but by the time I went to bed I had a guilty ache in my chest. I like Nate and we had a lot of fun, but my feelings for him are tangled up with my feelings for Jacob, and even some for Gage. I need time away from them to think things over. I’m going to the trail I usedto run with Brad. It’s far enough that it will take a long time to run it and get back.
I sneak out of the house through the side door. I think I’m in the clear, but I run into Jacob coming from around the corner.
“Good morning, Jess.” He’s carrying a box of tiles, more stuff for the house. “You’re up early after a late night.”
How does he know I was up late?
“I’m going running.” As if that isn’t obvious. I sidestep him, but he moves to block my escape.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” He sets the box down. His smile is friendly, but there’s something about his tone that makes me wary.
“Sure.”
He takes a deep breath. “You’re really pretty, Jess.”
“Thanks.” I’m not sure how to take that. I should be flattered, but I know he didn't stop to compliment me.
“I’m not sure how much you realize that,” he pauses again. “And I’m not sure you realize the effect it has on a guy when a pretty girl pays attention to them. Guys like my brothers.”
“Your brothers? What about your brothers?”
He stumbles around as if he’s not sure what he wants to say. “What I mean is well... It’s not nice for pretty girls to play with guys’ hearts.”
His words sink in. Shock, embarrassment, and anger churn in my stomach. “You think I’m playing?”
He takes a step back, his hands in front of him like he thinks I'm going to take a swing at him. “Listen, you can play Gage all you want. He deserves it.” His voice gets serious. “But not Nathan, he hasn’t had the experience with girls that me and Gage have.”
Now he’s telling me to stay away from his brother? Guilt morphs into fury. I take a step closer to him, almost in his face. “Ever since you got here, you’re all about what I should andshouldn't do, and who I should stay away from. Now it’s your brother, and you’re telling me I’m not good enough for him?”
“That’s not what I said. Listen Jess–”
