Page 44 of Inevitable Love
Maggie
“Ican’t believe we’re down to the last three weeks of prep,” Alice mumbles from her mini office setup, aka my kitchen table, “and these yahoos can’t seem to give me a definitive answer on any of my questions. How hard is it to confirm that yes, you do have X number of tables and linens?”
I grumble in solidarity, even though it’s the umpteenth time I’ve heard this same complaint. Honestly, the past two weeks of having her at my house have been a challenge I hadn’t quite expected. I knew we’d grown apart, but the last two weeks have proven that I don’t really know my friend like I used to.
We aren’t as open as I’d imagined we’d be. She takes off and has quiet conversations, hidden away like she doesn’t want me to overhear. And other than talking about this stupid reunion, we haven’t really talked about anything important at all.
My phone lights up with a message from Jackson,asking if we are still on for a quick adventure. I text back, asking if Alice will be joining us. Three dots appear and disappear with no further message. Then Alice’s phone dings.
She reads it with a huff. “No, Jackson. I do not want to go hiking this weekend.”
I bite back my smile because now I am definitely in for whatever he’s got planned. It’s not that I don’t want Alice to come, but she’s stressing me out with the reunion planning, and if I’m honest, Jackson is way more fun to hang out with. Plus, if there’s even a moment for a stolen kiss, I’m taking it.
Now that we’ve crossed the line, I’m missing the benefits portion of the friends with benefits. It’s been hard not to just blurt out that I slept with him. It’s also been hard to find time alone so we can recreate that magical night, even though we agreed it would only be once to get it out of our systems. One night definitely wasn’t enough.
I stand to refill my water and sneakily shoot him a reply that I’m in. A whole day with him sounds amazing. Even if he’s serious and we are for real hiking. It’s been two solid weeks with Alice in residence, and there’s been a decided lack of Jackson in the picture.
I have to get used to this feeling, though. He’s going to be leaving soon, and I’ll be left behind. But that thought makes me incredibly sad, so I avoid it. Instead, I choose to focus on having a fun-filled, stress-free day with him.
“Maggie, you’re sure you can handle the order I’ve placed?” Alice asks for the third time.
Irritation flares. “Yes. For the third time, I’ve got it covered. Check me off your to-do list.” The snark in my voice is obvious, but she doesn’t even seem to notice. She does, however, put a check mark on whatever list she’sworking from. Thank god. Maybe now we can move forward.
A twinge of guilt runs through me at being frustrated with her when she’s so clearly stressed out. “Alice, are you sure there’s nothing else I can do to help you?”
She props her head on a hand and lets out a giant sigh. “I still have this email blast that needs to go out to the registration list, and this whole stack of invoices to categorize for the committee treasurer.”
“You tackle the email, and I’ll do the invoices.”
As we work in tandem over the next hour, the furrows between her brows relax, and her shoulders loosen and sink away from her ears. I take some solace in knowing she finally trusted me with a task.
“Oh hey, your sister RSVP’d. Did you know she was coming?” Alice says.
Dread slices through my contentment, and I take a moment to process.
“I don’t know why it didn’t register that she would be,” I admit. “God, the thought of seeing her makes me nauseous.”
“Hey,” Jackson says from the front door, and my heart does that stupid flutter thing it does every time I hear his voice. “Who makes you nauseous?”
“Savannah,” Alice and I say in unison.
“Why?”
“Because she can be a total bitch to Maggie. What are you doing here?” Alice chirps.
I’m still stuck reeling from the fact my sister, who I haven’t talked to in nearly a year, is going to be in town, and I’ll have to face her knowing she’ll report everything back to my parents.
Jackson fakes looking offended by Alice questioning him. “I can’t come see my twofavorite people?”
“Sure,” I say at the same time Alice says, “No.”
She pushes out of the chair and gives him a pat on the cheek, then slips him a scrap of paper. “I know why you’re really here.”
I’m immediately on guard. There’s no way she knows we kind of have a thing for each other. Is there? If she does, it could explain why she’s been so snippy with me.
She leaves the room. In three strides, Jackson’s gripped my ponytail and is pulling my head back, then slamming his mouth on mine. For the span of a heartbeat, he consumes my mouth. But just as quickly, he breaks the kiss and walks out of the room after her, leaving me a puddle of goo in my seat. Seriously. How am I supposed to read numbers after a kiss like that?
The sound of their low conversation is background noise while I try to get control of my breathing. Just him being here gives me the warm fuzzies. Life would be pretty sweet if it could be like this always. A girl could get used to it, especially the stolen kisses.
