Page 41 of Can't Get Over You
Once, in eleventh grade, Willa asked how she could have such a huge crush on Jude when he so clearly didn’t fit her type. It was a good question then, and an even more important one now. She’d just run from the town’s golden boy and jumped onto the back of the bad boy’s bike.
Maybe it was as simple as knowing she couldn’t have him. That he didn’t want a relationship or have any interest in settling down with a woman and a lawn mower.
The confusion had ended when he’d left town, and she could get back to manifesting her dream man.
Matt was everything she’d ever wanted. He was handsome, clean-cut, and polite. He had a big group of friends, so they were always socializing and vacationing in big groups. It was fun.
But boy, had she gotten it all wrong.
It was a different kind of dark out there in the forest, so she’d left the curtains open. Milky moonlight cut through the trees and painted stripes on the walls.
The quiet was haunting.
She strained to hear voices, a faucet running…anything that let her know she wasn’t alone in this big, unfamiliar house.
Imagine what it’s like for Cody.
He was in the room right next door to hers, and she’d lain in bed with him till he’d fallen asleep. She’d been checking on him every hour, but now, he was out cold.
She wished she could stay with him, but she couldn’t.
She had to pick up the pieces of her life.
A light knock had her jolting up. “Yes?”
“It’s me.”
Jude.Hearing that deep, rugged voice in the darkness awakened something wicked in her.Cut that out.
It’s not like that.
It’ll never be like that.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
She sat up, tugging the fabric of the huge T-shirt Gunnar had loaned her so it didn’t cling to her breasts. “Of course.”
When he opened the door, a sliver of yellow light from the hallway cut into the room. Folding his arms across his chest,he leaned against the threshold. “You want to keep it down in here?”
“What?” She sat all the way up and flicked on the lamp. “What’re you talking about?”
“I could hear you thinking from down the hall.”
“Oh.” She smiled. “Sorry to keep you up.”
“You want to yap to someone who won’t give you advice?”
Yes. That’s exactly what I want. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
He pushed off and entered her room. “Anywhere you want. I won’t even be listening.” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and waved it at her. “Call of Duty.”
She laughed. “Fine. Twist my arm.”
He sat on the mattress and placed his elbows on his knees, pretending to stare at his phone. But while the game played on his screen, he never tapped the keys.
His easy silence gave the threads in her mind a chance to pull together into coherent thought, and words started tumbling out of her mouth. “I’m going to lose the house, and you know what it’s like on Bloom Lane. There’s a waiting list a mile long, so they never go on sale. We only got it because Matt’s mom used to play mahjong with the owners. And yes, I hear myself. My marriage blew up, but I’m babbling about a stupid house.”
“Didn’t even hear a word you said.” He held up his phone. “I’m crushing this game. Besides, this is a no-judgment zone.”
