Page 71 of The Sound Of Silence

“Jesus, fuck! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Alex says as I turn around, my hand clenched to my heart as a breath leaves me.

He raises his hands to show me he’s “harmless,” and an apologetic look settles on his face, yet he steps forward and invades my personal space anyway, making me move back..

“Again, I’m sorry. I thought you’d seen me approach, but maybe you were lost in thought?”

“Oh, yes I was. It’s okay. Not your fault. What can I do for you? Let me guess… the Fresh New Love oil?”

“The what?” His brows furrow and he scratches his head as his eyes flash toward my shop.

I huff out a laugh. “Never mind. Are you here to buy something?”

I’m pretty sure I know the answer to that question, but it’s out there now and at least it gets the conversation started.

“No. I’m not. But I can. If it will increase my chances.”

“Again?”He’s not going to give up.

“Oh, Willow. Last time was a ‘maybe,’ so I’m back to change it to a yes. Are you any closer to letting me take you out?”

My promise to Jesse floats through my mind, but since I currently don’t care what Jesse thinks, I push it away.“Can I give you another ‘maybe’?” I say as my lips thin. “I’ve just got some things going on and I—”

“I’ll take it. But I will be back. Probably tomorrow. With flowers.”

He points toward Lucia’s store, and I can’t help but return his warm smile. It’s so genuine that I try to see through it. To see what Jesse sees. The reason he’s so “dangerous” as he says. At least I think that’s what he said. It was something along those lines. Either way, he doesn’t like Alex, and I’m dying to know why.

Alex steps forward again, running a hand down my arm as he whispers goodbye before walking away.

And his touch does nothing for me.

Jesse only needs to look in my direction to have my traitorous body lighting up, but Alex… nothing.

Damn Jesse.

Like this morning… I’m so angry at him, and yet, the second I saw him standing under the street light, my heart skipped. Him being there may have been purely coincidental, but it didn’t feel that way. It felt like he was there to protect me. And while I hated him seeing me in such a low moment, I didn’t hate the thought that maybe he cared. Maybe someone understood that there was more going on than my peachy life suggested. Or maybe it’s all in my head.

When I reach my parents’ place and realize I’m still thinking of Jesse, I curse myself. And after a quick internal scolding, I vow to push him far from my mind. For Pippa. For me.

Squaring my shoulders to project a confidence I don’t feel, I walk up the drive, pausing when Pippa comes rushing out the front door.

“Pippa? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, I just had to talk to you before you went inside,” she says a little rushed. “I know I still need to explain everything in more detail, but Jesse’s here.”For fuck’s sake.“And I wanted to remind you not to tell anyone what I told you. Including him.”

“I know. But you never told me why.”

“Jesse would prefer to keep it a secret,” she says with a shrug.

Yeah, I bet he would. Asshole.

I’m absolutely fuming. After everything that happened between us, I still can’t believe he lied. He wanted me to hate him. He planned this.

Pippa disappears down the hall as we walk inside the house and then joins us in the dining room from the other direction, as though she’s just been to the bathroom.

And the reality of Jesse’s secretreallyhits me.

If hate is what he wants, hate is what he’s going to get.

Chapter Thirty-One

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