Page 87 of The Sound Of Silence

“Oops.”

After huffing out another laugh, Jesse stares into my eyes, making me swallow a lump in my throat. Butterflies fill my chest, and I’m so distracted that I don’t realize what he’s doing until a sharp pain hits me.

“Jesus. Shit. Ouch,” I complain, blinking a few times in shock.

“Sorry, I had to get this.” He holds up the shard of glass that he just pulled from my skin and offers me a lopsided grin. “You really need to be more careful. This could have hit something important and caused permanent damage.”

Where was the glass? I didn’t even see it.“Okay.”

“No, Willow. It’s not‘okay.’I’m serious.Be careful.”

“Yes, sir.” I salute him and cringe. Maybe I have lost more blood than we thought.Yes, sir? What the hell?

Jesse’s eyes widen before he looks away. “I’ll get something to clean you up. Do you have any bandages?”

He walks away without waiting for a response, so I call out with directions and wait patiently for my doctor to return. All the while thinking about his smile and laugh. The effect he has on me. The way everything he does consumes me.Why him?What is it that has me instantly drawn to him? And why does it sometimes feel like he thinks the same?

While sometimes it doesn’t.

He’s quiet as he goes to work tending to my gash, while my heart races, on edge from our close proximity and the gentleness of his touch.

When he’s done, he pauses with one hand still curled around my calf and the other holding my foot, staring at my wound in silence, seemingly lost in thought.

I want to say thank you. It’s the right thing to do. But I don’t want to interrupt his moment, and I’m terrified he’s about to push me away again.

After a beat, he shakes his head as though ridding himself of what’s in there and runs a hand through his hair.

“You’re all good,” he says, reaching for something on the floor.

I nod a few times just as a soft item lands in my lap. My eyes widen as a memory of me on my knees flashes to mind, and I internally cringe.

Without unwrapping the towel, I pull the tee over my head and will myself to disappear. To somehow gain the power to turn invisible. Because now that the adrenaline has worn off, my chest heats, and embarrassment takes over.

I had zero intentions when I first followed Jesse into the bathroom, except to prove him wrong. But God, did things go in a direction I never could have predicted.

I was so furious, I couldn’t stop myself from highlighting his lies, pointing out the physical reaction he has toward me. Only it backfired, because the second I had him naked, I lost all sense. All rationality. All control. And I’ve never done that before.

From Jesse’s silence, I know he’s thinking about the same thing, so I get in first, before he has the chance to reject me.

“Thanks for the help. With Pippa, and with my foot. I’m going to head off to bed. I’ve gotta be up in a few hours for my run.”

Jesse snaps out of his thoughts. “A run? What about your foot?”

Standing up, I hesitantly put pressure on it and sigh in relief when I’m okay.

“I’ll be fine. But thanks.”

Jesse’s slight frown would suggest he doesn’t believe me, but he allows it to slide. “Can I come with you?”

Huh? I freeze. Does he mean now or—

“For your run,” he clarifies. “Can I come with you when you run?”

Oh. “Um, yes, of—”

“I won’t mess with your groove. You won’t even know I’m there.”

That’s where you’re wrong, Jesse, because I feel everything around you.“I’ll see you at five.”

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