Jesse (Damage Control 2)

“When? What happened?”

“That’s the thing. I didn’t just run into him.” My hands shake underneath hers. “He followed me. Ran after me, shouting my name.” I swallow hard. “I hid inside a store until he left. Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know, girl. Makes no sense to me.”

Me neither. “He was outside my building, waiting for me to come out. He knows where I live, Ev.”

“Crap. Should we tell the police?” She bites her lower lip, deep in thought. “Hey, wasn’t he at the wedding reception?”

“You saw him, too? I thought I was going crazy.” Shit.

“I will ask Audrey. I see her often, because we have moved close to her.”

“Okay.” My heart is beating uncomfortably fast.

“Maybe he just wants to talk to you,” Ev says, pulling her hands away when a waitress approaches.

“What would he have to say to me?”

She shrugs, then rattles off our order and leans back. “I don’t know. But what would he do if he caught you in the middle of the street?”

Honestly, no clue. I just can’t let him catch me. As it’s become my habit in the last two weeks, I rub the band at my wrist. It smells of leather and faintly, of Jesse.

“What are you doing?” Ev snickers. “Are you sniffing your bracelet?”

I lower my hand hurriedly. “And if I am?”

“Is that…?” She falls silent when our food arrives, then leans forward again. “Is that Jesse’s?” She gives a small, sad smile. “I do that with Micah’s stuff. I’d roll in his scent all night and day if I could.”

My lips tremble, and I press them together. “And if it is Jesse’s? Will you tell me again how stupid I was to fall for him? I know, okay?”

“Oh, girlfriend.” Ev’s eyes look wet, and I don’t know why. “I’m sorry. What if I was wrong for telling you not to trust him?”

“Wrong? You saw what he did.”

“I saw what everyone saw. But what if he’s telling the truth? What if she came on to him and he was only trying to push her away?”

Innocent until proven guilty?

“Now you’re on his side?”

“He’s been telling everyone he didn’t kiss her. Dammit, I love Cassie. She’s my friend, but this time…” A tear rolls down Ev’s cheek. “She’s lusted after Jesse for a long time. She thinks they are alike. That for them both sex is meaningless. She may have pushed her luck with him at the reception.”

A breath is locked in my lungs. Could it be?

“The guys say he hasn’t gone out once since the wedding,” Ev goes on, “that he hasn’t been seen with a single chick. That he looks devastated. That he isn’t acting like himself.”

The thought of Jesse devastated makes my stomach twist.

What if he is telling the truth?

The guy who gave me his one prized possession, who told me he wanted to be with me. What if I’m the one who’s in the wrong?

But what if I’m not? After putting my heart through the ringer once for him, how can I risk it again? I’m still bleeding inside.

I think for the thousandth time about the lion pendant. I really am going to go over to his apartment and give it to him. See him. Let him explain what happened once more.

But how can I be objective about this when I’m face to face with him? My brain stops when I’m near him, when I see his eyes, hear his voice—which is why I’ve been avoiding him. Even hearing the voice messages he’d been leaving me threatens my resolve, so I’ve begun deleting them without hearing them.