After a couple of hours wasted on applying nail polish and dressing each other in crazy clothes—Kayla’s, of course—and eating ice-cream straight from the carton, we stumble out of the apartment and make the twenty minute walk to the nearest movie theater. The comedy Ev chose isn’t bad, either, and after laughing for an hour like a loon, I feel much better.

Well enough to forget about Jesse for a while, forget how I’d rather be spending time with him instead of watching a stupid movie about a millionaire who is in fact a secret agent in his spare time.

Can’t help thinking of Jesse as a kid, forced to whore himself in order to live, and feel sick. Who cares about secret agents and millionaires when there are children on the streets with nobody to care for them?

It makes my heart ache for them. For him.

“Coming, Amber?” Kayla is tugging on my arm as we walk out of the movie theater.

“Where?”

She rolls her eyes with a small huff. “We’re going to Halo. Where all the guys will be.”

Ev says nothing, but I can see how much she wants to go. Micah will be there, for sure.

“You go.” I give them my brightest, sincerest smile. “I had a great evening, honestly. I’ll just head home. I’m tired.”

Ev hesitates, but Kayla is already dragging her away.

“She’ll be okay, Ev.” She tugs on Ev’s arm. “I have a good feeling about this. Come on.”

“Good fe

eling about her going home alone?” Ev still turns to look at me. “Are you sure, Amber?”

“I’ll be perfectly okay.” I blow them a raspberry and start walking away from them to end the awkward moment. “Go have fun and tell me about it tomorrow.”

I walk briskly toward the apartment, my hands in the pockets of my short jeans skirt, my purse bouncing against my side. My toe nails wink at me from my leather sandals, purple-red, and I shake my head and grin. Kayla and her girls’ night…

Definitely not what I expected. I had fun. I can have fun without changing who I am… like Jesse said. No need to suddenly turn into an extrovert, much less a party animal, to be happy.

Am I happy? Not sure. Also not sure why the question makes me think of Jesse—again. He’s in my every thought.

And then he’s right there, right in front of me, sitting on the steps of a random building.

Am I seeing things? I stop in my tracks, my breath caught in my chest. It has to be around midnight. Is it really him?

I take a few steps closer, until I’m standing at the entrance of the building. He’s curled up on the dirty steps, arms folded over his chest. He’s wearing his baseball cap backward, and his head is tipped to the side, resting on the wall.

It is him. His dark lashes cast shadows on his cheeks as he rests, his chest rising and falling evenly.

He’s asleep. On the steps of a building. It’s like a weird déjà vu—not from my memories, but from his.

“Jesse.” I lean over and shake him. “JJ!”

He starts awake, sitting up, and I see a darkening bruise on his jaw. What happened here?

“Are you all right?” I ask, and he blinks, looking confused. “Come on.” I grab his hand and pull. “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Fourteen

Jesse

“Let’s go home.”

In my dream I’m sitting in a back alley behind a restaurant, waiting for Helen, curled up on the step. Fear runs through me like a current, tension and exhaustion born of uncertainty about tomorrow. Where will I end up? Will I be safe? Will I have money? Where will I sleep?

Will she be okay?

Tags: Jo Raven Wild Men Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net