Promise Me This (Between Breaths 4)

Emmy nudged me. “Earth to Jessie.”

I shook my head. I didn’t even know how Emmy and I had ended up being such close friends. Emmy was one of those bubbly girls who could’ve easily been a college cheerleader or a sorority pledge or something.

Seems the only thing that had brought us together was this shop. She didn’t exactly fit here and she knew it, but the guys had grown to love her. And so did I.

“We got a motel room, which sucked because not only did I have to pay for the service garage, I also had to pay to sleep somewhere.” Emmy knew how tight money was and that I didn’t take handouts from anybody very easily.

“Well crap,” she said. “Did you at least have fun?”

I couldn’t stop the smile that had formed on my lips.

“Shut up,” she said.

“What?”

She lowered her voice, which I so appreciated, because if there was any shop gossip, Dex, who was sitting only one room away, was on it. It was awkward enough being around him sometimes. “You and Nate?”

I sighed. “Kinda sorta.” No way was I going to share all the glorious details. They were still confusing to me.

Besides, I had some insane need to protect Nate and keep his insecurities private. “We drank at a place next to the motel to kill time. It was some country bar,” I said, smiling. “We had a blast. I got to know Nate better in the process.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying not to squirm at the memory of being so close to him. “Turns out he’s not so square, after all. Or even that shallow.”

Emmy just stared at me.

“In the morning, we got my tire fixed and before we left town, he took me to this old abandoned railroad bridge,” I said, the explanation not really doing it justice. “We climbed up the side of it and it was amazing. I got so many shots up there.”

“And?”

“And that’s it.”

Just then Oliver, the owner of Raw Ink, came from the back office. “Hey, Jess. Isn’t your shift over, Emmy?”

“Yep, I’m going,” she said, reaching for her bag beneath the counter. Oliver was a stickler about clocking in and out on time.

He wandered toward the other side of the room near Dex’s station where he was prepping his next client for a wrist tattoo.

“I’m not leaving until you tell me if anything happened between you guys,” Emmy whispered.

I knew Emmy would bug me for days on end if I didn’t tell her something. She was a good secret keeper, though, and I kind of felt like I needed to confide in someone.

“We . . . kissed,” I mumbled. “A lot.”

Her hand slammed over her mouth to hold in her shocked giggle.

“How was it?”

I sighed. “It was really good.”

“Are you afraid it’s going to be awkward between you now?”

“Kind of yeah, so please don’t say anything.”

“Of course not,” she said. “But do you think you and Nate might do it again?”

“This is Nate we’re talking about,” I said, nearly cringing at the words. “He doesn’t repeat hookups, you know that.”

“Yeah, but he also hasn’t had the Jessie effect before.”

“The Jessie effect?”

“Kissing an amazingly cool, strong and beautiful girl with tattoos,” she said. “The Jessie effect. How many guys have had their tongues wagging for you?”

I shook my head and grinned. Didn’t I wish it were that easy?

“I’m out of here.” Emmy waved and headed out the door.

Chapter Twenty-two

Nate

I sat in my Structural Analysis class not hearing a word the professor had said in the past thirty minutes, which was really going to suck for my upcoming test.

Instead, I had my notebook open to a blank page where I’d been doodling and daydreaming. Drawing scaled-down versions of bridges. The bridges from last weekend. The view from up top and then one from down below.

I drew the letters in Jessie’s name within the framework of one of the bridges then outlined them over and over, practically tearing into the paper.

Ever since the weekend, I’d been so drummed up, not knowing what to do with all the restless energy inside of me. But when I sketched, I pooled all of my energy into one pinpoint of focus and my brain was able to settle down.

All week long, I couldn’t stop remembering how I felt so goddamn free, open, absolved. And then afterward, so terrified, removed, withdrawn. Fuck.

I just hoped that when Jessie and I saw each other again, it would feel normal between us. My fingers hovered over my phone’s touchscreen many times trying to think of something I could say to her. Just normal words. Something joking or funny. To get us back to where we’d been.

When class was over, I crossed the walkway to the student center. My next class wasn’t for another couple of hours, so I wanted to grab a sandwich and then head to the rock-climbing wall at the indoor gym to give my twitchy muscles a workout.

I grabbed a coffee with my bacon and egg bagel and searched for a place to sit. As my eyes swung around the room, a sign caught my eye that I probably would’ve never noticed had it not been for Jessie. It said, STUDENT WELLNESS AND COUNSELING CENTER, THIRD FLOOR. It listed all the services it offered, including yoga classes and free counseling sessions.

I noted the room number and found a table. As I ate my sandwich and studied my notes, I heard someone call my name. A girl named Erin approached my table. She had been in one of my classes and we’d hooked up a couple of months ago.