Right Back to You

18. The One Bed Trope

The moment Kyle and Kay left, Jessie was afraid Jimmy would find some reason to bolt, too. After all, he was in his hometown now, there was absolutely no reason for him to stick around in a hotel room.

But he didn't leave. He remained leaning back against the desk, arms crossed over his chest, surveying her. Heat pooled into her cheeks and she looked away, even if all she wanted was to keep looking at him, take in every feature, every micro expression.

Now that the prospect was on the table, she had to admit that she found it very plausible for him and Kyle to be brothers. After all, they had the same type of unbelievable good looks that could only be the result of shared genes. But unlike with Kyle who'd always been more like a brother to her, Jimmy seemed to set her on fire just by looking at her.

"I'm sorry," he suddenly said. "I really didn't--" He looked away from her, biting down on his lower lip. "It was so stupid and childish."

"I can't blame you. I mean I didn't tell you anything." But his apology warmed her up.

"You didn't owe me anything. Especially not in these circumstances."

"I still hurt you." And as the words were out, she realized their full meaning. If he admitted to it, it she'd really hurt him beyond his pride... Could that mean that he cared about her?

"I'm not sure why," he mumbled.

"I thought that if--"

"No." His dark gaze was once again on her. "As I said, you don't owe me anything. And I'm really sorry, because now I realize that your home life had to be really shitty for you to resort to running away with a fake fiancé."

"Jimmy..."

"Which means you had every reason in the world to scream into the night and I was such an asshole to you."

"But you were right. At least I have a family. I have this, and I have money--"

"I have Tom. And he's worth more than all the money in the world."

She didn't have what to say to that, so she kept silent. "Let's just say I'm happy that the truth is finally out."

"To be honest, I don't think either of us could have pulled it off," he said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you see the way they look at each other. Kay could've never fooled anyone that she wasn't completely in love with him and the other way around. It's so obvious."

Jessie couldn't help but smile. "That's true." They gave her goosebumps, how natural they looked together, how they seemed to share the same heart. Lose themselves in each other, the rest of the world be damned.

She wanted that for herself. To be so in love that she couldn't even pretend not to be. To have someone look at her the way Kyle looked at Kay. Someone to make her stomach flutter and her heart sing every time he was near.

"And there goes my project for the summer," Jimmy said, pushing off the desk.

Her heart skipped a beat as he took a step closer. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to help Kay find Kyle."

"Funny. I wanted to help him find her."

"You sort of did."

And it made her feel strangely empty because now what? What if Kyle and Kay decided to ride into the sunset together and leave her to it? She'd gotten so used to having Kyle around, it was hard to imagine touring without him.

"Ironically enough, I guess so," she finally said.

"You're a good person, Jessie."

His words had her stomach fluttering. The way he looked at her heated up her entire body and she longed so much to hold him again, kiss him. But she couldn't because she wasn't sure that everything hadn't changed now.