Stolen Heart

Chapter 14

The group did end up going to bed at a somewhat reasonable time. The girls slept in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs while the boys went to sleep in Jeremy's childhood room nearby.

Once the girls were alone, they debriefed on the night like two business associates would talk about a project performance evaluation and next steps. The meeting minutes:

1. Chloe decided she liked Jeremy even more (3 to 5 minutes)

2. The women discussed all available clues to form an analysis of how Jeremy felt about Chloe. They recapped his subtle flirty comments and the way he asked them to stay overnight as he was looking at Chloe with longing in his eyes. Definitely, sexy vibes was the final evaluation (45 minutes to 1 hour)

3. Lana admitted that she was starting to re-think the whole friends thing with Jack (3 to 5 minutes)

4. Chloe provided an analysis of why she thinks Jack is actually a good guy and why it's an indicator of future good behavior. Lana listened intently and didn't deny those remarks. The final evaluation decided by Lana was she will think about proceeding with caution (45 minutes to 1 hour)

5. Final conclusion and next steps: See how things go

When Lana woke up around 7 AM the next morning, she saw that Chloe wasn't in the bed next to her. She got up and checked the bathroom but still no sign.

She tiptoed around the spacious hallway and passed by a room with an open door. She peered in and saw Chloe snuggled on a couch, fast asleep with Jeremy, who was also sleeping. Lana grinned, thinking about their likely late-night rendezvous.

That sneaky, sneaky girl. She totally kissed Jeremy last night.

Lana continued through the hallway to see if Jack was awake. She peered through the crack in the door and saw Jack typing away on his phone.

She was about to knock but something about the way the light from his phone reflected off of his face made her pause. He looks so good. How do people actually wake up looking like that?

Unintentionally, she leaned in closer to get a better look and caused the door to slightly shift. Suddenly Jack looked up and smiled as he saw her.

"Good morning," he said as he set his phone down and began to sit up in bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and Lana was mentally preparing herself not to stare at his chest. She walked in and was very aware of her shorts and button-down cloud print top, courtesy of Hannah.

"Hi, Jack. I was just coming to see if you were awake. I passed by Chloe and Jeremy, who are definitely still asleep and looking very cozy together on the couch, I might add."

"Oh yeah, I heard Jeremy get up in the middle of the night, and he must have bumped into her because he never came back after that."

Lana laughed at the thought of Chloe doing the same thing. Then her smile quickly faded.

"Is everything ok?" Jack said, likely noticing her changed expression.

Lana perked back up. "Oh yeah totally, just still a little tired." And maybe a little jealous of my best friend who is not afraid to take what she wants.

"So, Lana." Jack smiled and patted the end of the bed gesturing for Lana to sit down.

"So, Jack," Lana said as she sat.

"I was thinking, since we are friends now—some might even say on our way to becoming the best of friends—" He smiled widely as he spoke. "We should get to know each other a bit more and, you know, build our friendship or whatever."