Reforming the Romance Novel's Male Lead

Chapter 4

A few more months passed, without incident. The only change was that Jack and I now met a frequently outside of the coffee shop. We hadn't been spending any time together alone since his group of café friends had taken off. Then, Jack approached me about helping him learn how to hang out normally with others, outside the café. I had been surprised, asking why he hadn't talked to Francis of Clyde instead, but he simply shrugged and answered. "I trust you the most."

How could I say no to that?

So we hung out two or three times a week, checking out local restaurants, watching movies and television, and sometimes just hanging out and talking. He opened up about a lot of things about himself I hadn't even known despite having read the book, and in turn I told him about my life before I appeared in this story, without specifically telling him the "transported to a different world" bit.

"You really didn't have too many friends before either, huh?" He had laughed at that, causing me to glare at him.

"It's not too late for me to publically humiliate you, you know."

He just laughed harder. "I'm pretty sure nothing you do can be worse than introducing me to a group of strangers as a 'socially inept narcissist.'"

"... Good point."

After I conceded he finally stopped laughing, standing up with a grin. "Want to grab some dinner? We can go to that awful burger place you love so much." He held out a hand towards me.

"You just have no taste." I took it with an answering smile, using his hand as leverage to help myself stand up. "Let's go..."

And then I felt it, just as our hands made contact.

My heart skipped a beat. I paused, nervous, suddenly overly conscious of how close we were together and how warm his hand felt in my own.

Jack leaned in closer, concerned. "Are you okay? You turned red." He touched the back of his hand to my forehead, causing me even further confusion.

I waved him away. "I'm fine, I'm just... a little more tired than I thought I was. How about we catch dinner some other time?"

"Are you sure...?" He tried to ask more, but I was already gone.

I raced back to my own apartment, slamming the door behind me before sinking to the floor.

This was not good. This wasn't good at all.

I hadn't really noticed the slight changes over the last months in how I saw Jack. A slight happier feeling whenever he was in the café. A smile appeared on my face whenever he laughed. A frown whenever he looked unhappy. I enjoyed talking with him, joking around with him, watching movies with him. Watching him befriend others, and go over the top trying to show them he cared. Helping him discover new things, and seeing the grin on his face whenever he found something that he really liked.

Laughing, fighting, and everything in between.

Since when had how I felt about him taken such a drastic turn?

I thought about the amount of time we spent together, and how little interest I had had lately in helping Darla change her mind. No wonder I had been so unenthusiastic lately about getting them together.

I didn't want them to get together.

I swallowed uncomfortably, staring blankly at the walls of my apartment.

Oh crap.

I was in love with Jack.

I tried to turn things around. I stopped hanging out with Jack outside of the café, starting decreasing the number of conversations we had. It hurt, but fortunately I had plenty of friends from the regulars of the café so I become completely alone and miserable.