middle of nowhere • jack avery

xxxxi

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

Reagan's chest hurt the entire ride back to her house. The charm bracelet Jack apparently got her was such a small, simple gift but the thought of him wanting her to find it when he left—a reminder that he was thinking of her, made her heart want to implode.

She was a mess. She couldn't help it. And she kind of wishes she stayed home that day.

When she got home, she wanted to get to her bedroom as quickly as possible in fear of seeing Jack, afraid that seeing him would completely crumble her resolve given the fact that his gift already weakened it, but Jack must've anticipated that.

The moment she came through the dining room, he was already sat on the chair at the end of the table. He looked up at the sound of her footsteps and there it was.

The sight of him, tear-stained and nervous, made her weaken.

"Reagan," He coughed out as he promptly stood up, "Daniel told me you promised him five minutes."

She wanted to turn around and walk to her bedroom door, tell him he didn't deserve it and just give herself more time to think.

She hated the fact that such a small, insignificant gift was enough to change her mind.

She sighed and set her bag down on the floor, folding her arms in front of her as she said, "Fine. It starts now."

Jack looked like he was in shock—disbelief that she actually agreed. By the time he came to his senses, however, he nodded quickly and promptly pulled out a few things from his button up's inside pocket.

The first thing she noticed, however, was a sheet of paper neatly folded into quarters.

He unfolded it hastily with shaking hands and by the time Reagan realized what it was, he already confirmed her thoughts.

He didn't waste any time apprently because the first words out of his mouth was, "This was a contract I signed to be in a relationship with Emma."

And, well.

Reagan just stared at him blankly.

"She's an upcoming actress. Has a permanent role in some daytime show but recently she's been signed to some big screen pictures," He gulped, "Our managers are from the same agency and being in a relationship seemed like a good idea. With the upcoming album and all."

Reagan didn't say anything and fought the urge to turn around.

"I admit," He said in a shaky breath, nervously playing with the cuffs of his button up, "I gave my manager the impression that I would be fine with it because," Jack paused, looking like he was choking on his words, "This sounds awful but I didn't care who I was in a relationship with. Being in a fake one didn't seem too awful to me, to be honest, because it wouldn't be different from any other relationship I've had. Relationships didn't matter to me, Reagan. I've never liked someone for it to matter."

Jack let out a labored breath, like having to say it physically pained him.

She did her best to stay quiet because she promised five minutes.