A Spotlight Summer (Jack Gilinsky)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jack POV

It just slipped out.

I didn't think about it.

I didn't plan it.

But I said it.

And fuck me, I don't regret it.

Maybe it was rash and irrational and spontaneous, but after the words tumbled out of my mouth, I suddenly knew that they were right.

I had been hesitating to tell Kelsey that the tour got moved up a couple of weeks. Now, instead of starting in September, we were leaving in two weeks. The thought of telling Kelsey our already limited time together is now cut even shorter fucked with my head. I knew I didn't have the balls to do it.

I didn't have the balls to leave her.

I tried to fight Johnson on the tour dates, but he quickly reminded me that I couldn't just throw away everything we've worked for, not even for Kelsey. When Johnson began to utter the words 'break-up,' he shut up as soon as he saw the death stare I gave him.

I used to not understand how Johnson felt about Fiona; even when I started to date Sara, I never felt the overwhelming emotions that he described to me-the overwhelming sensation of 'love' and the addiction that comes along with it. I now understood and fully embraced what Johnson had always told me.

Kelsey is my addiction, and I have no intentions of sobering up anytime soon.

There was so much spirit in her today and every time I heard her laugh or saw her smile, I became undone by the incredible hold she has over me. I am captivated by everything she does; the way she runs her fingers through her hair when she has nothing else to do, the way she grabs my bicep when she wants to get my attention, the way her eyes shine when she sees something that excites her, and most importantly the redness that always seems to be creeping up her cheeks.

Looking at her now, water droplets on her face that is inches from mine, I wonder how we ever didn't like each other. My mind flashes back to the confident girl I met for the first time in the bar and the girl who relentlessly insulted me in an elevator and I cringe at the concept of not spending my summer with her.

Kelsey stared back at me, wonder and shock appearing on her face. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. My girlfriend with her doe brown eyes looked like a deer about to get hit on a freeway. Her lack of response caused my heart to speed up as I contemplated the chance that she would say no.

I would go out of my fucking mind.

Finally, her full lips opened and her singsong voice was heard, "...what?"

She was hesitant and unsure. I knew I needed to convince her to stay with me.

To travel with me.

To be with me.

I went to start my grand speech, but was interrupted by a shiver running down my spine. The water I had been standing in was starting to freeze my bones and I made my way across the tank to hop out. Not only did I want to escape that cesspool, but I wanted to be closer to Kelsey.

Efficiently, I got out of the dunk tank and stood face to face with Kelsey. Her eyes wandered across my chest and I tried to suppress a cocky smile-the shirt I had been wearing was completely soaked through. I basically was wearing no shirt.

My mind instantly traveled back to the afternoon when Kelsey didn't have a shirt on either and somehow found the time amidst all the current chaos to curse my mother for her terrible timing. I thought of the endless possibilities of Kelsey and I on tour together and I had to fight to bring my focus back to my actual surroundings.