Page 93 of Jesse's Girl
“Yeah, and I was distracted by Naomi. I pretty much just stuffed it and moved on. Plus, Marcus would’ve shit a brick, so…”
Worry plays on her features at the mention of her brother. “Right.”
I roll onto my back and run a hand down my face.
She tucks herself tighter under my arm and we lay there for a minute, my thumb brushing up and down her side, her fingers slipping from my chest to my stomach.
Unable to quash the guilt already brewing, I break the silence. “We can’t… I mean, should we tell him? We shouldn’t, right?”
“Fuck, no, we shouldn’t tell him!” she blurts out, twisting to face me. “I don’t want my brother, of all people, picturing us boning. Gross!”
“Boning, huh?” I shake my head. “Classy.”
She makes a tsk sound. “You know what I mean.”
“Okay. You’re probably right.” I nod. “I guess it would only make things weird.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not in the habit of telling my sibling who I’m casually fucking, anyway. It’s none of his business. It’s not like you and I are… we’re not in a relationship.”
Her words land heavily on my chest.
Interesting.
A relationship isn’t an option, here, I remind myself. Not that I even want one.
“Right,” I make myself say, nodding again.
“Plus, he warned me not to get involved with you. Can’t give him the satisfaction of being right. You know how smug he can be.”
“Wait, he warned you about me?”
She shrugs. “Not in those words, but yeah. Before you moved in. He was worried about me getting into another long-distance thing—you know what?” She cuts herself off. “It really doesn’t matter. He was outta line.”
I frown to myself. “You know, he actually talked to me about you too.”
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah, I guess he thought it could end up like Naomi all over again. And he didn’t want things to get weird for him, which… y’know… fair.”
Ada’s eyebrows lift. “Marcus is a fucking busybody.”
“Hey,” I say, my tone a soft warning. “Watch what you say about my best friend.”
She scoffs.
“I’m sure he was just trying to look out for us. Both of us.”
“Well, he doesn’t need to worry. You’re leaving at the end of the summer, anyway. It’s not like we’re a couple about to parade around in front of him holding hands or some shit.”
She’s right. Of course she’s right.
“Totally,” I say. I give my head a shake, trying to push away the guilt—or any more thoughts of Marcus, for that matter. He’s the last person I want to be thinking about when his sister is naked in my bed. Whatever happens in the coming weeks, I want to enjoy this moment. I brush my thumb over Ada’s cheek.
She seems thoughtful and slightly worried, like, despite her confident bluster, the same guilty thoughts are floating through her mind.
I try to keep things light. “Well, I guess we’re gonna have to keep this buttoned up real tight.” I trail my hand down her stomach and slip my fingers between her legs. “Tighter than…”
She grabs my wrist, eyes flying wide as she rounds on me. “Don’t you dare make a joke about my vagina, Jesse Bailey!”