Page 30 of One More Chance

Jensen

First of all,I’m not jealous. That’s not what this is, okay? I dropped Harper back off at the main house and headed back to the cabin and found Gentry, who immediately needed my help with the wedding tent setup while the women did their bridal luncheon thing.

And I am not jealous. I keep reminding myself of this as we push support poles into place and hammer stakes but really, I don’t even need reminding because Jensen Reed? Not a jealous guy. Besides…Steve? Really?

“You okay, man?” Gentry asks, cutting into my fourth reminder.

“Yeah,” I say. “Just thinking.”

“You wanna talk about it?” he asks.

Gentry’s a good guy. But he’s on Harper’s side. I’m not sure he can be trusted with my side of things. Though I don’t have anyone else to talk to here. I could text one of the few close friends I have but we’re all so scattered and on different schedules, it’s nearly impossible to sync up.

I consider it for several more seconds and decide to risk it. “It’s just…Harper, okay? She might be going on a date tonight, apparently.”

“And that bothers you?” he asks.

“No. Yes. No. Maybe.”

“Well, that’s clear.” He laughs.

“I mean, no. It shouldn’t. We’re friends. But it does. Steve. His name is Steve. That’s not better than Charles. You know what I mean?”

“So you don’t approve of his name?”

“No, I don’t.”

“But it would be okay if he had a different name?”

“No. Yes. Maybe.”

“Again, so clear,” he says, hammering another stake into the ground and tying a rope around it.

“I’m just saying, we spent last night together. Maybe give yourself a breather before the next date,” I say.

“Was last night a date?”

“Well, yeah. Maybe not a real one. But we kissed.”

“So it wasn’t a date, but you kissed?” Gentry asks, stopping and squinting. I can tell he’s trying desperately to understand what the hell I’m saying and I’m not even sure I do.

“Right. But it’s like it meant nothing to her.”

“Was it supposed to?”

Crap. Double crap.I finish hammering the stake into place and stand. I guess it wasn’t—isn’t. I press my eyes shut. I can’t very well go and press the issue and get her to feel something or have it mean something to her when I leave soon. Because then what? That’s not fair. Besides, what would it mean? A fling? No way. She’s better than that. I could never do that to her.

Okay but wait. Thinking all of this means…I would want something to happen. Or I do want something to happen and I’m just not acting on it for the sake of being decent. Is that what’s happening right now? I press the palms of my hands to my eye sockets. My train of thought is making my brain hurt.

I push it all away and focus on the mindless work of this damn wedding tent. Why is this thing so fucking big, anyway? We finish placing the last support poles and raise the canopy. White sheer fabric drapes over the entire massive expanse. I step inside. Okay, yeah. This was worth it. Southerners really know how to do this.

Gentry steps in next to me and looks around, inhaling a big breath with his hands in his front pockets. “Why don’t you just tell her you like her?”

“What?”

“You do, don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” I admit.