Jesse groans. “Do we really need to talk about this?”
“Yes. Something’s going on and you need to learn to talk about shit rather than keep it bottled up, and when it comes to Kaylah, who else can you talk to? Tyson would just tell you to try some BDSM shit on her and all would be right, but guess what? Girls don’t quite work like that, so out with it. What’s going on?”
Jesse sighs before lounging back in the couch and focusing on the coffee table, just as he was when I first walked in. “She thinks I’m cheating on her.”
“What?” I grunt. “What the hell would give her that impression?”
“Because some skank at school told her I was.”
“But… you’re not, right? You wouldn’t do that to her. You love her.”
“What?” he grunts in disgust. “How could you even ask me that? Of course, I’m not cheating on her.”
“Sorry,” I cringe. “But, why would that girl tell her that?”
“Because she’s trying to break us up, the same way all the bitches would do to you. She keeps getting in Kaylah’s ear and dropping little hints so she questions everything I tell her. Like we were at a party last night and I walked out of the bathroom. This girl walked out of the same hallway right behind me, making it look like we were in there together, then she went and licked her lips while Kaylah was watching.”
“Shit. Surely, Kaylah must know it’s all bullshit.”
“I don’t know. That’s just the thing. She’s not from Broken Hill. She comes from Haven Falls where guys cheat all the time. All her past boyfriends have cheated on her and with my past, she doesn’t really have any reason to trust me. She probably just assumes I’m like all the other dickheads who treated her like shit.”
“Have you talked to her about this?”
“No,” he sighs, scooting down on the couch even more. “I just… I don’t know. I wouldn’t know how to even broach the topic with her without it looking like I’m just trying to cover my ass.”
“You love her, Jess,” I murmur, squeezing his hand. “You have to give it a shot no matter the cost. You’re going to lose her if you don’t do anything about it. You have a much better chance of moving past this if you talk to her like you’re talking to me now. Bare your soul to her. She’ll see that you’re the real deal and learn that she can trust you.”
“You think?”
“I know,” I tell him. “But listen, you can’t leave it at that. You have to do something about this girl because she won’t stop. You need to put her down and send a message to all the other girls to back off. I could handle the ones that came at me because Nate forced me to have a backbone, but Kaylah is soft-hearted, these girls will destroy her.”
Jesse leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees before hanging his head. “Shit,” he sighs. “You’re right.”
“Yeah,” I say getting up from the couch and pulling him up behind me. “Why don’t you go talk to her? I’m going to get out of here because just the thought of being in the same house as that prick makes me want to strangle him.”
“Alright,” he chuckles, though it’s completely forced and fake. “Let’s go.”
He grabs his keys off the coffee table and walks towards the door. “I’m assuming you’re going to Nate’s shop? Do you want a lift?”
I think it over for a second before realizing it’s not a bad idea. It’s Saturday afternoon and I assume we’re going to spend the rest of the day together anyway. I haven’t heard from him all day and to risk sounding like a love sick moron, I really miss him.
I hurry into the kitchen and scrawl out a quick note for Brooke, letting her know I won’t be home and possibly won’t be back until tomorrow. She’ll most likely scrunch it up and toss it before reading it, but at least she can’t say that didn’t let her know.
I grab my bag off the table and hurry out the door after Jesse, making sure to lock it behind me, you know, just in case Brooke doesn’t emerge from her room for the rest of the day. I’m assuming if someone was to break in, Lukas would probably scram and leave her defenseless. So, at least this way, she’s safe.
Jess drives me the ten minutes to the shop and I jump out of his Range Rover before looking back at him one last time. The poor kid looks sick, but he shouldn’t. Kaylah loves him and if he’s honest with her and lets her know exactly what’s going on, he’ll be absolutely fine.
I close the door and hurry into Nate’s shop.