“I’m gonna get us some beers. We should probably then go and see if Jodie needs protecting from Stella,” I say lightly.
“That’s your sister you’re talking about.”
“Exactly my point. Jodie doesn’t need any more reasons to hate me.”
“That girl is far from hating you, man. You’ve got her hooked.”
He smirks at me as we head toward the door, their voices getting louder as we close in on them, and I can’t help but smile as I think about her confession outside Joanne’s house. My heart swells and my body burns to have her close. She might not have said the exact words, but she didn’t need to. I already see it deep in her dark chocolate eyes.
Wednesday night might have been all kinds of hell, but I can’t help feeling grateful that it brought us back together. She might have told me since that she was always going to come back to me, but I’ll never know if that was how it would have played out. I remember all too well how I felt as our communication got less and less with every day that passed. The fear that we were over was real. I just have to believe that we always had a future ahead of us,even with everything that’s happened.
* * *
The loud ring of Jodie’s phone cuts through the conversation around the table as we eat, and she hops up as if her arse is on fire.
I know who it is before the words roll off her tongue. I remember all too well when she set that ringtone so that she wouldn’t miss anything.
“It’s Jesse,” she explains to everyone else, her eyes landing on Mum’s as an apologetic expression falls over her face.
“Go, sweetheart. We understand.”
“Thank you,” she says in the rush, damn near running from the room so she can take it in privacy. She just lifts the phone to her ear before she turns the corner and my heart lurches in my chest as she greets him, demanding to know if something has happened.
My skin prickles with everyone’s attention on me.
“You should go,” Mum says softly. “If he got…” she trails off. “She might need you.”
I nod, already half out of my chair before she even said the words.
“Whatever happens,” Stella says, stopping me before I can escape, “she’ll be okay. She’s stronger than you think.”
“Of course she is. She’s got Cirillo blood running through her body,” I state proudly, although ignoring the obvious with that statement.
“Calli is busy at work on her Princess jacket,” Stella quips as I walk out of the room.
I have a love–hate thing going on with those fucking Cirillo Pink Ladies jackets Calli made. They bring back memories I’d rather forget from Halloween, but also, I really kinda wanna see Jodie wearing one. Or even better, one of the dresses from Oxford. I can just picture her in one of those with my name and number on her back telling everyone that she’s mine.
Hell yeah.
“Yeah?” she asks hopefully, as I breathe in and a sigh of relief falls from my lips. “Jesse, that’s—” Her words are cut off as he speaks.
I stand at the end of the hallway, watching as she leans back against the wall and stares up at the ceiling as she absorbs everything he’s saying.
“Yeah, I know. But it’s the first step, Jesse.”
They talk for a few more minutes before she says goodbye, instructing him to give her a kiss from her and hanging up.
She blows out a long breath as she clutches her phone to her chest.
“Baby,” I whisper, not wanting to startle her. “What did he say?”
She turns to me with hope filling her eyes.
“She’s responding to treatment. Her stats are improving.”
The corners of my lips twitch up with the beginnings of a smile.
“That’s great.”