“No,” I tell him, willing my heart to stop racing. “It would be smart.”
“Dare I ask why?”
My eyes flick back towards the crowd that seems to be openly gawking. “Because you’re you and I’m me,” I explain. “It would be too hard. I can’t risk this getting back to my brother, and you’re the same. If Nate and Jackson knew what we did, there would be some kind of war.”
He shakes his head while moving impossibly closer without actually touching me. “They wouldn’t find out.”
“Seriously?” I laugh. “Look around you, Jesse. They’re bound to already know.”
Jesse glances around himself and sure enough, everyone is still watching the show. “What the fuck are you looking at?” he demands towards our audience and just like that, they all scatter like ants. He looks back at me. “See,” he says with that cocky smirk. “We’re fine.”
I shake my head, unable to stop the laugh that bubbles up my throat. “You’re delusional.”
He shrugs. “That may be true, but what do you say?” he questions, stepping right into me and pressing his hard body up against mine. He dips his head so his mouth is right by my ear with his breath tickling my sensitive skin. “We could get out of here and go back to my place,” he tells me in a whisper. “I could spend all day buried inside of you.”
Oh, holy shit. Why do I feel so hot?
The bell rings and I spin back to face my locker. I need to get out of here before I drop my pants and beg him to take me right here in the middle of the junior hallway. I start searching through my locker for what I need and when I turn back, Jesse is still there waiting for me. I shake my head. “Nope,” I say, seriously flustered by this guy. “Not going to happen.”
I go to hurry off but Jesse catches my hand and pulls me back to him. “Where are you going in such a rush?”
“Homeroom,” I tell him as confusion filters in and clouds me. “What are you doing, Jesse? Why are you pushing this so hard?”
He looks taken back by my question and it’s as though, for the first time in his life, he doesn’t actually have an answer. He shakes his head and it’s clear that he’s just as confused about this as I am. “I don’t know what to tell you, Tiger. But you and me, there’s something here.”
“No,” I tell him. “We can’t do this.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve told you my reason,” I say as students rush around us trying to get to homeroom.
“Because of your brother?”
“And yours.”
“Okay, answer me this. If they weren’t an issue, what would you say then?”
I consider him a moment. What’s he actually asking here? Would I consider dropping everything and racing back to his place for a day of wild sex? Then the answer is yeah, I’d be down for that, but if he’s asking for something more…then I don’t know. This is Jesse Ryder. He doesn’t do girlfriends. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy hasn’t even been on a date before.
I look up into his eyes which haven’t stopped taking in my face. “If they weren’t an issue, then I’d say I don’t know. You and me…even without our brothers, it’s still a risk, and to be honest,” I tell him, stepping backward out of his hold. “I don’t think you could handle me.”
He grins down at me, but I don’t give him a chance to fight me on it as I turn away and hurry toward my homeroom, wondering what the hell just happened.
Chapter 6
Jesse
I sit in my car on Tuesday morning, still unable to stop thinking about Kaylah. I’ve never been so fucking confused and hung-up in my life. I’ve spent years giving Nate shit for being hung-up on Tora, but I feel like I finally understand it now. I tried talking to her yesterday, and I’m man enough to admit that I went in with the intention of asking her on a date, and when she started rattling off reasons why we couldn’t, I panicked and chickened out like a little bitch.
I make my way down Tora’s driveway and stop in front of her just as she makes her way down the stairs. I watch as she looks closely through the window and realize she’s checking to see if I’m Nate. I told her yesterday that I’d come and get her this morning, though it would certainly make life easier if these two could just work out their shit. Nate is fucking miserable being away from Tora and she’s so broken that it kills me to see.
Tora climbs up into my Range Rover and I instantly hand her the coffee I know she’s desperate for. “Geez,” I laugh as disappointment clouds her, realizing I’m not Nate here to win her back. “Don’t look so happy to see me.”