Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card (Jessie and Luke)

HAPTER 43 JESS

I stormed into the house to find Josh on his way out. His face mirrored shock for a split second, but it was so fast and then replaced by boredom.

"Where are you coming from?" he asked, scowling at me like I was the shunned family member who ruined the few days we had with our parents. But I couldn't help it; it all just came flooding out of me at once, and I was sorry for it.

"None of your business," I challenged him. "Just like you're not telling me where you're going in the middle of the night." I saw the defiance in his eyes, and I knew he wouldn't tell me, so I stalled past him, up the stairs, and dropped myself onto my bed face- first, wishing the bedding would just suffocate me because facing the world tomorrow seemed impossible.

Sleep didn't come until past 4, and when it did, my alarm blared so loudly it split straight through my mind. "Ugh," I groaned and flipped over. The night was hot and sweaty, and my air conditioner wasn't doing anything to help.

I dragged myself through a shower and lugged my heavy limbs. down the stairs to the kitchen, where my parents no doubt waited to scold me.

I peeked around the corner and saw my mother and father sipping coffee. My soul craved caffeine.

15:20

I walked in sheepishly. "Morning," I squeaked, and my mother gave me a sweet smile-

last night had been forgotten. My dad. got up and pulled me into a hug. Sorry, kiddo," he said. We shouldn't have just sprung that on you last night. I know we travel a lot." I nodded, swallowing hard to keep the tears away. "Anything else bothering you dear?" My mother asked, the motherly bond somewhere inside her probably telling her something was off. I wanted to tell her about Bryan and what happened, but I couldn't

get the words out of my mouth for some reason. They just stayed inside, locked down, eating away at me bit by bit. "Nope. All good." I heard a car honk outside and internally sighed in relief. Sam was here to pick me up from school.

I kissed my parents on the cheek, grabbed a fruit, and hurried out of the house before my mother prodded me any further. I skipped a few steps and smiled when I saw Luara and Sam in the car. It's been a while since all three of us were together. Senior year was almost o

I wanted to blame our pact, but I knew that wasn't the real reason. "Hey girl," Sam chimed and looked at me in the rearview mirror, her eyes widening a little, "Why do you look like death. warmed up?"

I sat back, rolling my eyes. "Gee, thanks," I groaned. I couldn't sleep..."

"Any chance a dark and broody linebacker has anything to do with that?" I slapped a palm over my face and dragged it down slowly.

"Yes, but not in a good way," I confessed, and Laura turned in

15:20

her seat to look at me.

"Spill. I know you stayed at his house alone that night, which I still needed to say thank you for because, well..." Laura's cheeks. flushed. "No! Shh. I don't want to hear anything else." Laura's face went bright red.

"I don't get him. Yeah, we kind of hooked up that night, but we didn't cross the line," I folded my lips inwards, avoiding their heated stares for details that I wasn't willing to share. "Then suddenly, he dismissed me out of nowhere, as if I was imagining there was something be get it. I shrugged and fell back.

"You know. He's had his shot, and Luke is not in the past. We don't care about him. Let's focus on Tom. Tom is sweet and caring and cute, and the quarterback, who is actually the better player," Sam offered, and I laughed at her optimism. "He'd be so gentle your first time, But they were right. I need to let Luke go because clearly,noveldrama

we are like fire and ice, oil and water, or whatever else opposites do not attract. We pulled up to school, and as we drove past the fountain, my heart sank, and the car went quiet.

Luke was sitting on the wall, Tiffany draped over him in her cheerleading uniform, her hand flat on his chest. Luke had his hand on her thigh, fingers dipping beneath her skirt. He was smiling at her, and when she leaned in, he grabbed her mouth with his teeth before kissin "That asshole..." Sam mumbled, and I tried to keep my cool to the best of my ability. If this was what he wanted- to move on, forget, and act like we don't exist to each other- then that would

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be fine. I could do that. When we got out of the car, I left Laura and Sam behind, making a straight line for Tom, standing off to the side, reading a book. His eyes flickered to mine, but I just kept walking, ignoring Luke's stare, which burned into my back as I passed him. "Hey, Jess..." Tom shot up straight, and I didn't stop walking until I slammed into his chest, his arms catching me. I pressed my mouth to his. He took a second to warm up to me, but then Tom pulled me in and kissed me back for the entire school to see, including Luke.