Mine Would Be You (43)

“Is someone warming up to me?”

I force my lips into a straight line and stare at him. “You annoy me.”

His smile grows. “You don’t mean that.”

Those eyes stare into mine, and I can’t fight the smile long, mostly because I can feel my cheeks getting warm as the heat crawls over my skin. “Yeah, yeah.”

We talk a bit more about our families, just little things, and I feel his warmth as I sit so close to him. I want so badly to let him in, to let myself like him like I already know I’m starting to. To not pull away just because I’m scared of getting burned again. The more I’m around him and his brightness, I don’t feel like I’m going to get burned or be blinded.

Instead, I feel like I’m opening my eyes and am about to touch the sun and live to tell about it.

• • •

“Nina.” The sound of low music fills my ears, but I scrunch my eyes and curl into my crewneck. A low chuckle sounds in harmony with the song. “Come on, you’re home.”

I open my eyes slowly, confused by my surroundings for a moment. Instead of looking at the big Hamptons beach house, I’m back on my familiar dirty city street with streetlamps and horns blaring. We hit traffic immediately leaving the beach, and at some point, I must’ve passed out.

After blinking the sleep from my eyes, I’m face to face with an amused Jackson. He’s slightly leaning over my frame that is curled into the seat and the center console with the dark cloudy sky behind him. His eyes twinkle.

My tired eyes flick between his eyes and his lips quickly. “I’m up, I’m up,” I yawn.

I turn to see both Roman, Harper, and Sloan passed out in the back seat of the Jeep, and the soft rain continues to drip onto the soft top of the car. I sit up and stretch my arms out before turning around and pinching Harper’s leg.

Her head shoots up from Roman’s shoulder, and immediately her eyes narrow on my face. “You bitch, I hate when you do that,” she groans and sits up, tapping Roman until he also wakes up.

Sloan blinks her eyes open, glancing to Harper. “How are you always so aggressive when you wake up?”

Harper blinks. “She pinched me, and I’m aggressive?”

I raise my brows, utterly amused by my two best friends. Sloan and I share a look. “Yes,” we both chime.

“Well, hello, my beautiful people.” Roman grins, and Jackson rolls his eyes as he turns off the car. I grab my small bag and jump out onto the sidewalk, pulling up my seat so the two in the back can get out. Jackson unloads all our bags, but instead of handing me mine, he just shrugs it over his shoulder, along with Sloan’s, as Roman does the same thing.

The three of us lead the way up to the apartment. The familiar space greets us with open windows and the echo of rain. There’s a note on the counter from my parents since they came and fed Jenko, which I’ll read later. Jenko isn’t in the living room, so I assume he’s in my room, and I lead Jackson down the hall since he refuses to give me my bag.

“Where’s the little guy at? I want to meet him,” he says as he follows me. I open my door, flicking on the twinkle lights, and low and behold, Jenko is curled on my pillows. His ears perk up as his eyes take us in.

“You can just drop them on the floor. Thank you, you didn’t have to carry them,” I ramble with a soft yawn, still blinking sleep out of my eyes. Jackson doesn’t say anything as he gently sets them down before making a beeline for the cat.

He reaches out a finger, and I wait for Jenko to shy away or act indifferent, but instead he reaches out his little nose. Jackson turns to look at me with a huge smile as I watch in genuine surprise as Jenko lets Jackson pet his head. Even more, Jackson reaches and picks him up, and Jenko goes without a fight.

I feel a bit betrayed here.

“Jackson and Jenko. We’re kind of a dynamic duo.”

I raise an eyebrow as I watch. “Two peas in a pod apparently.” I shake my head, amused, and lean against my desk watching. Jackson meets my eyes from where he stands with my cat tucked into his arms. “Is there anything you want for your actual birthday? And don’t say nothing.”

Jackson trails his eyes over me, and I try to ignore my body’s immediate response. The quickening of my heart and the warmth that starts to spread as he does. Even with a relaxed gaze, there’s something deeply enticing about how slowly he looks at me, taking in every inch.

“An actual date.”

I should’ve known. I roll my lips into my mouth before shrugging, my thoughts running to Myles and the drama from this weekend. I’m scared, I don’t want it to be true, but I am. Still, even now, I am scared of what might happen.

Somehow, he must sense that. He stands, letting Jenko down gently, and steps closer to me. “Nina, I know this weekend didn’t go as planned. I know that him coming was a wrench in everything, and if you want time, that’s okay. But I really, really, want to take you out. Before he came, you smiled, you laughed, you had fun, and I just want to give you more of that.”

My heart swells, and my head goes light, because I don’t know what he sees in me. He’s given me miles of space, showing me he’s interested and genuine, and I’ve barely given him in an inch. Even after his fight, he made it about me, let me know I could do whatever I needed and still, even now, he does the same.