Chapter 22 #2
I couldn't help but notice that everyone stopped to talk to him.
Old ladies in embroidered sweaters, dads pushing strollers, some guy from the chiropractic tent, the fire chief, and even the sheriff stopped by to talk to him.
I wished I were that warm and magnetic. I’d met plenty of people in school, but those relationships were surface-level at best, just classroom acquaintances built on group projects and shared stress.
I’d spent most of my twenties holed up in my Riverside apartment with textbooks and flashcards, not learning how to actually talk to people.
Community wasn’t something I’d ever been taught to value in Riverside, maybe because it was a huge city where everyone kept to themselves, not a small mountain town where everyone knew everyone else.
But now, as I watched the connections happening before me, I found myself wondering if I might actually want something like this long term.
I was pulled from my contemplative thoughts as two women in running shorts and tank tops walked up to him. They had numbers pinned to their backs and looked as if they had just finished a race. They greeted Jay in Spanish, and Jay responded smoothly, switching mid-sentence. They talked for a while.
I didn’t know what they were saying. But both girls laughed a lot. And Jay was smiling.
And I didn’t like that I cared.
I focused very hard on the plastic teeth models.
A few minutes later, we ran out of bags for the demonstrations.
“Shoot, we’re out of toothbrush bags. Tyler, come with me to grab more from Jay’s truck.” Macey dragged Tyler toward the parking lot.
Tyler groaned but followed, muttering something about manual labor.
Which left me alone at the table. Until I felt a shift in the air, and someone came up beside me. The smell of pine and that faint campfire scent surrounded me.
I looked up and found Jay suddenly standing next to me, his hands tucked into the pockets of his scrubs.
He was so casual, so sure of himself. The confidence he radiated was palpable. No wonder so many people were drawn to him.
“You doing okay?” he asked quietly.
I did my best to sound nonchalant. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He studied me with an intensity that made my pulse flutter.
“You didn’t sleep much, did you?” His tone was more accusing than questioning.
I lifted my chin. “I’m fine. Really.”
Jay didn’t argue, but the doubt in his eyes didn’t fade.
To distract myself, I nodded toward the girls he’d been talking to, who were now walking toward the salon booth. “You seem… popular today.”
Jay let out a low chuckle. “Julia and Lucía. They were telling me about a half-marathon they’re helping organize. It’s for suicide prevention. They wanted to see if I’d join. They know I like to run.”
Oh.
I felt my shoulders lower, the tiny knot of jealousy in my chest loosening.
“That’s… actually really great,” I said softly.
Jay nodded. Then he moved to lean against the table I was standing at, his hip brushing mine ever so slightly.
“Hope.”
My breath caught.
“You need to rent my apartment.”
I was momentarily stunned by his bluntness. It took me a second to respond.
“Jay—”
“Don’t turn it down just because it’s an offer from me. Please, it’s safer than sleeping in your car.”
A blush crept up my cheeks. How did he know that was the only reason I was turning it down?
“I—I’ll figure something else out,” I whispered. “Tyler said I could sleep in his bed if I needed to.”
I didn’t get to clarify that Tyler would be sleeping on the floor, or that I’d have the bed to myself, before Jay’s expression darkened.
Jay’s navy eyes ignited with an unreadable intensity I had never seen before.
“He said what?” His jaw locked, and his whole body suddenly stiffened.
I swallowed. “He said I could—”
“You're not sleeping in Tyler’s bed.” He let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Tyler has five other college roommates. Over my dead body are you staying in a frat house this weekend.”
“Tyler is not in a frat.” I rolled my eyes. “And you can’t tell me what to do, Jay,” I snapped, feeling irritation prickle my skin. “I’ll sleep wherever I want to.”
He reached out, as if to touch my hand, but then he pulled back and gripped the edge of the table instead. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “I can’t tell you what to do. But I can tell you the statistics of sexual assault for women ages eighteen to twenty-five years old.”
My breath hitched. “Jay—”
“You have a 75% higher chance, Hope. You think that’s fine?” he pressed, his voice still soft but edged. “You think I’m just going to nod and say, ‘Sure, Hope, sleep anywhere, I don’t care’? Because I do care. Maybe more than I should.”
“Tyler meant he would sleep on the floor,” I said, hands flying up. “In the other room. Not with me. He just said I could have his bed.”
Jay inhaled sharply, some of the coiled stiffness leaving his shoulders. But only some.
“Still,” he said, his voice rough. “That’s not happening.”
I lifted my hands in exasperation and rolled my eyes. “You’re being ridiculous. It wasn’t going to happen anyway.” I glared at him, though my stomach was doing that weird fluttery thing again. “You’re not my dad, Jay. I don’t need you to look after me.”
Jay stepped even closer, eyes burning with something I wasn’t ready to name.
“Take my apartment,” he said firmly. “Let me help you.”
When I didn’t respond right away, I started lining up the mouth models, making sure they were perfectly straight. I was distracting myself so I wouldn’t have to look at him.
He let out a sigh of frustration.
“Amapolita,” he murmured, gentler now. “Please.”
That did it. And I was honestly disappointed in myself with how quickly I caved. When he talked to me like that and used that stupid nickname he had for me, I melted.
I sighed, defeated. “Okay. Fine. I’ll rent your apartment.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re insufferable.”
“I know,” he said quickly, not even denying it. “After the Fair, we'll head back to my place, and I'll give you the keys.”
And then he walked away to help someone asking for a screening, as if he hadn’t just completely rearranged my life in two minutes during our conversation.
I let out a shaky breath.
I was so, so doomed.