Chapter 22 Rosie #3
“Oh, you know. Need a haircut soon.” A beat passes, and Jack gives her a wide smile. My pulse is pounding, which is weird because I don’t care who Jack smiles at. Of course not.
That would be outside the scope of our just-friends agreement.
“I think it looks good.” Her hand reaches out and touches his hair, coming into view. Her voice is soft and sweet, and I can see it, for a moment, Jeanette and Jack. Hell, even their names sound good together.
Maybe after the dust settles, I’ll tell Jack to go for it, to try something with Jeanette.
After the curse is broken and I find my true love, it won’t bother me as much, of course.
“You’re sweet,” he says. “What do you think I should do?”
“You’ve got a strong jaw, so you can handle just about anything, Jack. You know that. Plus, you’re so handsome.”
“An honor from a gorgeous woman like you.” A giggle comes from her, and my jaw tightens, so I should probably worry about my teeth’s health. Instead, I force my grip to loosen on my phone and take a deep breath.
This is a part of our quest.
More importantly, this is not real, what Jack and I have.
It’s probably just the lingering impacts of the kiss bond or just the fact that he’s the person I’ve spent the most time around.
I never did get around to researching the side effects, much less asking my sisters more about it.
I wouldn’t want them to get the wrong idea, after all.
“Anyway, do you think Kate could fit me in in the next couple of days?” She grimaces like she’s unsure.
“Oh, I don’t know, she’s pretty busy.”
“Can you check to see if there’s a spot you can fit in a friend?” His voice is smooth and confident, and for a moment, I have to double-check that it’s Jack.
“Friends?” she asks with awe in the word.
Oh my god. He is so good at this. So good, if I didn’t know him at all, I’d probably think he was a cocky asshole.
And for a moment, I can’t help but wonder why he’s never tried to use it on me.
Has he really always been so uninterested in me, only accepting our agreement after a magical bond and because it’s convenient?
Acid churns in my stomach with the words.
“Aren’t we friends? You came to my place recently to ask if we could go out for coffee, right?” Bad move, because his smile falters just a bit.
“And then Rosie Mayfield came in.” She says my name with malice, and I roll my eyes. Despite what I said to Jack, I’m pretty sure she’s hated me since I won prom queen my junior year when she was a senior.
“Oh, Rosie? We’re just neighbors. She comes in like that all the time, all excited.” Just neighbors. My breathing becomes shallow, and I force myself to even out my breaths.
“It seemed a little… friendly.”
“Well, yeah. We’re friends,” he says, and my gut twists.
“The way we’re friends? The kind of friends you want us to be?
Because last I talked to you—” Jeanette starts, and this is going so badly.
We’re going to have to find another way to get the mayor’s hair fast. I guess I could just use a spell to grab it from his trash, make multiple variations of the potion with whatever I find.
And if we mess it up, we can try again next year and Jack and I can remain—
“No, no. Rosie and I aren’t the kind of friends you and I are.
You know that,” he says, giving her a soft smile, reaching out and grabbing her hand.
I stuff down the way that grates against me, but I can’t focus on it for long because he’s speaking again.
“So. The schedule? I can make almost anything work. If you show me the calendar, I can see when I could come over here.” A beat fills the silence before she sighs.
“For you? Of course, Jack.” Then she slides the calendar toward him, shifting so she’s leaning across the desk and grazing his shoulder.
“Let me pull up my calendar to double-check,” Jack says, then lifts his phone and presumably starts tapping the screen to open his calendar.
But when I tap my views, I realize his camera is pointed right at the schedule so my magic can get the best angle, and I start taking screenshots over and over, even as I see the mayor is supposed to come in the day after tomorrow for a haircut.
I also happen to see it’s Jeanette’s day off, something I’m wildly grateful for because it won’t be too hard to come in and do my own flirting with Tom, the weekend receptionist who usually takes over when Jeanette’s not on.
Tom has a soft spot for me and has been trying to get me to give him the time of day for years, though he’s totally not my type.
Perks of being in a small town: you know everyone’s business.
They make plans for Jack to come in next week for a haircut he doesn’t really need, and I secretly hope he cancels, not just because it’s a day Jeanette is working, but because I kind of like the slightly overgrown look he has going on, the waves of his hair a bit more unstyled and untamed than normal.
But that doesn’t matter, I guess, my opinion.
We’re just friends after all.