Chapter 7 Outside the Room #3
Jessa looked away. The blue pool light moved across her wet shoulders as people passed between us and the water.
"Well," she said after a moment. "This is terrible for my ego."
"Your ego seems durable."
"It's a premium model. Expensive repairs."
I laughed before I could stop myself.
Her mouth curved, bruised but unmistakably Jessa. "No one ever enjoys rejecting me this much."
"I'm enjoying that you're still funny. The rejection part sucks."
"For you?"
"I'm the one giving up the night you offered."
"You're going back to six hot girlfriends. I refuse to mourn for you."
"Fair."
Jessa dropped her arms. "I don't like the answer."
"You don't have to."
"But I believe it." She took a breath and rolled her shoulders back. "And I'm telling them myself."
"You don't owe anybody a confession."
"It's not a confession. It's my story too." Her gaze held mine again, steady now. "I don't want it reaching Luna as a whisper from somebody who saw me follow you. I don't want Poppy trying to decide whether to protect my feelings. And I definitely don't want Vina improving the details."
"That last one is wise."
"She'd give me twins and a criminal record before midnight."
Jessa glanced down at my trunks. My cock had eased, but not enough to make walking back into the party a dignified option.
She turned toward the pool and gave me her back.
"Take a minute, Smoke Show," she said. "I'm rejected, not cruel."
"You're handling this better than me."
"I handle everything loudly. It confuses people."
I braced both hands on the plywood counter, breathed, and listened to Jessa critique the song Vina had chosen as if nothing had happened. By the time my body had stopped announcing the offer, she looked over her shoulder.
"Ready?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Let's go disappoint six women who are going to be annoyingly reasonable about this."
Jessa stepped out first.
She didn't take my arm or lean into me for cover. She walked through the pool light with her chin up, wet hair loosening around her shoulders, and led me to the lounge chairs where Kit, Poppy, Vina, Luna, and Bristol had gathered. Lucy was still in the pool.
Jessa hooked two fingers toward her. "Lucy. I need all six of you for a minute."
Lucy climbed out, accepted the towel Bristol held for her, and joined us. Jessa waited until the music and the crowd covered the edges of our conversation.
"I propositioned Nash behind the bar," she said. "One night. No girlfriend campaign. He wanted me, he admitted it, and he stopped me before I got a hand inside his trunks."
Vina's eyebrows climbed. Kit stayed still. Poppy's lips parted, but she let Jessa keep going.
"He said no," Jessa finished. "He named every one of you, and he made it clear the answer belonged to him. I'm telling you because I want you to hear what happened from me, not because I'm apologizing for asking."
She looked from Kit to Poppy, then across the rest of them. "He didn't pretend I wasn't getting to him, either. I felt exactly how much he wanted me. He still moved me away before I got inside his trunks or kissed him. I hated the answer, but he didn't shame me for the question."
Luna moved first.
She stepped in front of Jessa and folded her arms.
“You followed my boyfriend behind the bar and tried to put your hand inside his trunks.”
Jessa lifted her chin. “I did.”
“And now you’re telling us because you don’t want it turned into gossip.”
“Yes.”
Luna held her gaze. “Good. I’m not thrilled with you, but you’re still my sister. So stop performing for one second and tell me if you’re okay.”
Jessa attempted a grin. “My ego has requested an emergency transfer to another sorority.”
“I’m asking you, not your ego.”
Jessa's smile faded. "It stings."
"Okay." Luna pulled her into a brief, firm hug. "Then it stings. You don't have to turn it into a joke for us."
Jessa held on for one second longer than the joke would have allowed. When Luna released her, Poppy already had a bottle of water and an empty place open on the lounger beside her.
"Sit," Poppy said.
Jessa eyed the space. "Are you adopting me?"
"No. I'm hydrating you. Romantic access is closed. Lounge-chair access remains extremely generous."
That pulled a real laugh from Jessa. She sat, and Poppy tucked one leg beneath herself so their shoulders touched.
Poppy twisted the cap off the water before handing it over. Jessa took a long drink, then gave her a suspicious look.
"You're not going to start fixing my feelings, are you?"
"Nope." Poppy linked their arms. "I'm going to sit here and let you have them. Much less work."
Kit crouched in front of them. Her expression held no accusation.
"Thank you for telling us," she said.
"I'm not sorry I asked," Jessa warned.
"I didn't ask you to be." Kit rested one hand on Jessa's knee. "You're allowed to want him."
"That's dangerously mature."
"Don't tell Sally. She'll never let me live it down."
Vina folded her arms. "I can't be mad at a woman for seeing the obvious."
Jessa glanced at her. "The obvious being?"
Vina pointed at me. "Look at him. It's frankly irresponsible."
"Thank you," I said.
"Nobody asked you, Smoke Show."
The tension loosened without disappearing.
Lucy had gone quiet. She held the towel around her shoulders, fingers fixed on the two ends.
"He named all six?" she asked.
Jessa turned toward her. "Every one. You too, Lucy. Bristol too. No pause."
Lucy looked at me. The bright captain confidence stayed in place, but something underneath it had gone very still.
"We haven't had our turn," she said.
"I didn't need it to know I wanted one, Ace."
Her fingers relaxed around the towel.
"Okay," she said softly.
Lucy drew the towel closer around her shoulders, but the tension had left her hands. She gave me one small, private nod.
Bristol crossed the small space between us and put her hand in mine.
Her fingers threaded through mine. She studied me for a moment, then said one word.
"Steady."
I remembered her saying steady was better than careful on the Rosewater dock.
"I meant to be."
"You were."
Her gaze stayed on mine. "You told her you wanted her."
"Yes."
"You didn't hide that part from us."
"No."
"Good." Bristol's fingers tightened. "Steady doesn't mean blind."
Her thumb moved over my knuckle once. She stayed beside me, quiet and deliberate, while Jessa drank half the water Poppy had given her.
"So that's it?" Jessa asked. "Nobody's throwing me into the lake?"
Luna looked toward the pool. "You're already wet. It would lack impact."
"Nobody's banning me from Brewster Bay?"
Poppy leaned her shoulder harder into Jessa's. "You make every party better, J. Why would we punish ourselves?"