Communication.... the most important thing in a relationship fr.
JESSICA Lucas’s fingers were laced through mine, casual and warm, like it was second nature. He’d said earlier, with a crooked grin and a shrug, “Let me feel your fingers.” Like it was nothing. Like holding hands was just what two people did when the day had been sweet and the laughter easy.And I let him.Half-laughing, fully aware that I shouldn’t have—but also… not hating the way it felt. It was comfortable. Familiar in a way that scared me a little. But I told myself it was harmless. Just fingers. Just a moment.The shopping bags swung gently at our sides. My wrist still tingled where the silver bracelet rested—delicate, understated, and beautiful.The air smelled like warm pretzels and cinnamon sugar and a little too much possibility.I was about to say something—probably sarcastic, something to keep things light—when I saw him.Liam.He was standing by the mall entrance, just outside the glass doors, half in shadow, half in sunlight. One hand in his pocket. The other holding
JESSICA The alarm buzzed at 6:00 a.m., but I’d already been awake for twenty minutes.I moved carefully, untangling my legs from Liam’s and slipping out from under the covers without waking him. He lay sprawled across the bed, face buried in the pillow, lips slightly parted. Peaceful. Unbothered. Untouched by the mess of the night before.I stood at the edge of the bed for a moment, watching him breathe like everything was fine. Still no apology. Still no explanation. Just silence. The kind that builds walls brick by brick, while you’re left on the other side wondering how the hell it got this high.My chest ached.But I didn’t say a word. No kiss. No note. Nothing.I got dressed quietly, my hands moving slower than usual. Everything felt heavier—my blouse, my watch, my necklace. Like the weight of disappointment had soaked into my skin overnight and settled deep in my bones.Downstairs, the house was too quiet. My heels clicked softly across the hardwood as I grabbed my bag and ke
JESSICA I was pacing.Up and down the glossy white tiles of the lobby, heels clicking, heart pounding, phone clutched in my hand like it had answers. It didn’t. Just a black screen, a stupid lock screen photo of Liam kissing my cheek that made my stomach twist.The building was nearly empty. Receptionist gone. Security guard half-asleep by the revolving doors. Even the janitor had finished for the day. It was just me and the soft hum of silence.I checked the time again—7:56 p.m.“He said four,” I muttered under my breath, like saying it out loud would rewind the clock or bring him walking through the doors with that lazy grin of his.I tried calling one more time.Straight to voicemail. Again.I swallowed hard, then bit the inside of my cheek because I knew what came next. That familiar tightness in my chest, the disappointment slowly crawling up my spine, curling around my throat like it had a right to be there.This morning had been... perfect. He’d kissed my neck, slow and teasi
LIAMI got to the office before anyone else. The silence was a relief—but also a trap. No buzzing phones, no knocking doors, no casual chatter in the hallway. Just me. And my thoughts.Lately, those were the worst things to be alone with.I didn’t even pretend to get settled properly. My phone was already in my hand before I sat down. Not to check emails. Not to read through my to-do list or glance at the agenda Jen probably left on my desk. I went straight to Instagram. Straight to her.Samantha’s message was still unopened, sitting there like it had been waiting for me all night.I tapped it.It was a photo—one she’d sent late, sometime after midnight. Azalea was on a red slide, cheeks puffed out from laughing, hair flying around her face in wild, beautiful curls. There was something so free in that moment, so untamed. I could almost hear her laugh echoing through the photo.God. She looked so much like Mason.Too much.My thumb hovered over the heart button. I hesitated. For no r
JESSICA I woke up still tangled in Liam’s arms, his legs wrapped around mine, his chin nudging my shoulder like he’d been there for hours. Maybe he had. The sheets were a mess around us—warm, wrinkled, and smelling like sleep and sex and him.His fingers were already on my arm, brushing up and down, slow and lazy, like he had nowhere else to be. And maybe he didn’t. But I did. Which was why I groaned and tried to roll away.He held me tighter.“Oh please,” I murmured, teasing, “don’t start this morning.”“Start what?” His voice was low, still rough with sleep. And somehow smug.“You know what.”Liam didn’t answer. He kissed my shoulder. Then my neck. His hand slid up, cupping my breast like it was his favorite thing to hold.I bit back a gasp. “Liam…”“Do you really have to go to work?” he asked, voice muffled against my skin.“Yes,” I breathed, even though my hips were already arching into his. “Don’t play with me right now.”“Can’t you work somewhere else?” His fingers dragged over
JESSICA I practically dragged Ava by the hand into the hospital ward, weaving through nurses and carts and that persistent smell of antiseptic. My heart thudded harder than it should’ve—equal parts guilt and adrenaline.“Let’s go,” I said, breathless. “I’m not letting you play it down anymore.”Ava mumbled something like, “Jess, slow down,” but I wasn’t having it. Not after everything she’d just told me. Not after weeks of me rambling about Liam and stolen kisses and every selfish thought while she carried this in silence.We turned into a private room, and just like that, Ava let go of my hand and rushed forward.“Mom!” she said, voice higher, brighter. “How are you feeling?”Her mother—Mrs. Carter to everyone but me—looked up from the hospital bed, cheeks flushed with life. “Better now that I see you two still joined at the hip.”I laughed, but it caught halfway up my throat. The room was small, clinical, a little too quiet. One glance at the IV line and those scratchy sheets, an