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Signals Crossed
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All Grown Up Still Here
JesseI woke up on Thursday when my alarm went off, and I groped on my bedside table for my phone. I yawned as I shut the thing off and then lay there for another moment, already going through my morning in my mind. First, I’d get up, have a quick shower, throw on some jeans and a T-shirt. Then, a quick breakfast of leftover egg hash that I had made the previous morning. And then into work.I quickly ran through a mental inventory of the orders that we had going out that morning. It should be a relatively easy morning, which was good. I had slept well, but it was one of those mornings where I felt like I could definitely just linger in bed for the whole day and be content.I stretched and rolled over, surprised to encounter a wave of long, blonde hair. Audrey woke up with a yelp and shoved me off of her hair, and between my surprise and the strength of her shove, I tumbled naked over the other side of the bed. I landed hard and grunted out a breath. Then, I peered up at her as she scr
All Grown Up What Now?
JesseI stood there under the spray, leaning heavily against the wall with both palms. Jesus, I had slept with Audrey Buchanan. Fucking finally. But how did I deal with this now? What was she thinking? What the hell was I thinking?I was thinking that it was just fun between friends, I finally reminded myself. She would be headed back to Paris in six months at the latest. Our time was limited. Last night was just fun. Nothing more.I breathed out a sigh of relief, nodding to myself. Just friends. Nothing more. Then, I went about my usual morning routine. Audrey was out of my bed when I went back into the room to grab my clothes. I nodded again and forced myself to focus on what I was doing. Joe wasn’t going to hear about this from me. Not as long as I was on time and didn’t give him any reason to wonder what I’d been up to the night before.When I headed downstairs, though, I stopped in my tracks. Audrey was there in the kitchen, wearing one of my flannel shirts. There was coffee alre
All Grown Up Plans For Paris
AudreyIt was a relief to have the house to myself when I got home on Thursday morning. I knew that my absence couldn’t have gone unnoticed. Annabelle at least would have known that I didn’t come home since she and I shared a room. And Mom knew that I had been out after she went to bed the night before. She would put two and two together as well.I wondered what they would say. Of course, Annabelle wasn’t so young anymore. She had to have had a fling or two in her life. It wasn’t like I was a teenager anymore, either. It wasn’t like Mom could really say anything about it. If I wanted to go home with Jesse, that was my prerogative.But what I was more worried about, I realized, was the fact that either of them might be too vocal in their support of my relationship with Jesse. Not that it was a relationship. We were still just friends. I hadn’t missed that pained look that came across Jesse’s face that morning when I had kissed him goodbye. It had flickered across his face, barely notic
All Grown Up Guilty
AudreyThe director laughed. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “And I’m glad to hear that you’re resting a little. We look forward to having you back here soon.”“I look forward to being there,” I said. “But not before I’m ready!” I gave a little laugh that the director echoed.We said our goodbyes and hung up the phone. And I felt better than I had in a while. It really sounded like things were going to come together. Like I was going to be able to head back to Paris without waiting a whole six months to heal up and train more. Hell, maybe I’d be back in time for casting for the fall. I could only hope so.I thought about calling some of my friends as well, but I didn’t want to jinx myself by telling them I was hoping to come back sooner. And anyway, what would I say to them? They would be full of news about the final shows of the season, the latest gallery openings, shopping, and all the wonderful things that they had been up to.My life here in North Carolina couldn’t compare to th
All Grown Up Sister Knows
JesseTo say that Friday afternoon was slow was an understatement. There hadn’t been anyone in the hardware store in the two hours since lunchtime, and we had long since finished going over inventory and all the other side tasks that I kept for days like this.I had sent Chance home when it became clear that if the floors took another polishing, we were going to need ice skates to get around the place. Now, it was just Joe and me. He was scrolling through something on his phone, but I could tell that he was just as bored as I was.I straightened up off the counter. “All right,” I said, finally making the decision. “Let’s get out of here for the day.”Joe raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you suggesting that we close early?” he asked, pretending to be horrified.I rolled my eyes. “Yes,” I said. “There’s no one here right now, and I doubt anyone is going to have anything too pressing that they need between now and tomorrow morning. It’s one of the first really nice days of the summer. Let’s
All Grown Up Come Over
JesseI frowned. “I know it’s important to her,” I said. What the heck was Annabelle talking about? Maybe Audrey had mentioned something about our date the other night and the pizza. Maybe this was her way of reminding me gently that her sister had a strict diet normally, so that I wouldn’t take her out on a date like that again.But if that was all this was about, why wasn’t Audrey telling it to me herself? She had never been the kind of person to pussyfoot around things, getting other people to have the conversations that she didn’t want to have. That just wasn’t like her.Annabelle shook her head, though. “It’s not just important to her,” she said, enunciating carefully so that there was no mistaking what she was saying. “Jesse, dance is everything to her. And she isn’t ever going to be happy staying here in Aberdeen. She wants to go back to Paris the first chance she gets.”“I know that,” I said defensively. “She told me she’s here for six months because her director wants her to
All Grown Up Stringing Him Along
AudreyI was surprised to hear Annabelle come in that evening while I was getting ready to go over to Jesse’s house. “What are you doing here?” I asked her as she came into the bedroom. “I thought you were working at the bar all afternoon and evening.”“Micah called in sick, so my manager sent me home for a couple hours so that I can work the late shift instead,” Annabelle said, rolling her eyes. “I hate when they do that, but oh well. It’s better money working late anyway. Everyone’s already tipsy by the time you start serving them. Makes for better tips.”I laughed. “Yeah, fair enough,” I said. “Guess things are a little busier as the night goes on too, huh?”“Definitely,” Annabelle confirmed, nodding her head. “Especially on a Friday night. The rush usually comes around ten or so.” She flopped down on her bed, looking over at me. “You look nice.” Then, she groaned. “You’re going out with Jesse, aren’t you?”I frowned in the mirror at her. “Yeah, I am,” I said, wondering why she was
All Grown Up His Place
JesseI grinned at Audrey when I opened the door. She looked smoking hot in a white blouse and short, flared black skirt that showed off her long, supple legs. God. I was tempted to drag her inside and press her against the wall right then and there. Fortunately for the sake of our dinner, the oven timer started beeping just then.I swore and pushed the door open a little wider. “Come on in and make yourself at home,” I told her. “I just have a few last minute things to do.” She grinned, but I only saw it in passing as I hurried off to make sure that nothing was burning. I wanted everything to be perfect tonight.I was kind of nervous cooking for Audrey. I had never cooked for anyone before. I had definitely never cooked for anyone whom I had such a crazy cocktail of emotions for. It was nerve-wracking, but it was also exciting. I liked that I was going to share this first with her.Was I getting in over my head? I found myself thinking back to Annabelle’s warnings from th
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