by JJ Knight
“Take a minute, then join me in the shower,” he says. “We need to get cleaned up before dinner.”
“Oh! Dinner!”
He laughs and mimics me, repeating what I’ve said in a high voice. “Oh! Dinner!”
With my face against the sheets, I wave a hand at him blindly. “Go, get in the shower. I’ll come join you in a minute.”
“Maybe I should take your phone with me. That will speed things up. You won’t be able to text your girlfriends and tell them everything.”
I roll to my side and pretend to be shocked and offended. “I would never!”
He shrugs and walks away down the staircase, a towel slung around his hips.
I take a moment to close my eyes and hold my hands over my face while I stop blushing.
I need to be very careful about the words that come out of my mouth tonight. I know that lust isn’t love, and you can’t love someone you barely know, but I still feel something.
Something powerful.
And I’m terrified I’m going to open my mouth and ruin the magic between us.
I’m still holding my hands over my face a minute later, when my phone starts ringing.
I groan and curse my roommate under my breath. The idea that Amanda is phoning me again, right after sex with Dylan, gives me a deja vu feeling. She did this last time, trying to get me to come home. Not this time, Amanda.
I smile to myself as I dig into the pile of my clothes for my phone. At least she didn’t phone during sex.
The screen shows the number as blocked.
My greeting is tinged with annoyance. “Now what?”
“Jessica Rivera?” The voice on the line is male.
“I don’t have time for surveys, thank you.” I end the call.
My phone rings again immediately.
The fact that I’m currently naked makes me feel doubly annoyed at this telemarketer.
I answer the call anyway, with a terse hello.
The male voice comes through again, “Don’t hang up. It’s me, Nick. From Morris Music.”
“Shit! Nick. That reminds me. I totally forgot to disconnect—“ I lower my voice to a whisper “—the you-know-whats. Are you watching me on your cameras right now, you freak?”
“I’m not calling about that.” His voice is as expressionless as his calm face usually is.
“What do you need, Nick? I’m getting ready to go for dinner with Dylan.” My voice rises as I smile about what just happened.
“You can’t go falling in love with Dylan. That’s not the plan. You have to break up with him. Hello? Are you still there?”
I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a giggle. Nick is being so ridiculous about Dylan, and acting like my life is in danger.
Resisting the urge to laugh out loud, I say, “I don’t understand. Tell me, straight up. Nick, are you gay or not?”
“Yes, I’m gay. Trust me, I’m not saying this because I’m in love with you.”
“Phew!” I say, laughing.
“But Jess, I do like you. I care about you… and your safety.”
I keep my voice low, in case Dylan can hear me. “Listen. I’m going to be in the basement with you all day tomorrow, and you can tell me all about whatever you think is happening. But you’re not going to ruin my night.”
“Jess, make an excuse to get out of there and call me when you’re out. This is important. Trust me.”
“Nick, I don’t trust you. Give me one good reason why I should leave when I’m having a perfectly good time.”
“I know more than you think I do. You want a good reason? I’ll give you one.”
I listen for Nick’s reason, but the phone is silent. What’s this good reason he has? I hold the phone away from my ear to see if the call’s gone dead. The screen’s still lit up.
“Hello?” I say.
An ear-splitting alarm goes off in the loft.
The sound is coming from speakers on the ceiling, so loud I can hardly think.
I’ve got to get moving, but my body is frozen.
The alarm sounds like someone screaming.
REVENGE by JJ KNIGHT
You've just finished reading Volume #3. Revenge is a 5-book series about Jess and Dylan.
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Love, JJ
