“Hi, Jesse!” Casey stopped in front of him. Her hands were poised on her hips, which were prominent under skin-tight white jeans and a pink top that fit like a second skin. She flipped her platinum blonde hair over one shoulder and laughed in a flirtatious manner.
Her friends gathered behind her. All of them looked just like her, and Ben had once whispered that he thought their secret mission was to copy the leader until they took her down. When I caught a few of their hungry gazes, I wondered if it was true. If they waited in line until it was their turn to be the leader. When that happened, what guy would they go after?
Ben hissed again beside me. “Succubi. They’re all succubi.”
I nudged him as one of the girls flashed us a dark look. “If they are, you don’t want to take on a demonic beauty queen.”
He shifted to the side and lowered his voice. “That’s true, very true.”
Jesse had moved around Casey and she followed behind him. As he neared the coffee hut, she looked up. The light in her eyes dimmed and her smile slipped. “Oh. Hi, Alex.”
I gave her a polite smile, but gritted my teeth on the inside. “Hi, Casey.”
“How are Angie and Justin doing? I heard they had a fight last night.”
My eyes narrowed at her. “If they did, I’m sure they’ve made up by now. You know how those two are, always hot together.”
She snorted and flipped her hair back again. “Whatever. They’re not going to last. Justin was with me before. Everyone remembers the two of us. We were the perfect couple.”
The corner of Jesse’s lips twitched and I knew what he was thinking. My eyebrow arched. “Then why’d you throw yourself at my brother?”
Casey’s smirk vanished and her eyes grew heated. “Your brother was a good guy. And he shouldn’t have been with that ditzy airhead. I was doing him a favor when I broke them up.”
“And when you dropped Justin, your perfect boyfriend, at the same time?”
Her fury blasted me and she slapped a hand down on the counter. “Hear this, Alexandra Connors. I’ve always liked you and I will always have a special place in my heart for Ethan, but if you piss me off, you will have me as an enemy.”
I held my breath. I didn’t care about anything Casey threatened, but I couldn’t look away from Jesse. He had been amused at the beginning, but a wall slipped down again. The same blank mask was in place, but he reached forward and removed Casey’s hand from the counter. Then he moved to stand in front of her with his back to the coffee hut. Her eyes snapped to his, but the slight delight that sparked drained along with the blood in her face. She grew pale and backed away.
His voice was soft. “I think you should leave.”
A chill went down my spine. He was quiet, but there was a lethal undertone to his voice. Casey reacted to it. Everyone reacted to it. Ben’s eyes widened and he backed against the farthest corner we had. His hands shook, but he pressed them behind him and turned away. I caught the blush on his chubby cheeks and grinned.
Then I turned and my smile left.
Jesse placed my shirt on the counter. He lifted dead eyes to me. “I found it.”
“Thanks.”
A few of Casey’s friends arched their necks to see what he had put on the counter, so I snagged it quickly and stuffed it underneath the counter. I knew my own cheeks were red and I looked away. “Did you want something else?”
I couldn’t look. I shouldn’t have been embarrassed, but I couldn’t help it. He had returned my top in a public setting, at my job, at the mall. I groaned as I heard Ben’s sharp intake of breath, but then I noticed the lack of response from Jesse and looked back.
He was gone.
He was already at his table with his friends.
“That. Was. Awesome!” Ben breathed out and jumped to my side.
He sounded so excited, but the embarrassment was gone for me. Oh, no. Instead, I kicked myself. I should’ve known he wasn’t coming over to chat with me or see how I was. He found my shirt. Of course, that was the only reason he came over.
I felt the onslaught of a few tears. Hell no. I wasn’t going to cry over him. He didn’t deserve it and I knew that whatever twisted tradition we had on the days that celebrated Ethan’s birth and death was done.
As I watched him stand up with his friends and leave, I knew I couldn’t allow it to happen again. He didn’t give me a second look. He walked out as if we were strangers again, which we were. And I couldn’t forget it, even though I knew I was in love with Jesse Hunt. I always had been.
CHAPTER THREE
The rest of the summer passed uneventfully until the first week in August. I saw Jesse a few times at parties, but we didn’t speak until Angie asked me to attend one of Justin’s softball games with her. When I realized Jesse was on his team, it had been a shock, but it shouldn’t have been. Even though he was awarded a full scholarship to Grant West University for basketball, I knew he was talented in other sports. And baseball had been one of the others. He and Ethan would spend hours in the backyard pitching the ball to each other. Most of the times it was wiffle ball, but both of them played softball and baseball during the summers.
As I watched him, I swore I felt Ethan beside me. Everything was starting to tingle inside of me and I could smell his cologne. I swallowed thickly when I felt tears start to swell up. As I continued to sit through the first game, my brother’s presence was so strong. I couldn’t hold the tears anymore. After the last inning when Jesse’s team scored their last home run, I couldn’t watch him run the bases for home plate and I left the bleachers.