Southern Boy Charm | ✓

Chapter 18

"Hey," I say, suddenly devoid of words. I guess he takes it as a sign of surprise because he seems unfazed. He wraps me in a bear hug and sweeps me off my feet, spinning me into a circle. He sets me down, and while I'm still trying to regain my balance, Nick outstretches his hand towards Jack.

"I'm Nick," he says, more politely than I thought he was capable of. "And you are..."

Jack shoots his award-winning smile. "I'm Jack, Leighton's friend." He stretches out the word, as if there is something more to us than a simple friendship. Suddenly, I realize that he's not wrong. I never texted him about Nick, or my life in Georgia at all, so how could I expect him to know?

When he says his name, I can visibly see Nick tense up. Every single muscle or bone is at attention, and I can see a strained blood vessel on his neck, I try to step close to him, but he backs away from me, an action not ignored by Jack.

"Is there something wrong?" Jack asks, but before I can get a word out, Nick responds.

"No, nothing at all."

But despite his words, I know how he truly feels. His response is loaded, loaded enough to tell me that everything, in fact, is not all right. He brushes past Jake and Kelly into the kitchen, and her eyes travel with Nick, sadness loaded in her expression.

I expect to see disappointment or disgust in her gaze when her eyes land on mine, but instead I sense pity. Pity that I have Nick, a guy that I really like, and Jack, a guy that I don't even know if I have feelings for anymore, sleeping under one roof.

"It sure is pretty down here," he says wrapping his arm around my shoulder. I want to shrug his arm off, especially under Nick's scrutinizing gaze, but it wouldn't feel right to do that to Jack, so I opt for a question instead.

"Did you drive all the way from Ohio to here?"

"Of course," he says. "Did you really think that I could go the whole summer without seeing your face once?"

I'm conflicted on how to feel. On one hand, I can swoon like I always have at his compliments, but the other, and more dominant side of me, is just brought back to Nick and all his romantic words for me.

"Are you happy?" my mom asks while setting the kitchen table. "I told you that if you were on your best behavior, I would let you go to the Summer Formal. But you've been so good that I thought you deserved a little something extra as well."

My lips press into a tight smile. I want to be mad at her, but, how can I? She has good intentions, and I can't blame her for not observing what is going on between Nick and me. So, I tell her what she wants to hear.

"Yes, Mom. This is the best thing that you could have done for me."

Her and Jack beam at me, but when I look up my heart nearly breaks in to. Nick is standing by the fridge, frozen. The fridge door is open and his arm reaches in, as if he is grabbing something, but he doesn't move a muscle.

No.

I don't know what to do, how to communicate to Nick that I'm sorry, that I wish that Jack wasn't here. That I wish we can go back to horseback riding and living in our own, perfect bubble, and most importantly, that I don't have feelings for Jack.

But the real question is: is that true?

Jack, standing next to me in his usual boyish cuteness, is everything that I've wanted for the past two years. And here he is, standing in this kitchen after taking an eight-hour drive just so that he could see me. This is everything I've ever hoped for. Do I really want to throw it away?