Page 104 of Lead Me On
It didn’t matter. She’d broken things off. He meant nothing to her.
But she wanted to tell somebody that she’d reached out to her mom. She could call Lori, but Lori wouldn’t understand what a big step it was.
Heaving a sigh, Jane walked over to her coffee table and stared down at the phone. It seemed so innocuous, the screen staring blankly at nothing.
It was over. He wasn’t the kind of man she wanted to date. It had been a clean break.
Eyes narrowed, she glared at the phone.
He’d said he didn’t want to be used anymore, but that had been days ago. Surely he was horny by now. Maybe she could lure him over for sex and a quick conversation. Only because she was stressed out.
Comfort food. Chase was comfort food, and she was dying for a little comfort right now.
Jane snatched up the phone and flipped it open. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t call him, but there was a way around that.
Pulling up his number, she typed out a text message.
Want to come over?
She counted to ten. Then counted again. Then she set her phone down and walked away from it to make it beep. It worked. Jane raced back and picked it up.
Dinner? A walk? It’s a beautiful evening.
She scowled at the screen.
No, just here.
This time she didn’t put it down—she only glared and waited, tapping her foot. Finally her answer arrived.
Thank you, but no. Have a good nite.
“Oh, you bastard,” she huffed, tossing the phone onto the couch. “What kind of man refuses sex?”
She had no other outlet now. Nothing but boxing. And nowadays even boxing made her think of Chase. But at least she could imagine punching his face while thoughts of him tortured her.
The thought made her feel guilty. The guilt made her think of her mom. Then of Jessie. She was drowning in guilt and a helpless need to dosomething.
She’d taken a first step with her mom. Things were over with Chase. But what about Jessie? She glanced at the clock.
Her reputation was in a shambles, so she’d vowed not to set foot in the jail again. If anyone saw her, another juicy tidbit would be added to the delicious story of her true identity. Mitch would remember that he’d seen her at the jail, too. Everyone would wonder what she’d done. Perhaps they’d wonder if she was following in her mother’s footsteps.
She couldn’t do it.
But she’d vowed to be a better sister, a better person. Her relationship with Chase was effectively over, but she couldn’t cut off her brother. Not if she wanted to help him.
Jane grabbed her keys and hurried out before her cowardice could gather itself up and stop her.
Half an hour later, when she saw Jessie’s face, the strange tension that had been tightening inside her eased a bit. He did look good.
“Hey, sis,” he said into the cracked and dented phone, “I didn’t expect to see you.”
“I wanted to see how it was going.”
He shrugged. “Not too bad. You know…it’s jail.”
“Yeah.”
“Thanks for the letter.”
