The four of us go into the kitchen. Sadie embraces Jessa, and the two of them start talking, along with Kailey. “So, did you win?” Trey asks me and Brady smirks, knowing I did. He helped me with my rooftop plan by arranging the candles and rose petals.
“Of course,” I brag, and Trey sticks his hand up, giving me a high five. When Jessa hears it, she turns around and laughs, knowing exactly what I’m celebrating. From the look of awe on the other two girls’ faces as Jessa describes our evening, I’m pretty sure she feels like the princess she is.
Dex and Sam soon join us, their bodies coated in sweat. Jessa keeps them in her line of vision, carefully warning Dex with her eyes. Every time she gives him “the look”, he laughs, completely disregarding her. Other than the tension between those two, things seem at ease. Jessa appears to be enjoying herself, so I decide to find the bathroom. Sam points me in the direction and I wait in line for the downstairs bathroom for a few minutes before deciding to head upstairs.
When I reach the top of the stairs, I see that there’s another line outside, but having nowhere else to go, I decide to wait. Girls are congregated in groups, and I notice that the dark-haired girl in front of me is blatantly looking me up and down with a flirtatious grin. Being polite, I return it with a tight smile and then pull my phone out, pretending to search for something.
“I’ve never seen you here before,” she says, leaning close to me. Obviously, I was too subtle.
I step back a little before I answer, “I’m from out of town.” I put my head back down, fiddling around with my phone, trying my best to give her the cold shoulder.
She leans harder against me and the smell of her perfume overtakes me. It’s not the coconut and vanilla scent that I love. With her lips practically on my cheek, she slurs, “Do you want a little taste of Boulder? I could give you a quick tour.” Her hands slide down her body before she shakes her hips from side to side.
My first instinct is to get the hell out of Dodge, but if I don’t use the bathroom soon, I’ll be freezing my dick off outside. “That’s alright, my girlfriend already gave me the grand tour,” I say with a smirk. Her lips turn down and her bottom jaw shifts to the side in disgust.
“Oh, is your girlfriend from around here?” she asks, astonishing me that she wants to continue this conversation.
I look up at the line; there are only two people in front of us. Right as I’m about to answer her, the sweet voice that swells my heart comes up from behind me. “Yes, she is and believe me, he’s already gotten the tour more than once, because he can’t help coming back for more,” she tells the girl and the brunette rolls her eyes. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I bring her to me, devouring her mouth in front of the girl.
“Jessa…Jessa Harrison?” a guy calls out from down the hall and my stomach drops. Her whole body tenses and she raises her head immediately. I look to see a brown-haired guy who is shorter than me. His jeans and button-down shirt remind me of my frat buddies back home. Once she sees who it is, a smile spreads across her lips and I release a deep breath.
“Hey, Colton, how are you?” she asks, and he wraps her into a huge hug. It’s all I can do to not tear her away from him, but I’m not about to appear like some jealous boyfriend.
“Pretty good, what about you? We’ve missed you.”
“I’m doing great. This is my boyfriend, Grant,” she introduces us, and Colton puts his hand out for me to shake. I make sure to grip his hand firmly, just to let him know she’s mine. His silent nod makes me believe he understands.
“Nice to meet you,” he says, and I say the same back. Jessa and Colton continue to talk about what’s been going on. I’m happy that Jessa doesn’t inform him where we live, constantly dodging the questions with questions of her own. After a few minutes, I’m growing impatient waiting on that girl in front of me, who’s most likely applying another layer of make-up.
“You should come downstairs and see the old gang. They’re all here,” he tells her, and she looks over at me hesitantly.
“You go, I’ll catch up,” I assure her. She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and turns toward the stairs with Colton right behind her. The brunette finally leaves the bathroom, and as I’m on my way in, I can’t help but think that I’m going to end up in a fight tonight.
I leave the bathroom and venture downstairs to find Jessa and her friends. She’s sitting on the couch talking with a mix of girls and guys, a smile on her face. My heart swells seeing her so happy. She waves me over and I glance around, looking for our crew, before seeing that they’re still congregated in the kitchen. I look back at Jessa and can tell by the way she’s gesturing in my direction that she’s talking about me. A girl with dirty blonde hair whose back is to me keeps touching Jessa’s leg, and I’m overflowing with happiness for Jessa to have this closure.
Jessa
Colton and I head downstairs. Although I’m nervous to see any of my friends, I feel more at ease after Colton’s warm greeting. When we get to the bottom of the steps, he comes alongside of me. “They’re going to be so stoked,” he shouts and I nod my head, letting him lead the way. Seeing the small group of my friends from a year and a half ago brings back the most painful memory I’ll ever have.
“Look who I found!” Colton hollers over to them. I see Colton’s two roommates, Trevor and Pete, who both greet me the same way Colton did, lifting my feet off the ground. I can’t help but be relieved that Grant’s not here to witness this. He would be green with jealousy over nothing. They both ask how I’m doing and what I’ve been up to. I continue to keep it to myself where I attend school now. I’m not ignorant to the fact that they all know Jason.
They’re with a few girls that I only knew as acquaintances, but their looks of pity toward me remind me how those pictures and rumors spread like wildfire. My eyes shift to the side and I can’t believe who’s here. “Beth!” I exclaim and she turns around, smiling brightly.
Running over to me, she throws herself at me and we wrap our arms around each other, “Sam told me you might come tonight. I don’t usually attend these parties, but I wanted to see you if you came,” she tells me, and a twinge of pain hits me in the gut for not keeping in touch.
“Sorry for never calling,” I apologize, but she waves my apology off.
“Don’t even worry about that. We’re together now.” She moves us over to a chair in the corner of the room where we proceed to talk about everything. She’s graduating with a degree in nursing this spring and she’s dating someone seriously. I tell her about Grant, and how I’m graduating too. I look around and locate my roommates, pointing them out to her. Her quizzical look at Trey doesn’t surprise me.
I forgot how much I missed her, and how much we shared those first years of college. Regret washes over me, thinking of all the time I’ve wasted not talking to her. Spotting Grant walking down the stairs, I can’t stop the smile from my face.
He weaves in and out of the bodies with his eyes solely on me. God, I love that man. I wave him over, and he starts making his way through the crowd toward where we’re sitting. Pointing him out to Beth, she turns and Grant gives her his usual panty-melting smile. When he finally reaches me, he snakes his arm around my waist before even acknowledging Beth. I make the introductions, and as usual, the always-polite Grant holds out his hand and Beth shakes it while clearly admiring his body.
Beth asks us all the standard questions and Grant patiently answers each of them. After a few minutes and a glance toward the kitchen, he excuses himself to go see why Dex is flagging him down. Once he’s out of earshot, Beth turns back toward me. “Well, I must say, you found yourself one fine specimen,” she teases and laughter erupts from both of us.