Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) - Sidney Halston Page 0,73

real glad, Chris. Real glad.”

“Hey, Cain. Whatever happened to Violet?” Chrissy asked when she sat back down.

Cain shrugged.

“Words, please. You did that caveman thing with her, and I haven’t seen her since. I hope you don’t have her stashed in your cave. I need a nurse when I open the practice and she was sweet. I wonder if she has a job already.”

“Passed out. Took her to J’s.”

“Does the extra L take that much effort, man? JL.” Travis overenunciated the L.

Cain said nothing.

“So, that’s it?” Jessica asked Cain suspiciously.

“Why would there be more?” Cain asked.

“Don’t know. Got the feeling that there was something else,” Jessica said, and Chrissy agreed.

“No.” And that was the last word Cain said for the rest of the evening.

After dinner, drinks, and some chatting, Cain and Travis took off. Jessica stayed behind to help Chrissy clean up in the kitchen, while Jack and Slade stayed outside drinking.

“I’m real happy for you, Chris,” Jessica said. “Your dreams are coming true.”

“I know. I’m so excited.”

“Have you started planning the wedding?”

Chrissy let out a groan. “No. That’s horrible, right? I should be more excited. It’s just that I am so bad at all that planning stuff. We want something small. Just friends. I know we haven’t talked about it, but Slade told me about you leaving. I hope you’ll come back for the wedding?”

Jessica looked down at the plate she was rinsing. She hated the entire situation. She should be staying in Tarpon Springs helping her friend with the wedding plans; instead she was being bullied out of town, forced away from people who had come to mean the world to her. And even though Chrissy was her closest friend in Tarpon Springs besides Slade, Jessica hadn’t even had the courage to tell Chrissy she was leaving; she’d had to hear it from Slade. Some friend I am, Jessica thought disconsolately.

“Jess?”

Jessica looked up, her eyes misty. “Yes, of course I’ll be here for the wedding.” It came out sounding flustered, but that’s because she was.

“Jessica, you okay?” Chrissy stopped putting away the silverware and fixed her eyes on Jessica, who was drying plates.

“Yes. I’m just sad, I guess. I’ve been sad about leaving Slade, but it just hit me right now that I’m not only leaving Slade.”

“No, you’re not. We’ll all miss you, Jessica. Me, Jack, the guys, Patsy, all of us. I’ve kept my mouth shut because it’s none of my business, but…I know you came to town because of Dennis, but you’ve been here long enough for this to have become your home, honey. You shouldn’t leave it because of any man. Not Dennis and not Slade. I love my brother, but if you and him didn’t work out—though I still think you guys should figure it out, because you’re great together—you shouldn’t feel that the alternative is to run back to Charlotte.”

Jessica shook her head. Worse than any lecture was the disappointment from Chrissy. “I’m sorry. I wish I could stay. I just…I can’t.”

They were interrupted by the two men walking into the kitchen.

“I’m gonna head out. Thanks for dinner, guys,” Slade said, giving his sister a kiss on the cheek.

“Guess I’m going to go too,” Jessica said. She hugged Chrissy and then waved to Jack. “Thanks, you two.”

Outside the house, Slade walked Jessica to her car. “You want to come over for a drink?” He gestured toward his house.

Jessica let out a deep breath. Yes, she did. She wanted to come over for a drink and never leave. She wanted Slade so much, but she still felt the phantom sting from Dennis’s fingers around her throat as he warned her against further contact with Slade. As it was, she’d been spending too much time with Slade, but she hoped that since she wasn’t ever alone with him, Dennis wouldn’t react.

“Don’t worry about it. Forget I asked,” Slade said before Jessica had a chance to respond. As if he could read her mind, he touched her neck gently. Then he skimmed his finger up her to jaw, finally placing his palm against her cheek. “You seem so tormented. I haven’t seen you this way before. Even when you were dating Dennis you didn’t seem this sad. I just want you to be happy, Jessica. I think I can be the person to make you happy. I want to be that person. But I don’t know what else to do.” He leaned in and placed a feather-like kiss on her lips before letting her go and walking