AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Heat flushed my cheeks at his words. I may not have seen him in nearly three weeks, but my feelings definitely haven’t changed, and I’m glad to hear that his haven’t either.
“You better not,” I warn.
“I wouldn’t,” he hastily adds before I can continue.
“Only because if you start kissing me, there’s no way I’ll get any work done. For the rest of the night.” When he hears my words he blinks at me, and as it sinks in that I wouldn’t punch him for trying to kiss me, a small grin stretches across his beautiful face.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“But I thought...”
“Look,” I take a deep calming breath. “I’m sorry I freaked out and ran. I shouldn’t have done that, and I definitely shouldn’t have run off on holiday and avoided you guys for two weeks.”
“Three,” he adds softly.
“Well yeah, but the avoidance this week is more out of embarrassment because I know I behaved poorly and I wasn’t sure how to put things right.”
“You don’t need to put things right. We do. We have to apologise.”
“You don’t. Honestly, it’s fine.” And I do mean that. Now that we’re together, yes it’s a little awkward, but what happened three weeks ago over dinner really doesn’t matter to me anymore. Time and space have cleared my head, and I realise that all the Lizzie stuff aside, I care deeply for these guys and I want them in my life for as long as I can get away with. I’m not about to waste the few short weeks we have left together, fretting over their feelings for me. It is what it is, and I plan to enjoy every moment we have left. I tell some of this to Jax. Obviously I don’t say the stuff about going and our time being limited, but I gloss over the rest.
“I’m sorry - we’re all really sorry - for how everything went down that night. It wasn’t the plan. I have no idea what went so horribly wrong, but I can see now that sitting you down and making a big deal out of the whole thing was not the right way to go.”
“Look-“
“No, let me finish, please.” I nod at his request, squirming uncomfortably in my chair. “We definitely went about things the wrong way. And we’re sorry for that. But you must know that our feelings are real.” This time when he tells me that, I get flutters in my stomach instead of knots. If I just relax and let things be, it’s actually quite a nice feeling to know that you’re loved. “And, we’re all absolutely fine with you knowing how we feel. The guys also wanted me to tell you that they don’t expect you to feel the same. We completely understand that what we did was overwhelming, and we understand why you ran. There’s no pressure for you to say how you feel, now or ever. We just wanted to let you know that we care. And nothing’s changed for us in the last three weeks.”
I don’t really know what to say to that. Ironically, how Jax has apologised for overwhelming me has, in fact, completely overwhelmed me again. I won’t tell him that, though. I feel like this is an olive branch I should grab.
“Thank you. Apology accepted. Can things just go back to normal now?” I ask, unsure how else to move forward.
“Well, kinda,” Jax smirks at me.
“What do you mean?” I ask as dread creeps in.
“There’s a party next Friday. And we wondered if you’d like to go?”
“Oh, is that all? Yeah, of course.” I sag with relief.
“As our date. Our girlfriend.”
“What? With all of you? As all of your girlfriend?”
“Yes. Don’t freak out.”
“I’m not freaking out. I’m just thinking...how would that work?” I nibble my bottom lip as I think about the logistics of going on one date with four guys. It’s stupid really, because we hang out together all the time, but this feels more formal. It’s the first time they’ve all actually asked me out.
“The same way a normal date works. Just you’ll have four of us to dance with and talk to and to dote on you... like New Year's.” I pull a face, and Jax laughs. “Without the fighting, I promise.”
“Erm, okay. But what will people think?” New Year's was different. There weren’t people from school there. It’s one thing to hang around with four guys and go on individual dates with them, and for there to be rumours about me. It’s another thing entirely to confirm those rumours by bringing four dates to a student party.
“Have you ever given a fuck what people think?” Jax challenges me.
“Well no, but...”
“Do you intend to start now?” he pushes.
