chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jessica's POV

Spending time with Ethan was nice ! I've never been so close to someone as handsome, or screams as much authority as him.

"How was the date?" Bambi slaps my arm playfully as I plop next to her on the couch.

Date? Is that what it was? "I don't think that was a date." I giggle. "Girl, that was definitely a date. I saw him look at you through the window."

"How was he looking at me?" I ask, clearly oblivious to him looking at me at all.

I'm not much to look at. I don't have the supermodel legs, the toned stomach, the bombshell boobs, or the confidence .

“Like he wanted to eat you up.” She winks.

My stomach drops, "shut up.” I laugh.

"Call him.” An evil smirk grows on Bambi's face.

“Heck no! He just left."

Her sea green eyes roll to the back of her head as a strangled sound leaves her throat.

"I'll do it for you then." She lunges for my phone.

I quickly hide it under my body, causing her to tickle me. I thrash around, laughing loudly as I try to ignore her fingers digging into my ribs.

"Give it.” She laughs. “Never!” I yell through the laughter. My butt begins to slip off of the couch, making me slide down to the floor. My shirt has ridden up to expose my bra, to which I quickly fix.

"Got it!" Bami yells and runs to the bathroom.

Electricity jolts my legs into action until I'm met with the bathroom door closing in my face.

“Bambi,” I whine, “you're going to make him hate me.”

"Shut up and listen."

A dial tone rides the sound waves right to my ears.

Please don't answer.

"Jessica? Are you okay?” Ethan asks in a concerned tone.

"She's okay,” Bambi begins, I can practically hear the cheesy smile she's wearing, "she was just telling me about how badly she wants to see you again.”

Next bridge I see...

"Oh yeah? Tell her the guys and I will pick her up tomorrow morning. Be sure she wears something comfortable." His voice is deep and laced with amusement.

"The guys?" Bambi's voice cracks with excitement.

"Bambi , please!" I beg through the door for all of this nonsense to stop.

"Seems as if you've got an upset Jessica on your hands. Tell her about tomorrow." He says before hanging up.

Bambi opens the bathroom door while a sky grin, handing me my phone back.

"You, my dear best friend, have a date." I take my phone and sigh, "thank you."

"The guys, huh.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

I giggle with a nod, " Ethan Jacob and Jordan."

Her eyes show something deep inside them, but I can't decipher what.

The rest of the night was spent with me telling her all I knew about them and how attractive they are. By the way, she danced in her seat as we were talking and told me that she was excited for me.

I'm excited too.

I haven't ever had a boyfriend, we weren't allowed to date in the group home and after that I've just been too busy to even think about dating. But now I have a place to live, food in the fridge, and a bed to come back to every night.

It's safe now. I think to myself.

The next morning, I shower and dress myself in dark blue skinny jeans, a brown crop top that only shows a tiny cut of my stomach, and black flats. My hair cascades to between my shoulder blades, making me think about how I need to trim my ends soon.

"You look hot.” Bambi sings from my doorway.

I laugh and shake my head, "so, this looks okay?" I ask, giving her a turn.

"Hell's bells babe. You're going to drive them crazy.”

She's my biggest hype man. I don't know what I did to deserve a friend as good as her. We sit and talk outside while I wait for the guys to pick me up. Once we heard the roar of the same powerful engine we heard yesterday, we knew they were pulling into the parking lot.

Bambi wraps her arms around me, “have fun, be safe, I love you."

I return her hug with a nod, "love you too. I'll have my phone on me just in case." I tell her to which she nods and returns to the house.

Ethan white fancy looking car rolls up next to me. I don't know much at all about cars, but I can practically feel the wealth behind it.

Jordan hops out with a smile.

“Hey, girl . After you.” He gestures to the inside of the car.

I slid in with him right behind me. I'm in between Jordan and Jacob while Ethan

drives. I feel squashed.

"I like these pants." Jacob compliments as his hand makes contact with my thigh.

My brain turns into mush. His intense gray eyes burn into my skin everywhere he happens to look. "Th-thank you."

He smirks, not removing his hand from my leg. Not that I'm complaining.

Ethan smirks through the rearview mirror as we make eye contact. Butterflies grow and multiply in my stomach.

What is this feeling?

The air in the car is heavy, not with tension or angst. Something I've never felt before.

"I'm sorry about last night, Bambi can be... goofy." I carefully choose my words, not wanting to talk bad about her behind closed doors. She's just unapologetically Bambi, and I love her for that.

“Don't be sorry, love. I'm happy to know you gossip about us." Ethan says. I catch him wink at me through the mirror.

I don't know what it is, but when he winks, my insides feel a quick blaze of heat run through it.

The drive to wherever we're going is quick, probably because Ethan speeds over the speed limit like it's just a suggestion.

"What time is your shift today?” Jordan asks.

"It starts at four." I state, following them out of the car.

We've pulled up to a large dark red brick building with windows tinted so dark, you can't see inside.

"Have you ever played pool before?" Jacob grabs my hand, leading me to the door.

Andy told me pool was a man's game. He'd always talk about drinking with his buddies while playing pool when I lived in the group home.

"No, I've heard a lot about it though. You hit a ball with a stick right?"

All three men chuckle, causing my heart to quicken at how much like that noise.

"In a way, yes.” Jacob confirms.

Ethan and Jordan bring me into a room with low lighting and a large black wood pool table with red carpet. The table has intricate designs all around it, as if the artist spent days, weeks, on this specific table. Tiny white dots outline the top of the darkened wood and red pockets sit at the end of all four corners of the rectangular table with a couple more pockets on the sides.

Jacob returns with a triangle thing in his hands and sets it on the table to begin putting balls in the middle of it.

"Come, I'll help you pick out a pool stick.” Jordan holds out his hand to which I happily take.

It's so much larger than my own, but they fit comfortably together.

I can feel Ethan's eyes on me as I walk with Jordan to the pool sticks but I ignore it. I'm just slightly crazy, he couldn't be looking at me.

As I examine the long poles, I realize that they are almost my size. Some smaller, some bigger.

"You will probably need the smallest size they have," he picks up a stick and hands it to me, "try this one first.”

I nod and feel the texture of the soft, glossy wood under my fingers.

As we turn to walk back to the table, Ethan's eyes are still trained on me. Maybe I wasn't crazy. My hands smooth down my hair, thinking maybe that's why he's staring at me.

Ethan takes his stance at the end of the table, away from all of the colored balls with one white one in front of him. He angles his stick at the white ball and hits it. The balls clatter together and scatter around the table. A solid blue and a solid red ball fall into the pockets on the corners of the table.

He once again angles himself at the white ball. I guess you have to hit that one into the others. Once he hits it, striped balls line the pockets but don't fall inside.

"Your turn, love." Ethan smirks and stands off to the side.

I walk to the white ball like I've seen him do and I try to copy the placements of his hands on his stick.

Jacob comes to my rescue, "want some help?" He whispers.

I shyly nod, knowing I have no idea what I'm doing.

Jacob grabs my arm and places it on the table, leaning me over it slightly. I feel his front press into my back, making these butterflies return. The stick is placed at my hip, "grab it and place the stick on your other hand.” He whispers into my ear. His warm breath fans the back of my neck, somehow despite the heat, giving me chills. Glancing up, I see the other two with smirks painted on their faces. “Like this.” Jacob repositions my less dominant hand. "Now, aim at the white ball." I follow

his directions and move the stick to where the white ball is. With a little of his help, he straightens it out. He pulls the stick back slowly, pushing his front gently more into me. A small gasp leaves my lips at the sudden burning feeling deep in my stomach. “Hit it, baby.” He whispers slowly. I softly watch it roll into a striped ball, hitting it into one of those red pockets.

"Good girl," my insides melt, "you get another turn, make sure to aim for the striped balls and whatever you do, don't hit the black ball in. It's an automatic loss."

Despite the low lighting, I know my tingling cheeks are fire red at this point.

I give it another go and end up getting a yellow striped ball and a blue striped ball in. Luckily, Jett is still helping me. Without him, I'd hit nothing but air.

"Try this one yourself.” Jacob says, pulling away.

I nod and line myself up for another hit. The guys’ eyes dance in my direction, making me feel on the spot.

You can do this, Jessica.

I tap the ball, watching it roll into the wall and hitting the solid black ball. I rub my arm, watching the black ball roll until it slowly stops.

Whew. It didn't fall in the hole.

Ethan smiles and adjusts himself near the white ball.

After taking a few turns, he has one ball left while I have four. I smile at him while he glances up at me, happy for his win. Before looking away, he hits the ball, sending the white ball straight into a pocket.

Jordan smiles as he takes the ball out of the pocket and hands it to me. "Place it anywhere, doll."

I place it right in front of a red striped ball and peer up at Jordan for confirmation that it's a good spot to which he nods.

Yes! I think to myself as the white ball hits the red striped ball into the pocket.

I look at my next three options, seeing no opening for a clear shot.

"Aim here." Jordan points to a white dot on the dark wood.

Once I do as I'm told, the ball hits the wall of the pool table directly into one of my balls, making it roll into the pocket.

After I hit my last ball in, all that's left is the solid black ball. I hit the white ball into it and watch it go completely past it.

"Oops." I giggle to myself, not thinking any of them heard me.

"It's alright, love.” Ethan tries his best to comfort me.

I smile and watch him hit his last solid ball in and begin to aim for the black one. I cross my fingers behind my back, hoping he wins so he will be happy.

His ice blue eyes connect with mine again. I can't not look.

He hits the ball, missing his opportunity to win. My gaze drops to the floor, realizing what's going on.

He's trying to let me win.

“You know I can handle losing, right?" I joke with Ethan

He shows off his pearly white teeth, "you're beating me fair and square.” He shrugs like he doesn't know what I'm talking about.

All the men cheer me on as I hit the last ball into the pocket, making me laugh and turn red at all the attention I'm getting.

"If you didn't have to work today, I'd take you out to celebrate." Jordan sticks his tongue out playfully at my work schedule.

I smile, thinking about how nice they are to me. Most of the time, people would've shown me a red flag by now. But then, it's like they're perfect.

"Let's get going before you're late.” Jordan kisses the top of my head after throwing his arm around my shoulder.

I nod and follow everyone out the door.

The ride back home was quiet, filled with secret glances and thick air that made me feel a little drunk.

As soon as I walk through the door, Bambi jumps from behind the wall with an excited smile on her face.

"How was it? Did you kiss any of them?" She bounces.

"No!" I laugh, "we just played some pool, that's all."

Her eyes narrow but the smile remains, as if she knows something I don't.

“Mhm, just pool.”