Page 22 of The Runaway

“If I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t call her back at all, honestly. I think you should take that at face value, Jacob. You’re only human, and no one is perfect. You like her, and she obviously likes you, and if you think you can get past the scar, you should try.” My lips twisted sharply at that, and I glanced at my watch the check the time. “It’s not like you reacting how she thought you would is a bad thing, either, Jacob. That just means she has realistic expectations of herself. If she thought she was the shit and freaked out on you,thenyou’d have a problem.”

“Yeah…” Straightening to slip my phone in my pocket, I shook my head to try to clear my thoughts as I headed to the door. “See you later.”

I could feel Caleb staring at my back while I grabbed my jacket and left my apartment. An irritated sigh escaped me to float down the hallway, but I couldn’t just back down; this is exactly what happened the last three times I’d confronted Caleb. He’d be less of a pain for a week or two if I was lucky, but it never lasted once he felt he was in the clear.

Fool me once, shame on him. Fool my three times…

“Whatever.” Heading for the elevator, I fished my phone out of my pocket only to pause with my thumb hovering over my contacts.Joci starts English class today.That was right— her boss got her a tutor. “It’s early… but I don’t want to ruin her whole damn day.”

Tapping the screen before I could stop myself, I navigated to her contact to call her. Holding the phone to my ear, I inhaled a deep, steadying breath and closed my eyes briefly.

“Hello?” Joci’s sultry, sleepy voice slithered down my neck to tighten my chest, and I exhaled slowly as I punched the elevator button.

“Hey, Joci. Did I wake you up?” She hummed a noncommittal response, the line rustling as if she was rolling over. “I can call later, if you want.”

“I’m awake.” My heart thundered against my ribs, and I rocked back on my heels. These past two days, all I did was think, but now… nothing came to my mind but the look on her face when I walked away. Like Joci was afraid I wasn’t going to come back, but she hoped I’d keep my word and call her.

And I had, damnit!

“I just want to talk about tonight— you’re still coming over, right?” Anticipation sloshed through my veins, and I clenched my jaw at the silence that met my question. Now, inviting Joci to Thanksgiving dinner seemed like such a stupid idea. There were so many other things I could’ve suggested, like the Macy’s Parade or even just dinner at my place.Even though I can’t cook like that to save my life.

“I do if you want me to. My English class is today at the noon, but I will be free. Yeah.” Perking up at her jumbled English, I nodded more to myself— of course, to myself, because she couldn’t see me. “If you don’t want to, that’s okay.”

“No— no, I do. I want to see you, Joci.” The silvery doors slid open, and I stepped inside to press the ground floor button before continuing. “I know that how I acted about your scars was wrong, but I want you to know that I’ll try my best to get past it.”

Man, I sound like a fucking idiot!Get past it? Try my best? The fuck kind of promise was that?

“… Jacob, it’s not bothering me. Really. It was… gooder…? Um…” Working myself into my jacket as Joci trailed off confusedly, my lips quirked as her sigh caressed my brain. “Don’t feel bad. Okay?”

“I’ll try not to. I gotta go catch the train, but I wanted to talk to you before I got to work. I’m sorry for waking you up.” Some of the weight lifted from my shoulders, and Joci hummed softly before the line summarily went dead. Lowering my phone to smile at the screen, I adjusted my coat and messenger bag with a satisfied sigh. “That could’ve been worse, for sure.”

Worry kept me from sleeping, and now that tiredness invaded my body with a vengeance. I felt like such a piece of shit, couldn’t get my head out of my ass— couldn’t believe that Joci had been butchered like that but still took her clothes off for me.

How terrifying to be saddled with that kind of expectation?...But man was it worth it.Joci had limitations, of course. She couldn’t raise her arms, so doggystyle was out, and I was probably overly cautious about hurting her, but…Wow.She was damned good at what she was capable of.

Which was I felt so bad about her scar being such a turn off.

“Ach! Fuck!” Reaching to squeeze my head between my palms, my slur bounced around the metal box before it shuddered to a stop. “Why can’t she just be hot and have a great personality and Inotget caught up on something so stupid?”

Obviously, my mixed feelings would consolidate one way or another the more I saw of Joci. I didn’t want to be that guy that messed up because of a scar, though, and as long as I put in effort, I’d get results.

Besides, Joci hated her body a lot more than I did, and frankly… she probably didn’t want to go without clothes, anyway.It’s disgusting how comforting that is.

The cold hit me with a shock, and I blinked hard as I glanced around from under tightly knit brows. Automatically, my legs carried me towards the subway entrance, but I couldn’t reign in my mind. My thoughts raced all over the place. There’d be no snow for Thanksgiving this year. I had to go into work Friday for the first time in a long time. Should I stop for breakfast?

At least the torture I felt over Joci wasn’t as potent.

23

Joci

The tension between Ophelia and Aleksander was palpable, and I clenched and released my hands into fists by my sides. She glared at him, and he watched her steadily back, daring her to open her mouth.

“I’mtellingyou not to propose that. That’s my advice. You know as well as I do that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Santino won’t go for it, and you’ll get laughed out of the room.” The hard edge to her tone cut through the air, and she folded her arms across her chest to sit back and cross her knees. “You want my advice, there it is. Take it or don’t, but don’t blame me when Santino looks at you like you’re stupid.”

They’d been arguing for a while now about whether Aleksander should add a clause to their contract. I hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation much, but I did hear something about the future. Out of the corner of my eye, the clock struck 6 in the evening, and Aleksander’s watch started to beep shrilly. Their conversation ended in a stalemate, but I knew better. He started setting his watch again, and he and Ophelia just moved onto the next topic.

“Joci— you’re relieved. Have fun on your date.” Ophelia’s eyes flew to me to dig holes into my back as I practically ran for the door. Scowling from Aleksander’s amused glance, I clenched my jaw hard andfumed. Obviously, Ophelia hadn’t seen Jacob and I outside the hotel, but it wasn’t Aleksander’s secret to expose. All to catch her off guard— a tactic that wasn’t even sure to work.