22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sean

I watched Jessica leave at six thirty with Rick last night and I watched her return at five past ten with him. I should be happy. After all, this means the operation was successful, and once again, I've proved myself to be a great matchmaker.

But, I'm not happy.

When I saw Rick and Jessica leave last night, the plans I had for my evening were shot. I couldn't think about anything else and I waited up until he brought her home. He walked her to the door and stayed there for quite a while. Did Jessica invite him in for a cup of coffee? Did she kiss him goodnight?

It's noon already, and my day is wasted. I've not had breakfast, I've not gone anywhere, and all I can think about is Jessica with Rick. It's killing me.

Wondering if she did or didn't kiss him is driving me mad.

I grab my car keys from the counter and head out. I can't stay in the house a minute longer. Whenever I'm in a foul mood like this, Evelyn is always the best company. I glance at Jessica's house and notice she's not home. I pause, my hands hovering over my keys in the ignition. What if she's gone on another date with Rick?

Even more disturbed by that thought, I back out of the driveway and tear down the street. Am I a bad person? Why am I not happy for Jessica? I should be. She has been single for the longest time, and now she's found a good man, and she deserves to be happy.

"Okay, Sean," I mumble. "Get yourself together. Jessica is like your little sister; be happy for her."

I force all thoughts of Rick from my mind, and put all of my focus on Jessica being happy. If there's one thing I'll never compromise, it's her happiness. Nothing else matters as long as she is happy, even if I'm not. I park my car on the street in front of Bake My Day and do some breathing exercises to calm myself down before heading in. Evie is very sensitive, and if she notices any change in my mood, she'll poke and prod until I confess my inner turmoil.

"Hey, Sean." The staff behind the counter greets me, and I smile and wave at them before making my way to Evie's office. As I near the office, I smile when Evelyn's rich laughter reaches me. I wonder who is making her laugh so hard. The smile on my face immediately freezes in place when I see Jessica sitting across from her. At the sound of my footsteps, both girls turn to me, smiles on their faces.

"Sean!" Evelyn cries in excitement. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I decided to stop by before heading out," I lie, sitting beside Jessica. "Hi, Jess."

"Hey." She nudges me playfully. "How are you this morning?"

Before I can answer, Evelyn butts into the conversation. "You got here just in time. Jessica is just telling me how her date with Rick went."

"Really?" I gaze at my sister, refusing to look at Jessica. I'm afraid that I'll lose it.

"I heard you took her on a fake date to help her navigate the real one with Rick," Evelyn continues. "You should be the one who really wants to know how your star pupil did in her real life test."

"I'm sure Sean has better things to do than—"

"I want to hear it, actually," I interrupt Jessica, finally glancing at her. "As someone who has invested a bunch of time and effort into ensuring you find a date, I'm curious to hear how it went." The more I speak, the more foolish I sound. I'm digging a deeper hole for myself when I should be running out the door with my ears closed against whatever Jessica has to say.

Jessica sighs. "Fine. I guess I do owe you an explanation," she says. "Uhh…Rick was a perfect gentleman. I can't point out any red flags. And for a girl that writes red flags for a living, that's quite a feat."

I keep a blank smile, even though my insides are incinerating to dust at her words. Jessica has really found a perfect guy, and somehow, it hurts. "Oh, good heavens," Evelyn claps excitedly. "Finally, Jess. I'm so happy for you."

Jessica smiles shyly, then lowers her lashes. "He came to get me with flowers–"

"Oh," Evelyn gasps. "That's the sweetest. When Sean took you out, did he bring flowers?"

At this point, I want the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I glance at Jessica before directing a glare at Evelyn.

"Jessica is not my girlfriend," I bark. "I'm not dating her; I was just coaching her. Rick is a gentleman for bringing flowers, and yes I brought her flowers. But it didn't mean anything."

The silence that follows my rant is deafening, and I feel a searing heat on the side of my face from Jessica's intense stare. I use all of my acting skills to recompose myself and school my features into an unbothered expression, all the while facing away from her. "So, after the flowers? What else?"

Evelyn turns her attention to Jessica with a smile. "We're listening, Jess. Go on."

"Umm…" Jessica clears her throat. "We went to the car, and he held the door open for me. He then took me to The Loft."

"The Loft?" Evelyn gasps. "I've never been. I heard the entry is exclusive. Ricky-boy must be influential."

"It's not that serious," I answer, scowling at Evelyn. What is wrong with Evie today? Why is she on Mr-I-Brought-You-To-A-Fancy-Restaurant's side? "You just have to make reservations. It doesn't require that much to get a table."

"Sean." Jessica's voice cuts through my skin, scalding me. "What's up with you? You seem to be discrediting everything Rick did."

"What?" I glance over with what I hope is an innocent expression. "Why would you say that?"

Jessica looks to Evelyn for support. "Isn't that what he's doing, Evie? When I mentioned the flowers and now the restaurant he was definitely critical."

"What business do I have with Rick?" I ask. "All I care about is you, okay?"

When she narrows her eyes, I shrug. "What? I want to make sure you get the absolute best and that he's able to deliver it. Bringing you flowers and taking you to fancy restaurants are the bare minimum. I don't want you getting too excited about low hanging fruit."

Jessica sighs. "Okay, Sean. But I was excited. He's a great guy, and it's okay for me to be excited about him."

There's a retort at the tip of my tongue, but the only reason I don't say it is because her words wound me. When I stay silent, Jessica thinks she's gotten her point across, so she continues. "He was a bit shy," she says with a fond smile. "But it was cute. He never went out of line. When it was almost ten, he took me straight home."

"Did you invite him in?"

I hold my breath because this is the part of her story I've been wanting to know. I saw Rick walk her to her door, and he stayed there for what seemed like forever. It drove me insane not knowing what they were doing. Did she invite him in? Did they kiss? Did they do more than that? I mean, they're both adults, but dang it!

"I didn't invite him in. I was tired and had to write some chapters before bed."

I sigh in relief, but Evelyn's next question has my blood pressure rising again. "Did you kiss him at the door, though?"

Jessica bursts into a fit of laughter, and I almost reach out to shake the answer out of her. Then they both laugh while I sit there, slowly turning into stone. Eventually, Jessica shakes her head. "No. I didn't kiss him."

"Bummer," Evelyn sounds disappointed. "I wish you did. Sometimes, a man might have all the perfect traits and be a bad kisser. You don't want to be with a bad kisser."

"I know what you mean," Jessica giggles. "Once I'm finished with my book I'll see him again. I'll definitely consider testing out his kissing skills then."

"Yeah, and you'll come off easy," I blurt.

"Excuse me?" Jessica frowns. "What did you just say?"

"Kissing him too soon could make him think you're easy," I tell her, hating how I sound but unable to stop myself. "You want to make him pursue you."

"Sean, we're adults, okay?" She says, like I'm a child. "There's no such thing as making a man chase me. I don't want to play games."

"Look." I sit up. "Men are hardwired to chase, okay? If you don't give them a reason to pursue you, they'll get tired and move on to the next girl."

"Then let him go to the next girl!" Jessica cries. "The whole reason for all of this is because I don't want to play modern games in the first place. And I don't think Rick is that kind of man." She slides a conspiratorial wink at Evelyn. "He seems very old-fashioned. Flowers, opening the doors, and bringing me to a nice restaurant."

"He may just be that, but if you kiss him too soon he could lose interest. If you make him work for it, your chances of getting him to commit are much higher."

"Why do you care one way or the other?" Jessica glares. "If I move slow and keep him interested for a long time, there's still the probability of him losing interest. So why the games?"

"You don't understand—" I argue. "Men are—"

"Sean, you're acting weird," Evelyn says. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I swallow back bile, hating how my feelings are putting me in strange positions. Evelyn is right; I'm acting weird. This isn't me.

"You know what," I say flatly. "You're right. I don't really care; she can do whatever she likes. It's her life."