This time, I'm serious

Hostile?

After her long shower with Angie, she and Jas made their way down to the beanbags. Pretty much everyone was already there, including Cora and Bruno, who'd already finished their date, and were looking more relaxed and at ease with each other than ever. It made her a little jealous.

And then she saw they were holding hands. Okay, it made her a lot jealous.

She knew they'd agreed not to rub it in each other's faces, but she flopped down next to Tom anyway, and immediately linked her hand into his, glaring at Bruno.

Bruno noticed it, looked down at his hand holding Cora's, and unlinked himself. Jas did the same. He shot her a disapproving look, and she felt a little guilty about being immature. She looked back at him, smiling apologetically. He puckered his lips a little, blowing a very subtle kiss at her. Her heart flipped in her chest. God he gave her such butterflies. She couldn't help but beam at him. She looked away, blushing furiously.

The last person to arrive down at the beanbags was Kobi. He flopped down next to Juliet, who was still looking quite miffed about being sprayed with sauce earlier that day.

The conversation turned to school, and Jas started paying attention as Bruno contributed.

"Oh, god, I hated doing public speaking at school."

"You hated public speaking, so you became a stand-up comedian?" she asked

He laughed. "Yep! I only started getting more comfortable with it once I started making my speeches funny, and people liked them. Now it doesn't bother me at all."

Tom shuddered. "Oh god, I still hate it. It's not so much the actual speech itself, it's the leadup to it where you picture everything that could go wrong. Just makes me a sweaty mess."

Jas smiled at him. "I learned a great mantra from a mentor in art school. 'I'm not nervous, I'm excited' . Try and turn the nerves into butterflies, and you'll be more likely to laugh than sweat"

Tom smiled back. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to convince myself to do something like that" he laughed.

Juliet leaned over to Kobi, whispering in his ear, louder than absolutely any normal person would ever whisper anything.

"But he sure convinced himself that nothing else is happening between Jas & Bruno?"

Tom didn't laugh. He was pissed .

"Juliet, honestly, shut up."

Jas reached for his hand. "Babe, leave it. It's okay. She's not..."

Juliet looked surprised. "Tom, I..."

He glared at her. "No. You've been doing this all day."

"I haven't been doing anything today except looking out for you, dear"

"By inserting yourself into my relationship?"

"By telling you what you had a right to know"

"Wouldn't that be up for Jasmine and I to decide?"

"Yes normally, but darling, is she the one you want making decisions in your relationship? She literally cheated on you last night, but somehow has managed to convince you not to care about it."

Jas wasn't exactly sure how to feel. She wasn't exactly sure she wholly disagreed, though. Ever since it happened, Jas felt like she'd been suffocating.

She felt so fucking torn . She'd been so close, right on the precipice, one step away from falling head over heels in love with Bruno. And then Tom happened. And he was so sweet. So loving. Such a fucking wonderful man. She liked him, she knew she did. And it made her feel awful .