Jessica Forever After

Chapter 1

The tornado of butterflies kicked up a storm in my stomach like they'd never done before.

I felt my cheeks flush with color and I pressed my lips tightly together as I studied all of my exes in the same room.

In the same house that my first ex-boyfriend owned and lived in.

I blew out a breath and looked them each in the eye before daring to look up at the confusion on Zack's face. "Hey..." I gave a little finger wave. "Tony, Pete, Josh, Cam and Sam... fancy meeting you here."

My greeting was met with dead silence but I refused to drop my gaze from where I ended up pinning it on a picture hanging across the room for a long moment until I could compose myself. I looked at my boys, feeling confusion welling up inside me and battling the butterflies that had, as usual, taken flight because I was simply near them.

All of them.

Oh. My. God.

All of them.

EVERY SINGLE BOY I'D EVER FALLEN IN LOVE WITH WAS IN THIS ROOM.

Their expressions should have triggered my instincts. The only friendly face that remained in the room was Cam's.

He was also the only one looking at me. His eyes filled with concern when he saw the look on my face and raised an eyebrow at me. I gave a little shrug, working hard to keep my face clear of emotion.

"So, now we've gotten awkward introductions 101 out of the way..." I looked at each of them, offering a slight smile as I met each set of eyes. My words trailed off, as my smile slid away as I pressed my lips together tightly at the dark looks growing on their faces.

"WE have things to discuss." Pete stated.

"Lots of stuff to discuss." Josh nodded. My gaze swung around the room wildly and I felt my knees weaken slightly.

Shit.

This wasn't going well.

"Oh..."

"Guy stuff." Sam cut me off, his gaze impassive and his tone flat.

My eyes blinked wide open and I felt my jaw drop in shock.

"You should go." Zack said, crossing his arms and not looking at me.

"But..." He wasn't looking at me.

This was not good. He was the one that dumped me!

And went out with me... TONIGHT.

And drove me here...!

Kissed me more than once on his front walkway.

DROVE ME HERE!?!

What the hell did he expect me to do? Walk the close to 3 miles home in fucking high heeled shoes that I'd worn because Raven swore, he had the perfect guy that I just had to go out with? My jaw clamped shut with an audible click.

Perfect pup, my ass.

Tony cleared his throat. "Family stuff, Jess." He gave me a slight smile that felt an awful lot like a brush off.

I cut a glance at Cam. He avoided my gaze and it cut deep. Hurt welled up from somewhere deep within.

God, I had to get out of here before the tears came.

This may be the most humiliating moment of my entire life.

Please let me make it out of here before the tears fall.

I forced a smile. "Sure. Of course, you do have things to discuss." I waved a hand. "I'll just... I need..." My gaze fell on Cam. Again, his silence was painful. "Just thought... we were family, Cameron." I said, forcing a lightness and nonchalance into my tone. "I'll just go... call up a professional Russian or something." I forced my gaze back to Zack, letting my eyes narrow both to show my displeasure with how this date was ending and as a means to keep the tears at bay.