Mine • Jaren Jackson Jr.

•9•

"I don't know KaCynthia." Rielle paced KaCynthia's bedroom, not even giving KaCynthia time to fully wake up. "But it was something."

Cynthia was seated in the center of her bed, rubbing her eyes. "Rielle, calm the hell down first. Maybe it was something else."

Cyn was rudely woken up this morning by Rielle coming into her apartment, panicked as if someone had died. It was early to be awake, making her partially annoyed that Jaren couldn't pick another day to drop hints.

"I hope so." Rielle bit at her nails. "We're just really good friends and I don't want to ruin that."

"Is it weird? Between y'all?"

"A little." Rielle sighed. "That night he stayed over but he's been in Boston with Ja for the past few days. He comes back tonight but I don't know if he's gonna stay over."

"Ri." Cynthia watched her facial expression. "Do you have feelings for Jaren?"

"No." Rielle thought about it. "N-No."

"Mama, you hesitated."

Rielle stopped pacing. "I don't, Cyn. I just am going through something weird right now."

"Ri, it's okay to like Jaren."

"I don't. Honestly, I think we're just at an odd place right now." Rielle said. "And it sucks because he's the only person I like talking to."

KaCynthia stood up from the bed. "We're gonna go out today and have a girls day to get your mind away from it. We're gonna shop and have a spa day, then you'll talk to Jaren later."

"Okay, Cynthia." Rielle nodded. "Thank you."

Despite her attempts to keep Jaren from her mind, he was at the very front of it. She was thinking about him as much as she usually did but right now it freaked her out because of the circumstances.

The thought of anything romantic with she and Jaren hadn't ever crossed her mind. Sure, they were very close and Rielle wasn't going to dispute that. Jaren and her friendship was a unique one though and she didn't intend to ruin it.

Jaren was thinking about Rielle, too.

He was in Boston with his teammates but felt out of place being there. Whenever he and Rielle were out of sorts, he always fixed it immediately. Usually in those kinds of situations, Rielle was mad or upset with something Jaren had done. This time she wasn't so he didn't know how to go about fixing it.

Maybe Rielle liked him. Maybe he liked her. Maybe they shouldn't have ever been this close to begin with because Jaren was starting to see how the way they acted towards one another could've provoked feelings. It was too late, though because he wasn't gonna stop.

He wasn't gonna stop sleeping in her bed or kissing her forehead. She wasn't gonna stop sleeping in his arms or calling him her favorite person. They were too far in to move backwards.

"I love how you're not listening to a word I'm saying."

"What? Sorry." Rielle apologized. "What were you saying?"

"Rielle. What's this thing with you and Jaren?" She asked. "I think you'll feel good if you talk about it."

"I don't even know where to start."

"What exactly about it is bothering you?"

"I think that I'm just scared that however this weird, cloudy part ends..." Rielle sighed. "It's gonna mess up our friendship forever and I don't want that to happen."

"I understand that." A random thought occurred to KaCynthia. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think that maybe you guys are a little close for you to call him a regular friend?" She said it carefully, not wanting Rielle to take the situation the wrong way. "Just a little?"