Trace of Innocence (No Control Book 3)

Chapter 7

Don't forget - this story won't make much sense unless you have read my book No Control so make sure you check that out if you haven't already! This book contains spoliers!!!

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(No Control - 7. Stand Up)

I chat to Sophie for a couple of minutes and then two of Zayn's friends stop and say hi to me. I see Jess coming back towards the sofa and I catch her eye, feeling a nervous flutter in my stomach. I introduce her to Zayn's mates, and we chat for a bit. I notice she seems a bit nervous, which she hadn't seemed before.

I'm eager to get her all to myself again and I'm glad when the others excuse themselves and disappear back towards the kitchen where I guess Zayn must still be. She yawns behind her hand and my heart sinks a little.

"Am I boring you?" I ask, only half teasing, and she smiles at me.

"No, I'm just a lightweight. And it's been a really long week."

"What do you do?" I ask.

Her eyes light up as she starts telling me about her job, and I am totally captivated by her enthusiasm for life. I stare at her intently as she talks, and watch as she begins to relax and the conversation flows. She has a brilliant sense of humour and I find myself either laughing or grinning stupidly at her. I'm really trying to play it cool, like she is, but I'm having such a good time I know it must show on my face.

My tiredness is now just a distant memory but I suddenly notice her yawning behind her hand again and she starts saying she should go home because her friend left ages ago.

"You don't have to leave just because she's not here," I tell her.

"I know, but didn't you get off a really long flight a couple of hours ago?" she reminds me. "You must be exhausted."

"Nah, I've kind of gone past it now," I reply, and it's the truth. I also really don't want this night to end just yet. I really need to kiss her, but I'm getting mixed signals from her. One minute we're flirting and the next minute she doesn't seem interested. I can't figure her out. I decide to test the water again.

"Stay and have another drink?" I suggest. "Or do you.." I momentarily lose my bottle. Man up, Harry. "Do you fancy going on somewhere else? A club maybe?" Please say yes.

She's considering it. "I dunno," she says. "I'm really tired. I should probably call that cab now." We stand up and I stupidly ask her if she's going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight. Not cool.

Thankfully she seems to find my stupidity endearing and laughs. It lights up her whole face. "You'll never know," she says.

"I'd like to find out," I tell her. I obviously need to turn the charm level up. "Come on, come to a club with me. What's the worst that can happen?" I touch her arm lightly. Her skin is really soft.

"I'm just going to the bathroom," she says, and casually walks off down the hall. Shit, did she read my mind or something? What if she thinks I'm a sex pest? I'm royally fucking this up.

I decide to make a last ditch attempt to redeem myself and casually head to the bathroom to wait for her. If she brushes me off again I'll take the hint and go home.

When she comes out of the bathroom I ask her to wait for me and I take a piss as quickly as I can in case she disappears on me. I wash my hands and check my reflection in the mirror, running my hand through my hair to make it look tousled. I suddenly remember Grimmy's Disney prince hair comment from earlier and I grin at myself before unlocking the door and walking out to find her waiting for me.

She takes a deep breath and I feel a spark of anticipation flow between us. Here we go, wish me luck.

"So what do you say? Can I persuade you to hit a club with me?"

Don't blow me out, Jess.