Trace of Innocence (No Control Book 3)

Chapter 47 - part ii

(No Control - 47. Better Than Words, second part)

The pizzas arrive and everyone is quiet as we all tuck in. Louis takes a photo of his pizza, and Jess's phone beeps. She giggles at something on her screen.

"What are you laughing at?" I smile.

"Louis' tweet," she chuckles, and I feel a jolt of unease as I realise she has notifications on for when Louis tweets. Unfortunately, nothing ever gets past Louis either.

"You have notifications on?" he grins, looking gleefully at Jess.

"No," she whispers, looking down at her lap, her cheeks flushed.

I can't help but laugh along with the others, because she just looks so funny.

"Harry has them on for when I tweet!" she says after moment, and I am so shocked that she knows this I open my mouth without thinking.

"How do you know that?!" I demand, speaking over Louis as he says, "Yeah, I know."

Jess grins cheekily. "I didn't for sure. I suspected, but you've both just confirmed it."

Damn.

"No chill, H," Louis smirks.

I want to fucking kill him for saying that in front of her, and I throw him a nasty look while she isn't looking.

"So what do you do, Jess?" Liam asks, and I sit back on the sofa and enjoy watching her tell the boys all about her job.

Her face is doing that lighting-up thing again. She's so pretty. I could honestly just sit here and watch her all day.

OK, that sounds weird.

You know what I mean.

Once the pizza is all gone we sit in a satisfied silence and appreciate the amount of food we have just consumed.

"I feel sick," Jess moans.

"For someone so small, you can certainly pack away the pizza," Louis remarks.

Is he flirting with her?

"It's my weakness," she whimpers.

"What else is your weakness?" I ask, with a wink, trying to get her attention back on me again.

"Pack it in," she mutters, and closes her eyes, but I'm pleased to see a tiny smile playing at the corners of her mouth and it makes me chuckle.

Liam brings some beers and a cocktail through from the kitchen and I pull Jess's legs up from the floor onto my lap and gently stroke her calves. She smiles at me over the top of her phone and it gives me butterflies in my stomach.

Liam and Louis are absorbed in the latest game of FIFA and I watch the screen idly, not really paying attention. Jess nudges my leg with her foot and I look over at her. She holds her phone out to me and I take it in confusion.

Her Twitter account is on the screen and I can see loads of people have been tweeting her, having noticed that the FIFA game in the background of the photo she posted is the same as the one in Louis' photo. The fans are going crazy, assuming she is my girlfriend.

OK, so this is the perfect opportunity to bring it up. I can skirt around the subject, gauge her reaction, and then go in for the kill.

"Sorry," she says quietly as I give her phone back to her.

"Don't worry about it," I reply casually. "People are already onto us, and you've been pictured with me countless times now. Just don't confirm or deny it."