last summer - jack gilinsky

eight

i knocked on the door, tapping my shoes against the pavement. i heard the footsteps approaching the large door and it swung open, revealing jack johnson.

"hey rose?" he almost questions. "what's up?"

"is uh.. is jack here? gilinsky, i mean." i ask nervously.

"he's out in the back, you can come in." he steps aside and i enter the house.

i walk to the back of the house and into the backyard, spotting jack in the pool with sam and another guy. as soon as sam sees me, his eyes light up.

"hi rose!" he beams.

"hey." i smile, shutting the door behind myself and walking towards one of the lawn chairs.

"hey!" jack grins, my heart fluttering.

"hey, can we talk?" i ask. "alone?"

"yeah sure." jack pulls himself out of the pool and we walk into the house, jack disregarding the water trail he's leaving behind.

"i ended things with my boyfriend." i tell him.

"why?"

"he proposed to me." i sigh. "and it's only been six months. i told him we were taking a break because he made a scene in the middle of starbucks."

"oh, damn." jack laughs. "does he know anything yet?"

"no, nothing.." i reply.

"i guess that's good. what he doesn't know can't hurt him." jack says.

"but when he finds out from someone else.. that will."

jack sighs and nods his head in agreement.

"do you guys wanna go to my friends house?"

-
bryce opens the front door, his face scrunching up with confusion.

"hey rose.. and friends?" bryce says, looking over my shoulder at sam, gilinsky, johnson, and who i learned was nate.

"rose is here?" i hear jade shout from somewhere in the house. she runs up to me and embraces me, the both of us laughing with excitement.

"bryce, jade, this is jack gilinsky, jack johnson, nate, and sam." i introduce everyone to each other before we all pile into bryce's.

"where's ollie?" jade whispers as all the guys head out together.

"we uh.. we broke up this morning." i reply lowly, my eyes on jack as he takes off his shirt.

"why?! did he find out about the club?" she asks, a look of concern on her face.

"no, and i'm not going to be working at the club that often anymore anyways. i got what you could call a promotion." i tell her.

"rose.." she says cautiously. "please tell me that you're not a prostitute."

"no, no it's not that it's.." i begin, but i don't know what to call it. an escort? sugar baby?

"look, i don't know, but what i do know is that i'm getting money for my tuition." i finally say, the sound of a splash followed by laughter breaking the silence between jade and i.

"that guy sam, he looks familiar." jade notes. "i mean, they all look familiar, but him especially.."

"that's ex boyfriend sam." i answer, watching jade's eyes widen.

"that's him?!"

"ladies, y'all coming?" bryce shouts in the direction of the house.

"yeah!" we call back in sync.

"we have more to talk about." jade says, pointing a finger at me before we walk out into the backyard. we watch as jack flips off the roof into the pool, water splashing us all. jack resurfaces with a huge grin.

"that.. was fucking AWESOME."

i walk over to the overhang of bryce's garage, what we all use to get onto the roof. i watch as nate runs off and splashes into the pool, also resurfacing with a huge grin.

i take off and flip as well, feeling myself break through the water. i resurface and pull myself out of the water, my heart beating a thousand miles per minute.

"why don't we ever stop to think how dangerous this is?" jade asks, sitting on bryce's lap.

"i don't know." bryce shrugs. "i mean, i think we do know how dangerous it is and that's the rush of it all."

"the almost dying feeling?" sam butts in. "it's awesome."

jack comes over and slinks his arm around my waist. i watch as sam's jaw clenches, but i wasn't prepared for what was next.