Irresistible ► Xavier Woods

Chapter Twenty-Three

It had been a few days since Jessie and Austin had spoken. Neither of them wanted to admit they were wrong, and as Cheyenne had frequently reminded Jessie, she had done nothing to be in the wrong. It was all Austin's fault, she'd said.

Jessie was beginning to crack, though. She had gone most of her life having never talked to him before, but now that he was part of her life, she wanted to talk to him every day. She was happier having met him, and she always found herself smiling and laughing whenever they spoke. Sure, she wanted him to admit that he was wrong, but even more, she just wanted to hear his voice.

So, when she was sure Cheyenne was in class (and, therefore, couldn't stop her), she pulled out her phone and called him.

He answered on the first ring.

"Hey." He sounded relieved.

"Hi."

It was silent for a few seconds. Neither of them seemed to know what to say.

"Can we talk?" She asked.

"Yeah, absolutely," He replied. "I've been thinking of calling you all day, but I just couldn't."

"Why couldn't you?"

"Kofi and E told me I should wait a little bit, for you to calm down," He replied. "Which, I get why you got upset, but I just didn't think we could have an actual conversation if you were still mad."

"Cheyenne has been trying to convince me to stay mad about all this, but I've been thinking about it, and I don't really have anything to be mad about," She admitted. "You just wanted to hear both sides of this story, and I freaked out for no reason."

"I just sort of let you get mad," He said. "I didn't do a very good job of convincing you otherwise."

"No, this is 100% my fault," Jessie said. "So, I'm sorry. I'm just a sucky person who gets mad really easily."

"You are not a sucky person," He argued.

"Yes, I am. I suck."

He was silent for a moment, then said, "Do you want to know why I went out with you that first time? I know I didn't technically ask you on the date, but do you know why I actually went through with it?"

"Why?"

"Because you are honestly one of the greatest people I have ever met," He told her. She knew he couldn't see her, but she felt her face start heating up. "I loved every second that I was with you, or whenever I just got to talk to you. But we'd never been alone together, just the two of us, without a camera filming everything."

"Yeah," She said, softly. It was all her brain could come up with.

"I'd only gotten to know a little bit of you, but I wanted to know all of you," Austin continued. "And after that date, it felt like I had. I felt like I had to make you mine, even if I get scared of calling you when you're mad. It's been a couple of months now, but every time I hear your voice, I'm honestly still shocked that you agreed to be my girlfriend."

"Hey, don't talk bad about yourself," She told him, frowning. "You're amazing. You're, like, the coolest guy I know."

"You've met Triple H, but okay, sure, I'm the coolest guy you know."

"I'm not dating Triple H, am I?"

"I guess not..."

"I've met Triple H. I don't know him," She explained. "I know you, and you're the coolest guy I know."

"I have to get going soon, but can we talk about something else real quick?" He asked, and it sounded like he was getting serious again.

"Yeah, sure," She replied. "Is something wrong?"