Where the heart lies

Chapter 6

The sun was setting and the fire pit was blazing, giving us the perfect summer vibe. We were all still in our swimsuits sitting around the fire laughing, talking and playing games. I had beaten everyone in Jenga three times and got a swift throw in the pool when Chris and Jeremiah couldn't take my bragging about it. Lily had grabbed some glow sticks and threw them in the pool, giving the night a fun club atmosphere, before putting on the twinkling lights outside.

We were all lost in each other and the fun that we hadn't noticed Jesse was still there. He had gone inside the house after the initial reunion and hadn't been seen since. Lily hadn't mentioned him the rest of the night other than that he was staying a few days this time.

"Let's play spin the bottle," Chris announced with a big smile on his face, begging for us to say yes. I looked over at Lily who was smirking back, waiting for me to answer. Jeremiah looked at me awaiting my answer too. The words trapped on my tongue, the pressure from everyone's eyes drilling into me making my mouth dry. I wanted nothing more than to kiss Jeremiah but did I want to kiss him while playing a game? Did I want to potentially kiss his best friend - my best friend's boyfriend?

"Okay," I shrugged, caving to the pressure. I made my way into the house to find us the perfect bottle to spin, shocked to find Jesse sitting on the couch, a book in his hand, his arm draped across the back. From the angle you could see the definition in his forearms and the black ink peeking out from the top of his sleeve. Failing to keep quiet, he turned around and our eyes met. His gorgeous blues - like the ocean, crystal blue and sparkling. I could get lost staring into them. His eyes screamed confidence, cockiness. I could tell just from the one look that all he had to do was look at a girl and she would fall at his feet but there was something else. Something hidden deep. They were filled with so much pain, so much loss.

He was lost.

"Hey." Jesse shot me a smile and my heart skipped a beat at his deep manly voice and sparkling teeth. Returning his smile I turned to hide my blushing face and continued my search for the bottle, "Hey."

"What are you doing?" I made eye contact with him, seeing it as an invitation he got up from the couch to come over where I was. Jesse sat at the island watching me rummage through the cabinets.

"We're going to play spin the bottle so I'm looking for the right kind of bottle."

I felt almost embarrassed. Jesse was twenty-two and I was there talking about playing spin the bottle on my birthday. How childish! I looked up at his sculpted face, his fingers rubbing over his brown stubble on his cheeks. A shiver shot down my spine at the sight. Jesse smiled at me like he could tell what he was doing to my body.

"That's cool." He made his way over to me. Inches away from my face, he bent down, our noses almost touching, "But you know if you really want to kiss someone, you shouldn't need a game to do it." My breath hitched,my heart pounding a million miles a second. Jesse smirked, straightening his back he handed me a bottle that he grabbed from behind me. How the hell did I miss that? Was I so distracted by him that I missed the empty wine bottle placed right in front of my face on the counter?

Yup!

I took the bottle from his hand and looked up at him again through my lashes. Whoa. Stunning wasn't even the word to describe the man who stood before me. Crystal blue glistening eyes, his perfect square jawline coated in three days worth of stubble. Light brown hair, -only enhancing his gorgeous eyes more - tattoos covering his entire left arm and peeking out of his shirt on his right arm and through his white t-shirt I could see what looked like perfectly sculpted abs. I felt a warm sensation in my stomach and between my legs. I jumped at the sound of someone opening the door, looking over my shoulder I saw Lily. "Why are you bothering her?" Just then the haze of arousal left me and I started to think clearly.