No Strings Attached [JJ Maybank - OBX]

4: Clueless

Rosie

"So what's happening with you guys anyway?" I asked Kiara as I helped stack some clean glasses back onto the racks. I was giving her a hand at The Wreck 'cause they had a few large tables booked, and alongside the usual Friday night madness, they were in for a hectic night. She shrugged at me. "I dunno...nothing I guess?...I kind of get the impression that maybe it was a caught-in-the-moment type thing anyway?" She paused whilst setting the biggest table and counting she had all the right cutlery. I raised an eyebrow at her, not convinced.

"Kie the boy confessed his love to you, and now you guys are acting like that never happened? You can't just turn off feelings like that." I stated. She sighed heavily and fiddled around with the napkins. "I mean, our best friend has just disappeared and we've had no sign of his boat or anything...so maybe Pope's just stressed out about that and can't deal with too much pressure at once...he is having a rerun of his scholarship interview as well next week...maybe I'm just not the forefront of his mind right now...?" I laughed slightly at Kie's argument. Who was she trying to convince, herself or me?

"Kiara, let's be honest...Pope might be the brains of the group but when it comes to girls he's clueless. Hell, it took him long enough to confess his feelings to you. I think you need to take control of the situation...you need to make the first move." I argued whilst pulling myself up onto the counter top whilst Kie was writing something onto the chalk board.

"You mean like how you made the first move on JJ?"

"What?!" I snapped, almost a little too quickly.

"Come on Rosie it's obvious...I mean I always knew the guy was into you but he can hardly hide the stupid smile on his face when he sees you, don't think I haven't noticed the way he finds any excuse to touch you, or sit next to you, or bring you up in conversation-"

"There's nothing happening with me and JJ." I could feel my ears burning and I tried to avoid eye contact with Kie, knowing that she'd know full well that I wasn't telling the truth. "He's just..." I was cut off by the arrival of Kiara's dad. Saved by the bell you might say. "Hey Mister C - you're all set for tonight?" I smiled warmly, jumping off the counter to my feet.

He pulled me in for a hug as he spoke "hey Rosie, thanks for lending Kiara a hand. We're gonna have sore feet tomorrow!"

I could feel Kie's eyes staring at me as if she was trying to read my thoughts. I felt my phone buzz and pulled it out of my pocket. It was as if JJ was telepathic and could sense us talking about him.

A message popped up on my screen 'your place in 10 ;)'

I tried to hide my smile as Kie made her way back over to me having spoken with her dad.

"Rosie, you do know-"

"Sorry babe, gotta run...apparently the alarm is going off at the shop." I smiled innocently, pulling her in for a hug as I saw her eyes roll.

"You're a terrible liar." I heard her mumble to me. I laughed and waved my goodbyes as I swung my backpack over my shoulder. "Say hi to JJ from me." Kie shouted after me. I shook my head and gave her the bird, both of us laughing at each other as I left.

                                                                             *

When I arrived home JJ was already in the living room, pizza and beers laid out on the coffee table. "Ah you babe, I knew you were good for something", I teased as I dropped my bag to the floor upon entering.

He looked up from the sofa and smirked, immediately getting to his feet as I hurried over to him. See we had a deal, we could text each other, night or day, demanding to meet up and ya know...