Trace of Innocence | Sweet and Sour (Book 4)

Chapter 82

(No Control | Holding Me Ransom - 82 - Everybody Wants You)

Her face drops and I feel a stab of sickness in my stomach.

"It's nothing, really," I mutter.

"What's nothing?" 

Oh God. Here goes.

"Someone made a pass at me, a while ago," I begin. She stares at me, her face completely straight. "An air hostess, called Megan. She tried to kiss me, and I literally had to lean back to get away from her. I set her straight immediately, but this morning she, uh..." 

I can't believe I'm having this conversation! I am literally squirming.

"She what?" Jess squeaks. She looks terrified, like she's waiting for some sort of infidelity bombshell again. I hate myself for provoking that reaction from her.

"She sent me a picture," I say in a rush. "Of herself. Um, sort of topless."

"What?" Jess barks.

"I didn't ask her to!" I protest. "It came out of nowhere! I haven't spoken to her in months! Look..."

I fumble in my pocket for my phone, unlocking the screen and scrolling to Megan's message. My hands are trembling as I turn the screen towards Jess but she holds her hand up to block it from her view.

"I don't want to see!" 

"I want you to," I plead, because I know there will always be that seed of doubt unless she sees the message thread for herself. "And I need you to see my reply to her, in case this ever comes back to bite me on the arse."

Reluctantly she lowers her hand and peers at the screen. Her face drops and her eyes widen. "What the fuck...?" 

"I'm sorry," I shrug helplessly. "Look at the other messages - I didn't encourage her, I swear! I told her I wasn't interested ages ago, and then suddenly, out of the blue, she sent me this!"

Her eyes flick over the screen, reading the messages. There are only a handful so it doesn't take long.

"When did you tell her you weren't interested?" she asks after a moment.

"Twice, last summer," I answer. "She tried to kiss me once but I managed to pull away in time, and then she caught me off guard a couple of weeks later and kissed me on a flight. I told her again it wasn't going to happen and I thought she'd got the message. She's a nice girl, she worked on the jet while we were touring the US, and came to a couple of shows. The other lads used to wind me up about her, saying she was into me. Once I realised they were right and she was, I set her straight. Or so I thought." I try to pack as much information as I can into this explanation, to show that I have absolutely nothing to hide.

"Why didn't you tell me about her sooner?"

"I'd forgotten all about it," I sigh. "You and I weren't even on speaking terms at the time. It was only when I got this picture that I thought I should probably mention it to you, but I wanted to talk to you in person and you were already on the plane on your way here. I was going to show you when you arrived, just to cover my back really. And as you can see, she hasn't replied to me since."

She exhales slowly, as though she has been holding a large breath. I give her a hesitant smile, which she returns.

"Are we OK?" I ask.

"Yeah, course we are," she sighs. "It would take more than a stupid topless picture to shake us. Even if I am fizzing inside at her sheer audacity."

Thank fuck. She trusts me, yet again.

"Thank you," I whisper into her hair as I take her in my arms. "I don't know where you find this depth of trust in me, but I can't explain how much it means to me. Everyone else has always run a mile."