Author's note: Part 2 is ripe with drama. To those who are breathlessly waiting for Killian and Jack to realize their true feelings...hang in there. No coming-of-age story can escape without some heartbreak along the way. More chapters to come. Enjoy!
PART 2 -- Home for the Summer
TUESDAY
Jack
Jack hadn't felt great about the whole Bailey situation. Bailey, the Tinder girl Killian had found for him. He felt even worse when he'd gone to pick her up and met her roommate Clara. He felt doubly worse when he'd managed to get Clara's number while he was waiting for Bailey to finish getting ready. It was a dick move. He wouldn't be interested in himself if he were a girl.
But he just couldn't help it when he saw Clara...
She'd answered the door when he knocked, and he did a double take. Petite, blonde, blue eyes. His first thought was that Killian was there for some reason. Upon closer examination, he noted several differences. She was about a head shorter than him but still a bit taller than Killian. Her blonde hair fell to the middle of her back, but it had more red hues than Killian's. Where Killian's eyes were pale blue, Clara's were bright blue. There were plenty of differences, he told himself. But when she had turned around to show him inside, she'd given him a very clear view of a beautifully round ass that the cutoff jean shorts she wore didn't fully cover.
Clara was hot. Really hot. And he just couldn't help himself. In the 30 seconds he'd seen her, he was far more interested than he had been with Bailey.
Against his better judgement, he texted Clara Monday morning. He was half-surprised she'd even answered. But she had. And somehow, he'd found himself making plans to see her.
He'd asked her to go see a movie. The night ended with her in his lap while they made out in the car.
And that's how Jack found himself discretely texting Clara over lunch that day while he sat with Killian. Not that Killian was putting any effort into talking to him. She was pretending to be much more focused on studying for bio than he knew she really was. He didn't know what to say to her either. It was like they simply shared the table out of habit.
J>C: Hey you
J>C: You've been on my mind
C>J: Likewise
C>J: Last night was fun
J>C: Can I see you again?
C>J: Definitely
C>J: You free tonight?
J>C: Yes. What do you have in mind?
C>J: Bailey will be gone tonight.. I was thinking you could come over and we can pick up where we left off last night
J>C: Sounds great. I'll come over after class.
"You been talking to that girl?" The sound of Killian's voice brought him back to the present.
"Oh," Jack hesitated, "yeah, a bit."
"Gonna see her again?"
"Yeah."
"Nice."
And that was the end of the conversation.
Killian
Trying to clear her head a bit, Killian put her hair up and decided what she needed was a nice long run. Go torture herself in the heat until she couldn't breathe. That ought to do the trick.
Killian decided to stop by Jack's on the way home after her run. They hadn't spoken beyond the brief exchanges at school, so maybe they just needed to spend some time together to break the ice. She leapt up the front steps to his house and rang the doorbell.
A muscular, twenty-some year-old, blond-haired guy opened it and looked down at Killian. He looked a little surprised to see her, and then grinned and said, "Sup, lil sis?"
Jack's stepbrother, Logan.
"Don't call me that," said Killian automatically. He had always called her that. It had always bugged the hell out of her. "Is Jack home?"
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow. "How about, 'hey, Logan, welcome home. How was college? Good to see you.'"
Killian rolled her eyes, and repeated, "Is Jack home?"
"Sorry, sweetheart, he's not."
"Oh, okay." She paused, and then said, "Hey, Logan, welcome home. How was college? Good to see you."
"Thanks, kid. It's good to see you too."
Killian hated it when he called her 'kid' even more than when he called her 'lil sis.'
"Are you back for the summer?"
"Sure am."
"Cool. See you around then." Killian waved and trotted off back home.
It's not that Killian didn't like Logan. She did. He was cool. Too cool for her. Loved being social. Partying. That sort of thing. Things that Killian didn't really care for. But he was part of Jack's family and had always been as good to her as any of them. The only real problem she had with him was the 'kid' thing. That needed to stop.
WEDNESDAY
Killian
Another lame day at school. Another day pretending things between her and Jack weren't so awkward it was literally painful. Killian walked over to Jack's and rang the doorbell.
"He's not home," said Logan, answering the door.
"Really?" asked Killian, a little surprised.
"Really."
"Oh, okay. Sorry."
"You want to come in?" he offered.
"I, uh," she hesitated, not wanting to be rude, and finally said, "sure. For a minute."
Killian followed him to the kitchen and took a seat at the counter. She glanced at the open laptop on the counter; there was colored text against a black background and not all the words came from a dictionary she recognized. He popped the top off a beer and put it down in front of her before taking a seat next to her.
"What's that?" she asked, nodding at the laptop.
"School project." He closed it and pushed it out of the way.
"In the summer?"
He nodded. "It's a big one."
"I didn't know your computer--whatever you do...code thing is pretty."
"I do write very pretty code." He looked amused. "But I have a feeling you were referring to the color scheme."
"Yeah," she nodded. "I don't know how the other stuff can be pretty, but I'll take your word for it." She took a sip of beer. "Do you know where Jack is?"
"To be honest, I assumed he was with you. But I'm starting to get the feeling you've seen less of him than I have."
"Guess so," Killian muttered, staring at the condensation collecting on the bottle in front of her.
"Is he dating someone these days?"
Killian arched a brow. "Jack rarely
dates
."
"You know what I mean."
"If you're asking if he's off with a girl, I'm sure the answer is yes."
"You know who this new girl is?"