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“Shut up!” Georgia snapped. “I’m sick of this!”
She pushed the door and as we stepped into the hallway, we were met by Jesse and Radleigh McCoy, both staring at us. We must have sounded seriously immature, bickering in the doorway about who was allowed in and who wasn’t.
The second Mischa’s eyes rested on Radleigh, she gave herself an instant mood makeover. Her scowl was replaced by her most flirtatious pose. Shoulders back, boobs forward and a look of extreme confidence in her eyes.
“And who do we have here?” she asked, pushing between Georgia and me to approach Radleigh. “Georgia, you didn’t tell me you had more gorgeous guests staying with you!”
She didn’t even acknowledge Jesse was there, let alone confess. Instead, she placed her hand on Radleigh’s arm and said, “I’m Mischa, Georgia’s best friend. And I really like older men.”
“Good for you,” Radleigh said, removing her hand from his bicep.
“Well,” Mischa went on, peering at him from underneath her eyelashes, “it could be good for you too, if you know what I mean.”
My jaw dropped.
Did she really just say that out loud?
“Oh, I know what you mean,” Radleigh said, leaning in to her ever so slightly. She grinned at his closeness, but it soon faded when he continued, “but I already have a woman, and even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be interested in a little girl like you.”
I forced myself to hold in a giggle as her face turned murderous. She’d probably never been shot down so brutally before and I was ecstatic that I’d witnessed the momentous event.
“What were you guys talking about before you came in here?” Jesse asked.
Mischa took several steps away from Radleigh, and turned to Georgia. “It was nothing,” she said, “Right, Georgia?”
Georgia nodded. “That’s right.”
One look in Georgia’s eyes told me that she’d had it with Mischa, and the second she breezed out of the door, Georgia let out a huge sigh. A second ago, I’d been suppressing laughter. The atmosphere changed when I realised what was about to happen. Before I could say anything, Georgia said, “Jesse, please can I talk to you in private?”
He glanced at me for a second. “Sure.”
Jesse turned and headed for the kitchen, Georgia following, leaving me in the hallway with Radleigh.
Awkward. I can’t really leave him standing here, but I don’t have much to say to a football player.
“Do you want to go through to the living room and sit down?” I asked. “I have to go and finish off some work for tomorrow. It’s the last day of college. But feel free to use the TV or whatever.”
“Thanks. But before you go, can I ask you something?”
I nodded apprehensively and tried not to look directly into his eyes. He was like Kaa, the snake from The Jungle Book. I thought if I looked into all that blue, he might hypnotise me.
“You like Jesse, right?” he asked.
“Yes.”
That part wasn’t a secret. Jesse had probably told him that much anyway.
“I don’t know you,” Radleigh said. “But I do know that Jesse deserves to have a girl who likes him for who he is, and not for what he can do for them. Whatever you two are fighting about, can you try to fix it? He’s already going through enough right now.”
When my mum had told me this very same thing, I was annoyed. It wasn’t like I didn’t know what Jesse was going through. I could see the worry and pain in his face, and it was the very reason I couldn’t be around him. When Radleigh said it, it felt different. Not because he was some football star, but because it came from the perspective of someone who really knew Jesse.
“I don’t want anything from him,” I said. “And I think my sister is trying to build some bridges with him at the moment. When she’s finished, I need to do the same.”
Radleigh smiled. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t need me to tell you any of that. But Jesse’s a good kid, and there hasn’t been much I can do for him since I’ve been here.”
“I don’t think that’s true. My family is doing everything we can, but what he needs is someone like you, someone from home who really understands how he feels.”
“I’m not so good with feelings.”
