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If she was being honest with herself, Raina didn’t know how to deal with everything happening. Jesse was obviously affected, his fake smile collapsing every time he walked out of the camera’s view. Not only was he much closer to Theo, he was also struggling with the internal guilt of accidentally outing his cousin. And right now, Raina didn’t want him to lean on her. She wanted him to talk to Theo, which both boys needed in order to sleep that night.
“Rai,” Jesse called as she took the first step away from him.
Raina tilted her head, taking comfort in how his eyes softened when they met hers. “Yes?”
“Thank you. For being there for me.”
“Always.”
* * *
Hands shoved in his pockets, Jesse used his elbow to open the common room door. His already dejected mood only worsened when he was greeted with most of his friends sitting solemnly in chairs by the fireplace. Jesse bit his lip, somehow already knowing what they were going to say.
“We didn’t make it,” Gracie forced out, as if the words pained her. “We got a little over twelve thousand dollars, which is amazing, but not enough to save the hotel.”
Jesse set the bags of camera equipment on the floor, curling his hands into fists. He had known what Gracie would say, yet hearing it out loud made it sound so much worse. “Raina doesn’t know yet?”
“I’m going to go find her in a minute,” Gracie replied. “Unless you want to tell her?”
“It might be better coming from you. We were together but…she seemed like she needed a moment alone. If you want to find her, she was heading to her kitchen.”
“Thanks.”
Jesse was still stuck on the fact they hadn’t reached their goal. “Don’t we have another week or so to come up with the rest of the money?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Dean spoke up. “I looked into it, but long story short, the longer the hotel takes to come up with the money, the more money they have to pay. So if we wait another two weeks, we’ll need five thousand extra. Whatever the repair is, it’s needed fast. I doubt Raina even knows; I assume she only glanced at the deadlines. I only know because I asked Cousin Marley. You know, the lawyer. She was able to dig into the hotel. Ashcroft family influence and all that.”
“Fuck.” Jesse thrust a hand through his hair. “Nicole, could you talk to your dad?”
“My dad won’t answer my calls,” Nicole scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “There’s no way I’ll be able to change his mind.”
Jesse nodded, disappointment ricocheting through his entire body. He took a closer look at his friends, noticing the stress and sadness on their faces. Turning to the one person who hadn’t said a word, Jesse cleared his throat. “Theo, can we talk?”
“You can go up to the dorm,” Dean offered.
Jesse hurried up the steps, not waiting to see if Theo would follow. Quiet footsteps sounded behind him when Theo did.
“Are you okay?” he blurted out as soon the two boys entered the dorm room.
“Am I okay?” Theo repeated, surprise clear on his face.
“Yes…should I not have asked that?”
“No, you can. I just expected you to ask...other questions.”
Jesse frowned. “What did you expect me to ask? ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Who else knows?’”
“Pretty much,” Theo admitted, his cheeks flushed.
Jesse couldn’t help himself; he laughed. “Theo, anyone who knows you knows you’re a private person. You have no problem talking about random shit, but when it comes to personal stuff, you’re as sealed as my fingers were when I super glued them together trying to prank Dean.”
“You haven’t done any pranks in a while.”
“That’s because I’ve been busy with Rain—” Jesse began before he realized what his cousin was trying to do. “Hey! No changing the topic.”
Theo sighed heavily, sitting down on his bed. He crossed and uncrossed his legs before answering. “Dean, Nicole, and Gracie know.”
“I figured. If you were going to tell anyone, you were going to tell Dean or Nicole. You wouldn’t tell Gracie, but she’d find out herself and let you know she was okay with it.”
