Submission

Chapter 46

Lorelei regretted not picking up an overtime shift on Monday. She waited by her phone all day. She checked it every few minutes to see if she had missed it vibrating with a message from Jesse. Today he could see a judge and he may be released. Lorelei tried not to think of the possibility of him being sentenced to serve time.

If Lorelei was at work she would have been distracted. She would have been too busy with her patients. Her thoughts of Jesse would have only lingered in the back of her mind instead of consuming her completely.

She felt like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw his name pop up on her screen. She had a message.

Jesse: Are you home?

Lorelei: Yes

Jesse: Wait for me

A wide smile was plastered across Lorelei's face. He was out of jail and he was coming to see her at her apartment. Anger still remained that he punched someone, but she was so excited to hug him again. Her heart fluttering in her chest made her forget about the rage.

Lorelei thought that waiting by the phone all day was hard, but waiting by her door was torture. She paced around her apartment. When she could manage to sit, she would stare at the door. When she heard the knock, she ran toward the door and flung it open.

She almost gasped when she saw how rough Jesse looked. He had dark circles under his eyes. Stubble ran along his jaw from not being able to shave for a few days. His hair was a mess and he was in the suit he wore to Molly's wedding. He came straight to her before going home.

Lorelei's eyes watered when she saw him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Jesse sighed and she could feel the tension leave his muscles. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck.

"I'm so sorry," he mumbled.

Lorelei grabbed his hands, pulling them off of her as she took a step back. Lorelei gave him a small smile to try and ease him when she saw the hurt flash across his face.

"Let's sit down," she said.

Jesse nodded as he took a step into the apartment. He took off his jacket and threw it over the back of the couch before sitting down. Lorelei sat next to him. She was close, but she could sense that Jesse wanted to reach out and pull her across his lap like he normally did.

"We have to talk about what happened," Lorelei said.

"Who was that guy?" Jesse asked. "Some kind of ex or was he just a drunk and horny pervert?"

Lorelei bit down on her lip and this caused him to raise a brow.

"What are you hiding?" he asked.

"I'm not hiding anything," Lorelei said. "I just left some information out."

"Omitting information is the same as lying," he said. "A drunk Lorelei told me that. You were mad at me for not telling you about my relationship with Jody, but you hid a relationship from me?"

Jesse's eyes went wide.

"Oh my god," he said. "That wasn't the asshole who slept with your Mom, was it?"

"What? No." Lorelei shook her head. "Bryan and I were never a couple, just a few dates."

"And then you broke it off with him?"

"I kind of ghosted him."

"Seriously? That's kind of cold."

Lorelei looked down at her lap so that she no longer had to look at Jesse. She ran her fingers through her hair.

"I have done it to guys before, but he was so persistent," she said. "He kept calling me and texting me."

"He was calling you?" he asked.

Lorelei nodded.

"My phone battery didn't die in Montreal," she said. She was unsure if she should be telling Jesse this, but she knew that continuing to hide it would be worse. "Bryan would not stop texting me and I couldn't handle it. I turned my phone off."

Lorelei was fiddling her fingers on top of her lap. Jesse put his hand over hers. She had missed the roughness of his hands when he was tender. She looked up.

"You should have told me the truth," he said. "But I'm not mad."

"You aren't ?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"No, I'm not," he said.

"I love you," Lorelei said.

Jesse grabbed Lorelei's waist and pulled him onto his lap so that she was straddling him. Jesse let out a soft groan that sounded like he was in pain. She was about to ask about it, but he kissed her and it kept her silent.

Lorelei melted into Jesse's body as they kissed. She could usually distinguish between his tender and dominating kisses, but his mixture of both left her confused. She tried to not to think too much and just enjoy the feeling of being on top of Jesse.

His hands traveled underneath her shirt, and Lorelei grabbed his wrists and pulled back, ending the kiss. Jesse furrowed his brows together.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What happened to you?" she asked. "How come you're not in prison?"

"I got a conditional discharge," he said. "I was allowed to go but I have to go to mandatory anger management and do some community service."

"No time?"

"No time."

Lorelei ran her finger down his tie. Jesse's eyes watched her movements.

"Why didn't you change?" she asked.

"I wanted to see you right away," he said. "You're more important to me than a shower."

He laughed, but Lorelei raised her brows.

"How about me and a shower?" she asked.

"Sounds like a winning combination," he said. "I'm a lucky man."

"A lucky man wouldn't have mandatory anger management classes waiting for him."

Jesse pressed his lips into a line. His fingers curled tighter into his hip.

"You're still mad at me, aren't you?" he asked.

"Just a little bit." She winked and got up off of his lap. "Let's get in that shower."

--

Lorelei was braiding her wet hair in front of the mirror after showering with Jesse. They didn't have sex, but Jesse held her close while the water cascaded over them. Lorelei tried not to say anything when she saw the collection of bruises scattered across his torso. She knew the cops were going to be rough with him, but she wasn't prepared to see it. She had bit down on her lip and let her fingers trail across the dark marks.

Lorelei dragged her feet into her bedroom. Jesse was lying on his stomach in the mess of sheets. The room was dark and a sliver of light was coming through the heavy curtains. His eyes were closed and he was breathing rhythmically.

She stepped into her room and grabbed a T-shirt and underwear. She changed before sitting on the edge of the bed. Jesse stirred, but he did not wake.

Lorelei wanted to reach out and run her fingers through his hair; however, she did not want to wake him. She knew how bad his insomnia could be. Oftentimes when they would spend the night together, he would be awake before her or he would be awake when she would wake in the middle of the night. She predicted that he laid awake in that jail cell all night throughout the weekend.

"I love you," she whispered before getting off the bed and leaving the room.