His to Steal

Ch. 10: Confess

But I don't want to hurt his feelings, so I ignore the voice in my head that's gnawing at me to be honest with him. And myself.

He cocks his head to the side before looking back at the road, pulling into our parking garage. "Are you sure? I mean, we've never—that's never been a thing we've explored."

"Yeah, I mean, we've never explored that because we're like brother and sister. Why would we explore something like that? I mean, you see me as a kid, right? Like, I'm sure I get on your nerves." I laugh and rattle on. "God, I wish I had eaten more at dinner. I am really hungry now. I hope Greta got some good snacks when she went shoppi—"

Jason shifts the car into park and his fingers brush my jaw as he turns my face toward his. "Sutton, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, why would you think something's wrong?"

An amused smile quirks the corners of his lips. "Because you only ramble when you're anxious about something or feeling awkward and wanting to fill the silence. So either way, there's something up. So why don't you just tell me instead of doing this whole avoidance thing." I shake my head and reach for the door handle, and he leans over and places his hand over mine. "Sutton. Please."

His voice is softer now, almost pleading and my breath catches in my throat as I meet his eyes.

I sigh and rest my head back against the seat. "Nothing's wrong, Jason. I just—I don't really want to talk about what happened that day, that's all."

"But you said you weren't uncomfortable," he says, and confusion flashes over his face.

"I know, and I—I don't know if uncomfortable is the right word. You never make me uncomfortable. But it didn't exactly feel normal either. I mean, did it feel normal to you?"

He lifts one shoulder in a shrug and doesn't speak for a moment. When he does, his voice is just a breath that hardly fills the space between us. "No, but I thought—I thought that maybe one day, it could."

I shouldn't be shocked by his admission; the signs were there. Between Dominique's observations, what happened that day in my room and honestly, in the pool today, it should have been clear as fucking crystal.

But still, somehow, I am blindsided by the revelation that Jason could have feelings for me. The idea is still completely foreign, and I have no idea what to say or do right now.

"Say something, Sutton, please," he whispers, and I've never seen him look more vulnerable than he does right now.

I draw my bottom lip between my teeth and release it before taking a deep breath. "Jay, listen. You truly are one of my best friends and—"

Jason scoffs and shakes his head, moving back from me and reaching for his door handle. "All right, there's my answer. Friend zoned. Perfect."

"Hey!" I snap, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back to face me. "Don't do that. Let me finish."

His blue eyes land on me and his gaze is icy now, the warmth and vulnerability from just a minute earlier gone. "Why? So you can launch into your explanation of how I'm like your big brother and you could never think of me that way, but you'll always love me? Yeah, I think I'll pass."

He jerks his wrist from my grasp and throws open the door, climbing out of the car in one smooth movement.

I growl and fling open my door, scrambling out, much clumsier in my short bodycon dress and stilettos, but I get my bearings and jog after him.

"Jason! Stop!" He doesn't, just keeps striding toward the door, and I am struggling in my four-inch heels to keep up. "Jason Cornelius Kincaid, come back here right now!" I bark, and he whirls around.