Home is where the heart is

25. ISABELLE

She awoke not by a shake or a noise but instead with the knowledge that someone was watching her. Jumping out of bed, her arms up in a defensive position, she looked around wildly for her assailant.

Instead, she found Jace and Matt standing in the door way, Jace with his hands up in surrender and Matt with his mouth open.

“Didn’t mean to wake you,” Jace said softly, his face still guarded. “Just didn’t expect to find you of all people in my bed.”

“Any girl being in your bed is kind of a mind warp for me,” Matt quipped.

You of all people

It hit her hard those words, and in the little time they’d known each other, it shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did.

You of all people.

“Isabelle?”

She turned her attention back to Jace realising he must have been speaking to her.

“I’m sorry, what?” she asked.

“I asked if everything was OK,” he repeated.

Ah, the million dollar question. She couldn’t even be honest with herself about it, let alone Jace and his best friend.

“I’m fine,” she told him with a smile. “I’m sorry to just barge in like this, but I wanted to apologise to you about before.”

Matt took a step forward so he was effectively between them.

“What did you do?” his words were light but his eyes were hard as he stared at her.

She peered around him so she was right in Jace’s sight and she felt even more nervous, especially because they had an audience.

“A misunderstanding. Jace, I-”

“You need to leave,” he said calmly.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his. “I just…”

“No, not you,” he glanced over at Matt. “Go see Maia, will you? I’ll catch up with you later.”

Matt’s head flipped between the two of them before finally settling on Isabelle. He pegged her with a hard stare that clearly warned her off hurting his best friend and then with a big grin, smacked Jace on the arm.

“Don’t try and get out of having your arse kicked in COD. Be back soon.”

With a nod to Isabelle he shut the door behind him with a quiet snap.

Isabelle loosed a breath she didn’t realise she was holding and relaxed her stance a bit, inching a little closer to Jace, who made no move whatsoever.

“Jace,” she began, her voice shaking.

“Isabelle, it’s fine,” he replied without his usual warmth. “You don’t have to explain anything.”

Taking a leap of faith, she crossed the room so they were standing inches apart.

“I’ve got a lot of wires crossed inside of me,” she whispered. “It means I shut down a lot whenever anyone tries to get close. I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I don’t ever want to put that look on your face again, especially when you’ve been much kinder to me than I deserve. I just wanted to come over and say that I’m grateful I met you - and I hope I haven’t completely ruined any chance of us being friends.”

Jace kept his eyes on her face, searching for what felt like hours. He didn’t make any move to touch her, but his eyes were so intent she felt a flush all through her body, like his stare was caressing her. After what felt like an eternity, his smile broke into a casual grin, and the tension in the room dissipated.

“That was the prettiest apology I’ve ever received,” he told her. “Although, you didn’t need to apologise.”

Isabelle opened her mouth to tell him that she hadn’t apologised enough when he cut across her.

“We’re cool,” he said as he moved forward and slumped into his bean bag, gesturing for her to take the other. “Let’s just chalk it up to a bad day and move forward, OK?”

Isabelle smiled at him gratefully, easing herself into the second bean bag. “I had planned on making you some apology cookies but our kitchen isn’t fully functional yet.”

Jace handed her a game controller and then turned the TV onto some war game. “I do love a good cookie, but hot girl in my bed is easily just as good.”

She blushed, looking down at the controller in her hands so she wouldn’t have to meet his gaze.

“And just so you know, I won’t ever try to kiss you again, not unless you give me permission to.”

Isabelle stared over at him with wide eyes as a crushing disappointment slammed into her body. She opened her mouth to say something but found she had no words.

“Ready to kill some bitches?” he asked with a very platonic smile.

She smiled back and nodded, trying to ignore the stab of loss she felt in her gut.

*

Jace stayed true to his word. For the next few days he was nothing but causal and friendly with Isabelle as she spent the majority of her time hanging out with him, Maia and Matt.

There was no longer any longing in his eyes when he looked at her and he made no effort to kiss her or touch her in any kind of flirtatious way at all.

She hated herself for being so down about the lack of affection. This is what she had wanted and this is what she had forced him into. She had no right to be upset or disappointed. But she was.

As she looked over at his toned body, contorting as he jumped up to smack the volleyball over the net she felt such a strong sense of longing.

“Enjoying the view?” Maia asked teasingly.

Isabelle smiled and shrugged. “It’ll do.”

Maia settled her beach chair closer to Isabelle’s and then they both stared over at Jace and Matt playing beach volleyball with some guys.

“So, five days left of freedom and then it’s back to the torture of school life,” Maia sighed deeply.

“I’m a little bit excited, is that weird?” Isabelle asked, her eyes still tracking Jace.

“Yes, but luckily for you, your weirdness is part of your charm,” Maia replied with humour.

“I just want to get into a routine,” Isabelle explained. “I function better with routines.”

“Not me, I like the unpredictability of life. I love waking up each day and not knowing what I’ll be doing or where life might take me.”

Isabelle smiled over at her friend, and in the week they’d spent together she was sure of their friendship. It was something unexpected and, at times, a little unsettling but something she had come to treasure, something that she found herself looking forward to. Strange that in a short amount of time she felt more connected to Maia than the friends she’d grown up with, well except for…

“There’s another pool party at Ben’s tonight,” Maia told her. “Feel like coming?”

Isabelle groaned. “Am I going to get beaten in front of half the school again?”

Maia’s face darkened. “No, that won’t happen ever again.”

Isabelle felt her heart fluttering with nerves at even the thought of facing those people again, even though her bruises had now faded.

“I’m always going to be the new girl that got punched at a party,” she said quietly.

“Only if you refuse to move forward,” Maia pointed out. “Just come tonight and it will be like a do over. You know more people now so it won’t be as confronting, and this time you can let your hair down a little bit.”

Isabelle bit her lip as she felt torn about her choices. She did want to try and expand a bit and do more than just sit at home wallowing in her own self-pity… but she also wanted to try and avoid unwanted attention and she was absolutely sure that’s what this party would bring.

“Isabelle, I can’t believe I even have to sell this to you,” Maia stated in frustration.

“Beautiful house, no parents, good times, good people, hot guys half naked. Do I need to go on?”

Isabelle eyed Jace again; his body lean with muscles, a healthy tan on his skin. So beautiful, so alive - and so not hers.

“Jace will be there,” Maia told her with a smirk.

Isabelle rolled her eyes at Maia. “Like that is going to be my deciding factor.”

But it was and Maia knew it too.

“You let yourself believe whatever you need,” she told Isabelle smugly. “We both know you’re going tonight.”

Isabelle nudged her playfully and looked back over to find the boys heading towards them.

“Enjoying the game, babe?” Matt asked placing a kiss on Maia’s lips.

“There could have been more nakedness,” she said slyly. “But I guess it was still fun.”

Matt laughed and lifted Maia up, taking her place on the seat and settling her back on his lap, their lips meeting before they even hit the chair.

“So, did you win?” Isabelle asked Jace, trying to ignore the couple beside her.

Jace spun around, gesturing to his body. “Does it look like this was built to lose?”

No, his body looked built for a lot of things but losing was not one of them.

Isabelle shrugged at him instead. “Maybe.”

Jace grinned, plopping down on the sand next to her. “Have you eaten yet?”

In reply Isabelle’s stomach growled. She clutched at her bare stomach, her face ashen.

“Guess that would be a no?” Jace asked with a smile.

“I’ve been too busy working on a tan to eat,” she replied lightly.

He grinned. “Well, unless you were going for radioactive tomato, I suggest you give the sun a break for a bit and we go get some lunch.”

She was ready to tell him that she was fine but her damn traitor stomach sounded off again, making the decision for her.

“I guess I could eat,” she offered turning to Maia. “Maia, do you want to come get some lunch with us?”

Still tangled in Matt’s body, Maia made no move that she’d even heard.

“They won’t be due to come up for air for a while,” Jace informed her as he got to his feet and held his hand out to her.

With only a brief moment of hesitation, Isabelle allowed him to pull her to her feet. She slid her thongs on and pulled a light slip over her body so she didn’t feel so exposed and followed Jace away from the sand.

“So, what do you feel like?” he asked, as they put more and more distance between themselves and the beach.

“I’m good with anything.”

He winked. “That’s a dangerous thing to say.”

It was the first somewhat flirty thing he had said to her in days and the sheer pleasure of it had her blushing.

He laughed at her reaction and then let a silence settle between them as he moved to his Ute, opening the passenger door for her.

“I’m going to get sand everywhere,” she protested.

He gave her a light push forward. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’ll clean it tomorrow and if you still feel guilty by then, you can help.”