Free Sidelined by Kyra Lennon Page B

friend.”
    “Right, but I didn't realise you were so close.”
    “Well, it's only been since he's been off work. I've had more time than anyone else to go visit him.” I shrugged. “He's easy to talk to.”
    Even as I said the words, they sounded false. Jesse meant more to me every time I saw him, every time he allowed me to be myself without questioning my every move. He’d been my lifeline in a way, and he probably didn’t even realise. And it wasn’t just him. I loved his parents and his sister, too. The Shaws had become the family I’d never really had. I’d started to suffocate and Jesse gave me a place where I could breathe.
    “Bree,” Taylor said, gently. More gentle than she’d ever sounded before. “You don’t think I understand? Hello, I dated Jesse! If anyone can understand someone falling for him, it’s me.”
    You didn’t fall for him. You used him.
    “Oh, I hear what you’re thinking,” she went on. “In spite of what happened, I did care about him. And why wouldn’t you be into him? He’s hot, he’s close to your age, he’s-”
    “He’s a little young, actually. I mean, God, he’s still a teenager.” The idiocy of my recent thought patterns slammed into me and I shook my head. “Forget it, Taylor. It’s nothing.”
    She reached for my hand again. “Don’t shut down on me now. You’ve already told me everything about you and Jude. Might as well keep going.”
    When she smiled, I almost forgot the bad stuff about her. Almost.
    “It’s not a big deal. I mean, yeah, I like Jesse. I guess I more than like him, but I don’t wanna… I love Jude.”
    Taylor’s eyes widened as if challenging me. “The truth, please.”
    “That is the truth. Jesse’s great. We like a lot of the same things and we have fun together. But he’s got a girlfriend and I have a husband. So anything I feel doesn’t even matter.”
    Taylor opened her mouth but her eyes fell on something or someone over my shoulder and the words never came out. I turned, and my stomach jolted as Will and Miguel entered. They spotted us within seconds but instead of walking over to march me away, they nodded their heads in my direction then went over to the bar.
    Weird. Their dark expressions showed they weren’t happy to see me with the enemy but they said nothing.
    As I turned back to Taylor, the stunned look slowly left her face. “You wanna go somewhere else?”
    I shook my head. “I’m good here.”
    She shrugged. “Okay. So… what about Jesse’s girlfriend? She can’t possibly be any competition for you. You’re gorgeous.”
    “Actually, she looks adorable. I haven’t met her yet, nobody has. She lives in England, and-”
    “Well that’s never going to work out! Bree, you’d be so much happier with Jesse, and he’d be happier with a girlfriend who lives in the same country as him. You know,” she paused and looked down coyly, a blush colouring her cheeks, “when I dated Jesse, he hated us being apart. He said he didn’t understand people who do the long distance thing. He prefers to be close.”
    I remembered. With Taylor, he was an amazing boyfriend. He took care of her and he wanted to be by her side, and for her to be part of everything he did. Not in a smothering way, in a romantic, can’t-imagine-being-with-anyone-else kind of way.
    “I guess he’s changed,” I said, breaking free from my thoughts. “He’s in love with Isabelle.”
    “Isabelle.” Taylor rolled her eyes, straightening up and tilting her head backwards, her nose in the air. Adopting a fake British accent she said, “She sounds absolutely tedious, darling. Nothing more than a passing infatuation.”
    I laughed out loud. Taylor’s accent was dreadful, but it had the desired effect. Making me forget my problems for a while. She grinned at me. “I’m just saying, don’t let some random chick from miles away stop you going after what you want. Jude’s making you miserable so why not consider your options?”
    I had