Suze's POV

May

My heart was pounding in my chest. My hands were sweating on the steering wheel. And I kept peeking at the beautiful man sitting beside me.

Jesse made me nervous. Really nervous. It wasn't a bad nervous, either, like I thought he was going to have his wicked way with me. I didn't think he was the type of guy that would do that. Unlike some guys – ahem, Paul Slater. I was nervous because I wanted Jesse to have his wicked way with me, and that freaked me out. I didn't think I was ready for feelings like that, not so soon after everything with Paul. I mean, it hadn't even been a full year since the miscarriage and me catching him cheating.

The ride to the Mission Academy was an awkward one. I tried to keep my eyes on the road the entire ten minutes, though I kept looking at him. Of course, those ten minutes felt more like a million. I really hoped that Jesse couldn't tell how nervous I was.

I was surprised when I pulled into the parking lot and Jesse said, "I'm sorry." And he sounded very sincere, too. He really was sorry. For what, I didn't know.

I frowned at him, momentarily forgetting my discomfort. "For what?"

"I should not have fallen into my sister's trap. You're clearly uncomfortable." I guess he'd noticed.

"What trap?"

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "You've known her long enough, I'm sure, to realize that she has a very devious mind. It doesn't take long at all to see that. And she is not a forgetful woman."

I sighed. "I know. I don't know what she's up to. But it's okay, really. I don't know if Paul will show up or not, but I'm kind of glad that I won't have to deal with him on my own if he does. Adam and CeeCee, my two best friends from high school, will probably be here, but I don't know how long they'll stay. They have a baby boy at home, and he's only about a year old, so I doubt that they'll want to be here longer than an hour or so."

"Do you think Slater will show up today?"

I sighed again. "I don't know. Maybe. He doesn't really care about his classmates, but he might want to talk to me. And why do you call him by his last name?" I asked, curious. Ever since I'd told him about Paul, that was the only way he would refer to him. I had no idea why.

He grinned tightly. "I don't really like him, to be honest. From what you've told me, he is not a man that should be trusted or respected. I don't think very highly of him at the moment."

"Oh." I got out of the car. "Well, come on. I'll…introduce you to some of my old classmates."

I started to feel a little better and less awkward after he'd been introduced to Adam and CeeCee. CeeCee gave me a sly wink when she found out he was an ER doctor, which I ignored. I knew what she was thinking, but I wasn't getting into that conversation. I told them that Jesse was just a friend, which Adam seemed to take at face value. CeeCee knew better, though. And I knew I would be getting a phone call later, asking me what exactly was going on between me and the good doctor.

Not that I knew. I'd only talked to him a few times. It wasn't like we were dating. Or even friends, really.

Jesse asked them questions about their son, Charles. Then he gave a few tips about the teething stage, having gone through it all with Catarina. I was actually enjoying myself. Adam, of course, made a bunch of inappropriate comments. Jesse was very good-natured about it all, somewhat ignoring Adam's vulgarity.

Then Kelly Prescott arrived. We had never really gotten along in high school. She was one of the "it" girls, while I wasn't – even though I was our class vice president and she was the president. People just liked me because I was from New York originally. And Kelly hated me once I started dating Paul. She liked him, a lot. She even tried to steal him from me a few times.

Now I wished I'd let her.

"Suze? Is that you? Where's Paul?" she asked, with a fake smile plastered on her face. She hadn't even been here two minutes, and already she was plotting to seduce Paul. Wouldn't be hard. Seducing Paul, I mean. Apparently, he's not too picky.

I shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. We're not together anymore."

"Is that so?" she asked, trying and failing to hide a smirk. Then she caught sight of my companion. I swear she licked her lips. "And who is this hottie?"

Don't ask me what made me do what I did next. I don't really know. Except…the guy didn't deserve someone like Kelly hounding after him. His daughter didn't deserve it, either. And so I couldn't let her just dive in for the kill. There had to be a reason she was still single, after all. As far as I knew, she'd never had a relationship that lasted more than six months. Jesse didn't deserve that.

I didn't do it because I was starting to really like him or anything.

But anyway, I looped my arm through his and smiled sweetly at Kelly. "This is Jesse de Silva. He's my boyfriend."

Everybody stared at me, especially Jesse. But I couldn't turn back now. I just had to keep going and hope nothing backfired on me. Things usually did. Backfired on me, Imean.

"I thought you said –" Adam began, before CeeCee kicked his shin and told him to shut up.

"Susannah –"

"Suze, babe! There you are."

I groaned, feeling my stomach plummet. I guess I wasn't as over him as I thought I was.