All Signs Point to You Part Two, Navaura Campbell [best novels for students .txt] 📗

want to talk about Denise, right now." Jordan stated, setting his fork down.

"I bet you don't. As a matter of fact, you barely talk about what happened with her and why the two of you broke up. I'm your mother and I've always thought we were close, but the one thing you won't share with me is what matters the most."

Jordan pushed his chair out from under the table, stood up and stared at his mother, his green eyes hard. "She didn't want anything to do with me. She said that I wanted to use her for sex, and because of that, she broke up with me."

"I didn't know you were having sex." His mother stared, quite stunned.

"We weren't." His cheeks were flushed, embarrassed at having to tell his mother something like this.

"Oh, wow." His mother was confused. They weren't having sex, yet she accused him of using her for that purpose? Mrs. Williams thought this ironic. "Did you tell her other wise?"

Jordan grabbed his bag, "Yeah, it was pretty obvious mom. I told her, even tried to convince her that I really do love her and she just said no. She said she needed time to figure out what was going on in her life." He proceeded to leave, but then turned back when he reached the side door. Dropping his bag, he pleaded for an answer from his mother, "Why did she do that? I love that girl so much, that sometimes it hurts to breathe and although Sebrea's a really sweet girl and totally my type, I can't stop thinking about Denise. Why won't it just go away?"

"Maybe you should give it another try? Alot of times when girls see other girls with a guy that they have feelings for, they come around because they know when they had a good thing."

"I don't want to try mom." Jordan's tone was flat.

"Why not?"

"Because she told me some things that really hurt. She said she hated me because I made her have feelings. How can you hate someone for making you feel? She's got too much drama for my taste." His tone was sour.

"Sometimes in order to get to the real heart, you have to peel back all of the cob webs. She's obviously been hurt. Whether it's been love or something else, she's afraid."

"There's a lot of things she told me about that gives substance to why she's the way she is."

"Offer to help."

"I already did. She said no."

"Then wait till she's ready."

Jordan sighed, "I don't want to do that. She is not going to dangle me like some damn object on a string." His tone sound frustrated.

Mrs. Williams sighed, "Alright then, stay miserable Jordan. But, I'm telling you, you need to tell Sebrea what's going on with you and her, because if you don't, you could really end up hurting her."

Jordan shrugged, "It's just casual dating, nothing serious."

"Does she know that you're using her to get rid of your feelings for Denise?"

"Don't say that."

Mrs. Williams laughed, "No. I will to say it, because you know it's the truth. You are in love and don't want to clean up the junk that's in the way. You would rather mislead a good woman. It's men with your mind set that breaks hearts. Instead of confronting the issue, you move on. That's not helping matters any."

Jordan sighed, exasperated, knowing that she spoke the truth. Walking away from the kitchen, he felt as if he didn't need to hear this right now.

Denise pushed the covers off of her body and got up. She couldn't sleep, wouldn't sleep until she did something about this. She'd tried to talk herself into waiting till later that morning at school, but after four hours of no sleep, she needed to see him. It was like once she got something in her head, she couldn't, wouldn't rest until it was done. Inhaling sharply, she walked over to her closet and withdrew a pair of pants, purple sweater and a coat to cover up in once out doors. She pulled on the pants, jacket and sweater and then went to her dresser, where she grabbed a pair of thermal socks and boots that rested on the floor next to the amoire. Sighing, she sat down on the bed and put on the rest of the items.

Jordan flipped over on his back. This was what life had become for him now. Every night, he had to will himself to get his mind clear and focus on sleeping. He groaned, hating to be this way. It was so out of his nature. He was such a happy guy, always being able to bounce back from anything, but not this, this was driving him crazy. Night and day, day and night, it was all the same. He got tired of thinking about her, loosing sleep over the idea that she was with a guy who was supposed to be gay. He sighed, if anyone could turn a gay guy straight, Denise could.

One sway of her hips, or a gaze into those large brown eyes and puddy would be the result of any guy she came across. He couldn't stop wondering how long they'd been together. Had it been since before they'd broken up? Had it been right after? He didn't know, he just knew the image of her hugging Quinn made his stomach turn. He groaned as he saw the adoration in her eyes once more as he remembered this. That was the same look she'd given him on a daily basis. He'd always thought he made her happy. He'd always thought he was the one she looked forward to seeing at the end of the day.

Letting out an agonizing cry, Jordan groaned into his pillow and then fed up, threw it out across the large room. He exhaled sharply and then relaxed into his sheets, counting sheep.

Denise climbed the tree outside his window. She knew that trying the door bell would risk waking his mother, and that she didn't want to happen. Inhaling the cold, she breathed deeply, and then exhaled. Leaning on a branch, she knocked on the window.

Jordan ignored the tapping against his window. He dismissed it as the howling winds. Sighing, he tried to settle back into his comfort zone, but the tapping on the window increased. Finally after several raps, he sat up in bed. At first, the shadow across his window scared him, but then he was able to make out a hand. Squinting, he wondered who would be knocking this late. His gaze flickered to the clock on the night stand. It read one thirty that morning. Sighing, he went to the window and pulled it up. Just as he did this, the figure jumped out at him and he stood there shocked, motionless.

Denise lost her footing on the window sill due to the small streak of ice that had coated itself there and stumbled inside. As she slipped forward, she saw the color drain from Jordan's face as she was sent careening into him, knocking both of them to the floor. A small scream leaped from her throat as she did this.

Jordan gasped loudly, feeling the stiff coldness of the outside jacket as the figure and he crashed to the ground. A sort of squeal was let out as she landed on top of him. His mind halted right there. A she? The fear leaving him immediately, he pulled the cap away from her face and the words were stuck in his throat. He had to be dreaming, right?

Denise stared, her brown eyes a little blurry from adjusting to the warmth of the room temperature compared to the blistering cold outside. She stared into shocked green pupils, unsure of what to do, what to say or how to even start. She'd almost forgotten the full force of his piercing gaze over the past three months. A jump start of the heart, reminded her of the weakness she felt when ever looking into them and suddenly a shadow of queasiness entered her stomach.

Jordan don't know where he got the strength to push her off, but he did. He shoved her off of him and onto the floor. Standing up, he leaned down and helped her up. She took his hand, hers freezing, trembling. He rubbed them together, and then went to the hallway closet next to his bathroom. Grabbing a blanket, he brought it in to her. Her jacket had been removed and was now draped over the chair sitting at his desk. He put the blanket around her shoulders, not really saying much. After a minute, when the chattering stopped and she began to thaw out, Jordan sighed, "What do you want Denise? Why are you here?" His tone sounded more raw than he intended, causing her to cringe. He ignored the instinct to soften his voice. Instead, he waited for her to answer.

Chapter Thirty Five: Talking

Denise was at a lost for words. Exactly where was she supposed to start? How was she supposed to tell him that she loved him and wanted to be with him, and realize that she made a mistake? Inhaling sharply, she closed her eyes and counted to ten before exhaling and then opening her eyes to stare into his probing ones. Pulling the blanket around her shoulders, she held it tightly to her.

"I wanted to talk about us." Her gaze was running over the red and blue quilted pattern.

Jordan narrowed his eyes, "Talk about us?" His voice questioning.

"Yes."

He cleared his throat and stated, "There is no us."

Denise glanced up at him from the blanket. "I know you still love me Jordan."

He licked his lips, "That's not enough for you Denise." His tone was a bit nipped. She disagreed. "Yes it is."

He looked her in the eyes, "Since when?"

"Since we first became an us."

This made him laugh. "Damn, that's weird, because I remember you saying a lot of awful things to me when we were together that night, Denise. Or don't you remember? You said you hated me. You didn't want to be with me. I was using you and you said that you weren't going to be used, remember?"

Denise swallowed, "I was being irrational."

"How long did it take you to figure this one out?" His tone was harsh.

Denise had no answer for that. She just chewed on her bottom lip. Immediately his attention was drawn to the bottom lip and he watched for a few seconds then said, "Stop doing that."

Surprised, she was brought back into this world. "What?"

"Stop chewing on your lip. You're biting the skin off and that's gross."

Her mouth ceased it's movement. He sighed, "Look, Denise, I do love you, but I'm seeing someone else."

Her head shot back up and she peered into his eyes. They were unreadable. "If you love me, why won't you be with me?"

Jordan gave a halfhearted smile and grabbed her chin, "Because she is a good woman. I'm not going to hurt her for you. I love you, but I'm with her."

Denise stared at him confused. "Jordan, that doesn't make any since."

Jordan swallowed, "I want to be with Sebrea, Denise. I want to try to work things out with her." Denise's heart fell to the floor and she felt a heaviness descend upon her. She shook her head, "No. That's not right. You can't love one woman and be with another, it's crazy."

Jordan shrugged his shoulders, "It's not fair to break up with her for a girl who claims she loves me, but haven't spoken to me in a month. It's not fair to let her go for a girl who was only driven to me out of Jealousy. Denise..." He exhaled, "I don't want your jealousy. I love you but I'm not stupid. If I break up with Sebrea for you, you'll leave again. You'll continue to do so, till you just decide you're done with me and that's not a chance I'm willing to take."

Wide eyed,