Chapter 16: BBQ and drama 2 (Jasmine, Jason, and Chloe)

Sorry for the delay guys, some stuff came up.

(Pov Jasmine)

Jasmine laughed at the joke Ms. Maison had just told, possibly with too much mirth. But how could she not? She had just had the best opportunity of the year handed to her on a silver platter. And better yet, one that, if handled correctly, was supremely useful. Of course, she would help her future sister when she needed a hand. That was simply the right thing to do.

Now, if that deal also put Chloe in a slight amount of debt to her, well, that was just the way things were. It wouldn't be something too bad, though it might not be entirely legal. After all, what was a little light corporate espionage between friends? It might only have to be his schedule after all, maybe a few inconsequential computer files. She wouldn't leave her hanging, of course; if anything happened, Jasmine would help her. She had standards after all.

She would have to work the girl, at least a little. But eventually both she and Jason had to be brought up to speed on, well, everything. That could wait though. Chloe would need to be properly invested? No, that was the wrong word; she was certainly invested, there was no doubt about that. Embedded perhaps. Yes, it could happen once the girl was properly embedded in her relationship. Or when the issue was forced.

Glancing out the window, she saw Chloe walking towards the barn, tying her blouse to show off her midriff. Pulling her hair into a high ponytail. At least she was going to go for it. That was good; she seemed to be heeding the advice at least. Still, she knew exactly how Jason was going to react to this, or at least part of it. A problem was best solved if you could get out in front of it, so she might as well give Chloe one more piece of help.

She fished out her phone, typing a quick message as Samantha said something to Ms. Maison. And as she saw Chloe enter the barn Jason had walked into just a few minutes earlier, she hit send.

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(Pov Jason)

For some god-awful reason, his dad had never gotten around to organizing the storage area they had set off inside the barn closest to the house. Sure, it mostly acted as a garage for the cars, and sometimes the tractor. But a substantial part of it was storage space, at least nowadays.

However, now that was his problem. He had to sort through the vast treasure trove of their old gems, like used carburetors, broken engine pistons, and, hopefully, if he could find it, a new handle for the fridge. Somehow his mother had broken the one that was on the fridge in the kitchen, and his dad wanted to fix it. Right now.

Jason felt his phone vibrate, and as he checked, he saw Jasmine's name.

“Need any help with that?”

He heard Chloe's voice coming from behind him. Even before he turned around, he could hear her smile when she spoke.

“Hey Chloe, yeah, actually that would be nice.” Laying his phone on the shelf, he turned around and gave her a smile. Or at least he tried to. She looked great, and he very suddenly became deeply self-conscious. Why did she change her style?

Chloe rested a hand on her hip, leaning more on one leg than the other. Jason felt a small amount of heat spread through his chest. He couldn't admit it, of course. Chloe couldn't be interested in him, right? Though he had a sinking feeling he might have misunderstood something. Even if he did, would it be that bad? Why did you have to mention that Jasmine!

“What are we looking for?”

“Ehh… A fridge handle. There should be one here somewhere.”

As Chloe joined him in the search for the ever-elusive fridge handle, he couldn't help but notice that she stayed close. Closer than she usually did at least. She also seemed to have reasons to come into contact with him all the time. He didn't really mind, but it was strange, nice, but strange. They did eventually find the handle, lodged between some long-forgotten boxes of broken engine parts. Or rather, one should say Chloe found it, and after having called out to Jason, bent down at the waist in a way that gave Jason a very good view of her ass. It had taken him some effort to look at anything else. However, imagining the discomfort she would feel if she knew about it was motivation enough.

As they walked towards the door, Chloe spoke. “Did you forget your phone?”

“Shoot.” Patting his pockets, Jason turned around, looking over at the shelf he had been looking at when Chloe walked in; he saw it. The black glass box, or rather, shattered glass box, as the screen was cracked.

As he started walking back, having picked up his phone, he saw Chloe leaning against the door. Blocking the exit.

She let out a deep breath. “We need to talk.”

The single most ominous phrase in the English language, taking no more than four words. It was strange, for all her strange behavior; he had a feeling this might not be the worst thing. Or perhaps she noticed earlier?

He tried to put on a smile, but had  a feeling it might have turned out lopsided, and not in a good way. “What about?”

“I… Like you.” She hesitated for a second. “No, that's not strong enough. I am in love with you, and I have been for years.”

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(Pov Chloe)

She said it. Holy shit, I actually said it. I might not like the bitch, but Jasmine was right; that felt great. Though that sensation didn't last long before it was replaced by a nervous itch on her back.

One of Jason's eyebrows had lifted, clearly waiting for her to continue.

“And I was wondering if we could, you know, go out sometime? I already sorted things out with Jasmine; she doesn't mind.”

“You two talked about me?” Jason's other eyebrow had lifted to meet its mate.

“Mostly just about, if it was ok for me to bring this up. I mean if it was ok with her, I wouldn't want to cause too much trouble. I wouldn't want to place you in an impossible situation."

“Oh.” He hesitated. “You like me. Like that?”

“Yeah. I do. And I suspect I am not alone in that?” She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, as she started walking towards Jason, swaying her hips slightly.

No answer was forthcoming, and Jason just stared at her. A strange mix of emotions played across his face. By the time she continued, it had settled on an emotion she couldn't quite recognize, his eyebrows furrowed in what looked like uncertainty.

“Or am I wrong?” Was she? Jasmine had seemed so certain about it, and it wasn't like she hadn't seen signs of it over the years. How badly had she miscalculated this? Was… was their friendship-

“No, you aren't. If you are asking if I like you, you know, like that.” Oh, thank god. He drew a breath, his gaze flicking around the room. “But I don't know how well something like that would work. You're not gonna stay here. There are bigger and better things than here in your future. I am not… I am not sure how well it would work out.”

So that was what it was all about. He didn't want to feel like he was stopping her from going anywhere. Quite frankly, it wasn't something she expected would be a problem. But it was a solvable one.

She was closer now, five paces away. “One chance, that's all I am asking. I will go study medicine anyways. And always planned on moving back here. Old man Al-Attar is good, but he is old. I have floated the idea of buying his practice here a few times.”

“I would have to talk to…” His voice trailed off as he checked his phone, seemingly looking for any way to not have to meet his gaze. Jason chuckled. “Well, speak of the devil.”

Chloe cocked her head, but before she could ask, Jason showed her the screen.

Jasmine: Yes, chloe and I did talk about it. Yes, it's fine by me. Give the girl a chance. Don't worry about her and me getting along, we're big girls, we can manage just fine

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(Pov Jason)

Well, that answered that question. Not that he thought Jasmine would be against it; it just felt wrong considering this without talking to her. Which he knew was profoundly idiotic. She had already convinced him to at least get to know another woman, specifically because she wanted him to at least consider dating her too. Why would she have a problem with one more in general? She seemed to want him to date more people. Does she really want me to have a harem?

The entire situation had brought up emotions he thought long since buried. He thought he had successfully buried that crush; the way his heart hammered in his chest told him otherwise. But if it wasn't doomed to fail, then did he really have a reason to say no? It might ruin their friendship of course, but they way things were headed that seemed like it might happen anyways.

“Yes. My answer is yes.” He saw the smile that bloomed across Chloe's face, warm like standing in the sun in July. “But” -The smile started to fade, a hint of insecurity creeping into it- “ I want to take you out. Jasmine's great, but it's a little weird sometimes. She insists on doing everything, and I kinda wanna be the one to do that this time.”

Chloe blinked, and the tension in her shoulders eased. “Yeah, of course, but then I wanna try taking you out next time. If there is one, I mean.” A hint of doubt had crept into her tone towards the end.

He had little doubt there would be a next time. The real test after all would come when she went to Oregon State, or if the polygamy didn't work out.

Holy shit, I am actually gonna be in multiple serious relationships at once. His mind briefly flashed to how his mom might react to all this, or Chloe's parents for that matter.

He felt something warm graze his hand. Blinking, he finally noticed that Chloe had gotten closer and was looking at him, with one raised eyebrow. shit, she asked me a question, ish.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Great. Come on, we don't wanna keep your dad waiting too long now, do we?” She beckoned him on.

As they walked towards the house, a comfortable silence had settled, but halfway back, Jason felt a creeping need to break it.

“Hey, could this have all been settled if we just, you know, talked about this earlier? Because things have been weird over the last few weeks.”

Chloe chuckled next to him. “Yeah, I think so. Turns out Jasmine was right.”

“She was?”

“Yeah, she gave me some advice two weeks back. She essentially said I should just go for it. Though she didn't say it quite like that.”

“Right, she did mention you two had met.” As he was about to continue, he heard Chloe wince.

“Yeah, we did. It was weird, I think I said some things that were unkind.”

“Like what?” He asked in a careful tone.

Chloe waved a hand dismissively. “Don't worry about it. It's water under the bridge.”

Jasmine had mentioned something about Chloe seeming stressed. Did they not get along? Just what had he signed himself up for?

Chloe:

Art: Teresa Butler