Twitterpated Read Online Free Page B

because something about it isn’t sitting right with you.”
    “It’s the same sunset it always is, Jess. What do you want me to say about it?” He stared off into the distance as if he could see past the horizon.
    I watched him for a few moments. “What’s wrong with you? I thought best friends told each other everything. You haven’t really talked to me since you got home.”
    His face tightened, and his shoulders tensed. I would scream if he shrugged again. But he stopped himself and drew a deep breath, studying the sand for a few nerve-wracking seconds and then looking up to meet my eyes. My breath caught at the misery in his. “What’s wrong?” I whispered.
    He didn’t answer for a moment. Instead, he stooped down and picked up a stone from the edge of the wet sand, took my palm, and placed the rock in it. It was a pretty cream color, worn smooth, and glowing with a faint gold tinge from the sunset. “What do you see?” he asked me.
    This was an old game. Since we were kids, he’d always made a big production of searching the sand and proclaiming he had found the prettiest rock or shell and then presenting it to me. “It’s a rock,” I said. He looked at me searchingly, and my smile faltered. I wasn’t sure what he wanted. “It’s pretty. I . . . like the color.”
    He shoved his fingers through his hair and turned back to the horizon. The sun dipped low now, and a deep purple crept in, signaling nightfall. “I’ve changed, Jessie. It started on my mission, but I didn’t realize how much until I came home.” He took the stone back and turned it over and over. “Before I left, I would have thought this was a pretty rock too. But now all I see is that it’s part of something bigger that’s been worn down. And it’s because it stays in one place and lets the sea move all around it.”
    “What are you trying to say?” I asked, fearing I already knew.
    “I never really thought about what I wanted before. Go on a mission, finish school, work for my dad, get married, have kids. It all sounded good. You and I, the perfect fit. Why not?”
    “Wow. Even for a backhanded compliment, that stinks,” I said.
    Jason finally turned to look at me again. “I do love you, Jessie. You’ve been a part of my whole life, but . . .”
    My stomach dropped. “But what?”
    “But this is not what I want. I’m so sorry,” he finished. Misery spilled into his voice.
    I stiffened. “You’re sorry?” He glanced away again. I studied him, trying to find some clue, some reason for this change written on his face. “So what do you want? You say you know it’s not this. What is it, then?”
    “I know I don’t want you to hate me, and I don’t know how to give you an answer that won’t make you do that.” His eyes pleaded with me to understand something he couldn’t explain.
    “Try. You owe me that.”
    “I do want marriage and family and all of those things. Soon.” He paused. “But with someone else.”
    My breath stopped. Maybe even time stopped before I strangled out a question. “Who?”
    “Jessie . . .”
    “Who?” I almost shouted.
    “I never meant for this to happen . . . I’m not sure it even will happen,” he said.
    “ This is . . .” I had no words. I couldn’t even think. I turned around and walked back up the beach, trying to leave him behind. He ran to catch up and blocked my path.
    “Jessie, I want you to know I haven’t done anything yet.” He lifted my chin. I slapped his hand away and stepped around him. He blocked me again, this time holding me in place with his hands on my shoulders. “I’m about to take the biggest risk of my life by letting you walk away. But I have to.”
    I looked at him, stone-faced.
    “A sister serving in the mission with me. I never crossed a line or broke any rules, but I started having feelings for her. I tried to stop it. I requested a transfer, but it didn’t get her out of my mind. We e-mailed after I got home. I told myself it was so I