Jesse placed the call on speakerphone. Before he could speak, the sound of sobs was on the other end of the line. Lorelei's chest ached at the sound.

"Jody, what's wrong?" Jesse asked.

"Mateo is an asshole!" she said. "I'm so fucking pissed at him."

"What did he do?"

Jody took in a sharp breath, but she continued to sob. Lorelei tightened her hold on the towel wrapped around her body. Only a few weeks ago, Lorelei was in Jody's apartment crying about Jesse. What did Mateo do that made her so angry?

"He's going to do a shoot in Paris tomorrow," Jody said. "He is going to be surrounded by models for two weeks."

"How is that a problem?" Jesse asked. "He's a photographer. He is always around models. You're a model."

"He is not letting me come with him," she said. "He is hiding something if he is not letting me go. He and his friends will probably be fucking girls the whole time."

"Don't you trust him?"

Jody sniffled and managed to stop crying. Jesse sat next to Lorelei on the bed. He put his hand on her knee. She loved how his rough palms felt against her smooth skin, and it almost brought her out of the moment. Jody's voice brought her back to reality.

"I do trust him," Jody said.

"Then this shouldn't be a problem," Jesse said.

Jody sighed.

"I'm just going to do nothing but think about this for two weeks," she said. "I think I am going to come back home."

"You're going to come back to Vancouver?" Jesse asked.

"Yes, it's a good excuse to visit my Mom," she said. "Do you need help with Christina?"

Lorelei's chest tightened, and she fought not to shake her head or rip the phone out of Jesse's hand. Christina had been talking about Jody since the first day she met her. She loved Jody and could not even get Lorelei's name right. She did not want them to be in the same room as Jody and Christina.

"Mom's apartment is a mess," Jesse said. "Don't subject yourself to that."

"I've seen it before," Jody said. "I can help."

"We could use it. There are only a few days left. If it's not cleaned, she is getting evicted."

Lorelei thought that she was going to be sick. She stood and went into the bathroom. She closed the door so that she could no longer hear the conversation. Her chest was so tight that she was struggling to breathe. She put her hand over her pounding heart. Her head spun, and her mind was racing. Her knees were weak, and she sat on the bathtub's edge.

Jody was coming to Vancouver. Lorelei liked spending time with Jody, but with Jesse's Mom, she felt like they were competing. Christina was not subtle about expressing her love for Jody and Jody and Jesse's relationship. Would she tell Jesse to break up with Lorelei? Would Jesse listen to her? Lorelei knew they were not close, but it was obvious that he loved his mother.

Lorelei focused on her breathing so that she would not have a panic attack. She had not had one since seeing Matthew in bed with her mother.

There was a knock on the door. Lorelei's chest ached more. She was not ready to talk to Jesse yet. She needed to calm down.

"You okay, Lorelei?" Jesse asked.

Her teeth dug into her bottom lip. She could not manage to catch her breath. She crossed her arms over her chest and grabbed her shoulders.

He called her Lorelei. She had not heard him say her name in a long time. He always used a pet name. Baby girl. Sweetheart. Angel. It was never Lorelei.

She could not manage to speak. If she spoke, she would start crying. She did not want to have a meltdown in the hotel bathroom. She did not want Jesse to see that.

The door opened, and Jesse walked in.

No, no, no, no, Lorelei repeated in her head.

Jesse had changed into a pair of jeans but was not wearing a shirt. He furrowed his brows when he looked at Lorelei, rocking on the tub's edge and struggling to breathe.

"Lorelei, what's wrong?" he asked.

Twice.

He used her real name twice now. She knew it was a trivial thing and was blowing it out of proportion, but she could not help herself.

It pushed her over the edge. She buried her face into her hands as she could no longer hold back the tears. She curled her fingers into her scalp and pulled at her wet hair. Why did she have to do this in front of Jesse?

"What's going on, Lorelei?" Jesse asked.

She thought that she was going to have a heart attack. Her chest hurt so much that she thought she was going to vomit. She was gasping for breath, but she was drowning in her tears.

She jumped when Jesse touched her thighs. She forgot that she was only wearing a towel. He rubbed her legs as he watched her cry. Lorelei shook her head. She wanted to tell him to get out of the room, but she could not articulate any words. A series of odd noises and sobs came from her mouth.

Jesse grabbed Lorelei's wrists and pulled her hands away from her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to look at the concern on Jesse's face.

"Sweetheart, you need to talk to me," he said.

Why was she doing this? It had been so long since she experienced a panic attack. She thought that she left them behind when she graduated from nursing school. She thought panicking when she saw Matthew's cheating was just from the trauma of the situation.

She was so afraid of losing Jesse, so it seemed like her world was falling apart.

"What do you need?" he asked.

Lorelei opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry with tears. Jesse was crouched in front of her. His brows were furrowed together before he gave her a soft, reassuring smile. A dimple formed on Jesse's cheek. It was one of the first features she noticed when they met.

Lorelei threw her arms around Jesse's neck and continued to sob. Jesse held her in a crushing hold while he rubbed her back. She took a deep breath of his scent as she tried to control her breathing.

She did not know how long they were on the bathroom floor, but Lorelei felt like she was crying for hours. Her chest was tight, but there was still a dull ache. She finally managed to catch her breath and control the tears. Jesse rubbed her back, rocked her back and forth, and murmured words she could not understand.

She had one panic attack in front of Matthew. He told her that she was overreacting and complained about it for weeks. She had never had someone try to take care of her.

They were both silent as Jesse held onto Lorelei. He ran his hand up his back and tucked a piece of Lorelei's wet hair behind her ear. He pressed his lips against her temple and let his lips linger.

"What happened, Angel?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't apologize. I just want to know what happened."

Lorelei took in a deep breath. She pulled away from Jesse. She hastily wiped the tears off her cheeks. She readjusted the towel that was coming loose around her body.

She knew that she had to tell Jesse the truth. She learned from hiding her worries about Bryan from Jesse that hiding the truth never worked out.

"You wouldn't let your Mom break us up, right?" she asked.

Jesse raised a brow. "You really think I would let that happen?"

"She likes Jody."

"She's known Jody for over four years. She did not like Jody initially, and she loves you already. Don't worry about what my Mom thinks."

Lorelei nodded as she wiped away the remaining tears. Jesse grabbed her hand and pulled it close. He kissed her knuckles. A smile crept onto her lips. She kissed Jesse. His lips were soft and gentle against hers. Could he taste her tears?

Jesse broke the kiss but kept Lorelei close. He tucked her hair behind her ear before he cupped the side of her face.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked. She nodded. "Good. I have a place I want to show you. I think that you will love it."