Give Us a Chance (18 page)

"Is that what he said? I couldn't tell."

Before the Sinatra song started, I heard talking over the speaker but I couldn't make out what he said.

Jake chuckles. "Okay, now I feel like I'm in junior high. Remember when they'd announce a couple skate and the girls would stand at the side of the rink, waiting to be asked?"

"Yeah, I'd always get paired up with a guy who skated even worse than me and we'd both end up falling."

"That won't happen with me. Put your hands on my shoulders. Otherwise, instead of looking like a couple, it looks like I'm just trying to teach you how to skate."

"I'll lose my balance if I do that."

"You won't. Trust me. Just don't look down. Keep your eyes up and stay relaxed."

I do as he says, feeling wobbly at first, but then getting my balance again as he gets a tighter grip on my waist and pulls me along, leading us around the rink. I glance over and see that the group of teen girls who kept passing us as we were skating is now in front of us, paired up with a group of guys. They're probably around 15. As we round the end of the rink, I notice one of the girls from the group is standing off to the side without anyone to skate with. She's tall and skinny with really bad acne. She looks sad that all her friends have guys to skate with and she doesn't.

Jake and I are now at the opposite end of the rink and he asks, "Would you mind if I went around just once with someone else?"

"What?" I almost shove him away I'm so mad. He wants to skate with someone else? Am I not good enough?

"There's this teenage girl on the other end without anyone to skate with," he explains. "I thought I'd see if she wants to go around the rink once or twice."

I smile at him. "I think that'd be really nice. In fact, why don't you finish the song with her?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll go to the snack stand and get us a drink."

He helps me off the ice and I take a step onto the rubber surface that leads to the snack stand. I stop and watch as Jake approaches the girl. Her whole face lights up and she nods really fast. He takes her hands and skates backwards and they make their way around the rink. He purposely goes slowly past her friends so they can see she's got a guy. A really hot guy. Hotter than any of the teen boys her friends are with.

"You just keep surprising me, Jake," I say to myself.

But I shouldn't be surprised. I knew he was a nice guy. Like Nash said, Jake will help anyone who needs it. He cares about people, even total strangers like that teenage girl whose friends left her on the side of the rink.

What am I going to do with that boy? In just a week, Jake has my mind constantly thinking about him, my body aching to be touched by him, and now my heart feeling something for him. That last part is the worst because when the heart's involved, it'll be so much harder when this ends.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jake

Last night Ivy and I had another perfect date. I took her to dinner, then ice skating, then out for coffee. We stayed at the coffee shop and talked until they kicked us out at midnight when they closed. It seems like we never run out of things to talk about. In fact, I find myself wanting to call her during the day just to tell her things, but I don't because I don't want to interrupt her at work, so I send her texts instead and she texts back. By the end of the day, we've had a full conversation. And yet when I see her at night, we still have more to say.

I always thought dating a girl would be hard, especially that initial period when you're figuring out how to make it work. But being with Ivy this past week has felt easy, natural, uncomplicated.

"I leave you alone for a few minutes and you got half the floor done?" I ask, standing over Ivy as she lays the tile.

It's Saturday, and Ivy and I are helping Bryce with the kitchen remodel he's doing. The homeowners are out for the day and Bryce is in the garage cutting tile, so it's just Ivy and me in the kitchen. She's on all fours, her ass in the air, and it's all I can do to keep from grabbing it. All week, I've had to fight the urge to touch her. I'm trying to take this slow and prove to her that I'm not just interested in sex. It's true that I want more than that with her, but I also want to have sex with her, to the point that I find it hard to be alone with her. When we
are
alone, we end up kissing, which makes me want to have sex with her even more, but I try to keep my hands in safe places, like her waist or her arms or her face.

She laughs. "I've laid one row of tile. I'd hardly call that half done."

"One row is still fast for a beginner." I hold my hands out to her. "Come here." I pull her up and into my arms. "Thanks for helping out today."

"I told you I wanted to learn, so technically
you're
the one helping
me
."

"Either way, I get to spend time with you." I kiss her, and her hand goes behind my neck, pulling me closer. I already feel my body responding, which it shouldn't be doing in someone else's kitchen while I'm on the job. But I can't stop what it does when it's around her.

I hear the door open, and then Bryce's voice. "Could you guys do that later? I'd like to finish this by noon, and it's not gonna get done with you two lovebirds going at it."

Ivy jumps back. "Sorry. You're right. We shouldn't be doing that."

He smiles at her. "I'm just giving you shit. Do whatever you want. I don't care."

I yank her back to me and kiss her again.

"Jake!" She's laughing, pushing on my chest to get away but I keep her in my arms. "Did you not just hear your brother?"

"He said he didn't care. And even if he did, I don't listen to my little brother."

"I got a few more tiles to cut," Bryce says. "I'll be out in the garage so feel free to continue what you were doing."

As he leaves, I put my lips over Ivy's and softly kiss her.

"Jake," she whispers, returning the kiss.

"What?" I look at her face, free of any makeup and yet so goddamn perfect. Flawless.

"We should get back to work."

I slide a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "You're beautiful."

She smiles. "Are you kidding? I'm a mess. I just rolled out of bed and came here." She reaches behind her head and yanks on her ponytail. "I didn't even do anything to my hair."

I love her hair. It's soft, silky, shiny, and she doesn't coat it in hair product, the way some girls do. When she wears her hair in a ponytail, she looks like a hot cheerleader, and when she wears it down, she looks sexy and sophisticated.

"Then I guess I like the natural look," I say, "because you look beautiful."

She glances down, seeming uncomfortable, but then looks up again and kisses me. "Let's get back to work."

Ivy's a fast learner. When we arrived here, I told her the basics of what to do and she just did it, without any further instruction. She works quickly, doesn't complain, and stays focused on the job. She's better than any guy I've ever worked with, and after seeing how good she is at laying tile, I might have to hire her for tile work when I don't have any carpentry jobs.

How could a girl this fucking hot also be good at construction?
And
be easy to talk to, fun to hang out with, and a sweet, caring person? She's fucking perfect. She has all the qualities I could ever want in a woman. The type of woman I could see a future with. The problem is, I'm not looking for that. I don't want a wife, someone to spend my life with. That's way too much of a commitment. I'm still getting used to the idea of having a girlfriend.

Bryce returns from the garage, and with the three of us working, we finish up the tile by eleven thirty. As we're packing everything up, Bryce's phone rings. I know who's calling by that big ass grin on his face.

"Hey, what's going on?" Bryce tries to play it cool but I can hear the anxiousness in his voice. He's best friends with Jen, but ever since he realized how much he likes her as more than a friend, he gets nervous around her, especially when she's dating someone else, which she is right now. She's dating some guy from her college and it's driving Bryce insane. He wants to go beat the shit out of the guy but he can't, because Jen isn't his girl.

Bryce turns away from Ivy and me, facing the window. "Yeah, of course. I'll be right over." He ends the call and turns back to us. "I gotta go help Jen."

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Her mom didn't come home last night."

I roll my eyes. "Did she go home drunk with some guy again?"

"Jen doesn't know," Bryce says, putting his coat on. "That's why she's freaking out. She's been calling Rita's phone but she hasn't picked up so now Jen thinks something happened to her."

"Rita does this all this time. I'm sure she's hung over at some guy's house and will be home by this afternoon."

"Maybe, but I told Jen I'd go over there anyway."

"Like you always do." I lean against the kitchen counter. "Because you love her. Would you just freaking admit that's why you keep doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Racing to be with her whenever something happens."

He shakes his head. "That's not why. I'm not in love with her, so shut the hell up. I'm just being a friend."

"She called
you
instead of her boyfriend. She always calls you. You two are more than friends, so stop fucking around and make her your damn girl. Stop letting other guys have her."

"We're not getting into this shit again." He yanks his keys out of his pocket and grabs his phone from the counter. "I'm not dating her. We're friends. That's it." He opens the door that goes to the garage. "Can you finish cleaning up?"

"Yeah. No problem."

"Thanks, bro. See ya tomorrow." He waves at Ivy. "See ya, Ivy. Thanks for your help."

"Sure. Bye, Bryce."

He goes out to his truck and I hear him drive away.

"What a mess," I say, wiping the dust off the kitchen cabinets. Ivy is wiping the counters. She doesn't even mind cleaning up. She's freaking awesome.

"I don't think it's too bad," she says, assessing the room. "Considering all that we did, I think it's pretty clean."

"I wasn't talking about the kitchen. I meant this thing with Jen and her mom. I thought it'd get better as her mom got older but it seems to be getting worse."

"What's going on with her?"

"Her mom's fucking nuts. She's a manipulative liar and a scam artist. She makes shit up all the time, like saying she tripped at a store so she can sue them. She's never won a lawsuit but she keeps trying."

"So she doesn't work?"

"She's had a few jobs but they never last."

"Does Jen live with her?"

"Hell no. She got out of there as soon as she finished high school. She lives in a tiny, shitty apartment next to campus, but it's still better than living with her mom. But Jen checks up on her, makes sure Rita is eating and taking care of herself. And her ungrateful bitch of a mom thanks her by making Jen's life hell. She doesn't give a shit about her daughter. Never has." I rub my hand over my jaw. "Sorry, I didn't mean to go off like that and give you the whole history. It's just that Jen is like part of my family and I'm sick of Rita treating her like this. And then Bryce gets all worked up, worrying about Jen. It's a freaking mess and it's been going on for years."

"That's really too bad. I had no idea."

"Anyway, you got everything?" I tie up the last garbage bag.

"Yeah, I think so."

We carry the trash bags to the driveway and toss them in my SUV. Then I close the garage door and we head back to Ivy's apartment.

"You get to pick what we do tonight," I tell Ivy as I walk her to the entrance of the building.

"We're going out? You didn't even ask me." She pretends to be annoyed, but she's smiling.

"It's Saturday night." I take her hand and move her aside as someone walks out the door. "Aren't we supposed to go out?"

"You can't assume that. You have to actually ask."

I know that, but I'm continuing this thing we've started where she teaches me how to date and how to kiss. It gives me an excuse to do both.

"Then in that case, would you go out with me tonight?" I back her up against the building and kiss her.

"I can't." She chews on her lip, which just makes me want to kiss her again, so I do, sucking her lip from her teeth then running my tongue over it, followed by my lips.

"Jake, we shouldn't do this here," she says in a breathy tone while grabbing hold of my jacket.

"Then we'll do it later, when you go out with me."

"I told you I can't."

"Can't, or won't?" I ask, my lips now at her ear.

"I don't know." Her head falls to the side as I kiss her neck. "You're confusing me. You have to stop doing that."

"Doing what? This?" I continue softly kissing her neck.

"Yes. That."

"Why?"

"Because we're in public and it's daytime and...because it makes me not want you to leave."

I smile. "That's what I was going for." I stand up straight and look at her. "But right now I do need to go home and clean up, and then I need to do some work. How about I come back here around seven?"

She sighs. "You don't give up, do you?"

"No. I don't, especially when I don't think you really want to spend Saturday night alone in your apartment."

"Who said I'd be alone?"

Fuck. Is she serious? She's dating someone else? I know we didn't say we're exclusive, but shit, I didn't think she'd go out with some other guy while dating me. I don't even know this guy and I want to freaking punch him.

"Jake, I'm kidding." She holds my hand. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't funny."

"So are we going out or what?" I sound angry. I couldn't help it. Thinking about her with some other guy just set me off. It's another reason I've avoided relationships. When you're with a girl once and that's it, there's no jealousy, no anger over her dating other guys, no concern that she might be cheating on you. I like not having to deal with that shit. I like to keep things simple. Uncomplicated. So why the hell am I doing this?

"Yeah, we're going out." She smiles, and the warmth that fills my chest makes it suddenly very clear why I'm doing this. Ivy makes me feel something. Something deep and real that frightens the shit out of me and yet I want more. I crave it. Just her smile alone draws me in, making me want to be around her. I saw that smile when I interviewed her last summer and I couldn't get it out of my head. It's been there ever since, and now I don't just think about that smile and the girl it belongs to. I
feel
something for her.