Page 48 of The Match

I’m ready to acknowledge it now.

I’ve been watching Evie all day, and there’s not a chance that I’m letting this woman leave my house with us stuck between friend zone and something else. I get closer and breathe in the scent of Banana Boat suntan lotion mixed with the sweet strawberry balm I’ve seen her apply to her lips. Let me tell you, it’s a ridiculously good combination.

“Jake,” says Evie in a slightly nervous, playful voice as she looks over her shoulder toward my hands. She takes a tiny step back toward the counter and puts her hands behind her to grip it. “What’s going on right now?”

I smile because I like how frank she is. She doesn’t try to play games. She’s straightforward. What you see is what you get—and goodness, I like what I see.

“What’s going on is . . . I can’t stop thinking about our kiss from last night.” I can be frank too.

She sucks in a breath and blinks before pursing her lips. She looks over both of her shoulders before her green eyes hit mine again. “Do you think this is the place to discuss that?” She’s cute when she’s nervous.

“Yeah. I do.”

“But what if Sam walks in here?”

“She’ll probably be scarred for the rest of her life.”

“Jake! I’m serious.”

I smile and inch closer so our bodies are touching. “Me too.”

Evie’s eyes drop to my mouth and then lower to my chest. She swallows, and her cheeks pinken, and I swear I’ve never felt cockier than at this moment.

She looks back up at me. “You can’t just switch gears on me like this in the middle of the day at your family pool party. I mean . . . one minute you’re giving wholesome PG dad vibes and the next you’re pinning me against the counter and kissing me while you’re half-naked? You’re not allowed to do that. It gives me whiplash.”

I smile bigger and move my hand up to her neck, enjoying the way her skin is still hot from the sun. “It’s been a little while since I’ve brushed up on the rules, so you’ll have to forgive me. I want to kiss you again, Evie, even though there’s a pool party outside. And I don’t want to be just friends. Or friends with benefits.”

A full smile curls her lips, and I can’t stand it any longer. I’ve gotta kiss her. I’m leaning down, and her hands move up to rest on my bare chest. The sudden skin-to-skin contact is electric, and it short-circuits my brain. I’ve been dead for the past year, and she just put two paddles to my chest. I’m alive now.

My lips touch hers, and I immediately want to groan from how good she feels. But of course we get interrupted.

“Whoa!” says my dad from the doorway. Evie and I split apart. “Sorry, you two. I didn’t realize there was something going on in here.” But his smile says he knew very well.

I lean my back against the counter opposite Evie and give my dad an unamused smile. “Impeccable timing, Dad.”

He shrugs and struts right on over to the fridge to fill his glass with ice. “I’ve got four daughters, son. I’ve had loads of practice to perfect my timing.” He looks at Evie and winks.

One minute ago I was a cocky son of a gun, and now I’m fifteen with a face on fire, and my dad is embarrassing me and my pretty girlfriend. How can I recover from this?

Dad is taking his sweet time, adding one cube of ice to his glass at a time, filling it with water, taking a sip, and topping it off again. This goes on for two minutes, and I can see that Evie is trying hard not to dissolve into laughter.

I give her a look that says, Enjoying this, are you? That forces her to cover her mouth with the back of her hand so a laugh doesn’t spew out.

All right, enough.

I’m not fifteen, and this is my own damn kitchen. “Okay, water boy, I think you’re well hydrated. Why don’t you take this outside now and stop doing whatever it is you’re doing in here.”

My dad laughs as I’m pushing him from the kitchen. “I’m going, I’m going . . . but you should know that we can all see you out there.” He points toward the glass sliding door just off the kitchen . . . and yep . . . it’s a straight shot to where Evie and I have been standing. Everyone is gathered and watching like their cable got canceled months ago and they’re starved for entertainment.

Once I forcibly remove my father from my house, I turn around and go back into the kitchen. I find Evie giving in to her laughter with both hands covering her face. I take one of her wrists and pull her out of the kitchen and into the hallway—away from the prying eyes of my creepy family.

“Are you going to sneak me away to make out in the hallway now?” she asks while laughing.

I stop and turn around when I know we are clear from the audience. “No. The moment’s over.”

“Boooooo,” she says with a big smile.

I’m laughing now too, and I can’t believe how bad I am at this flirting thing. Turns out, it’s something you can get rusty at.

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