Page 13 of A Quarterback for Christmas

“What are you referring to, Bella? I was talking about my homemade hot sauce. Blows everyone’s mind when I drizzle it on food.” He shucks his chin and chuckles at my silence. “Oh wait, did you think I was referring to the bedroom?” I don’t bother answering. “With your dating history, Iknowthat would blow your mind. Jimmy’s nothing to write home about.”

“And how would you know that?” I ask through a clenched jaw, hating how easy it is for him to push my buttons.

“Do you really think Jimmy didn’t gloat about getting the Coach’s daughter? He was the only dweeb you’d give a second glance to in high school because he wasn’t on the football team. Believe me, I know far more than I’d like to about your dating history.”

My face flushes with anger, infuriated with my ex for talking about us. We didn’t exactly have the greatest start when it came to sex, but we were each other’s first, and we had to learn along the way.

“Why do you always have to mention Jimmy?”

“Like I said, he’s the only guy you’ve ever been interested in, even though he was more interested in the kudos dating you got him than actually being with you. You know, he’d take everyopportunity to tell us in detail about your weekend dates and what you’d get up to before your midnight curfew.”

I gulp down my anger because there he goes again, reminding me of every embarrassing moment in my life. I wanted to forget that Jimmy and I dated because he played me for a fool while everyone else was watching, but that was kind of hard to do when Drew would find every opportunity to bring him up. I get it. The only guy I ever dated wasn’t interested in me. I didn’t need it rubbed in my face constantly. “I swear you think about him more than I do, and I slept with the guy. Jimmy was just a small blip in my life that I’ve moved on from, but you have to keep bringing it up. It’s like he’s living rent-free in your mind. What’s wrong? Are you jealous that Jimmy could keep a girl longer than a month?”

Drew’s nostrils flare, and as much as he tries to hide it, I know I’ve gotten to him. As much as he can push my buttons, I can push his right back. To this day, I still have no idea what happened between him and Jimmy when we were juniors to make them stop talking, but Drew sure does love to bring him up.

Drew flexes his jaw, clearly holding back what he wants to say. “The guy was an idiot, and I still can’t believe you wasted so much time with him.”

“Why does it matter? It’s not like what I do with my time affects you.”

He huffs out a breath, exasperated by me, but he seems to forget that I’m exasperated by him too. “Look, we’re going to be stuck with each other for at least another five days, and I don’t think I can handle this.” He points between us. “Whatever this is.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Believe me; it’s not nothing. This tension is cooking on high, and I have no doubt that if we don’t do something soon, one of us will kill the other.”

“Dramatic much?”

“Says the girl who squealed like a pig when she rolled her ankle in high school.”

My mouth drops in shock. “I did not.”

“See. This is exactly it. I want to enjoy the only time I get off of football and class work. I don’t want to spend it arguing with you, so I think we need to call a truce.”

“Truce?”

“Yeah. We get on each other’s nerves….”

I snort. “That’s an understatement.”

“But what are we supposed to do for the next week? Not talk to each other? Maybe we should at least try to get along.”

“And how do you propose we do that? I can barely handle breathing the same air as you on a good day.”

Drew’s shoulders drop, and his lips move from side-to-side to hide his smirk. “Always so dramatic, Bella. I’ve got an idea.” And just like that, the mounting tension is diffused. His easy demeanor is back, and that coiled wire inside my body has relaxed. He stands and walks to the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

Grabbing himself a beer and a large bar of chocolate, he strolls back into the room without a care in the world.

“We’re going to play a game.” He places a Butterfinger on my lap.

“Could you sound any more like Jigsaw from those creepySawMovies??” I stare down at the ragged edges of the foil wrapper, ready to eat it, but wondering why he gave it to me in the first place.

“’Never Have I Ever?’ How about it?” His eyebrows wiggle up and down. “Let’s get to know each other and diffuse the tension.”

“No,” I spit out.

Drew’s face falls in disappointment. “That’s it? No? Don’t you want to get some dirt on me, Summers?”

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