Page 42 of Beaten

Am I? Maybe a little. And is it that obvious? I didn’t want to be attracted to Jamie. He’d never be attracted to me, and I didn’t want to get hurt when he told me so. He’d try to let me down gently, but I still didn’t want to go through all that. Besides, it’d probably cause problems between him and Chris and I’d never be able to forgive myself if that happened.

She hadn’t mean to embarrass me, but she had. At some point, she’d decided Jamie and I should get together and wouldn’t give up until she helped Cupid pierced our hearts with his arrows. She’d always said she didn’t believe in love or happily ever after, but I’d always suspected it was a lie she used as a shield to protect her heart, because now, more than ever, I was sure Ashley was a romantic at heart.

I hope Jamie doesn’t think that I think this is a date.Because I don’t. It wasn’t, we were was just a group of friends hanging out for the day.

Jamie glanced at me over his shoulder and grinned before answering. I tried to act casual and smile back, but I’m pretty sure I looked like a total freak with my red cheeks and over eager smile.

“As far as I know, he’s single. But he’s also working so don’t distract him.” He made eye contact with Ashley in the mirror. “Too much.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” She saluted him.

“Never made Captain.” He laughed.

At the gate, Jamie insisted on covering our entrance fees, despite my protests. Ashley was no help and shamelessly took Jamie’s side when I tried to argue. She was still pretending this was a date, so of course she thought he should be paying for me. She considered it a “BFF Bonus” when he offered to pay for her too. Not that she couldn’t afford the five dollar fee, because she totally could, but if she argued about paying her own way, I’d keep arguing about paying mine, and my clever best friend wasn’t going to let that happen.

I looked around as we waited for Jack, Meg, and AJ inside the entrance, half expecting to see Craig. Which was ridiculous. I hadn’t heard anything from him since that day at the apartment, not one single text. Nothing else had happened since I found the prank flowers, which is what I called them anytime I thought about them to remind myself they weren’t a message from Craig. There was no way he’d know I was here, besides he hated this kind of thing so it was unlikely we’d accidentally bump into each other.He’s probably sitting around and getting drunk with his friends.

I felt Jamie’s hand on my shoulder, warm and comforting, a split second before he said, “Relax Em, I won’t let him hurt you.”Shit, I need to work on hiding my emotions better.I didn’t like how everyone always seemed to know what I was thinking or feeling.

I took a deep breath and nodded. When I turned around to thank him, words failed me as I met his gaze. His smile was confident, reassuring, and his eyes sparkled in the morning sun.God he’s gorgeous. I was overly aware of the warmth of his hand as he slid it from my shoulder to my elbow.

A little kid screamed nearby, breaking my trance.

Ashley leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Not a date my ass.”

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks as I elbowed her, and told her through gritted teeth to shut up.

Jack held Meg’s hand as they walked towards us. AJ walked on the other side of Meg; she looked so small between them. Small, and well protected. When they reached us, AJ walked around and stood on the other side of Ashely, putting us between himself and Jamie. I thought it was to be near Ashley, who was openly ogling him, but then I saw him and Jamie make eye contact. AJ nodded, sharing something unsaid between them. If I had to guess he was letting Jamie know he was ready.

“Where to, ladies?” Jack asked us as he opened a map of the fairgrounds. He looked at Meg and pointed at the map. “The cows are on the back side,” then he explained to the rest of us, “Meg is super excited to see them.”I remember her sayingshe wanted to feed the baby cows. He winked at her. “She’s been talking about them all morning.”

He was teasing her, but judging by the huge smile on her face she didn’t mind. They looked so comfortable and relaxed together.I hope I can have that someday.

“I can’t help it. I love how cute and derpy they are.”

“And tasty with cheese and bacon.” AJ laughed at his own joke. “Am I right?”

Everyone agreed, including Meg.

It made sense for us to make a big circle, we’d see half the fair on our way towards the back, and the cows, then see the other half on our way out, so that’s what we did.

We wandered around looking at the craft booths, us girls oohing and aahing at the displays and the guys looking mostly bored. I bought my mom a cute red, white, and blue wreath made of ribbons for her front door, which Jamie insisted on carrying for me. Chris and Vicky met up with us shortly after that, and we played a few games. I didn’t win anything. When Meg didn’t win anything either, she told Jack he needed to win her a huge stuffed teddy bear. He tried to convince her she didn’t need one, but she was having none of it.

“I know I don’t need one, Charming.”

Confused, I looked at Jamie for an answer. He whispered, “Charming is Meg’s nickname for Jack.” Ahh.

Meg could have won an Oscar with her I’m so sad expression, including a full pout, big wide eyes, and hands in prayer. “But I want one.”

Jack laughed and shook his head. “You know I could just buy you a big teddy bear. It’d save me time, and money.”

“It’s not the same thing.” Ashley and Meg answered at the same time. Meg smiled at Ashley then looked back at Jack in triumph. She’d won, and by the look on Jack’s face he knew it. If there’d been any doubt about how Meg and Ashley would get along, it was erased when they stood in solidarity against Jack.

Ashley grabbed AJ's arm, looked up at him with her big brown eyes and fluttered her eyelashes. “Don’t you agree?” I knew her well enough to know that if he agreed she’d ask him to win one for her. I couldn’t help but laugh, because from the look on his face, he suspected as much.

“Oh, hell no, I’m not getting in the middle of this.” He shook his head and held his hands out, a mock expression of terror on his face.

Something about my expression must have given Jamie the impression I wanted a teddy bear because he leaned down and quietly asked me if I wanted him to win one for me as Jack walked up to the stall, muttering, “the things I do for love.”

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