Page 51 of Fake It Till You Break It
Okay, to be honest, my stomach fluttered when he came to pick me up. It had been fluttering all morning. No matter how many chewable Tums I ate that morning. Plus, he looked kind of adorable in his best faded jeans and polo shirt. It was so crisp that you could almost see the iron lines on the shoulders.
I had come to terms with the fact that Jake was cute. The fact that I liked him was taking way longer.
Hating Jake was so much easier than liking him. Then again, maybe that was because I was starting to realize that I never really hated him in the first place. I was just too blind to see what was in front of me.
And if that was the case, then life just got so much more complicated.
I don’t know why I didn’t just cancel this car ride with Jake. I could have gone with Aly. She was free. But I had to lie and tell Jake that she wasn’t. I just—I don’t know—felt like going with Jake. Talking to him. Being with him.
Once we turned out of our neighborhood and got on the freeway, it was like all the words in the universe melted away. We gave each other brief smiles as the hum of his engine filled the car.
I fiddled with the air-conditioning in front of me, and Jake immediately turned it down. “Sorry, were you cold?”
“Uh, no, I was just playing with it.”
“Oh.”
It got quiet again except now it was even worse because there wasn’t the soft hum of the AC anymore. God, this was the worst car ride ever.
When I finally couldn’t take the silence anymore, I switched the radio on. Since it was still early, there were a bunch of people talking. I kept changing the station until I got one with some country music. Not my favorite, but way better than listening to people.
Jake waited until I got settled back into my seat before manually switching the station with the button on the steering wheel. At first, I thought it changed because of the car or something, but when I changed it back, he switched it as soon as I sat back.
His mouth twitched slightly as he stared at the road in front of us.
I glared at him. “Seriously?”
“What? I didn’t do anything.” His eyes widened. “Maybe it was a ghost.”
“Don’t use my worst fear against me.” I poked his shoulder. “Just because that worked on me when I was eight doesn’t mean it’ll work on me now.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying. Especially since you’re just as naive now as you were back then.”
“If by naive you mean brilliantly awesome, then yes. I guess I haven’t changed.”
Jake snorted and shook his head. “Nice to see you putting that dictionary I got you for Christmas to good use.”
“Oh, definitely. It squishes the bugs in my room really well. Especially at night.”
He smacked his forehead with his right palm. “Why do I bother arguing with you?”
“Because you have nothing better to do?” I twisted in my seat so I could fully face him. “Or because you secretly love me so much?”
“You wish.”
Before I could say anything else, I spotted something fall out of the truck a few lanes over. The car beside us swerved into our lane to dodge it. “Look out!”
Jake slammed the brake. My body jerked forward from the sudden stop, and my hand smacked against the door. Luckily, he threw out his right arm to brace me even though I had my seat belt on. My shoulders hit his arm. Hard. And I flopped back into the seat.
Jake immediately pulled over to the side of the road and turned to me. His face twisted with anxiety. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see—are you okay?”
“It’s okay. I didn’t get hit or anything.” I unbuckled my seat belt to stretch up and show him I was fine.
His eyes followed my hand and then lingered on my face before zooming back to the front. Jake rubbed the bottom of his jaw and neck. It was red and a little blotchy. He cleared his throat a couple of times. “Are you sure? What about your hand?”
Before I could respond, he reached out and picked up my hand, cradling it in both of his. His finger stroked every inch of my hand, examining it for God knows what. My breath got caught in my throat, but I didn’t want him to let go.
And that was the exact reason I jerked my hand back. “See? I told you. Fine.”
