Page 52 of Fake It Till You Break It
Instead of moving back, Jake leaned into me a bit. His facedipped toward mine. Like he was going to kiss me. I held my breath but didn’t move. But before his lips touched mine, he just tugged the seat belt against me. The click was abnormally loud. Then he zipped back to his seat like he was jerked back by an invisible string.
My heart was still slamming away so hard that I could hear it in my ears. Not sure if it was because of our near accident or Jake, I nodded. “What about you? Are you okay?”
He stared at me for a couple of seconds. “I’m good.”
Something about the way he said that—so slow and soft—made me melt a bit.
God, it was hot in here. As he drove, I opened my window and stuck my head out a bit to cool my burning face. I didn’t care if I looked like a crazy dog. The air in the car was so heavy that I could barely breathe with him next to me.
After taking in a few gulps of fresh air, I looked over and saw Jake practically doing the same. His left hand tapped at the bottom of the window, and his jawline and neck looked redder than before.
I knew why my heart was pounding a mile a minute, but why was his? “Are you sure you’re okay? You look flushed. Maybe we should pull over or something. If you want, I could drive.”
He laughed. “I’m fine. As long as you’re in the car, things aren’t going to change.”
“Well, if you want me to leave—”
“That’s the problem. I don’t want you to leave.” Finally, Jakelooked over at me and held my gaze. “And if we pulled over right now, I don’t know if I could stop myself from kissing you.”
As the meaning of his words sank in, my eyes widened and all I could do was stare at him. He looked as shocked as I felt, and he abruptly turned back to the road and flicked the radio up loud. I swear, the windows were almost vibrating from the volume.
It didn’t matter, though, because my head was swimming too much to hear the music. It was like all the new facts were bubbles dancing around my head, bumping into one another.
I liked Jake. And now I wasprettysure that Jake liked me. But I was sort of dating Ben. Plus, Jake and I still had to break up this weekend.
But one bubble grew and grew and popped all the other ones.
Maybe we didn’t have to break up.
Maybe…
JAKE
CLEARING MY THROATto get rid of my nerves, I tried to look cool as I sat down across from Mia in the cafeteria. She stopped doodling in her notebook and sat up straighter, probably looking as awkward as I felt. “What’s up? Got more treats to bribe me with?”
I laughed. “No, I’m fresh out today. Unless you want me to pick something up after rehearsal today?”
She hesitated. “Actually, I don’t have rehearsal today. We could… hang out. If you want.”
The urge to fist pump was overwhelming, but that would probably defeat the purpose of acting cool. I couldn’t help leaning closer to her, though. “Okay, then I’ll just meet you in the parking lot after class. I wanted to talk to you about the festival—”
Just then, her phone rang on the table, bouncing against the surface and making us jump.
Mia fumbled with the phone before pressing it against her ear. “Hello? Oh, hi, Ben.” My head snapped up, and she glanced over in my direction before lowering her voice. “No, I’m not doing anything right now.”
I strained my ears to hear as I pretended to read the flyer on the wall about student council meetings.
“… this weekend…”
“Yeah, I don’t…” She cleared her throat and shifted back and forth in her seat. “I’m still not sure. Can I call you back? My lunch break is almost over. Okay, bye.”
A few minutes passed before I caved and finally spoke up. “So that was Ben?”
“Yeah, he was just calling to—he just called.”
“Sounds like he was calling you for a date.”
Her face got red. “A little bit.”
