Page 30 of Hardcore Vanilla
Shit, shit, back up! Danger, Will Robinson, danger! There is a disturbance in the Force!
Talk about a total rewind for her brain. Did Jake like her for more than her body? Shit... That was going to make the little mini-crush she had on him a lot harder to fight...
"We can't just start dating, our friends would never leave us alone," he said finally, although there was a note of uncertainty in his voice, like he wanted her to argue with him.
But he was right. Plus, who knew if his sudden desire for more than being fuck buddies was real or if he was just suffering from some kind of sex-logged moment of insanity. Maybe she'd literally fucked his brains out over the past couple weeks and this was the result. At least he wasn't so far gone as to be totally unaware of the consequences.
She sighed. "Okay, so what you're saying is that as long as we're fucking, you don't want us to date anyone else?"
Although he cringed slightly at her blunt language, his head nod was decisive. "Yes. Exactly. If we find someone else we want to date, we'll stop our arrangement, but until then we're exclusive. So, I'll go with you to your cousin's wedding, and you’ll have a date. When is it?"
"The weekend after next, so you don't need to worry that it will interfere with Lexie and Patrick's engagement party. And we're going to have to travel to the Eastern shore and stay with my parents for the weekend."
"Great. Then you're definitely not taking Brian."
"Great," she said dryly. "Now what are you planning on telling our friends about all of this?" Swirling her finger between them, she lifted her eyebrow in challenge. There was no way she was going to take responsibility for coming up with an explanation. This was all on him.
Plus, she was busy repressing the sudden giddy warmth that had bubbled up in her chest. Part of her really liked the idea of Jake coming to Melinda's wedding as her date. Dammit.
Getting attached was a bad idea.
Wasn't it?
Except that he seemed kind of attached too... Ugh. Whatever. Chances were, once he met her family he was going to run. That or he was going to agree with all of her parents' opinions about her and she was going to have a perfectly miserable time, which would kill any interest she had in him anyway.
Ah well, it had been too good to last.
"I'm just going to tell them that I don't think it's a good idea for you to go with an ex and so I offered my services instead," he said matter-of-factly, as if he actually thought that would fly. Without waiting for her response, he turned to make his way back to the bar table.
Well, this should be entertaining. Already smirking, Sharon followed him back in.
******
Crossing his arms over his chest, Jake glared at his group of friends and at the exasperating woman currently smirking at him from across the table. He'd expected to be in the hot seat, but he hadn't expected to be there alone. Plus, he'd thought his explanation sounded reasonable enough.
Sharon shouldn't have to ask her ex to be her date when she had a single and willing friend, right?
His question had been met with a level of extreme skepticism that was a little insulting. Especially on his sister's part. Although she just looked like she didn't believe him; Andrew had been scowling non-stop at Jake since he and Sharon had returned to the table. Everyone's reactions had been pretty interesting; Andrew's was the most extreme.
Rick and Maria appeared more amused than anything else, Kate was giving Sharon dirty looks but not to the same extent that Andrew was glaring at Jake, and Hilary had disappeared, leaving Liam to shoot speculative glances between Jake and Sharon. His gaze was more thoughtful than anything else. Olivia and Luke were both quiet, although Olivia was watching Jake very carefully, her red nails tapping on the bar table. Sitting on the other side of Sharon, Ellie just watched everything that was going on with big eyes, while Michael seemed mostly amused.
Patrick found the whole situation hilarious, the big dick.
He'd laughed when Jake had explained that he was just doing the friendly thing and he hadn’t stopped chuckling since.
"You know that you're going to have to spend the whole weekend with each other, right?" Kate asked suspiciously. Looking at her wasn't much fun because Andrew's dark glare was coming from right over her head, but Jake did his best to focus on her and not on her fiancé.
"And her family," he answered, shrugging one of his shoulders. "Sharon told me. It'll be fine. Unless you think she'd be better off with an ex than a friend?"
Kate's lips pressed together while Patrick coughed into his hand. A cough that suspiciously sounded like a laugh. Exchanging a glance with Rick, Maria raised her eyebrow, a small smile playing on her face as well.
Yeah, okay, so calling him and Sharon friends was a bit of a stretch, or would have been before the new year, but come on. A little faith would be nice.
"Ooo good, you're back! What did I miss?" Hilary's chipper voice made him twist slightly so he could see her. The pretty blonde was looking between him and Sharon, rather than at her husband, Liam, who was reaching for her. She had a fun, sunny personality that reminded him a bit of Sharon, but without the crudeness. Hilary pretty much epitomized the term 'lady-like'. If asked, Jake would have said that Hilary was exactly his type, although he'd never been attracted to her. Then again, she'd been taken, and therefore off-limits, when he'd met her anyway.
"Jake's taking Sharon to her cousin's wedding because 'they're friends' and she shouldn't have to go with an ex," Lexie said, drawling the words out with a complete absence of tone that made it clear she thought he was shoveling horseshit.
"Oh! Okay, I'll be right back," Hilary said, swinging back around and scurrying back to the front door. "Jessica, Angel, and Leigh are going to love this!”
