Page 27 of Artfully Wild
“What are you even doing out here?” I echo my thoughts, worried they shouldn’t be out with the snow. They could easily fall with the ice on the sidewalks.
“Well, weweresound asleep,” Fran says.
“But the sound of all those animals making noise woke us,” Cordie finishes with a sound of exasperation. “But really, I’m glad they did, because we got a walkanda show.”
“And you didn’t hold back, Jacob. It’s about time!”
Okay, seriously, these two need to leave. I wasn’t embarrassed before, but now two women who are basically my grandmothers have seen me making out and dry humping my best friend. That’s enough to make anyone embarrassed and I don’t think this could get any worse.
“Good to see all the extra vanilla worked,” Fran calls over her shoulder as they carefully shuffle their way through the snow.
“You should have seen the show from here,” Charlotte says between giggles before I can figure out what Fran meant.
Just kidding. It’s worse.
Slowly, I glance over Jacob’s shoulder, knowing what I am going to find there. Sure enough, the window to the porch is now open and right on the other side, propped up on the couch, are Avery, Charlotte and Sophie, with a full view of Jacob and me. Well, really a full view of Jacob’s ass, but I don’t think any of them care.
“Really, Jacob,” Charlotte continues, “You could have heldback alittlebit. Keeping some mystery in the bedroom really spices things up.”
“Charlotte, I am going to murder you.”
“C’mon, Sky. What did you expect us to do when he closed the door? Sit here and wait for you two to finish? Invite you back in? We weren’t going to interruptthat, but we were definitely not going to miss it.” Sophie giggles and the others join in. I try to burrow myself further into Jacob, but he lifts my chin until my eyes meet his and everything else falls away. It’s just him and me again and I feel like I can breathe.
“Don’t hide from something you aren’t ashamed of doing, sweetheart. It’s us.” He leans his forehead against mine, brushing his thumbs against either side of my face and the embarrassment fades away, floating to the ground with the flakes surrounding us.
“Okay, well now I feel like weareintruding,” Avery says.
“And before you weren’t?” Jacob’s voice is stern, but not angry. He doesn’t get angry very often, but I’ve also never seen him like this before. Protective and…mad isn’t the right word, but he’s definitely not happy. He sets me down softly, turning toward the girls, opening his hand to invite me to his side.
“Them, I can excuse,” his thumb points over his shoulder at Fran and Cordie now walking away, escaping his scolding. “They happened to walk by. But you three made an effort to invade on a moment that wasn’t for you and I’m not okay with that. Now, you can go grab your supplies and get whatever you need, but I’d like some privacy with Skylar before she leaves.”
They all downcast their eyes, seeming ashamed for watching us. I didn’t really carethatmuch, but the way Jacob is acting, he did.
“Sorry, J. We didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Avery looks away from Sophie and makes eye contact with Jacob, instead of sheepishly looking in any other direction. “Yeah, I’m sorry we didn’t think before pressing our facesagainst the window. We’re just excited and want you both to be happy, but that doesn’t excuse it.” She elbows Charlotte to the right of her.
“Ow, I was going to apologize if you had given me a second,” she manages while rubbing her side where Avery’s elbow made contact. “I am sorry that you were making out where everyone could see and I didn’t look away—ow!” she exclaims after Avery elbows her again.
“I’m just joking, sheesh,” she looks at us again, and softens her expression. “Iamsorry. We should have realized you’d have some boundaries here and I am sorry we crossed them. We will respect them in the future.”
“Thank you. And I’m not ignorant enough to think you won’t talk about this later, but if you could not literally watch it happen, that would be great.” A few awkward smiles and downcast eyes later and Jacob and I are alone again.
“Are you okay?” My voice comes more timid than I intended, but I can sense the tension rolling off of him.
“I’m not…” he hesitates, taking off his glasses to clean them on his shirt before realizing he’s not wearing one, so he shoves them back on his face. He’s flustered. His movements are unsure and frantic, unlike the ones from before when his hands were on me.
“I’m not comfortable with that kind of stuff,” he continues. “I get that you all are close friends, but that’s not really something I come from. I’ve had you who has always been more than enough for me, but that also means I’m not used to this type of dynamic where everyone’s business is out in the open. Even if we do live in this town.” He pulls me in by the hip, closing the inches we had between us and places a soft kiss on my temple. There’s something so natural about his movements that gives me a sense of comfort I don’t think I have had in a long time.
“I’m sorry they were invasive.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart.”
“This better be everything because I am not going back in that room to get attacked again.”
Reluctantly, we pull apart and I follow Jacob as he goes to the front door. I’m surprised he lasted so long without a shirt, because now with his body not pressed against me, I’m shivering even in all of my layers. Once we are inside, he grabs a stray navy hoodie from the couch and throws it on, his hands coming right back to me to rub my arms.
“Attacked, Charlotte?”
