Page 74 of The Second Kiss
I laugh. “Thanks. It’s nice to meet you, Lieutenant Stevens. I’m Jess.” I can’t stop staring into his eyes. I extend my hand. "And we're all a little gross."
He takes my hand. "Jess, I like that. I'm pretty sure the sheen looks better on you than it does on me. And it's just Michael."
“Nice to meet you, Michael.” His hand is warm, his grip is strong, and he's absolutely wrong about which of us looks better wearing a layer of sweat.
Jacob puts his arm around my shoulder. “Alright. You showed me up. Now what would you like to do?”
I push him away. “Yuck Jake, you reek. I’m going to go take a shower. You should join me.”
Jacob raises his eyebrows. “You want me to join you in the shower?”
I’m already hot from the workout, but my face flames. “I mean, you should take a shower too, by yourself, a long one, with lots of soap.”
“Maybe you should make it a cold one,” Michael says. Is he glaring at Jacob?
“Sorry,” Jacob moves his arm off my shoulder. “You walked into that one.”
Michael leans against the wall. “We were going to stay and play racquetball. Why don’t you join us?”
“I can’t.” I glance at the clock, really wishing I could stay. “I have a class I can’t miss.”
Jacob is watching Michael. Can I hope he looks even a tiny bit jealous? “She has to get back tohigh school.” I catch his emphasis on the last part, like he’s trying to make sure Michael knows how old I am.
“Oh, you can cut this once,” Bryan says. “Make the teams even.”
“Sorry, I have a test I can’t miss. Besides, I suck at racquetball. No hand-eye coordination.” I shoulder my bag.
"What sports do you like?" Michael doesn't seem to be in a hurry to shower or play racquetball, or whatever else they have planned.
I finger the strap on my duffle bag. "I swim, run track and cross-country and in the winter I like to ski."
His eyes light up. "I love skiing. We should go sometime."
"I thought you were heading out tomorrow," Jacob says.
"Yeah, shoot. I forgot." Michael looks genuinely disappointed. "Maybe next time I'm—"
“What does this weekend look like for you?” Jacob interrupts him.
I stare at him for a minute. I'm not sure if he's talking to me or Michael. Finally I ask, "What does this weekend look like for what?"
"I have some time off, so I thought maybe I could come work on your car," Jacob says.
For a heartbeat, I thought he was going to ask me out. I know I sound disappointed when I answer, "I'll be around."
"Cool. I'll call you," Jacob answers.
The next class comes in, and I realize how late it is. I wish I were the kind of girl who would ditch a test to hang out with a couple of good-looking guys, but I’m not. “I have to get going. Thanks for coming. It made the class a lot more interesting. If you ever want to come back...”
“Hells no,” Bryan says.
Jacob doesn’t comment. I turn back to Michael. “It was nice to meet you.”
He touches my arm. “Nice to meet you too, Jess. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."
“Maybe.” I wave to them as I walk away. I can’t help the little bit of triumph I feel. Jacob came to my class. He actually acted jealous that Michael was talking to me. But I can’t read too much into it.
He’s probably just being the big brother again.
