Page 56 of Take Me Home

HELL YEAH

Caleb

Fucking finally. Let’s do this, buddy. What do you have in mind?

18

DARCY

Ifelt like I’d earned a new souvenir t-shirt: I survived kissing Jake Warren. Then in some other red font below that statement, it would say: AGAIN.

At first, it felt perfect, like coming home after a long time away, like it was the most natural thing I could do. I regretted all the time I’d spent not kissing him. He welcomed me into him in every way. His eyes were laden with desire in the moments before, an expression burned forever into my brain. His lips, his tongue, the way he held me and felt my body as we kissed was nothing short of paradise. Those strong hands gripped me like he never wanted to let go. His response to my more needy movements added gasoline to my nighttime fantasies. I was seconds away from dry-humping him in the hay loft, and I think he was encouraging it.

Then Becca’s voice cut through the hot, steamy fog that encased us and reminded me why I shouldn’t be kissing him. He worked for me. I was kissing him during work hours when I was supposed to be doing my job. Shame wracked my body. I’d done the thing I’d always told myself I wouldn’t do. Again.

But then he told me how he felt. Somehow, after all the instability I’d shown him, it was me he wanted.

Anxious me being anxious me, I still had my doubts. He’d just told me about his dad passing. Did I take advantage of him while he was vulnerable? He’d nodded his head like he was saying yes. He had moved my body up to line up with his face, presumably giving me permission to kiss him, but was that enough?

And also, he’d just hit his head? He said he felt fine, but what if he was just covering up his own embarrassment or trying to spare me mine?

In short, I’d kissed him. It was wonderful. It was terrible. I survived kissing Jake Warren.

I spent the next two days reminding myself of his sweet words. No one had ever told me I deserved to have the ground I walked on worshipped. And he was right, someone else had taken me for granted and put themselves first with me. Not that I was game to tell him all that just yet. That would definitely make Jake the one who was ready to run.

Work over the next two days was tolerable. He didn’t really do anything different than he would on a normal day. I wasn’t sure how to read that. He might have just been tired. I overheard him tell Caleb he’d been going to Huntington to the lab every night and early morning, which tracked with him rolling up right before work started with bags under his eyes.

And I’d been busy, too. My book was flowing out of me with little effort. It was like my mind had been waiting all these years and finally had a fully formed book-baby ready to be born. It was an unexpected but welcome surprise.

It was just hard for me to wrap my head around it all. Jake had seen me at some of my lows and still wanted me? The man I’d been engaged to just a few months prior didn’t know what to do with me when I was at my worst, so I hid it away. I made myself less for him. How was Jake not more afraid?

After talking to Brianna about everything, I decided to just take it all at face value. We’d had two remarkable make-outs, and we were going on a date on Saturday night. She reminded me how well things went at the Fourth of July party. Even if I had my doubts, he definitely wanted me that day. As proof, she sent me the picture she‘d taken of Jake swinging me around by my middle during the Wiffle ball game. We both looked so happy. Jake’s arm muscles popped, his smile down at me so endearing. I had to admit, it was the look of a man deeply infatuated.

Brianna convinced me that those were all good things. She told me to have the confidence of a Dolly Parton or a Beyonce for the date.

Despite Jake being so busy, when Becca and I met up to load the truck for the market on Saturday morning, we found that he’d already done it. Even though it was his day off and he didn’t have to, he’d done it.

“Did Jake really do that?” Becca asked. “He’s the best.”

Then when I opened the truck door to drive, I found a little note and a bottle of water on the driver’s seat.

Can’t wait for tonight.

XO,

Jake

My stomach did flip-flops and my face burned red. He was so thoughtful and the “XO” erased my doubts about what we’d done in the barn on Wednesday. And Monday.

Becca saw the note and smirked, but didn’t say anything. She knew when to push and when to lay low. I was pretty sure she and Jake had been conspiring about our date, but I couldn’t prove it. I’d just caught them talking and breaking apart when they saw me a few times on Thursday and Friday. Jake and Caleb seemed to be up to something, too. I just minded my own business.

“You excited for your party tonight?” I asked Becca as I put the truck in gear. “I can’t wait to meet all these Legion barflies you’ve talked so much about.”

“Hell yes! Cody knows the DJ so he’s letting me have some say in the playlist. I’ve got big plans,” she said, smacking her gum. “I love line dancing.”

“I haven’t been since I was a kid,” I said. “You’ll have to catch me up.”

“Oh, they teach it all ahead of time. You’ll be fine,” Becca assured me.

---