Page 158 of Withered

I elbow him at that tuneful remark. “It may be childish, but it’s a tradition for us.”

Jake ignores me. “I was standing here the entire time. Every single girl was eyeing you as if they wanted to kill you.”

I interrupt him, saying, “Oh, they will murder me now that you’re here.”

He continues, “It’s not just the girls; every single guy has his eyes on you, which makes me want to fucking snap their necks. And when that dickhead approached you, I lost it.”

I’m guessing he’s referring to Professor Caleb. I don’t get to react because he asks, “What is he doing here anyway?”

I shrug. “No idea.”

We see my parents again, and I introduce Jake to Mr. Jones. His expression says he did not expect me to date someone like Jake. Where do they get this idea that I’d fall for a boy in glasses? Is it written on my face?

Tyler and Kristy join us at our parents' table.

“Are you girls happy now?” Mom asks.

We nod happily. Dad chimes in, “Never gets old.”

Mr. Jones adds, “It’s like a walk down memory lane.”

Tyler and Jake share a look, oblivious to the conversation. Mom takes this chance to embarrass me and Kristy. I’m not sure if I should be sad that she’s embarrassing me or happy she’s including Kristy.

Two are better than one, right? And if the other person happens to be your best friend, the embarrassment doesn’t matter.

Mom finishes her drink and sets it on the table. With a mischievous glint in her eyes, she looks at Tyler and Jake.

“The first year we had these two for our event, they ran to the sound system and demanded that the Barbie track be played. They cried and got through it when they denied it. They’ve been doing it every year since.”

Tyler bursts out laughing as Jake chuckles at me.

“Gee. Mrs. Evans, thank you.” Kristy speaks with a reddish flush on her cheeks. That’s probably me as well.

Tyler and Kristy leave for a drink, and I turn to Jake. “How about a dance?”

Jake stiffens and groans, rubbing the back of his neck.Is he nervous?

My thoughts are proven correct when he says, “I-uhm, I can’t dance.”

His cheeks blush pink, and he looks so adorable.

I take this chance to tease him. It’s not every day I get the upper hand on him. “Maybe I should ask Caleb.” I don’t say professor on purpose to get a reaction from Jake.

His head turns so quickly, and his eyes widen. “That dickhead? No fucking way.”

Gladly, my parents left just minutes ago; otherwise, Mom would’ve gone nuts at his cursing.

“Fine,” he says, raking his hand through his hair. “Let’s dance.”

Tyler and Kristy arrive at the same time.

“Since when do we dance, Jake?” Tyler teases.

“Since fucking now.” Jake gets up, takes my hand, and leads us to the dance floor, which is more of a lawn.

Jake looks clueless, like a deer caught in the headlights. I put his hand on my hip and curl the other around my right hand. I place my left hand on his shoulder, and we lightly sway to the new song.“Beautiful in White”by Shane Filan, but a female version.

“You’re doing pretty good.”

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