The Exception (16 page)

Even though I hadn’t spent much time recently with Ryan and Dylan, I still hunted them down before leaving school the last day and told them we needed to do something over the break. They agreed that we should get together, but I couldn’t tell if they were being sincere or not. The problem is, Gabe was their friend before they were mine. After Gabe left my house that night, it’s like our friends had to choose sides too. Honest to God, this whole thing is like a bad break up. Yet, before I let myself get too worked up about it, I found Jake and wrapped my arms around him, allowing myself to get lost in his embrace.

Jake had gotten good at seeing me and knowing when I was upset over the Gabe thing. He had been genuinely concerned about me when I told him what happened between Gabe and I. Jake had told me if taking the window thing away from him was the issue, he trusted me enough to not let me lose my friend over it. He had even asked if him talking to Gabe would help, but I told him it would just make it worse. So, since then, whenever I needed for him to hold me, he was there with open arms until I was ready to let go. As if he wasn’t perfect enough as it is.

Once I trusted myself to be OK, I unwrapped myself from his arms and we met up with Maya and Evan. As the four of us walked out of the building together, Maya was on a roll about all the festivities she had planned for us. She literally had planned out our Christmas break without missing any details. We had movies we had to see, caroling, cookie decorating, Starbucks dates, pizza nights, etc. I kid you not – she even had allotted certain days for Jake and I to go on dates. It was hysterical. A part of me knew her obsessive planning was to keep me busy during the break, so that I would not have time to think about the Gabe thing and I loved her for it. Another part of me wished Gabe could just be my friend again, and that part was still sad.

A few nights into Christmas break was finally a day Maya had planned out as a date night, so she came over to help me get ready for my date with Jake. As usual, when Maya comes over to help me get ready, I made myself comfortable in my bowl chair while she rummaged through my closet to pick out an outfit for me.

I had my legs tucked into my chest as I watched her sort through my sweaters. “You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Oh my, sweet little Em. Yes I do! Have you seen what you wear to school? I am not sending you out with Jake without my help,” she teased.

“Hey!” I squealed. “I’m not that bad at dressing myself,” I laughed. “But you know what I mean. I really would be OK if I had a moment to myself.” I looked at my friend sweetly, willing her to see she could still have a life and not worry about me for the foreseeable future.

Maya stepped out of my closet and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. “Look, bitch. Would you let me wallow in my sadness, withering away all alone if the situation were reversed?” she raised a brow.

“Well not when you put it like that,” I laughed.

“So we’re good then?” Not that she cared about my answer because she was back in my closet as soon as her words were out. I shook my head as I settled back into my chair. Lord knows I love that girl.

All of two minutes later she was handing me the “Maya approved” outfit and telling me to hurry and change so she could have time to fix me up before Jake got here. When he finally arrived, she walked me to the door and told him it was his turn, kissed my cheek, and then said not to do anything she wouldn’t do. I rolled my eyes as Jake walked me to his car.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Emma Crawford,” she called out.

I turned to Jake. “How does she always know?” I whispered.

Laughing, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “I don’t know. But tonight you’re finally all mine. So how hungry are you, because I’m thinking we should just skip dinner? What do you think?”

I looked over at him and he was giving me big puppy dog eyes, which made me laugh. I swatted his arm before saying, “Uh, no. Dinner first because I’m starving, and then we can do anything you want.”

“Anything?” he asked with a sexy smirk, stopping in front of the passenger door and pulling me into him.

I gave him a knowing smile. Thanks to finals, the last two weeks had been all about studying and cramming for tests. Sure we hung out, but we always seemed to end up in a group – leaving us both dying for some alone time. “Yes, anything. As long as you feed me first.”

Jake abruptly stepped back and opened my door. “Well get in, woman. We need to go get you food. Are you fine with a drive-through?”

“Jake!” I laughed.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” he teased. “Can you blame a guy for trying?” He shot me a wink, closed my door, and then ran around to the other side. Once he was in his truck, he gave me one of his perfect smiles as he reached over and squeezed my hand three times.

“I love you too, you big dork.” It made me smile every time he did that. It was our own personal secret – something special that just he and I shared, and I loved it every time.

Jake leaned back in his seat and feigned being relieved as he wiped his hand across his forehead. “Phew. Now what do you want to eat?”

“Mexican?” I looked at him with big pleading eyes.

“Well how can I say no to that? Alright, Blondie, let’s go get you some chips and salsa.”

***

After dinner, Jake laced his fingers through mine as we walked out into the parking lot. His strong grip on my hand and the way that he led me to his truck had my insides knotting up in anticipation. Rather than opening the passenger side door, he gently, but deliberately, backed me up against the side, pinning me in by placing one hand on either side of me as he dropped his head to meet my lips with a soft kiss. “Tell me, Blondie. Now that we’ve eaten, is the offer of ‘anything I want’ still on the table?”

The husky tone of his voice made it hard not to claim his lips with mine and take what we both so clearly wanted. He ran his lips across my jaw before letting his lips linger on my neck, causing me to momentarily forget that we were in the middle of a parking lot. Trying to focus on the rise and fall of my chest as I took in slow, deep breaths, I gave my best attempt to regain control of myself before neither of us cared about our current location. Right as I tried to speak, Jake firmly gripped the nape of my neck. “Jake,” I whimpered, loosing control of my voice at his touch.

At the sound of my voice, Jake snaked an arm behind my waist, pulling me flush against him as he buried his head in my neck. “God, Emma,” he growled. Pulling back just enough to rest his forehead on mine, he leaned us back against the side of his truck. “My parents are going to be gone all night at their friend’s Christmas party,” he breathed. “Come back to the house with me?” I could hear the question though it sounded more like a demand, causing my stomach to do a little flip.

The urgency in Jake’s voice would have had me agreeing to just about anything he said. Yet, I couldn’t stop the “what ifs” from playing in the back of mind. “Jake, if your parents got home early…”

“You don’t have to worry about that. They usually don’t make it home after this party until the next morning. It’s one of my dad’s college buddies that throws it, and every year they seem to get a little more out of control,” he chuckled. “The kids are always invited too. I usually stop by for the food and to say hi to everyone, but this year I had better plans,” he said with a sexy smirk. “Besides, you know they wouldn’t care if you were still there when they got home. Hell, my mom would probably offer to cook you breakfast.”

I knew Jake’s parents wouldn’t care. The first time I ever went to Jake’s house, his mom had set us down and told us to always use protection before going on about her new red lipstick and how this particular shade looked good on everyone. Like it was the most normal conversation in the world. I had been mortified, my eyes going wide and my cheeks turning a deep shade of pink. Mrs. Reynolds had thought I was worried about the lipstick not really being universally complexion friendly. She took one look at my face and then took my hand to reassure me.

“Emma, honey, trust me. It really does look fabulous on everyone, especially with those big blue eyes of yours. You’d be fightin’ my son off with a stick. Men never understand the sacredness of a freshly applied coat of lip color.” 

Jake about fell out of his chair he was laughing so hard before adding, “Momma, I don’t think Emma is concerned about the lipstick not matching her complexion.”

Mrs. Reynolds looked at me with a dumbfounded expression. “See what I’m talking about. Men never understand the importance of a good lip color.”

I was a mixture of in shock and humor about the entire conversation. The only thing I could think to say in return, with a shrug of my shoulders, was, “Men.”

Mrs. Reynolds had clapped her hands together in delight, causing her bracelets to clang together, before pushing her chair back from the table. “Alright, I’ll leave y’all to it. I know you two don’t want to entertain an old lady the entire evening. Emma dear, it was a pleasure visiting with you. Jake will have to get you to come around more often. I miss having the company of another female around this house all the time.” She had given us each a hug before leaving to go find Jake’s father.

Pushing the memory aside, I took my bottom lip between my teeth as I ran my hands up Jake’s chest. “Alright, let’s go.”

***

We pulled into the Reynolds’ driveway, and Jake let out a frustrated sigh when we saw a silver Mercedes parked out front.

Leaning his head back, he ran his hand down the front of his face. “Well. Looks like there will be a change of plans. There’s no way she’ll leave us alone if she’s still here. I completely forgot she was getting in today.”

“Who?”

“My sister, Quinn. She spent the first two weeks of her break with her boyfriend’s family in Dallas, but mom insisted she be here in time for Christmas.” Jake looked at me with an apologetic look on his face. “It’s about time you met her anyway.” His grimace turned into a smile as he reached over and took my hand. “Come on, Blondie. She’s going to love you.”

Hand in hand we walked through the gigantic front doors of the Reynolds’ house. “Quinn? You here?” Jake called out.

“Jake!” Quinn shouted from the other room before making a mad dash to get to her brother. Running up, she threw her arms around him. “Mom said you’d be out all night on a date. I didn’t think I’d get to see you until tomorrow.” Taking a step back, she turned to me with the same huge smile on her face. “And you must be Emma,” she said before hugging me the same way she had Jake. “It is so nice to finally get to formally meet you. The last time I saw you, you were rockin’ a cute bikini while a friend of yours invited Jake here to your birthday party. Although, I’m pretty sure she had no idea that I was his sister.”

“Yeah, that was my best friend Maya. And it’s nice to meet you as well,” I smiled. Quinn had the same friendly boldness as her mother. Judging by how excited she was to see the both of us, I had a feeling Jake was right when he said there was going to be a change of plans.

Noticing that she was wearing the same shade of lipstick her mother wears, I took a gamble that she was enthusiastic about her lip color as well. “I love that shade of red. It looks so pretty on you,” I offered. You would have thought it was the fourth of July by how her face lit up with my compliment.

She looked from me to Jake, wearing a smile that reached both her ears. “Mom was right. She is a doll!” Looking back at me she took my hand, “Emma, I can tell we are going to be fast friends. Now come with me to the kitchen and we will get a few glasses of eggnog. I want to hear all about the girl who stole my baby brother’s heart.”

I glanced over at Jake to see that his face was also lit up, and then followed his sister into the kitchen. We talked for about ten minutes before she set her empty glass down and stood up to get a refill.

“You know, Emma. We have a ranch house near Fredericksburg. When the weather gets nicer, we will have to make a weekend out of it. But I don’t do this cold weather and can only stay indoors for so long, so I typically avoid the ranch house during the winter months.”

“I would love to go back. Before it got too chilly, a group of us went for a long weekend. I love that part of Texas,” I lilted.

My words caused her to stop abruptly, and, if at all possible, the smile on her face grew even wider. “You know what, I completely forgot I have somewhere to be. Emma, we will have to get together again before I head back to school. We will grab lunch or something.” She quickly rinsed her glass and put it in the sink. “I apologize for running out like this. Jake, I’ll see you tomorrow and, Emma, I’ll call you about that lunch.” She gave us both a quick hug as she spoke, then grabbed her purse, and hurried out to her car.

I looked at Jake for answers as soon as the front door shut. Seeing the question on my face, he scooted his chair closer to mine and placed his hand on my knee. “I’m pretty sure my sister just realized how crazy I am about you.”

I was completely confused. “Why is that?”

His hand moved up my leg until he found my hand and then laced our fingers together. “Because I’ve never taken any of my girlfriends to the ranch house.”

“But you said you’ve taken girls before.”

“I’ve taken friends before, some that have been girls; but it has always been my place to get away with friends.”