CHAPTER 13
For the remaining days before the end of the semester, both Jake and I did a good job of pretending that night in his room never happened.
He seemed to really be trying hard to act like a “friend” lately, careful not to cross any lines. Despite that, our non-physical connection seemed to be growing. He was hanging out more in the living room with Tarah, Ryan and me at night. He and I would sometimes linger, staying up late, eating ice cream or a dessert I made while we talked in the kitchen.
Our conversation topics became more personal, too. He opened up more about his childhood. I learned that he actually grew up in Chicago, not Boston and that his mother had been a drug addict as a teenager but straightened up when she met his father. Even more surprising: the fact that the sister he is close to, only came into his life eight years ago because she had been given up for adoption when Jake’s mother was fifteen. He told me a story that blew me away about how he first met her accidentally during a bizarre chance encounter in a cemetery.
It was adorable how his eyes would light up when he talked about his twin nieces. He used to babysit them when they were infants and shared a lot of funny memories about those days; it thoroughly amused me to picture this tough-looking guy changing diapers and getting spit up on.
We had a lot of laughs and sometimes, I would catch his eyes lingering on mine or traveling down to my mouth. These were subtle hints that a part of him wanted more, even though something was obviously holding him back.
Every night, he would go back to his room, and I would go to mine, replaying everything we had talked about. Despite my vow to bottle up my feelings for him, they were still growing stronger than a batch of sea monkeys trapped in a jar.
***
The last Wednesday of the semester rolled around, and when I turned my final exam into Professor Hernandez, I knew that this one wasn’t going to be an A. In fact, I hadn’t even completed the last two problems. Maybe it was because Jake and I had done more talking lately than studying or because secretly, I wanted this last punishment from him.
That night, when Jake arrived home from work, I stood in his doorway with my laptop.
He was taking off his jacket and looked amazing in a black button down shirt that was open slightly at the top. He smelled of cologne mixed with cold air, and it annoyed me that my body would consistently react to him in a way that was not befitting a platonic friend.
He hung up his jacket and looked over at me. “What’s up?”
“I got my grade.”
A slow and devious smile spread over his face because he could tell from my expression that it wasn’t good. He held out his hand. “Let’s see it.”
I turned the laptop toward him, and he gasped. “Sixty-nine!”
Of all numbers, I know.
“Nina Kennedy…that is perversely horrible,” he said trying to stifle his laughter.
“I know it is! But it still brings me to a B average for the semester.” I feigned a smile.
He didn’t look too pleased with my answer. “In all seriousness, why did you bomb so badly?”
“I don’t know. I guess I just got lazy. I knew with the other grades, I’d get at least a C+ average no matter what, and I haven’t been sleeping well the past few days.”
“That’s no excuse. You could have had a B average too if you had done better on this one,” he said in a serious tone.
I sighed. “I’m sorry if I disappointed you.”
His frown turned into a slight smile, and he seemed to perk up real fast, smacking his hands together. “That being said, I’m fucking stoked it wasn’t an A.” He was now beaming.
“I know you have been waiting for this.”
Jake scratched his head, spun around searching for his laptop, then lay on the bed, kicking his feet up. “You don’t have classes tomorrow, right?” he asked as he typed.
“Nope…done until after Christmas.”
His smile grew bigger as he clicked away. When I walked over to the laptop, he shut it and waved me away. “Get outta here. You can’t see this.”
I stood across from him nervously tapping my foot, watching him type and wondering what he was up to. “What are you doing, Jake?”
“I’m planning our day tomorrow.”
“Can’t you just give me one little hint?”
“All I will say is that you need to be ready very early in the morning, like five-am. Can you do that?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
He continued typing. “Good. I have to take tomorrow off from work for this.”
“You’re taking time off from work to spend the entire day scaring the shit out of me?”