Chapter Three
Emily
Later That Night
As Bella applies eyeshadow to my eyelids, I remain still with my face tilted toward the ceiling. The shade she’s adding is a smoky, pinkish-purple tint that makes my eyes stand out and happens to be one of my favorite colors.
“That Spencer guy is cute,” she says as she leans over me again.
“Ye–” My two best friends came over for my mom’s homemade chicken alfredo lasagna, garlic bread, and German chocolate cake.
At least, that’s what they said, but they really came over to make fun of my googly eyes over Jake while we ate dinner and to drool over Jake’s roommate. They’ll be lucky to only have bruises on their shins from the tip of my UGGs accidentally smashing into them every few minutes.
“Stop,” she growls as I force myself not to roll my eyes and incur her wrath again. I don’t know why she’s speaking if she doesn’t want me to answer.
“Girl, you’re spot on with that statement,” Ruby says from the bed. Her lush auburn hair shines like a halo around her head. Some would think it was overkill that her parents named their red-haired girl Ruby, but it also fits her personality. She’s vibrant, passionate, and full of life.
“That boy definitely got the magic wand from the genetic fairy swooshed in his direction.” Bella straightens, so I risk opening one eye.
When I don’t get snapped at, I raise the other lid. “On a scale from 0 to 10, is he better looking than Dominic?”
Bella has been in love with one of my brother’s friends for years. But so far, she’s not had any better luck in getting her man than I have.
“Please.” Bella rolls her eyes. “No one is better looking than Dominic.”
“Or Xavier,” Ruby smirks as she swings her right foot up and down while waiting for her black toenail polish to dry.
She’s lying prone on my white comforter with her legs crossed at the knees, scrolling through her cell phone.
“See.” She shoves the phone in our direction.
“How can any man look better than this one?”
She’s not lying. Xavier, another of my brother’s friends, is one of the best-looking men I’ve ever met. Of course, he knows it, and so does the entire female population in our town and the surrounding ones.
“Of course….” Bella snaps her attention back to me. “Emily wouldn’t notice anyone since Jake is in town.”
“I don’t want to talk about him.” I foolishly talked about him nonstop to my friends over the last several weeks, and now, I regret it.
“You never said.” Bella untwists the lid from the mascara bottle. “What did he say to you that’s got you upset?”
“It’s too humiliating.” I close my eyes and stretch my face so that Bella can apply the finishing touches to my makeover. Not that we’re going anywhere. Makeovers, singing, and dancing have been our sleepover routine since we were in grade school.
At eighteen, we don’t do them as frequently, but it’s still a part of our tradition, and it gives Bella the opportunity to practice her skills on us.
She’s as talented as any makeup influencer on social media but thinks that she’s going to become an accountant like her parents. She’s going to be miserable.
“It’s us.” Ruby launches upright on the bed, causing the mattress springs to squeak as Bella inserts the wand back into the tube. I carefully re-open my eyes so as not to smear mascara under my lower eyelashes or on my freshly made-up eyelids.
Ruby sits with her legs crossed into a pretzel shape on the end of the bed. “We aren’t going to judge you because you’ve fallen for someone you can’t have.” She lifts one shoulder. “We’re in the same boat with you.”
“But that doesn’t mean we think it’s impossible.” Bella drops the mascara onto the vanity. It’s also white with a lit sliding mirror and multiple drawers and shelves that’re lined with beauty products to assist in my quest to become more of a girly girl.
“I think it’s time to forget the little girl’s dreams and become realistic. Jake thinks I’m a child.” I frown. “A plain child.”
Ruby’s eyes widen as her head snaps backward. And there’s that fiery passion on full display. “He said you were plain?!”
“I didn’t hear the words, but I’m sure he said it. He implied as much when he was telling me to change clothes. You saw what I wore to work out. It was fine. Spencer said Jake went on and on while they were driving here about how plain, childish, and silly I was. It’s humiliating.”
“Are you sure Jake said it? Maybe this Spencer guy was just trying to stir up trouble or get your attention off Jake.” Bella is the eternal optimist, and I love her for it. But it’s time to face facts. He doesn’t see me that way.
I stand and catch my reflection in the mirror. A skimpy, midriff-bearing top, boy shorts that barely cover my ass, and makeup that makes me look twenty-one at the youngest. I don’t see plain at all. And there’s nothing childish about how I’ve filled out over the last couple of years.
I’ve had multiple guys in my class ask me out, but I rarely took them up on their offers over a foolish crush. No more. It’s time to forget Jake Thompson.
“I’m starving.” Ruby hops off the bed. “Let’s grab something to eat.”
“Good idea.” For some reason, emotional eating sounds like a fabulous idea. “I think I saw Mom putting some leftovers into the refrigerator, which is a shock considering there are three adult men in the house. If we don’t get it soon, it’ll be gone.”
“Good point. We’ll be lucky if they haven’t raided the kitchen and eaten everything in sight.” Ruby slips one pink pig slipper onto her foot, causing her freshly painted toes and glistening silver toe ring to disappear.
“How about cake? Was there any of that left?” Bella’s eyes light up as she places a tube of lipstick and a container of eyeshadow into a zipper tote. “I love your mom’s lasagna. But between my mom’s need to cook, and your mom’s, I’m going to get a big ass.”
“Most boys like a little junk in the trunk.” Ruby waggles her eyebrows as she shakes her butt.
“That reminds me. It’s almost time for the dance party and the opportunity to work off some of those calories.” Bella drops the makeup bag and snatches her phone off the counter. “I’ll find the perfect song.”
“No, you won’t.” Ruby grabs the phone from her. “You pick the most boring songs. We need one to shake our asses so we can post the videos.”
Bella crosses her arms over her chest and pouts. “There’s nothing wrong with my song choices.”
“I beg to differ. We’re too old to listen to ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’” She swipes the screen.
“You’re so full of shit.” Bella lays her chin on Ruby’s shoulder so she can steer her to something we’ll all agree on.
“I’ll grab the snacks.”
As I bound down the darkened stairs, I smile for the first time in hours. Yes, I made a fool out of myself over Jake, but I’ll survive.
Singing, dancing, and chicken alfredo lasagna.
That’ll do the trick. I can do without my mom’s German chocolate cake.
It’s not my favorite. There’s something weird about coconut.
The flavor is too strong and the texture…
Gross. Now, if it were triple chocolate cake from Jolie’s Café, that’d be a different story.
As I race down the steps, my feet smack the wooden stairs. If I don’t hurry back, I’ll be stuck being the backup dancer.
The first floor is silent as I make my way through the living room toward the kitchen. The only illumination on the bottom floor comes from the front window, where the streetlight shines into the room, and the lamp above the stovetop.
I inhale. Pepperoni and sausage? The room holds onto the faint hint of pizza that the boys must’ve ordered for their all-night video game marathon.
The door to the basement is closed with no sounds creeping up the stairs.
Which is good because when the door is open, all kinds of screaming and yelling make their way from the lower depths, and I don’t want to hear Jerkface Jake’s mouth.
My smile slips away. Even with the two most amazing friends to ensure I get out and stay out of my bad mood, I’m afraid getting over Jake isn’t going to be as easy as I’m pretending.
After opening the refrigerator, I study the contents. The shelves are full of sports drinks, protein shakes, cinnamon roll tubes, eggs, bacon, soda, juice, and pans of leftovers–basically the necessities for a holiday break.
Where is it? I scan from top to bottom looking for the chicken lasagna. Nowhere. My teeth clench together. Kaleb, I’m going to kill you. That asshole is always taking all the food, and he knows Mom’s chicken alfredo lasagna is my favorite.
Is that it? I bend down and shove a container of butter out of the way. There it is. I clasp the platter of leftovers in one hand and close the door with my hip. This time, Kaleb is lucky. We’ve gone to war over lesser things.
Now to microwave our snack, locate the cake for the girls, and get back to the dance party.
“You need to get out of here.” A deep growl comes from behind me.
I scream while spinning on my heel and clutch the tray as it slips in my hands. My heart races and thuds against my ribs. Jake. I glare at him as he steps out of the shadows that lead to the open basement door.
“What in the fuck is wrong with you?” I gasp for breath as my racing heart slows by a beat. “Do you think it’s funny to keep sneaking up on me?”
“You need to get out of here.” He stands on the other side of the island in nothing but a low-slung pair of jogging shorts. Above his left hip is the tattoo of a flying bald eagle.
I squint, trying to get a better view. He has a tattoo above his Adonis belt. Of course, he does. His muscles have filled in, leaving him with bulging biceps and a trim, narrow waist with a trail of hair that leads to… Do. Not. Go. There.
“Hi,” I squeak as heat floods my cheeks.
“Go.” His hands curl into fists.
“What?” I blink as what he’s saying finally makes its way through the haze in my head. He wants me to leave my own kitchen? My fingertips dig into the glass plate. “I don’t know who you think–”
“Go upstairs now. Get out of here.” The heat in his eyes flares as he tips his head toward the living room and the stairs that lead to my bedroom. “Before Spencer gets up here.”
“God forbid your roommate sees me.” I glare at him but follow his command anyway. Not because he said to, but because spending another second in the same room with him is unfathomable.
The floor is cold under my feet as I leave the kitchen. My teeth gnash together as I stomp across the living room with my head held high.
“What’s up?” Spencer’s voice joins Jake’s in the kitchen.
“Nothing,” Jake mutters in reply.
“Fucker. I told you to grab the leftover cake. It’s right there on the counter. What took you so long? We waited ten minutes for you to get back before we sent out a search party.”
Fuck. I didn’t get the cake. I close my eyes and groan. And the lasagna is cold. Could this day get any worse?
“It wasn’t that long.” The refrigerator door rattles as their voices grow quieter the farther, I get from them.
“Let me guess. One of the girls was down here, and you couldn’t keep your eyes off her ass.” The smile on his lips is unmistakable even from here, and like a little girl hoping to hear what she’s getting for Christmas, I stop on the first step to listen. “Three guesses it was Emily.”
“Get off my ass about Em. You know what I think of her. She’s plain, boring, and a child. She’s going around tonight with her ass hanging out like that’s all it takes to get a guy’s attention.” Tears sting my eyes, but I can’t take that next step to start up the stairs again. “She’s pathetic.”
“So that means she’s free game, right?”
“Try it, asshole, and see what happens.”
“You two are ridiculous.” My brother’s voice is strained as the sound of condiment bottles clashing follows me up the stairs. “Shut the fuck up about my sister, why don’t you?”
“I’m getting dressed and going out. Don’t wait up for me,” Jake’s angry voice fills the space. The basement door slams against the wall, reverberating throughout the bottom floor.
“Thank God. I’d much rather you hook up with Amanda than follow my sister around.”
“That Amanda chick is one hot piece of ass,” Spencer joins in. “And after that photo from earlier, it’s obviously a sure thing. Naked tits and ass with Fuck Me red high heels.” He whistles his appreciation.
Amanda. Jake’s ex. He is going to see her. My heart sputters in my chest. Amanda Reynolds is perfect. Perky, blonde, head cheerleader during her junior and senior years. Homecoming queen to Jake’s king honors. I’m going to be sick.
My feet slap on the stairs as I run full force toward the upper floor. I yank open the door to my bedroom to a disco light, hip-hop music, and the singing of my best friends.
The worst part isn’t what he said. It’s realizing I’ve imagined everything between us.