Chapter 24
Erin
“These guys have been over here a hundred times. Why are you sweeping again?” Jacob asked, sneaking up behind me and grabbing the broom from my hands. The floors were dust free—there wasn’t a speck of dirt in sight, but my nerves made it impossible to sit still. “They don’t care about a little mess. They’re used to it.”
I shrugged. “I know they won’t care if it’s messy, but… I’m nervous that your friends don’t like me,” I admitted, covering my face with my hands. I knew without seeing his face that he would be confused.
“Are you kidding? I’m pretty sure they like you more than me at this point, red!” He turned me in his arms, lifting my chin so our eyes met. His stare was intense, and he smiled. “I can’t even blame them for that.”
Jacob planted a light kiss on my lips before he walked away with the broom in hand, heading for the closet that housed it. As soon as he was gone, my hands started to fidget, and I looked around the room. His friends were going to be here any minute.
I reached for the towel that hung on the stove, intending to straighten it, but as soon as I grabbed it, I pulled it from the handle. There was always something that could be wiped down. When I turned around, Jacob was standing there with an extended hand.
“You aren’t going to start dusting now. You need to relax.” Jacob took the towel from me, hanging it back on the oven door, and I just watched him.
Before I could find something else to try and clean, the front door opened, crashing into the wall behind it, and the silence in the house was replaced with an unintelligible argument and the thud of heavy steps. They both stopped shouting when they saw me standing in the entry to the kitchen and smiled.
“Well, look who was able to make it!” Darren said, nodding at me as if Blake didn’t see me.
“Now it’s a real party!” Blake dropped the pizza boxes in his hands on the entry table on his way to the kitchen before he wrapped me in a hug. He lifted me, spinning in a quick circle while I shrieked and swatted at his back. Jacob stood behind him watching, and he stepped forward when Blake set me back down.
“You better watch it,” he said, clapping him on the back before he grabbed the case of beer and bottle of whiskey from his hands and walked towards the fridge.
Blake shrugged before grabbing the pizzas he’d discarded and following into the kitchen. “What did I do? It’s not like I’m trying to steal your girl.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“Don’t be an instigator, asshole.” Darren elbowed Blake, and all three men burst into a fit of laughter.
Jacob let the fridge door slam behind him when he returned with four beers. He distributed them, handing me the last one before putting his arm around me and pulling me possessively against his side. I giggled. No matter what he said to his friends, it was a warning.
“It’s still so wild to me that you’re Liz’s sister,” Blake said, opening the pizza boxes and grabbing a slice. The smell of grease and pepperoni filled the air, and my stomach growled.
I nodded, stepping out of Jacob’s hold to grab a piece for myself. I dropped into one of the chairs at the table. “Why is that?” I asked, tilting my head when I took a bite. The cheese was still hot and burned the roof of my mouth, and I inhaled quickly in an attempt to cool the bite down enough to swallow it.
“Liz was just so brash and loud.” He finished chewing the bite in his mouth around the words and swallowed it. “You’re so put together.”
“You’re a lot more fun to party with too,” Darren said, grabbing the bottle of whiskey from the counter and popping the cork out of it.
My stomach churned when the slightly sweet smell reached me. “I don’t party like that very often,” I explained, putting my hand up in a half-assed attempt to refuse the shot that wasn’t even poured yet.
“That’s not what it looked like the other night!” Blake laughed, putting his hand up in front of me for a high five. “That was impressive!”
I pressed my fingers to my temple, remembering the headache that lingered for three days the last time. “The hangover I had afterwards was arguably more impressive.” I shrugged, choking back the laugh that fought its way from my throat. “I can’t do that again.”
Jacob joined us, throwing his arm around me. “I’ll take hers then,” he said, winking.
Darren poured four shots, and I reached for the last glass. “I didn’t say I wasn’t going to take any.”
The guys laughed, tapping their glasses together before throwing back the shots. Then the glasses were refilled, and a strong sense of déjà vu felt an awful lot like nausea. Still, I took the second shot when it was handed to me.
“You guys are a bunch of troublemakers,” I accused before I swallowed it, setting the glass back on the counter harder than necessary.
“You call it trouble,” Blake said, grabbing the bottles and empty glasses and making his way to the living room. He looked over his shoulder. “I call it Friday night.”
He dropped onto the sofa with a loud huff, and Darren laughed, moving to join him. “Lord help us all,” Jacob said before he tucked his arm around my shoulders, leading me with him into the other room.
When he was in front of the armchair, he dropped into it, tugging me after him. I fell into his lap, settling comfortably against his chest as if I had spent all the time in the world there. Jacob wrapped his arms around me, nuzzling my neck even when both of his friends had turned their attention to us. I blushed when I realized we were being watched, but I didn’t want him to stop.
“It’s weird seeing you like this, dude,” Blake said, and Darren nodded next to him.
I looked over my shoulder at Jacob, trying to make out what was different about him and failing to find anything. “See him like what?” I asked.
“Happy with someone,” Darren added, shrugging. “He was never like that with your sister.”
Blake leaned forward. “Or with anyone. We’ve known this dude for a lot of years, and I’ve never seen him remotely this happy.”
“That’s because I’ve never been with someone like Erin.” Jacob rotated me in his lap, throwing his arm over my legs and cradling me to him. I rested my head on his shoulder.
“And to think it all started out as a rebound.” Darren shook his head, and Blake laughed loudly.
“It wasn’t a rebound,” Blake said. “It was a revenge fuck. There’s a difference.”
Jacob laughed, and I blushed, wanting to shrink into the chair. “It’s definitely not about revenge now.”
Not even kind of.