26. For Everything
twenty-six
For Everything
J acob drives like a maniac back to the mall. I decide that it’s better not to mention that I still want to go home to shower and change.
Gage mouths, “He’s pissed.” Like I can’t figure that out on my own.
I’m not sure if Jacob is mad at me for accepting a ride with Brad or if he’s frustrated that he spent his whole day off working on our house and now he has to fix my car.
When we get to my car Jacob tries the key. It makes the same clicking noise that it made when I tried to start it. He swears under his breath. “I knew I should have replaced the battery. There’s a parts store just down the road. I’ll do it now.”
“Is this going to take long?” Gage asks. “Me and Jess could go to a movie or something.”
Jacob grunts something unintelligible. I shake my head. It wouldn’t be fair to leave him.
“Well, we can’t stay out here. Jess is freezing.” Gage looks across the parking lot towards a donut shop. “We’ll go get some donuts.”
“I need to go with Jacob to buy the battery. Except…” I search the seat. “I think I left my purse in Brad’s truck.”
“Forget it.” Jacob growls. “Go with Gage. You can owe me.”
As soon as we get back, Gage climbs into Jacob's car with the box of donuts. I walk around to the front of my car, holding a cup of coffee I bought with some change I found in my glove compartment. I peer at the engine over Jacob’s shoulder. “How’s it going?” I’m still worried about making him mad.
“The contacts are all rusted, so I’m having a hell of a time getting battery out.” Jacob is working on loosening a bolt with his fingers. “Damnit.” He pulls his hand out and shakes it.
I put my hand on his shoulder and lean in. “What happened?”
He grabs his knuckle with his other hand. “I tore up my knuckle on one of the bolts.”
“Ouch,” I grimace. “Let me see.” I set the coffee down and hold my hand out for his.
“It's fine,” he keeps his hand against his chest. It's bleeding
“You need a bandage. I have one in my trunk.” I go to my trunk, rummage around for the first aid kit my dad makes me carry, and pull out a bandage and a water bottle.
He reaches for the bandage, but I pull back.
"Let me do it.” My heart pounds as I take his hand.
I can’t look him in the eye. His palm is streaked with grease and rough with calluses.
I rinse off the smashed finger and wrap it with a bandage.
When he turns his hand over there are scars all over his knuckles.
I touch his fingers. “Does that happen a lot?”
“Yeah, I should probably wear gloves.” He leaves his hand in mine, and looks up at me. I’m lost for a minute in the depths of his brown eyes. My breath catches in my throat. “Thanks for the bandage.” He pulls his hand away. “What’s Gage doing?”
“Eating all the donuts.” I nod towards the figure in his car. “You want one?”
“No thanks.”
A breeze picks up. I shiver and wrap my arms around my shoulders.
Jacob pulls off the gray ‘Army’ sweatshirt he’s wearing and hands it to me. “You can get in the car if you’re cold.”
“No, I’m okay. I’ll stay out here. Unless you want me to leave...”
“Your choice.” He turns back to his work. “You and Gage have been spending a lot of time together, haven’t you?” It's more of a comment than a question. “My Mom said you hang out almost every night.”
“Yeah. Gage is a lot of fun. My friends love him. He’s always coming up with crazy things to do. Kind of like what you used to do when we were kids.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Your friends go out with you guys?”
I wonder if he thought Gage and I were together. “Yeah. Jasmine and Taryn, sometimes a couple of other girls, or guys from school.”
“What about that guy you were with tonight?”
“Brad? What about Brad?”
He rubs the bandage on his finger. “Does Brad hang out with you guys?”
“No." I say firmly.
“What about New Years?”
I don’t like the suspicious tone in his voice, like he doesn’t trust me. “He invited me and Jaz to a party on New Years. No big deal.”
He flips a ratchet back and forth in his good hand. “Are you going?”
“Unless I get a better offer.” I look at him, hoping for… I don’t know what. It’s not like he’s going to ask me out for New Years.
It’s starting to rain. He ducks back under the hood. “This won’t take long. Get in my car with Gage. Turn the car on so you don’t freeze.”
I want to protest, but I am freezing.
“Thanks,” I say weakly. Jacob waves me away.
I get in the car next to Gage. He picks out a lemon filled donut, and offers it to me.
“No thanks,” I say.
“More for me.” He bites into it. The filling squirts out of the bottom and spills down his shirt.
“Nice,” I say.
“Oh yeah,” he squeezes the rest of the filling into his hand.
“No you don’t.” I scoot away from him and try to open the door.
He catches me, pins one of my arms to my side, and smears lemon filling across my face.
I manage to slip away and catch his hand, reaching for another donut with my other one.
I get a handful of powdered sugar mixed with raspberry filling and smear it across Gage's face before he grabs my hand again and pins me down.
We both stop to catch our breath. “Yuck.” I look at the sticky mess that covers my hand. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Gage grabs my hand and licks my fingers.
“Gross!” I push him away. He leans in and licks another bit off the side of my mouth. “Knock it off Gage.” I hit him hard.
“You taste salty, Jess.” He smacks his lips. “Well, that and lemony.” He smacks again. “With a hint of raspberry.”
“What are you two doing?” I look up and see Jacob standing over us, the car door open.
“Nothing,” Gage lets go of my hands. “You want a donut?”
“Look at this mess,” Jacob says. The seat of Jake’s car is littered with crumbs and globs of filling. The sweatshirt he loaned me has a big raspberry stain across the front.
I step out sheepishly. “I’m so sorry, Jake, I’ll clean it up. I have a towel in the back of my car, or we could go to the car wash and—”
“Forget it. I need Gage to come try your car.”
Gage follows him, grinning unapologetically. I run to my trunk and get the towel and a water bottle, doing my best to clean everything up before Jacob gets back. His seats are leather, so the stain didn't sink in, it's still a disaster.
“Your car is running. It’s dark and I need to get going.” Jacob says as I sweep the last of the crumbs from the seat.
I climb awkwardly out of the car and stand in front of him, not daring to look him in the eye. “I’m sorry Jacob. I’ll wash the sweatshirt and get it back to you.”
He shakes his head, obviously still mad. “Keep the sweatshirt.”
“Thanks for everything tonight.” I hope he understands that I mean more than just fixing my car.
His lips relax into a smile. He uses his thumb to wipe off a bit of lemon filling off my cheek. “You're welcome, but call me first if you have any more issues with your car. I don’t like who you had to get a ride from.”