Chapter 10
SHELBY
“Hey, Jake!” I called out across the river sometime later. “Samantha could use a little more help with her hand placement. Would you mind?”
A broad smile crossed my lips as a red-faced and shirtless Jake Evans made his way toward us.
The victory had been beautiful. Neither of us had caught a thing until the twenty-eight-minute mark, when my line had a tug.
At twenty-nine minutes, I reeled in a beautiful trout, which I promptly flung back into the water, but not before I proudly showed it off to Jake.
I wasn’t sure why I got tingles in my stomach as his eyes burrowed into mine as he approached our group.
I motioned to the tall brunette who was absolutely pretending to need help.
If the whispers and sly filming of said ‘help’ meant anything, I’d guess there was a bet going between the three women as well.
But then, Samantha’s eyes moved up and down Jake’s body in a way that made my stomach tighten. I couldn’t imagine what it did to Jake. I almost felt bad about making him strip off his shirt.
“Sorry,” she said, laughing casually as she ran her fingers through her hair. She held her pole out in front of her. “Everybody else seems to be doing better than me. I wondered if you could show me again.”
“Sure,” Jake said. He flashed me another glance, flushing slightly before he masked himself with a charming grin.
He stepped up behind her, showing her how to hold the pole, emphasizing the exact flick of his wrist. Samantha scooted backward just enough that her back was touching the smooth contours of Jake’s bare chest before she placed her hand on the outside of his.
A bolt of annoyance coursed through my body.
If I ever had to pretend to need a guy’s help, it sure wouldn’t be acting like I didn’t understand how to cast a fishing line. I was embarrassed for her.
But when she snuck a glance back at her two cousins and sent them both a triumphant look while they hid smiles behind their hands, I’d had enough. Jake would have appreciated a prank like this in high school, but this Jake seemed uncharacteristically uncomfortable and, honestly, kind of…stuck.
I was now caught in the middle of being both a safety net and the winner of a bet.
“Hey, babe,” I finally called out, my voice strong, though it took everything out of me to use that term of endearment. It felt unfamiliar and strange coming from my mouth, and I knew Jake would never let me live it down.
To her credit, Samantha stiffened slightly and turned to look at me. I kept my eyes on Jake, who also turned toward me, a slightly feral look lighting his gaze.
“Yeah? Babe?”
My mind went completely blank as we stared at each other until his eyebrows lifted, clearly waiting for me to save him.
“Do you think you could show me again? After Samantha? Watching you show her now, I don’t know if I’ve been doing it right either.” It pained me to say those words. Literal pain, especially after I had just out-fished him.
“Oh. Sure thing, baby cakes.” Jake’s grin broadened, probably because he now had something on me that he could use as ammo for the rest of the summer.
Samantha stepped forward, shooting panicked looks at her cousins.
I almost felt bad misleading her like this, but I also couldn’t forget how uncomfortable Jake looked at her advances.
“I am so sorry,” Samantha stated, her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t know you were... I mean, I wondered…but it didn’t seem like…” she trailed off.
Jake threw an arm around my shoulder as he moved to stand next to me. “We try to keep it under wraps at work, but sometimes she just can’t help herself.”
I leaned into his chest, feigning a smile, while he pulled me away from the trio of cousins.
“Baby cakes?” I questioned Jake when we were far enough away that we could be seen but not heard.
“It was a toss-up between that and sweet cheeks on such short notice.”
“Ew.”
“Didn’t take you for a ‘babe’ kind of girl.”
“I’m not,” I lied, immediately trying to forget how, for one second, it felt kind of sweet. Now wasn’t the time to unwrap that.
“You owe me,” I said as we stopped, and Jake’s arms went around me from behind, both of us conscious of our audience sending furtive glances our way.
“I’m paying up now,” he said, holding his pole out in front of me. “Now pay attention. This right here is a fishing pole.”
I stepped backward on his foot, satisfied at hearing his soft grunt. Stepping backward also had my back pressing against his stomach. I began to move away, not wanting to be anything like Samantha, but Jake pulled me gently against him once more.
“Come here, Tuck. They’re watching.”
I slowly relaxed against him. He smelled like the outdoors—like pine trees and a hot summer day.
His body against mine didn’t feel as intrusive as it had yesterday.
It felt more like a hug as he had his arms out in front of me, pretending to show me how to cast the line.
It was that feeling of home again, and it came on so strong and so sudden that my eyes began to flood with unbridled emotion.
Panicked, I blinked back the tears before Jake took notice.
That wasn’t what we were here for, and it terrified me that my mind kept taking me to that place with Jake.
Jake wasn’t an option. He had never been an option.
These thoughts would be the death of me.
I had just promised him that I would be a safety net for him, and watching his face as Samantha came onto him made it clear he needed that.
He didn’t need one more girl with a tragic crush on him.
Whatever he’d faced with Miranda had cut him deeply.
He needed a friend right now.
And that was me.
After a quick sandwich and a hot bath, I spent most of my evening curled up on the couch, a movie on in the background, editing the day’s pictures.
I’d been more careful with my settings. More intentional.
There were a couple of images I liked enough to spend more time examining more closely.
I picked apart each one, running through the frame, the pose, and the settings, and talking myself through what I could have done to make each a stronger image.
But to my surprise, there were some that were more than halfway decent.
Ironically, the picture I loved most was one I had snuck of Jake fishing. He was downriver from me, all by himself. He took up only a small part of the frame, but his stance and his lazy confidence as he tossed his line constantly drew my eye.
There was a knock at the door. I opened it and found Jake, highlighted by the warm yellow glow of my porch light, wearing his standard cowboy boots, shorts, and a t-shirt that fit him like a glove.
He was holding a clipboard and a pen, and in a very official voice, he said, “I’m here to revise that bull crap contract you claim you still have.”
I scoffed. “It’s not bull crap. Maybe if you’d paid me back in a timely manner, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Lucky for you, I didn’t,” he said, leaning against my door frame.
“You can come in.”
He nodded toward his cabin. “Soph’s in bed. Do you really have it?”
“Found it in my room at my dad’s house the other day.” I disappeared for a minute until I found the piece of evidence and presented it to him with a satisfied flourish.
Jake snorted as he looked over the document.
“Why do you need us to sign a contract?”
He looked almost offended at the thought. “So you don’t stiff me when it counts.”
“I won our bet, and I still rescued you today out of the goodness of my heart. If that’s not a safety net, then I don’t know what is.”
He ignored me and stepped back outside to sit on my porch stairs. “Carry on. I’ll be back in a minute once I’ve added a few things.”
“I’m terrified,” I said, right before he leaned over to close the door in my face.
I didn’t do anything productive during the ten minutes Jake was outside with our contract. It felt much like I had a plumber in my house, and I just wandered aimlessly, pretending to be busy.
“Alright, Tuck,” he called, banging on the door. “Get out here.”
I made his bossy self wait another minute before I settled down beside him on the stairs. He had scribbled a new contract on the back of the old paper, and just the sight of it caused a grin to split across my face.
Jake N. Evans and Shelby May Tucker (hereafter known as Tuck) will do the following:
Jake will give Tuck lessons on flirting as well as school her on basic human interaction, and in return, Tuck will be a safety net, including but not limited to: an excuse, safe non-date date, hangout friend, etc.
If Jake and his sexy bod are about to get set up, mauled, stripped down, or receive any unwanted female attention, Tuck will step in and save him by whatever means necessary.
(Jake gives her permission to use her imagination.
Actually, no… Jake wishes her to use HIS imagination instead. Hers sucks.)
For his part, Jake will employ various means of flirting and casual touch in order to teach Tuck enough confidence to one day win the man of her dreams. Bonus points will be awarded if Tuck also learns not to give her date a black eye on the basketball court.
Jake will also work hard at convincing his very dense and naive friend that she’s a ten in any guy’s book.
The lessons/arrangement will take place as needed throughout the summer. Both parties agree to keep everything on a basic friendship level (i.e., no falling in love with Jake because Jake, although a handsome devil, is actually dead inside).
All lessons will take place after bedtime hours to respect the cute and bossy minor living on the premises.
The completion of this contract hereby fulfills the bull-crap contract written on the other side of this document.
I had read the contract, shaking my head slightly, my eyes repeatedly flitting back to one tiny sentence.
She’s a ten in any guy's book.
“A ten?” I mused as I took the pen from Jake.
“I was going to go higher, but you’d just think I was teasing.”
I looked over at him then, and his dark eyes were filled with gentle humor, but the teasing was absent.
All thoughts fled just then.
He bumped gently into my shoulder. “I’m not, by the way.”
I signed just below his name, ever cautious of the tiniest flutter in my stomach as I did so.