Chapter 10 #2
Aspen set her wine glass down on the coffee table and went after him.
* * *
“Jake!” Aspen whisper-yelled as she entered the kitchen.
Jake had just finished emptying the chip bag into the bowl in his hands and shoveled a handful of chips into his mouth when Aspen caught him by the elbow and steered him past the fridge and out of the doorway’s sightline.
He had the whole got caught with your hand in the cookie jar look, mixed with alarmed confusion, his cheeks packed. “What?” The word barely made it past the chips.
She glanced at the doorway, and when she was certain Bunny’s voice would drown out theirs, looked back at him. “Do you like my sister?”
The chewing stopped. Jake’s eyes went round, and the hand holding the bowl lifted an inch, like a shield. He swallowed hard. “Did Maddy tell you? She promised—”
“Maddy didn’t tell me anything. Your face did.” She gave a small, stunned shake of her head. “I just can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”
Jake pointed a chip at her, rallying. “That’s on you. I ask you to invite her every time we grab drinks, and you say you need a friend night.” He popped the chip into his mouth.
“Because I didn’t know you were trying to get in her pants!” It came out louder than she’d intended.
Jake’s whole body flinched, hand flying up. “Whoa! Sh! Keep it down!” He cut a look at the doorway and back, his whisper gone fierce. “I am not trying to get in her pants. I like her. I want to…you know, get to know her. Spend time with her outside of dropping off neighbors’ dogs at the salon.”
Aspen tilted her head. “You drop off your neighbors’ dogs at the salon? Like, as a reason to see her?”
A flush climbed up his neck. He looked at the chip bowl, then past her shoulder, then gave up. “Yes. Okay. But aside from the Cup, we’ve never like, hung out. So Maddy thought tonight would be a good chance to show her I’m more than just a dog chauffeur.”
The corner of Aspen’s mouth tipped up before she could stop it. “That’s adorable.”
She meant it. Football quarterback-turned-coach Jake Howell going soft over her little sister was the cutest thing she’d seen in a while, and she gave it exactly one second before she made herself refocus. She had come in here for one reason and needed a definitive answer.
She held up a finger. “Wait, so just to confirm. You do not like Maddy again, correct?”
“Maddy?” Jake recoiled hard enough that a couple of chips escaped the bowl and fell to the floor. “No! Me and Maddy are friends. Nothing more.”
The breath she’d been holding since the front door went out of her at once, and the tightness she’d been carrying in her chest for almost two weeks since she first saw Jake and Maddy together at The Huxley finally let all the way go.
Jake’s eyes narrowed. A grin started at one corner of his mouth and then took the rest of his face with it. “Ohhh. I see what’s going on here.” He waved his index finger in her face.
She batted his finger away. “What? Nothing’s going on.”
He leaned in, delighted, repointing his finger. “You like Maddy again.”
Aspen scoffed. “I…” She thought about denying it, but what was the point? Maddy and Jake were apparently BFFs now—and not in any way romantically involved— so having Jake in her corner might be a good thing. She sighed. “Fine. Yes. I like Maddy.”
Jake’s face melted. “Awwww.”
Aspen shut her eyes for a beat. “Jake, I swear to God…”
“No, this is perfect!” He bounced on the balls of his feet the same way Maisie did when she got excited, which looked a little ridiculous on a grown-ass, six-foot-three man. “You can help me with Chloe, and I can help you with Maddy.”
Aspen looked at him. At the bouncing. At the volume, which had crept back up to a dangerous level. She dropped her own voice another notch, hoping he might take the hint. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Jake, but you’re about as subtle as an atom bomb.”
Having Jake in her corner was one thing; having him try to orchestrate a setup the way Maddy had flawlessly been doing since they walked in the door, would be a disaster.
“I meant more in like…” He spoke at a normal volume until he saw her hand motion signaling to tone it down.
He really was terrible at reading hints.
“A behind-the-scenes kind of way.” He said more quietly.
“Nobody knows Chloe better than you, and nobody knows Maddy better than me. We can give each other tips.” He popped another chip in his mouth with smug satisfaction.
It was a reasonable plan, she had to admit. Maddy had been spending more time with Jake than anyone else. Opening up to him even. Which raised the question… “Has she…” She contemplated how best to ask it. “You know…said anything about me…to you?”
Jake’s chewing slowed. He opened his mouth. “W—”
“Aspen! Jake!” Bunny’s voice called from the living room. “We’re waiting on you, darlings!”
They both glanced toward the doorway, then back at each other.
“We got this,” Jake said with a confident nod, which Aspen returned with far less confidence.
Jake put one palm out flat between them, face down. The huddle gesture. Pure Coach Howell.
Aspen looked at his hand. Looked at him. She rolled her eyes, then laid her palm on top of his. They threw them up together in a ridiculous go team.
And then she followed her new co-conspirator back toward the living room and, most importantly, toward Maddy.
* * *
Per usual, Bunny had appointed herself mistress of ceremonies.
She was still perched on the loveseat, now holding the battered purple fedora that her father kept for exactly this purpose.
“Now that we are finally all present.” Bunny shot a pointed look at Jake and Aspen. “With the Cup two weeks out, tonight is a preliminary compatibility evaluation. Mixed teams, drawn at random.” She gave the fedora a shake.
The draw was rigged, and Bunny barely tried to disguise it anymore. She put the appropriate number of slips into the hat, but every one of them said “Bunny’s Pick.”
Maddy clearly knew it too, if the resigned look on her face was any indication.
Bunny unfolded the first slip. “Maisie.” She said affectionately.
Maisie perked up—clearly the only one buying the charade.
“And…” Bunny rummaged her hand through the hat, her eyes scanning the group. She pulled out another slip, her voice softening. “Olly.” She said with a smile.
“Yes!” Maisie threw her hands in the air and then high-fived Olly. “You’re all going down! Me and grandpa make the best team, don’t we Grandpa?”
“We sure do, Mais.” Olly patted her back.
Bunny pulled the next slip. “Chloe. And…” Pulled out a slip. “Jake.” She said conspiratorially.
Jake got a huge grin on his face. Okay, maybe Maisie wasn’t the only one buying it.
Maddy’s face, on the other hand, had dropped. She had clearly thought Bunny would pair her with Jake.
Bunny continued, pulling the next slip. “Maddy.” A pause, purely for the room. “And…” She pretended to mix the remaining slips for an extended period of time, drawing out the suspense, before pulling out the next one.
Aspen snuck another glance at Maddy, who looked slightly nervous.
“Aspen!” Bunny declared.
Aspen tried to hide her smile. Prior to her conversation with Jake in the kitchen, Aspen had been slightly concerned that Bunny would pair Maddy with Jake too. But as soon as Jake sat back down on the sofa beside Chloe and she saw the twinkle in Bunny’s eye, she knew she was safe.
She knew Bunny would pair Maisie and Olly together because of how happy it made Maisie ever since she and Olly had first won charades together. And she knew Bunny would pair herself with Marion, whom she was desperately trying to win over.
“That leaves me and you, Marion.” Bunny added with an outstretched arm and cheerful finger wave in Marion’s direction.
Marion looked up from her book in the corner, alarmed. “Oh. No, no. I don’t—” Her English caught for a second on the appropriate verb. “I don’t do games.”
“You do tonight, dear.” Bunny beamed at her, then clapped her hands together. “Now, everyone gather your partner—
“Mom.” Maddy rose from the sofa, still looking mildly panicked. “Don’t you think the teams ought to be a bit more…balanced?”
“What do you mean, sweetie?” Bunny asked innocently, blinking too many times.
Maddy looked around and tried a new approach. “Perhaps Marion would be more comfortable playing with a relative. We could swap—me and you could be on a team—”
“Oh, posh! Marion and I will make a great team, won’t we, dear?” She shot a wink at Marion.
Wow. Maddy must really be desperate if she voluntarily offered to be on her mother’s team. She just needed a little nudge.
Aspen approached her and leaned towards her ear from behind. “What’s the matter, Sterling? Worried you won’t be able to keep up with me?”
Maddy glared at her over her shoulder. “I have never once failed to keep up with you, St. Claire.”
“Good.” Aspen held her gaze. “Then we shouldn’t have a problem. Besides,” Aspen shrugged. “I thought you liked to win? You really think we can’t take them?” She nodded her head in the direction of the three pairs that were now huddled with their partners.
Maddy turned her body towards Aspen and crossed her arms. “Didn’t you say that Maisie and your dad always win at Charades?”
Aspen grinned. “Yes, but as luck would have it, we’re playing Codenames tonight. Due to Bunny’s…current limitations.”
Maddy narrowed her eyes. She turned her head and studied each duo they were going to be up against, then turned her gaze back to Aspen. “Fine. But don’t hold me back.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Aspen said with a smirk.
Everyone relocated to the dining room, sitting across from their partner.