Page 26 of For Fox Sake

“Donuts?”

“Jake. He brought donuts on his first day to try and kiss all our asses.”

I chuckle. “Ah. Big mistake.”

“Huge.”

“I saw him at the hospital when I was there last week. He’s renting the house across the street.”

No need to mention how he bought me groceries, the intensely personal conversation we had, or how I wanted to rip off his hot dog pajamas yesterday morning and have my wicked way with him.

“What do you think about him?” she asks.

I follow Bernie’s gaze across the yard to where Jake is standing, eating cake and talking to Bruce’s dad.

One of the kids walks up to them and says something, and Jake spreads his lips in a feral grin, exposing chocolate-covered teeth.

The kids around him bust up laughing.

“What do you mean what do I think about him? I barely know him.” I bite my lip. “Except when we were talking at the hospital I sort of lost it and word-gurgitated all over him. About Mom, Mia, and...” I sigh. “I wordgitated on him.” I guess I am going to mention that conversation. I’ve never withheld anything from Bernie, no matter how embarrassing.

She snorts out a laugh. “How did that go?”

“Surprisingly well. He didn’t run away screaming or tell anyone else about it, if you haven’t heard anything so... there’s that.”

“Yeah. He’s pretty cool. I was thinking about asking him out.”

My gaze snaps back to her profile. My entire body clenches in horror at the image of Bernie with Jake.

But that’s not fair.

“You should go for it. He seems nice.” I push the words out, struggling to remain nonchalant.

Bernie laughs. “Relax, I was messing with you. I’ll stay off your territory.”

My face heats and the tension in my body ratchets up a notch. “He’s not my territory. You can do what you want with him.”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. You always do this thing where you act like you don’t like someone, but then your shoulders are up by your ears,” she motions to me, “and you look ridiculous.”

I force my shoulders to relax. “I don’t do that.”

“Uh, yeah you do. It’s obvious you have a thing for him.”

Dammit. I don’t even know him, but I do like him. At least the looks of him. I don’t want to like him. I don’t want to get close just to discover he’s terrible in some way. And that will be the inevitable end. It’s so much better when you can build someone up in your mind and not find out their imperfections.

“Obvious?” The thought is terrifying. “Why would you say that?”

“You looked over at him a minute ago and your pupils turned into hearts and pulsed outside your eyes like a cartoon character.” She puts a hand on my shoulder before I can voice any kind of denial. “Don’t worry, I can only tell because I know you so well. He’s as oblivious to your tells as you are to his.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you’re not looking, he stares at you like Ari looks at her cape. Also, he’s been asking around about you.”

“He did? When?”

“At the hospital. I overheard him talking to?—”

“Ryan, thanks for having us.” Michelle rests a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. She lives a few blocks over and has a five-year-old daughter. “We have a family obligation to get to. But Ari is still coming over next weekend for a sleepover, right?”

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