Page 34 of Make Her Mine

I guess we might have dated short-term before we figured all of that out.

And I might know more about this happy-cuddling-and-begging thing.

Ugh. He is the most frustrating person I know. I do not want to be thinking about that stuff. That is not helpful at all.

“Well, we’ll never know,” I tell her. Except this week you’ll be able to see what it would have been like, a voice in my head reminds me. Maybe you’ll get some cuddling-and-begging.

Oh my god. This is so not good.

This is all fake and we’re going to be on our best behavior because it’s a show. It’s not how we’d really act if we were dating.

“You just taking a break?” Margot asks Mia.

“Yeah, I came downtown to get something…” Mia comments, her eyes straying to the group of men working. “But I don’t remember what now.”

We all laugh.

We stand and watch the men work for a while.

And I can’t deny that my eyes go to Jefferson often. I suppose he’s just on my mind right now. I’m going to have to pay more attention to him this week than I usually do.

The guys are laughing, joking, and the dunk tank is now almost entirely put together, and Jefferson is clearly a part of the community. All of these men obviously like him. He’s completely competent, comfortable with every tool he picks up, taking direction but also giving some instructions.

He stops, puts his hands on his hips, says something I can’t hear to David, and then throws his head back and laughs.

My stomach—I’m calling it my stomach even though it definitely feels a lot lower than that—clenches. “Ugh,” I groan.

Mia and Margot both laugh.

“I don’t think this week is going to be so bad,” Mia says, nudging me with her elbow.

“I just have to remember that I hate Zach more than I hate Jefferson,” I tell her.

Margot rolls her eyes. “Do you really hate Jefferson?” she asks.

“Yes,” I say quickly.

“You love to fight with him,” Mia says.

“I fight with him because we disagree about everything and everyone else in this town thinks he’s so amazing and wonderful and I think it’s important to remind him that there are exceptions.”

Mia laughs. “So you’re helping him by keeping his ego in check?”

“Yes. That.”

“But that’s not really hate,” Margot says. “You disagree sometimes. So what?”

“We disagree on big things,” I insist. “I hate that he thinks Sapphire Falls isn’t good enough for most people and he’s always trying to talk people into leaving.”

“Well, that’s pretty harsh,” Margot says. “He just encourages people to go after what they want.”

I gasp. “You’re not going to defend him to me, are you?”

“I’m trying to make this week easier on you—both of you—by pointing out that maybe he’s not the devil.”

I frown.

“I agree,” Mia says. “When he came to me a couple weeks ago and asked if I’d be open to helping some kids, he was really positive and very encouraging. He knew a lot about me and really emphasized my strengths. And he seemed to really care about the kids.”

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