Page 84 of Crave

“You sure? She probably hates me.” He searches my face, waiting for an answer. As tough as he acts, he’s still a kid in a grown up’s body.

“I promise you she doesn’t, and yes, I’m sure. Go take a shower. You can borrow some of my clothes.”

CHAPTER 29

SANDY

“God, make her stop,” I whisper to my sister as we both watch our mother walk around Jake’s car. She glides her index finger on the hood. “Is she looking for dirt?”

“Well, what did you expect when you rolled in here in an Escalade?” Tash lets out a loud whistle. “He just handed you his keys? Just like that?”

I roll my eyes at my sister.

“What if you get in accident?” my mother asks, walking towards me, face full of concern.

“I’m pretty sure he has insurance, Mama,” I say, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

“What if he sue you?”

This time I don’t hide the eye roll and my exaggerated sigh.

“Don’t be fresh,” she chastises. “He can sue you.”

“Sue me for what? He’s the one who let me drive his car.”

“I don’t know why you get involved with that boy. He’s trouble.” She finally walks away from the car and comes and sits at the table with me and Tash. Chris is keeping his distance, but I can see the smirk on his face as he busies himself between tending the grill and chasing the kids.

“Why do you keep calling him that? He’s not trouble. And you don’t even know him.”

She plops herself down on a chair.

“His family is nice to you?” She fixes her gaze on my face as she waits for me to answer.

“Yes. His family is, so canyoube nice when he gets here. Please?”

“I’m nice. I give him cake.” She shrugs his shoulders as if the cake declaration has some sort of deep meaning. Tash puts a hand over her mouth to hide her laugh.

“Grandma, you want to see my dollhouse?” Nia saves the day because my mother can never say no to her or her brother. Like the dutiful grandmother she is, she gets up, walks across the yard and inspects the dollhouse.

“She’s a joy,” I say to Tash.

“Yeah, but she’s the only mom we have. And she’s much easier on Jake than she was on Chris, despite knowing him practically all his life.”

“You mean the ‘my daughter can’t get married in the Catholic church because the man she’s marrying is divorced’ scandal?” I do a fake gasp.

“Don’t remind me. I still get pissed whenever I think about that.” Tash’s easy demeanor disappears, replaced by a scowl. That was the only time I remember her being so frustrated by our mother, she refused to speak with her for several days, and I had to play peacemaker. “Are you going to change or stay in those dirty shorts?” she asks, changing the subject.

“Oh, shit.” I jump up and run into my house. I strip out of my dirty clothes and decide to take a quick shower before changing into a simple light pink sundress.

When I arrive back downstairs, I see a black BMW pulling into Tash’s driveway, following Jake’s Porsche.

“We haven’t had this many fancy cars around here since ever,” Chris announces. My mother sits there, shaking her head in disapproval, but I forget about all of that when Jake steps out of the passenger side of Luke’s car.

Even though it’s only been a few hours since I last saw him, I run to him as if I haven’t seen him in months. He meets me on the grass and I run into his arms. He lifts me off the ground as if I weigh nothing and without any hesitancy, he kisses me on the mouth.

“Missed you, baby,” he says against my mouth.

“Love you.” I hug him tight and inhale his cologne. It’s only the loud throat clearing behind us that causes him to set me down.

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