Page 41 of Hot Ice, Tennessee

“I think I am,” I said.

“You want to hook up with some random guy one of your friends brings over?” Jesse asks. “Low standards, much?”

“My standards aren’t low just because I like sex.”

“Not saying you’re slutty.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He shrugged one shoulder, leaning on the counter. “Just saying you’ll like it a lot better if you break your ban with a guy who can give you what you need.”

Shut up.

You fucking 21-year-old perfect, cocky, gorgeous son of a bitch, I can’t handle all of the things that come out of your mouth.

“Have you always been like this?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Pretty much. You know, the first cocktail I ever drank was a margarita. Back in freshman year of high school, when I was still a little baby Sanocki.”

I snorted. “You’re still a little baby Sanocki. God, I can’t even imagine you in high school. You must have been all cool and popular, wearing leather jackets.”

“Not exactly. I did okay, though.”

“If we went to high school together you would havehatedmy ass. I was a social butterfly.”

He lifted an eyebrow. “When you were in high school, I was a child.”

I groaned. “Don’t remind me. Let’s just pretend we could have been in high school at the same age. Do you think you would have hated me?”

“Maybe. Maybe I would have really liked you, though.”

“I can picture you, walking through the halls, a popular athlete, winking at people.”

He laughed. “I was scowling in the corner and I couldn’t wait to get to college. High school wasn’t exactly easy for me. It was when my mom was struggling the most, working two jobs. Kane helped out, though. Sometimes he signed off on paperwork for me.”

Jesse didn’t talk about his childhood much, but for the first time I got a clearer picture of it.

“Did you ever have a high school job?” I asked.

He gave me a look. “If I tell you, are you going to make fun of me?”

“Now I’m really curious.”

He leaned forward on the kitchen counter. “I worked in a frozen yogurt shop at the mall.”

I suppressed the urge tosquee.

“Jesse Sanocki—”

“I told you not to make fun of me.”

“You,and your cocky attitude, serving high-schoolers and mall-goers little cups of frozen yogurt?”

“Hey, I made great tips.”

I smiled. “No fucking shit, you did. I bet every teenage girl and gay guy wanted to leap across the counter and make out with you.”

“It was a fun job. Sometimes. When there weren’t too many people there.”

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