Page 32 of The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back

And I didn't want to dwell on it. I ordered myself to calm down and gave him a tight smile. The very last thing I needed to do was cry in front of him. "My turn. Truth or dare."

"I'll take a truth, too."

Maybe it was because I already felt so awkward and figured things couldn't get much worse, maybe I was part masochist, maybe I wanted to unsettle him for a minute. "Are you sad that you and Ella broke up?"

He took in a deep breath, brow furrowed, as if I'd confused or surprised him. "There's not really a good answer to that question."

"I didn't ask for a good answer. I asked for the truth."

Jake let that deep breath back out. "You never give a guy a break, do you? Fine, truth. It will make me sound like a jerk, but not really."

I opened my mouth to reply, but he held his hand up. "Let me explain. We never really clicked, you know? We hardly spent any time together. I mean, it was cool to date the hottest girl in school. And my parents loved her. My dad keeps talking about what an 'asset' she is. Like he forgets that I'm only eighteen." He fixed me with his disconcerting gaze. "And if I'm being really honest, I'm glad she broke up with me."

"Oh," was my eloquent response. Jake didn't love Ella. He didn't miss her. He was glad they broke up. GLAD. My heart skipped several beats.

He thumped his fingers against his leg, looking around the room before his eyes settled back on me. "So, does Ella ever say anything about me?"

Fury and indignation flared up inside of me. "I am not talking about my stepsister with you."

"No, I just, uh, is she okay?"

He was concerned about her. He just told me that he hadn't really ever even liked her, and now he was worried about her feelings. I was both touched by his empathy and sort of repulsed by the reminder that he had dated Ella. "She's fine. And you?"

"What? I'm cool. All good."

I needed the ability to sort through and understand my emotions faster. I went from raging mad to helplessly in love to totally confused to completely embarrassed in the range of a few seconds when I was with him. I'd never really had this happen before and I wasn't sure how to deal and make sense of the insanity.

I realized that he was looking at me. And not just in the way he normally looked at me, but like he was really seeing me for the first time. It kind of took my breath away.

"You're easy to talk to, you know that?"

My heart started beating fast and his expression made my stomach do funny things. "Aren't most people?"

One corner of his mouth tugged up. "No. Just you."

I knew that he was going to kiss me. I was as sure of it as I was of my own name, which was…um…was…okay, so I couldn't remember my own name when he looked at me that way. My heart pounded furiously.

I don't know how I knew he was going to kiss me, having never actually been kissed before. Some female instinct, I guessed. But I knew it.

"Truth or dare, Mattie?" His voice was soft, and unbelievably appealing.

I looked into his dark eyes, and forced myself to speak. I understood what he was asking me. And I only had one answer for him. It came out as a whisper.

"Dare."

Jake moved closer to me and leaned in so slowly that it seemed like all time had stopped just for that moment. He lifted one hand to the side of my face, and my skin burned so hotly that I briefly wondered whether there would be a permanent imprint of his hand on my cheek.

He edged even closer.

I closed my eyes.

Chapter 12

Nothing happened.

I think it almost did. I had my eyes closed, so I didn't see anything, and I was breathing hard and that sort of blocked out all the sound, but everything else intensified. I could sense his lips hovering over mine, feel his warm breath against my face, the heat from his body encircling me, his thumb lightly rubbing my cheek.

And that was when Ella unlocked the recording studio door.

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