Page 7 of Artfully Wild
So I let him.
It’s not like I don’t like it or don’t welcome it, but lately, it’s gotten harder not to admit exactly howmuchI like it.
We get to the truck and I maneuver him around so I can open the door and help him climb inside. Once he’s in and I stretch the seatbelt across him, he immediately lays down andcloses his eyes, his breaths deepening before I even close the door. Which would be fine, but his head is in the driver’s seat—meaning I’m going to have to move his head carefully enough not to wake him and drive with it…on my lap.
I’d be lying if I said I’ve never had fantasies about Jacob’s head in my lap, but it was for wholly different reasons than this.
I start my way over to the driver’s side when a series of loud barks echoes through the air reminding me of the menagerie of animals inside. I’ll have to come back and feed them once Jacob is settled. It’ll take too long to get them taken care of and he is my priority right now.
A groan sounds from him as I lift myself up into the truck and start to shift his head, adjusting him so the back of his head rests on my thigh. He automatically turns on his side, shifting so he’s nuzzled into my stomach. I place my hand in his hair to steady him and ignore the feeling deep in my belly at having him close like this.
I’ve always accepted the fact that we would be friends and that’s where it would stay. Since I’ve been going to Sunday brunches again, the love between the couples around me brings thoughts to the surface about when it would be my turn to find love. Someone I can depend on and not have to figure out things alone. Even if it’s arguing over which color we want to paint the kitchen, or which rug is the least ugly to put in the living room. Max is great, but I don’t want to spend my whole life alone, wondering what it could have been like because I was too afraid to take a chance with someone. Withhim.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve started really paying attention to Jacob and how he acts around me to see if there is potential that he could see me as more than a friend too. To my surprise, I’ve caught him looking at me a few times when we are in groups of people. At the bar on Tuesday nights when he thought I wasn’t paying attention, I’d turn and meet his gaze and he’d turn away like he was caught doing something he shouldn’thave—like a little kid sneaking another piece of Halloween candy after his parents told him no.
The truck’s brakes squeal as I pull to a stop in front of the store. I really need to take it to Axel—the local mechanic—to get serviced, but I haven’t had the time. I glance down at Jacob who is now snoring, his glasses crooked, my hand still curled into his dark blond hair. It’s thick and soft and I can’t resist running my fingers through it. He moans softly in response and I instantly still at the sound. As much as I want to hear that again, I’d rather it be when he is actually awake and wants me to touch his hair.
I pull out my phone and dial Charlotte's number who picks up halfway through the first ring.
“Geez, do you have that thing glued to your hand or something?” I whisper.
“Shut up. I’m bored and Avery is with Hudson, so I had my phone in my hand when you called.”
“Fair.” I do feel bad that I haven’t given her my attention lately. When she moved here, it was for her best friend, who has been so infatuated with my brother she’s been in her own bubble lately and doesn’t always have time for everyone. Which I get, but Charlotte is new and even though designing the studio has kept her busy during the day—being endlessly annoyed with Elias in the process—she gets bored easily in the evenings. But with the store, I’m usually socialized out by the end of the day.
“Listen, I need a favor,” I say, hoping she can hear me, but I don’t want to risk waking Jacob before I absolutely have to.
“Why are you whispering?” she asks, mimicking my voice.
“Because Jacob is sleeping and I don’t want to wake him.”
“Jacob is sleeping where?” she squeals in excitement.
“What part of ‘I don’t want to wake him’ didn’t you understand, woman?”
“Sorry, sorry. But I need details now! How was it? Amazing? Everything you hoped? How big was his d—”
“I swear to fuck, Charlotte, if you don’t shut the hell up,” Isay, rubbing my eyes and looking down to make sure Jacob is still sleeping. His deep breathing tells me he is. Or he’s pretending and fully listening to this conversation and heard Charlotte trying to ask if we slept together. I lean my head back until it touches the headrest and sigh.
“Sorry, sorry. You need a favor?” she asks, repeating my words.
“Yes. Jacob has a migraine, so—”
“Again? Isn’t that the third one this month?”
“Something like that, but this one looks like it’s going to be the worst out of the three, so he’s going to stay with me for the quiet. Can you hop over to his place and make sure the animals are taken care of?” I hate to ask her again. She wasn’t the biggest animal lover when she moved here, but I think with hanging out with our friend group it’s hard not to fall in love with them, especially with Jacob and Sophie talking about them almost nonstop.
“Yeah, I can do that. It gives me something to do honestly, and I can go out in the snow. My favorite.” She says it with a sarcastic tone that almost rivals mine. I’ve learned that Charlotte isn’t a huge fan of the snow. Or the cold. Or anything to do with winter for that matter. But I think by the end of the festival season, she might change her mind. She was unsure about Halloween and then she ended up going to the festival completely decked out with the help of Ethan’s convincingandshe won the costume contest. She came dressed as Kim Possible and she even borrowed a naked mole rat from someone who had one for a pet, which was bizarre in itself. I am pretty sure Elias’s eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw her at Axel’s garage waiting to go into the haunted house with Ethan, who was dressed as Nemo. Avery was Dory. Still no idea what their thing is there. They’ve kept their inside joke a secret from everyone, even Elias and Hudson.
“You’re a lifesaver.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. So where exactly is Jacob sleeping?” I should have known she wasn’t going to let that one go.
“In my truck.”
“And why is he asleep in your truck?”
“I had to pick him up so that zoo of his wouldn’t make his migraine worse and he laid down right when he got in and fell asleep.” I wince as I realize what I said. If Charlotte is good at anything, it is interior design and reading between the lines.
