Page 32 of Jake and Conner
"Oh, I'm just wondering if every member of my family has had sex in these woods."
I laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. Will it stop you from going in with me? I can promise you,we'renot going to have sex today."
"Are you trying to make me believe that's a good thing?" Jake shook his head at me, but got out of the car and walked around to open my door. "Nothing will stop me from going in there with you."
"Lead the way."
I watched as Jake took two grocery bags and the takeout containers out of the trunk of the car and marched to the cabin's front door. I wondered what he had in those bags, but didn't ask, opting to follow him silently instead. Whatever he had planned, I'd find out soon enough.
Inside, Jake put the bags down by the low table in front of the couch, placed our burgers on top of the table and set about lighting the fireplace. "There's wood around the back," he said. "I'll go get it."
I nodded at him and then took a look around the cabin while he was gone. Nothing much had changed since the last time I'd been there. The specks of dust dancing in the sunlight falling in through the windows were my only clue that this place wasn't regularly inhabited. Maybe Jake's family paid someone to come clean here every so often. They certainly had the money to do so.
I sat on the couch while I waited for Jake to get a fire going. It was still the same comfortable salmon-colored sleeper couch that had always been in here. When pulled out, there was enough space for me and Jake to lie side by side.
But it wasn't pulled out now.
We weren't going to pull it out today. That would be way too soon. So I sat on the couch, feeling only the slightest bit awkward as I watched Jake fiddle with the fireplace. Finally, he got it, turning to me with a triumphant smile. "I've made fire!"
"Well done." I felt a smile tug on my own lips as well. I'd always loved how Jake managed to look so enthusiastic over such small things. I'd gotten to know him during a time when nothing in my life had seemed particularly bright or cheerful. He'd changed all of that. It was as if I'd lived in black and white and he'd emptied a bucket of color--several colors--over my head just to give me a different perspective on the world.
I would always love him for that fact alone.
I just wasn't sure if that meant we should marry and have babies.
Oblivious to my thoughts, Jake opened the take-out containers and handed me the one that had my burger. Bacon and cheese. "Do you keep any real plates here? Maybe a fork and knife?" I was going to make a mess of myself if I tried just shoving this thing in my mouth.
To Jake's credit, he didn't comment on my request. He simply went into the small kitchen area and rummaged around in the cupboard. The plate he brought me was paper, but he'd found a proper knife and fork. I rewarded him with another smile. "Thanks."
I loaded the burger on my plate and carefully began to eat. After a moment, I felt Jake's eyes on me. He hadn't dug into his own burger yet. "What?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said, shaking himself out of his stupor. "I guess your being so clean makes me feel self-conscious about not using a knife and fork."
"So just get a knife and fork for yourself," I suggested.
"Believe it or not, that was the only set I could find. Don't laugh." Jake picked his massive burger up and bit into it. An orange-colored sauce squirted out the side and dribbled down the corner of his mouth. I stared at it, transfixed, remembering days in our past when I might have reached over to wipe the stain away--or better yet, lick it away.
I'd always enjoyed the taste of Jake coupled with burger.
Now Jake wiped the sauce away with his own thumb and took another bite. I returned my attention to my own plate. The fire was starting to crackle in the fireplace, warming up the cabin. Or maybe the heat that crept up my neck had nothing to do with the fire at all. It was hard to tell, and I preferred not to think about it.
Suddenly, Jake got up and reached into the grocery bag next to the table. "I brought champagne!" he announced.
"Really?" I cut another piece off my burger while I eyed the fancy bottle Jake set in front of me. "Are we drinking out of plastic cups?"
"We might have to." Jake scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not impressing you, am I?"
"You don't have to impress me."
Jake snorted. "Seriously, Conner, I've been trying to impress you for as long as I've known you. I'm not sure I've ever really managed, but I've tried."
I knew that. Jake always tried his hardest at everything he did. It was one of the many things I liked about him. I didn't know anyone else with his kind of spirit. "You impress me just by being who you are," I said, truthfully.
Jake stared at me. It seemed he had no idea how to respond.
"Are you going to open that bottle?" I asked, to give him an out.
"Yeah, sure." The bottle opened with a loud popping sound, momentarily distracting both of us from the topic we'd been discussing. Jake got some plastic cups from the kitchen cupboard and filled both of them to the brim.
