over. I made some extra muffins for your mom.” She threaded her arm through his and let him lead her out of the house.
Jeremy and I stood in silence for a few seconds. Both looking at our cups or around the room, anywhere but at each other. Finally Jeremy broke the quiet. “You two seem like an old married couple. You know that, right?” He was leaning against the butcher block island in the middle of my kitchen chowing down happily on a fresh baked muffin and getting crumbs all over his shirt.
“I’m well aware. Thank you.” I grabbed a muffin off the cooling rack, since my mom hadn’t bothered to hand me one. I took a large bite and then ranted around a mouthful of delicious muffin, “You know what’s really messed up?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer. “My parents are okay with it.” I pointed at him with the muffin still in my hand. “You know they’ve never even asked me if Nate and I are dating.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
“Yeah. Nathan fell asleep in my bed one night and we didn’t wake up until my dad came to tell me to get ready for school.” I took another big bite. “You know what my dad said when he found us?” Once again, I didn’t give Jeremy time to guess. “He said, Oh uh hey guys, It’s time for school. Then he turned around and walked out.”
“What did you expect him to say?” Jeremy popped the last bite of muffin into his mouth then wiped the crumbs on his sweaty shirt.
“I don’t know, how’ bout What are you doing in my daughter’s room? What are you doing in her bed?” I shook my head. “But not my dad. Even he was too afraid to cross Nate, to upset the balance.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry before.” Jeremy grinned a wicked little smirk. “I think I love it.”
I threw my hands in the air. “When the hell do I have time to be angry? I spend all my time making sure Nate never gets angry. Oh no, don’t let the Hulk out.” I shook my head. “I’m like the freaking other Avenger who is always calming the Hulk?”
“Black Widow?”
“Yeah, her. The one with the setting sun lullaby.” I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and tried to calm my temper. A temper I never knew I possessed. A temper that only seemed to come out around Jeremy.
It was like a dam had broken last night in my attic. There was another soul who knew my truth and now I couldn’t stop spouting it.
Guilt took hold of my gut, my heart beginning to ache from the terrible things I was saying out loud about Nate. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I love your bother. He’s my best friend. I’m lucky to have him. Lucky that we have each other.” There. That was more my usual speed. I nodded, please with myself for reigning my latest angry outburst.
Jeremy suddenly pushed off the island and stepped closer, his spicy scent surrounding me and stealing all thoughts from my brain. Even his sweat was alluring. “That’s bullshit.”
I shook my head. “No. It’s the truth. He really is my best friend.” We’d been through so much together, and it wasn’t all bad. We’d also had a lot of fun, a lot of good memories. I shouldn’t tarnish that. It wasn’t fair to either of us. I didn’t know what had come over me lately. Maybe I was the actual Hulk. Or Mr. Hyde.
He snorted. “He’s your only friend.” He took another step toward me. “You haven’t had a day off since my father died. You’ve been babysitting Nathan for years. You said you were tired, didn’t you?”
I swallowed, backing into the countertop, afraid to say it out loud again. Once was enough.
“Don’t you want to break out? Don’t you want to have fun? Go crazy and live a little?” Jeremy took another step, I had nowhere else to go. He rested his chest against mine. I looked up into his dark eyes, my heart pounding out a wild rhythm. “Don’t you want to be the bad one for a change?”
Chapter Five
Jeremy
Holy hell. What was I doing? Don’t you want to be the bad one for a change? I shouldn’t’ve said that to her. I should have listened to her throw her little fit and then been sympathetic. That’s what a friend would do. That’s what I’d intended to