Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,61

there with her. But he had been happy to be there with her. He just hadn’t known that he would be ahead of time.

Avery shrugged. “Anyway, that was the first night there was ever anything between us.”

Jake started to protest. That didn’t seem right. But he couldn’t argue. It was true the night at the dance had been the first time he’d felt . . . anything . . . for her.

But damn. It seemed like once he made her laugh, he was addicted. She was sweet and smart and funny and interesting. He’d been hooked. Then there had been graduation night at the river. It had been like a blowtorch to dry straw. The fire had ignited and taken over so quickly that it seemed ridiculous there had been nothing there before.

“You had a spark back then but are just figuring it out now?” Gigi asked. “What happened?”

“He left.”

Avery said it bluntly, flatly, without hesitation. Jake felt her lack of emotion hit him almost harder than everything else he’d been feeling.

Shelby looked at him, one eyebrow up. “You left? What’s that mean?”

“Enlisted.” That word seemed better. “In the Guard. Remember? That had been the plan all along. The prom . . . wasn’t.” He said it with a little grin—a fake little grin—designed to lighten the moment.

“Without saying good-bye.”

Avery’s input was almost too soft to hear. But Jake heard it. As did Gigi and Shelby.

“You didn’t say good-bye?” Shelby asked him. “Wow.”

“Hey, I had every intention of seeing her when I finished basic,” he protested. “Until I got her letter.”

There. If they were going to out everything that had happened, he wasn’t about to look like the bad guy. Or at least not the only bad guy. Leaving without saying good-bye had been a crappy thing to do. But he’d still been processing that anything had happened between him and Avery, not to mention that it had been something big. Not the sex. Not just the sex—though that had been an absolute shock. And big. And awesome. But the fact that he really had wanted to see her when he came home. He really had dreamed about her while he’d been gone. He really had mentally prepared a great homecoming where he went to her house the minute he hit town.

Until the letter came.

That fucking I-only-liked-you-because-of-your-parents letter.

He forced himself to relax and not dig his fingers into her shoulder.

“Not a Dear John letter?” Gigi was clearly into the story.

“Broke my heart,” Jake said with some truth.

Gigi turned to Avery. “Why did you break up with him?” There was a definite note of protectiveness in her voice, but her eyes were wide with interest.

Avery snorted. “He’s kidding. There was nothing to break up. We sort of dated for, like, a month, and then fooled around one night. Then he left without saying good-bye, and I realized what I thought was maybe there . . . wasn’t.”

Jake felt his fingers curl into her shoulder for a moment before he consciously relaxed.

“Then we saw each other again here in Chance, and I convinced her there was something there.” This much was true—no matter what else had happened, no matter why she’d written that letter, when he kissed her, it was real. Which was one of the reasons he’d kept doing it.

Besides liking it. A lot.

Shelby was clearly enjoying this drama immensely.

“Those encounters over the years added up, and the other day, things . . .” Shelby trailed off meaningfully.

“Things definitely . . .” Jake mimicked her down to the lift of one eyebrow.

When Avery nudged him this time, it was much harder.

Shelby laughed, and Jake squeezed Avery up against him.

“You do make a cute couple,” Shelby told them. “The sparks are so obvious. I’m glad you’re finally doing something about it.”

“I’m a lucky guy,” Jake said. “Avery’s the whole package—she’s beautiful, smart, tough, talented. She’s the first female chief this town’s ever had. But even more than that, I know she can refinish a wood floor, knit me a scarf, and she’s a hell of a cook. I think I fell for her over her lasagna when I was about nine.”

Jake felt Avery tense even more, and he stroked a hand up and down her arm. He’d pissed her off. On purpose. Though none of that was an outright lie. Her lasagna was amazing.

He was trying to make a point. Relationships couldn’t be summarized like that. His mother had not just babysat Avery, he hadn’t screwed around with her at the river

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