Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,62
just because he was going off to basic the next day, and his feelings for her were not just about his favorite pasta dish. Just like she hadn’t screwed around with him back then—or in the shed—because she liked hanging out with his mom.
For God’s sake.
She was trying to make things simple because it was easier to dismiss a babysitter, a high school fling, and a pan of noodles. But that didn’t explain at all why she wanted to dismiss any of it in the first place.
“I think this is all very . . . interesting,” Gigi said. She tipped her beer bottle again and finished it off. “Max said you were heading to my place tomorrow to work on the roof,” she said, changing the subject suddenly.
Jake nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“Good. The shed could use a little help, too. But my workbench is nowhere as big and sturdy as the one at school. You’ve been warned.” She gave them both a wink and slid out of the booth.
That caught him by surprise for a moment before he chuckled. He glanced at Avery. She was still staring after Gigi.
More people came over to talk to Shelby, and while her attention was diverted, Avery leaned in to Jake.
“You might want to think about toning it down a bit.”
“Toning what down?”
“The whole been-crazy-about-each-other-for-ten-years thing. The being crazy about my cooking. All of it.”
“We’re supposed to be getting along.”
“Which means you should stop trying to annoy me.”
“I’m not trying to annoy you.” But he did feel mildly amused at the moment.
She shook her head. “Well, there’s kind of a big spectrum between getting along and secretly in love for a decade.”
Yeah, there was. And he knew which end of that spectrum he was closer to.
She sighed. “Just take it down a notch.”
“Maybe I’m trying to make up for your clear lack of enthusiasm toward our relationship.”
“Are we talking about our past relationship or our current one?” she asked.
“You had enthusiasm for our relationship when we were at the river and you were naked and underneath me and—”
She elbowed him again. “Knock it off. I was a horny, tipsy teenager. Jeez, Jake, if you want me enthusiastic like that, maybe you need to break out the peach schnapps again.”
This was getting damned old. There was no way in hell she’d been thinking about Christmas dinner at his parents’ house during any of the orgasms he’d given her.
He hadn’t been a virgin at the river, but he hadn’t realized until he’d been with several more women that orgasms didn’t always happen that easily, and certainly not without some concentrated attention from him. But sweet virgin Avery had come apart in his arms three times that night. Three damned times.
She could claim whatever she wanted about her motivations that night, but the cold, hard facts said she’d been worked up because of him.
Why did she insist on denigrating all her relationships? At least, her relationships with his family?
“I don’t recall there being any schnapps involved in the shed a few days ago.”
Avery shifted on the seat next to him so she could face him more fully. “A relationship is about more than sex and lasagna. That’s what we have—sex and lasagna.”
“And you and my mother just had crafts and cookies?”
That made her pause, and she swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“So all these years you’ve been under the impression that my mother, what? Needed the extra cash so she picked up a babysitting job?”
“Of course not.”
“Then what? Why would she give you all that time and energy?”
“She felt sorry for me.” Avery took a deep, shuddering breath. “She felt sorry for me and my grandmother, so she took me off Ruth’s hands while she worked.”
Jake stared at her. How could she believe that? How could she think everything Heidi had given her had been out of pity?
“Is that what you think the river was?” he asked her, his voice rough.
She pressed her lips together and stared at him.
“Jesus, Avery, you think I slept with you because I felt sorry for you?”
She lifted a shoulder. “You had a bunch of schnapps, too.”
“The river was not about pity or fucking schnapps,” he snapped.
“What about prom?” she shot back. “You took me to prom because your mom told you to because she felt sorry for me. Did she tell you that? Did she tell you how much I wanted to go, and how I had a dress all picked out, and how sad I was that I wasn’t going to get to