Give Us a Chance (15 page)

"That's the good thing about the Wheeler boys," Jen says to me. "They're like human garbage disposals. Just give them your leftover food and they'll make it disappear."

"So true," Callie says. "I've never seen anyone eat as much as they do. They could win one of those eating contests."

Jen's phone rings and she answers it. "Hey." She nods. "Yeah, at seven. See you then." She sets her phone down.

"Was that Zach?" Callie asks.

"Yeah. He was just making sure we're still on for tonight."

"Zach is her boyfriend," Callie says to me. "They've been dating for a month."

"I met him at school," Jen says. "He's a senior, like me." She doesn't sound very enthusiastic about him. "What are you guys doing tonight?"

"I have to do homework," Callie says. "After that, I'll collapse on the couch with Nash and watch TV."

I'm jealous. That's what I want. A guy who loves me who I can go home to after a long day at work and snuggle on the couch with and watch TV.

"How about you, Ivy?" Jen asks.

"I'm going to my dad's house." I clear my throat. "With Jake."

Callie and Jen look at each other, then back at me.

"Jake's meeting your dad?" Callie asks, trying to hide the shock in her voice. But I can see it on her face. I know what she's thinking. Meeting the parents? That's serious, but it's not like that. I need to make that clear.

"Jake is just going there to measure the bathroom. He's helping me remodel it. I told him he didn't need to, but he really wanted to help, and honestly, I could use the help. I can't do it on my own and I can't afford to hire someone."

"If you need more help, I know Nash would volunteer," Callie says.

"So would Bryce and Austin," Jen says.

"Jake said he was going to ask them to help, but I hate to take up their time like that."

"They don't mind," Jen says. "If there's a job to be done, they all pitch in and help. That's just how they are. They've always been that way."

"And then Jen and I show up at the job site and feed them," Callie says, twisting the cap off her bottle of soda.

"Callie's a really good cook," Jen says. "The guys love it when she cooks for them."

I smile at her. "I didn't know you cooked."

"I'm not that great. I'm still learning. I watch a lot of cooking shows." She pauses, her sandwich in her hand. "Jake likes to cook too. Maybe he'll make you dinner sometime." She has this sly grin on her face like she really hopes this will work out. It won't, but I'm not going to burst her bubble.

Jen's phone rings again. "Sorry, but I have to get this." She answers it. "Hi, Mitch. I talked to a guy at the garage and he said I could pick it up around five." She listens, a smile creeping up her cheeks, but then she sees us watching her and quickly hides her smile. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know. Bye."

"What's going on?" Callie asks.

"Mitch can't take me to pick up my car tonight at the shop so Bryce is going to do it." She almost smiles again but then stops herself.

"That's good," Callie says, trying to be nonchalant about it, but she's got that sly grin again. "You two should go out for dinner after you get your car."

"I can't. I'm having dinner with Zach tonight."

"That's right. I forgot."

"I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

When she's gone, Callie says, "Those two drive me crazy. They're totally made for each other but neither one of them will make a move. Nash and I keep telling Bryce to do something, at least tell her how he feels, but he refuses to do it. He thinks dating her will ruin their friendship, but they don't really have a friendship anymore because he keeps avoiding her."

"So Jen wants to go out with him?"

"She used to, but now she's given up on him. She's been waiting for him to do something for years and he hasn't. So she's moving on, dating other guys." She takes a drink of her soda. "It's really too bad when your perfect match is right in front of you and you can't even see it, or worse, that you refuse to do anything about it because you're too afraid to." She checks her phone and smiles. "Text from Nash. He wants to know if I'm bringing him my leftovers. He knows I never finish my meal." She texts him back.

Jen returns to the table and we finish our lunch. I like these two a lot. We're going to have to have lunch again, or go to a movie, or a bar for drinks. I haven't had a girls' night out in a long time.

Before we leave, we all check our phones. A group of eight girls sits down next to us and they're really loud. They all have matching sweatshirts with Greek letters from whatever sorority they belong to.

"Check this out," one of them says, holding out her phone for all of them to see. "Even his apartment is hot. It's so masculine." She smiles. "All man. Just like him."

"Did you get a photo of him?" the girl next to her asks.

"He wouldn't let me." She sets her phone down. "He said he doesn't like having his photo taken. But I don't need a photo. I had the real thing." She picks up her iced coffee and wraps her lips around the straw, moving it up and down, suggestively, then says, "Girls, you have not had sex until you've had sex with Jake Wheeler."

I freeze, and my phone falls from my hand, hitting the table. Callie and Jen both look at me. They obviously heard the conversation. Jen is frowning and Callie looks panicked.

She grabs her purse and shoves her phone in it. "We should go. It's already—"

"Wait." I hold up my hand, quieting her as the girls talk again.

"When did this happen?" one of the girls asks Straw Girl. That's what I'm calling her now because of the way she sucked on that straw.

"Last Saturday," she says. "After the house party, Kylie and I went bar-hopping and found Jake at the last bar we stopped at. His brother, Bryce, was there too, but Kylie wanted him." She winks at the girl next to her, who I assume is Kylie.

"You know how I love a guy covered in tats," Kylie says.

"Let's go," I hear Callie say.

But Jen and I don't move. Jen's chewing her lip, staring down at the table, probably imagining Bryce with Kylie the way I'm imagining Jake with Straw Girl.

"Did you get with Bryce?" one of the girls asks Kylie.

"I tried, but he said he had to be at work early. But we had a heavy make-out session in the parking lot. And shit, that boy knows what he's doing."

"All the Wheeler boys do," the girl next to her says. "I made out with Nash at a party last April and yeah," she smiles, "that boy had skills." She swipes through her phone. "Wonder what he's doing now? I should give him a call."

Callie bursts from her seat, her face red like she's about to explode. Jen grabs Callie's wrist, stopping her. "It was before he met you," she says quietly. She lets go of Callie and puts her coat on. "Let's get out of here. I can't listen to this anymore."

We get up to leave, and as we're walking out, Callie turns back and gives the death stare to the girl who made out with Nash. I want to do the same to Straw Girl. Even though it was before my date with Jake, I still feel sick knowing he had sex with that girl just last weekend. And then asked me out just few days later. Did he forget about her that fast? Obviously he did, and he was ready to move on to the next girl, which is me. Well, he can forget it. I am NOT going to be just another one of the women he uses and tosses aside.

All the rumors about him were true. I didn't want to believe them. I wanted to think he was different than that. He seemed different on our dates. But he's not. He's just like I thought. He's a player, and I'm not going to be on his roster of random hookups.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jake

I'm standing at the entrance to Ivy's apartment building waiting for her to buzz me in. I hope she's home and not still at work. I called her this afternoon just to check in but she didn't answer her phone. And when I sent her a text, she texted back that she was busy and couldn't talk. So then I called Nash to see what the hell he's making her do that has her so busy she can't answer her phone. But Nash was in meetings all afternoon with the library restoration board so I wasn't able to talk to him.

I call her again, but then hear the door buzz open.

When I get up to her apartment, she's waiting at the door with her coat on. "I'm ready."

She attempts to go around me but I block her.

"Are you going to say hello first?"

She exhales a breath, forcefully, like she's angry about something. "Hi." She doesn't look at me as she says it.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

Nothing.
Any guy who knows anything about women knows 'nothing' is girl-speak for 'everything' and means she's seriously pissed.

"Did you have a bad day at work?"

"Work was fine. Now can we go?"

"We're not leaving until you tell me what's wrong. Let's go inside."

"Jake, I'm serious. We need to go. I told my dad we'd be there soon."

"Then call your dad and tell him we'll be late because I need to know what's going on with you."

She stands there, forcefully exhaling again.

"Would you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?" she snaps.

"Those huffing sounds. You sound like a damn charging bull. You're obviously pissed, so what about?"

When she doesn't answer, I take her hand and pull her into the apartment and close the door.
 

"What happened?"

She yanks her hand from mine. "I told you. Nothing happened."

"Which is code for something DID happen."

"Can't I just be in a bad mood? Or is that not allowed?"

"Just tell me what happened." I reach for her but she backs away. "So this is about me." I look directly at her. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything. It's just...you're just...you." She turns and walks away from me.

"What's that supposed to mean? You're pissed at me for being me?" She doesn't respond so I walk over to her and face her. "Explain this to me."

"There's nothing to explain. You are who you are, and I knew that and...there's nothing more to say."

"Is this about last night? You're mad about the hostess? Because I already apologized for that and I'll apologize again. I'm sorry. I didn't know she'd be there."

Ivy finally looks at me, but it's a glare. "This isn't just about the hostess. And for the record, you didn't apologize last night."

I didn't? I thought I did.

"If this isn't about the hostess, then what is it about?"

She gets her phone out and texts someone, I'm guessing her dad to tell him we'll be late. I watch her, my eyes on her face. Her silky dark hair is down around her shoulders. Her makeup is soft, natural, complimenting her olive skin. Her full, pink lips are slightly parted, and I'm tempted to say to hell with this cryptic conversation and just kiss her. But I know that wouldn't end well. She wants nothing to do with me right now.
 

She slips her phone back in her pocket. "I'll just go to my dad's house alone. You don't need to come. Just forget about the bathroom."

"Ivy. Stop it." I grasp her hands, holding them tightly so she can't yank them away. "I asked you to be honest with me, even if I won't like what you're going to tell me. So just say it. What did I do?"

"You slept with a girl," she says, her eyes fixed on mine.
 

I slept with a girl?
Is she kidding? That's what she's mad about? I've slept with tons of girls, and she knows this. This isn't a secret.

"That's why you're angry? Because I had sex? Ivy, you know I—"

"Yeah. I know. I don't need you to explain. You're Jake Wheeler and you sleep with a different girl every night. In fact, I sat next to one of them at lunch today. I overheard her talking. She told all her friends about you. She said she had sex with you."

"Maybe she was lying. People lie all the time."

"She had photos of your apartment. She showed them to her friends. So your one-night stand has seen your apartment, but not me. Do you only take girls you sleep with there?"

I don't remember a girl taking pictures of my apartment. I don't know who she's talking about.

"You can come to my apartment whenever you want," I say. "We can go there right now. And as for this girl, she's probably someone I was with years ago."

"It was last weekend."

Last weekend I was with two girls. Shit, that's bad. I didn't think it was at the time, but now I do.

"What was her name?" I cringe as I say it, wishing I hadn't.

"You don't even know her name?" Ivy huffs out another breath.

I sigh. "What do you want me to do? I can't go back and redo last weekend. And it happened before I started going out with you, so why are you so angry with me?"

"You're right. I shouldn't be angry." She says that, but still sounds furious. "I knew you were a player even before I met you, so this isn't a surprise. But I don't date players. Not anymore. I've been there. Done that. And I'm not doing it again."

"So that's it? We had two great dates and now you're done with me? You won't even give me a chance?"

"A chance to what? See how fast you can get in my pants? No. Forget it. I'm not one of those girls, but there are plenty of them out there, so you can have your pick."

I gently squeeze her hands, which I'm still holding, and look her in the eye. "I don't want those other girls. I want
you
. I want to keep dating you. I want to see where this could go. I understand why you have doubts about me, but I'm asking you to give me a chance. People can change."

"You're not going to change. Why would you? You can have any girl you want. A different one every night. It's every guy's dream."
 

"That's not what I want. Not anymore."

"Why? What's changed?"

"You." I blurt it out, but then regret it because it's more truthful than I wanted to be, and now I feel vulnerable, which is not a feeling I'm comfortable with. But I said it and I can't take it back so I might as well keep going and lay it all out there. "I like you, Ivy. I have for a long time. And I think we both know there's something between us. Something that's worth a hell of a lot more than one night."