Chapter Nineteen
Darren
It’s a couple of weeks before the Catalina dinner happens, our ever-conflicting schedules—well, conflicting.
I make the arrangements and text Jake a couple of options for dates and times. They’re casual, my questions, because I’m not wining and dining him. Like he’d said so succinctly at Trailhead, we’re friends, and for this trip, it stops there. I don’t know what had made me ask him out in the first place, and I’ve tried to stop thinking about it just as often as I’ve started. Jealousy is so unfamiliar to me that I can’t imagine it had anything to do with it, but seeing Jake talk to someone else—seeing someone else’s hand on Jake’s thigh—had reminded me that our friendship is all we’ve promised each other.
And I want more time with my friend.
When the day arrives, or when I wake up several hours into it, it’s gorgeous, the mid-March sun peeking out from behindscattered clouds. I shower and tug on a tight pair of chinos, and a deep blue button-up, my sleeves rolled. The music I’ve got playing in my car on the way to pick up Jake is more his style than mine, but making him happy is a decent reason to push my pop princesses aside.
I’d told him I was on my way, so he steps outside as soon as I pull into his driveway, this stunning man who doesn’t have a habit of climbing into anyone’s car. The pale green of his sweater does something to his eyes, but I’d get lost there if I tried to figure it out, so I drive us away from the huge house in the hills and toward the ferry that will take us to Catalina for the next several hours. Jake hasn’t been into the bar since I asked him out, nor have I chased him down, our texts mostly limited to chatter about Supine and the offhand observation that I haven’t heard from my father.
So, Jake and I haven’t seen each other at all, and I assume both of us knew spending this time together didn’t require constant contact in the days leading up to it.
Or someone was worried the afternoon would get called off altogether.
“I asked Riley if they’d come to a pool party at my house.”
We’re about halfway to the port, and silence has kept us company more often than not, but I so rarely feel out of sync with Jake, and I haven’t been bothered for a moment of the ride. Still, his voice fills spaces inside me I forgot were empty, and I take a slow breath when I glance at him before focusing on the road again.
“Does this mean you’ve decided you’ll do it? You’ll throw a party?”
“Mmmm,” Jake hums. “We need warmer weather first.”
I chuckle. “Spring is only days away. Pretty sure it’ll work out for you.”
“For me?”
“No?”
“This wasn’tmyidea,” he points out.
“Ah, you’re saying you need my help.”
“I need very little of anything, actually.”
It’s hot—that touch of arrogance. Sexy as fuck, and somehow sweet when it’s barely a rumble. And I smile when I ignore it. “Riley must’ve said yes.”
“They did.”
“Good.”
“It is.”
Jake must like whatever song starts then, because he turns up the volume and relaxes further into the passenger seat. I let myself wonder what a road trip with him would be like—or whether he’d even want to travel that far if he’s not on his Harley—because sitting still for long periods of time has never been my thing, but I think he might be the one person to convince me otherwise.
Maybe he already has.
When we reach the port, I can’t possibly take Jake’s hand, so I tell him to stay where he is while I go in search of a guy I’ve known for years and sucked off once or twice. I get everythingsituated quickly, and we’re aboard the ferry not long after that, the wind on the water forcing us inside. All my attention is on him now, and his on me, but Jake talks about the only time he’s ever been to Catalina, and I tell him all about the high school friend of mine he’ll meet tonight. Back and forth, we share stories and laugh so hard we have to wipe tears from our eyes, and I’m curious what we look like to anyone else. We’ve got drinks in our hands, and we’re curled toward each other because nothing else makes sense, but we haven’t touched in a while, and I don’t know when we will again.
We arrive in Avalon hours before our dinner reservation, but if Jake is concerned about how we’ll spend the afternoon, he doesn’t say. I don’t know my way around, but I’ve done some research, and I find it easy to lead us from one place to another. We visit a museum, a botanical garden, and a ridiculous number of cute stores, conversation coming and going. Every now and then I step back to watch the way he interacts with everyone because that’s still mostly new to me, this version of Jake who isn’t just a Trailhead regular.
It has me saying something before I’ve thought it through. “You should invite Lucy to the party.”
“I shouldwhat?” he asks, a book about the history of Catalina Island in his hand when he looks over his shoulder at me, incredulous at best.
“Is it—I mean, I know she’s busy with work, but—” I sigh. “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, but now that I have, is your reaction because you’re worried thatshe’dbeuncomfortable or thatyouwould be? You know none of us would embarrass you, right? You knowIwouldn’t embarrass you?”