You Were Always on My Mind

“I’m so happy you’re visiting!” My mother exclaims as Jacob and I approach her. She hugs us both tightly. “Samantha this is Luke. Luke this is my daughter Samantha and her boyfriend Jacob.”

“Your mother has talked very highly of you,” Luke informs me shaking my hand then shakes Jacob’s.

“Are you two hungry?” My mom asks.

“Always,” I answer and Luke laughs.

“I have dinner prepared at home,” she says joyously. My mom leads us to her car and Jacob takes my hand as we walk behind my mom and Luke.

“So how long are the two of you staying?” Luke asks.

“A week,” Jacob answers, “school starts soon.”

“How’s school in La Push?” He asks.

“Pretty good, we have a good sports program,” Jacob replies.

“You play any sports? I know Samantha does gymnastics,” Luke states.

“Just a little football,” he answers.

“He’s amazing at football,” I cut in, “he’s just too humble to admit it.”

“I second that,” my mom says turning around and smiling at Jacob.

“Got any scholarships lined up?” Luke asks.

“University of Washington and Seattle want me, but I’m not even sure what I want to do,” Jacob informs Luke.

“Well you don’t have to know yet. You should at least apply,” Luke states.

We reach the house and Jacob helps me get my luggage from the trunk.

“Did you two want a room together?” My mom whispers into my ear as we reach the porch.

“If you’re fine with it. I promise you we are doing nothing inappropriate,” I tell her.

“You can stay in your bedroom with him then,” she informs me before unlocking the door. “Go put your stuff away then we’ll eat. I’ll get everything ready for dinner.”

“Come on, follow me,” I tell Jacob leading him upstairs to my bedroom. Since I lived in this house longer, my room was much more decorated. I had a few stuffed animals laying around and I personalized my room. There wasn’t a TV since my dad spoiled me more since I saw him less often. Jacob puts his suitcases next to mine then lays on my bed and looks around.

“Glow in the dark stars,” he states smiling.

“We don’t really get stars in big towns,” I inform him sitting next to him. He notices my large bookshelf filled from floor to ceiling.

“No wonder why you’re so smart,” he states awestruck. There were books on there from childhood to now; I couldn’t bare to get rid of them .

“Yeah,” I say laughing, “that’s just a side hobby. Let’s go eat.”

We head down the stairs quickly and I lead him to the kitchen . My mom set up the table nicely and she put four spots across from each other. Luke and her are sitting at the table talking and my mom is smiling the whole time.

“What’s for dinner?” Jacob asks politely looking at the different trays in the middle of the table.

“Samantha’s favorite: garbanzo beans with cod fish,” my mom informs him.

She scoops some garbanzo beans onto her plate while I get a large cod. We all grab what we want and I go to the kitchen and get Jacob and I pepsis.

“Later you should make some of that famous Reed hot chocolate,” my mom tells me.

“Do we have all of the ingredients?” I ask.

“If not, you and Jake could walk to the store. Unless the two of you wanted to walk around the beach tonight,” my mom states. We have a home very close to the beach and I tended to go on the beach every time I came back home.

“I was planning on going down the beach. Maybe tomorrow night we can have a little bonfire with some of my school friends,” I suggest, “I can make hot chocolate then.”

“Invite Veronica, Desiree, Josh, and Henry,” my mom insists. They are my closest friends and I know Veronica would love to meet Jacob.

“I’ll text them after dinner,” I inform my mom. We continue to eat dinner, but this time my mom questions Jacob. She hasn’t seen him much in the past nine years so now it’s her time to catch up. After dinner, my mom offers to clean up.

“Want to go walk on the beach? It’s different from the beaches in Washington,” I ask Jacob taking his hand.

“Sure,” he answers smiling down at me. I head toward the back porch and unlock the door. My mom’s cat slips out behind us, but I know that he’ll be back by the time I’m back from my walk. I step onto the sand which is warm from the sun. The moon is shining bright in the sky, but you can barely see any of the stars with all of the city lights.

“This is definitely different, and much more lively,” Jacob comments.

“That’s because it’s the end of summer. People want to get as much beach as they can at this time before they leave. I just love to come out here at night and enjoy the slight breeze with warm sand between my toes.”

“It must be nice living out here.”

“But it’s not that peaceful beauty that you get in Washington. I remember sneaking out of the house at two at night and coming to the beach because I wanted to feel that empty natural beauty, but it really wasn’t safe at that time of night.”

“And you attract danger, so definitely not safe.”

“Yeah, I ran into a lot of creeps...”

“You really do need me to look out for you,” Jacob says chuckling and wrapping a warm arm around me. I stop walking and look up at him. He senses what I want and leans in to kiss me. I wrap my arms around his neck while he wraps his other arm around my waist. I pull away as I see a group of people heading our way.

“There’s not a lot of privacy here,” I state as they leave. He turns me back toward the house and we start walking that way.

“That’s fine. You’re definitely going to have to show me around San Diego while we’re here, so we won’t get a lot of alone time during the day, but we are sharing a room…”

“That is very true” I reply, “just a heads up though, Veronica and Josh are dating so they are going to want to go on a double date.”

“I’m fine with that,” Jacob assures me kissing my cheek, “as long as you’re my date.”

“You may change your mind after you see Veronica,” I say laughing. Veronica is the girl that every guy wants at my high school. Luckily, she wasn’t stupid and decided to date her long time best friend Josh.

“I only have eyes for you,” he whispers into my ear sending chills down my back. We reach the house and Jacob goes back to holding my hand instead of my waist.

“You guys could probably go to the boardwalk tomorrow with the others then come back here for the bonfire,” my mom suggests as I let her cat, Smokey, back into the house.

“Let me call them and I’ll tell you the plan tonight or tomorrow,” I tell my mom heading upstairs. As I pass the living room, I notice Luke’s arm across my mom and her leaning against him. I haven’t seen her do that since I was six. I head up the stairs with Jacob trailing behind me. I grab my mac then sit on my bed.

“Do you mind if I facetime them?” I ask Jacob.

“No problem at all, I’m just going to wander around your room,” he states kissing the top of my head then looking around. He heads straight for the bookshelf.

“SAMMY!” Veronica exclaims as she answers facetime. “You’re not supposed to be home for another three weeks!”

“Plans changed and I’m going to be living with my dad so I’m staying here in San Diego for a week,” I inform her. “How did you know I was home?”

“I’ve seen that part of your room too many times from facetime,” she answers smiling. “How was La Push? You never go on social media over there!”

“It’s pretty great. I love the nature and the people are just a huge second family,” I tell her. I watch Jacob look through the book titles, pick one out, then put it back carefully in it’s spot.

“How about that cute family friend that you could not stop talking about?” She asks and I blush. Jacob turns toward me quickly but I hang my head down.

“Eh, he’s just some big ego football player,” I joke and he glares at me.

“What are you staring at?” She asks.

“Oh just the big ego football player,” I inform her blushing more for being caught watching him.

“Oooo let me see and he should definitely not be in your room this late at night!” Veronica chastises. Jacob comes to the bed and lays down next to me.

“Hello,” he greets politely with a large smile, “I’m the big ego football player.”

“Oh he’s cute and funny!” Veronica states and I blush even more. I bury my face in my hands.

“She’s very straightforward,” I say without moving my hands.

“I can tell,” Jacob says laughing, and I feel his gaze on me. I remove my hands and he kisses me on the cheek. I think he did it purposely for Veronica.

“You two are so cute,” she states and I laugh a little. Jacob wraps an arm around me, but I try not to be too coupley in front of her.

“Anyways,” I say, “I was wondering if maybe you, Josh, Desiree and Henry wanted to go to the boardwalk tomorrow then come to my house after for a bonfire.”

“Sounds perfect,” Veronica tells me, “I’ll tell Josh.”

“Okay thanks, I need to call Desiree too so I’ll talk to you later,” I tell her and hang up.

“Go back to wandering around my room,” I instruct Jacob.

“But your friends like me,” he states.

“I was going to surprise them but Veronica has a loud mouth so that won’t happen,” I tell him. I kiss him quickly then he gets off the bed. He starts looking at the photo collages on my wall. I facetime Desiree and wait for her to answer.

“Hey Desiree,” I greet.

“Hey Sammy,” she replies, “how’s La Push?”

“It’s pretty amazing. I’m going to be going to school there now, so I’m in San Diego for the week,” I inform her.

“So what boy got you to stick around there?” She asks me with a smirk. I look up and see Jacob watching me. He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed and he’s just simply watching me.

“Why do you think it’s a boy?” I ask looking back at the screen.

“Because Jacob’s there in La Push and the way you talk about him just makes it a little obvious to me that you decided to stay for him,” she easily answers.

“Yeah, he’s the reason. We finally started dating,” I tell her.

“And he’s with you right now?” Desiree asks.

“No,” I badly lie. I look up to see Jacob still watching me, then he comes over to the bed again. Desiree gets a wide smile when she sees Jacob and I know automatically that she thinks he’s cute. “I wanted him to be a surprise.”

“Too late for that,” Desiree says chuckling. “Hey Jacob.”

“Hi Desiree,” Jacob greets with a smile.

“So I was wondering if you wanted to go to the boardwalk with Josh, Veronica, Henry and us. After the boardwalk we could come to my house for a bonfire,” I inform Desiree.

“I’m pretty sure my mom will say yes since you’re leaving us for the year,” Desiree states.

“Veronica’s a yes, and she’s getting Josh to go. I just need to talk to Henry,” I tell her.

“Awww Henry’s going to be sad that you have a boyfriend now. He’s always had a soft spot for you,” Desiree states.

“He was never going to ask me out anyway. It was just a little soft spot,” I tell her. Henry knew we weren’t supposed to be together and never tried to make a move.

“Well I can probably go, so I’ll see you tomorrow and I’ll let you call Henry,” Desiree says then hangs up.

“Henry…” Jacob starts.

“He’s harmless. Definitely nothing like Nick,” I assure Jacob. His body relaxes. “So do you want to be on the bed when I facetime him?”

He gets up and stands at the wall again watching me.

“You can sit in the chair over there if you’re just going to watch me,” I tell him. He sits down on the window seat and watches me. I try to ignore him and call Henry.

“Hey Sammy,” Henry greets.

“Hey Henry,” I greet back smiling, “so I was hoping that we could go to the boardwalk tomorrow with Desiree, Veronica and Josh then come over to my house for a bonfire.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in La Push?” Henry asks.

“I’m actually in San Diego for the week because I decided to go to school in La Push,” I inform him.

“Well you will be living in Washington for college anyways so that’s a smart decision,” Henry states.

“Yeah, so you think you can come?” I ask.

“Of course, you know my parents are pretty lenient,” Henry states.

“Okay, I’ll text you tomorrow saying what time,” I inform him,

“Night Sammy,” he says and hangs up. I put my laptop on the side table and look at Jacob. He’s looking out the window peacefully. I get off the bed and join him on the window seat.

“Tired?” I ask.

“Very,” he replies looking over at me. I get up and quickly change into a pair of pajamas. Jacob changes quickly as well then joins me in bed and I curl up next to him.
***
“I’m so happy you suggested this,” Veronica says as we enter the amusement park.

“You have grown a lot,” Desiree comments looking me up and down. I decided to wear some pretty short shorts and a loose flowing tanktop. Desiree eyes the scar on my arm, but doesn’t say anything.

“I think it’s something in the air in La Push,” Jacob comments nudging me. I smile at his stupid joke.

“You two are just so cute,” Veronica states. She has this subtle southern accent from her trip to Georgia this summer.

“It just seemed to be meant to be,” I reply bumping Jacob.

“So where to first?” Henry asks looking slightly uncomfortable. I blush a little embarrassed, but Jacob squeezes my hand.

“Roller coasters are always first and last,” Desiree states skipping ahead of the rest of us then turning back. “Anyone disagree?”

“Nope,” Josh replies picks up Veronica and tosses her over his shoulder. He easily runs toward the closest roller coaster. Today is super packed since it’s close to the end of summer. Jacob and I run after them followed by Henry. We get in line for the Giant Dipper.

“So how was summer down in the South?” I ask Veronica.

“Great, especially since Josh came with,” Veronica answers sitting delightedly on the rail. “How about La Push?”

“It’s so nice there. And I get to see a lot of family friends and old friends there,” I tell her.

“Awww tell me the exciting stuff,” she says eyeing Jacob who has his hands on my hips.

“I’ll tell you later,” I lip then start talking, “how was your summer Henry?”

“A little bland. I’ve been conditioning for soccer,” he tells me.

“What about Kaitlyn?” I ask him. That was the last girl he was seeing.

“Eh,” he responds, “we weren’t really a good match.”

“What happened?” I ask as we move up in line.

“It just didn’t feel right with her,” he states in a whispered tone so that only I and Jacob could hear because of our good ears.

“I understand that. Anyone you’ve got your eye on now?” I ask although I know he feels that way about me.

“Nope,” he replies so I turn to Desiree.

“What have you been up to this summer?” I ask her.

“Dance almost every day,” she says sounding exhausted.

“Got anything good for the dance team then since you’re captain?” I ask and she gets a large smile on her face.

“Not quite yet, but I can’t wait for the season to start,” she tells me. “Are you going to be doing gymnastics over there?”

“I’m not sure,” I inform her. I didn’t even check to see if they have a team.

“They have a good team,” Jake states, “you would do really well there.”

“And you were the top gymnast on our team, you were suppose to be captain,” Veronica states.

“I’ll try out when the season starts,” I say. The line finally ends and we get onto the roller coaster. Jake and I sit on the same car behind Veronica and Josh. I turn to Jake and whisper in his ear, “warning I tend to scream a lot on roller coasters.”

He just laughs at me, but holds my hand.

“It’s fine,” he assures me squeezing my hand. I scream on all the high drops and Jacob laughs at me every time. We raise our hands together as we go down the drops.

“What next?” Desiree asks as we get off the roller coaster.

“Tilt-a-whirl,” I suggest. I love spinning rides the most.

We all head over to tilt-a-whirl and the guys promise to put the ride at full speed. The ride goes so fast that I think I’ll puke. After going through most of the rides, we head to our cars to get the stuff we brought for the beach. We get our towels and boogie boards and bags that hold all that we need. We find an empty area in the sand close to the shore and lay down our towels first. I take off my shorts and shirt then put on some sunscreen.. I look up and see Veronica and Desiree staring at me.

“What?’ I ask and look down at my body to make sure nothing is on me.

“You got taller and you lost like ten pounds,” Veronica answers.

“I actually gained like fifteen,” I reply laughing. I finish putting on the sunscreen.

“Probably all muscle,” Desiree says. They’re both skinny so I don’t get what the big deal is. Jacob sits down next to me and takes off his shirts then puts on sunscreen too. They try not to stare at him. He is all muscle from the transformation and he’s been working out so that he can protect me easily.

“I’m going to go into the ocean if anyone wants to join,” I state getting up. Jacob gets up with me and places a hand on my waist. Desiree and Josh comes with us as well.

“I’m going to tan and wait for Henry,” Veronica says laying down on her towel, “I’ll meet you out there.”

I get out far enough into the water to swim. The water here is so much warmer than the water in La Push.

“Now I know why you prefer the water here,” Jacob says swimming up to me. Josh and Desiree aren’t far and boogie boarding.

“My pool is also warmer,” I state. Even though I live right next to the ocean, my mom insisted on having a pool where it’s safe to swim.

“Let’s see who's the better swimmer,” Jacob suggests giving me a challenging glance. I automatically start swimming before he says anything else and swim toward shore. “Cheater!”

I hear Jacob swim behind me, but I don’t let him pass me. Once the shore gets too shallow, I start running. I hear Jacob splashing around and look behind me.

“At least I’m the winner,” I say and start running faster. As soon as my feet touch the dry sand, I feel an arm come around me and lift me off the ground and he twists me around. “Ahhhh no!”

“Your mine now,” Jacob whispers into my ear.He lets me down and I turn toward him and plant a kiss on his lips.

“I still won,” I state winking. I grab his hand and we head back to the towels where Veronica and Josh are. Henry is now boogie boarding with Desiree. Jacob lays down on my towel and pats the towel next to his. I grab my sunglasses then lay down next to him.

“How does the water feel?” Veronica asks sitting up a little.

“Pretty warm, but I’ve been surfing in cold water for the past two months,” I tell her.

“You can swim up in Washington?” She asks a little shocked. We can’t surf on most of the beaches we go to because it’s a danger to the other swimmers. I tend to go to the surfing beaches on my own or with Alex since they’re not far from my house.

“Yeah, not a lot of people go in the ocean since it’s so cold, but we get some good waves up there,” I inform her.

“Do you surf too?” Veronica asks Jacob.

“A little,” he answers, “she got me into it a few summers back.”

“How long have the two of you known each other?” Josh interrupts.

“Since we were two,” Jacob and I say at the same time. I blush, but Jacob just smiles.

“Samantha Reed?” I hear a guy say and we all look up.

“Hey Danny,” I greet getting up.

“You haven’t been showing up to practice Danny, what’s up with that,” Josh says getting up behind me to greet Danny. I give him a quick hug.

“I just got back in town and decided to go for a walk on the beach. I told coach that I was in Portugal visiting family,” Danny informs him then turns to me, “you look good. Have you been doing gymnastics all summer?”

“For a while, then I got a back injury, I slipped off the handles,” I tell him, “Danny this is my boyfriend Jacob, Jacob this is an old friend of mine, Danny.”

“We used to do gymnastics together until I decided to start playing soccer,” Danny clarifies shaking Jacob’s hand, “I’m surprised you picked someone up so quickly in Washington Samantha.”

“There was always something between us,” I say nonchalantly.

“Probably why it never worked for us then,” Danny says putting on a sad facade.

“There were other reasons too, you know why,” I tell him. You don’t just accidentally cheat on someone.

“Well there was that too. Anyways, I’ll leave you all to be,” Danny says bowing then heading away.

“Beautiful exterior, horrible interior,” Veronica states from the towel, “he puts on a good act.”

“I know, so happy that only lasted two months,” I state sitting down. Jacob sits next to me and I lean against him.

“What’s the story?” Jacob asks trying to sound nonchalant.

“I caught him fooling around with someone else and told Sammy,” Josh states, “I knew something was off about him.”

“But now no one will really date him except the whores,” Veronica states with a smile.

“I am starving,” Desiree states jogging up to our group.

“That means time to go to my house,” I say getting up.
***
“Your mom just went to the store,” Luke informs me as he lets us into the house. Veronica gives me a look and mouths ‘hot step dad’.

“Did she go to get a lot?” I ask.

“I think she just went to get snacks for you guys actually, but she has something cooking so she shouldn’t take too long,” Luke states heading over to the kitchen to check the oven.

“I’m totally fine with hanging out in the living room until she comes back,” Josh and Henry say taking a seat. Jacob joins them on the couch.

“Well we’re going to go clean up,” Veronica says leading Desiree and I upstairs. I look over at Jacob to make sure he’s comfortable with the guys.

“Go have fun,” he mouths toward me and I head up the stairs with Desiree and Veronica.

“You and your mom know how to pick them,” Desiree says as I close the door behind us. Veronica starts looking through my closet for something to wear.

“We’re just lucky,” I say laughing a little taking off my clothes and joining Veronica in the closet. “Should I even keep this bikini on?”

“Yeah because we might go in the hot tub,” Veronica states then pulls out one of my beach dresses then holds it up to me. “What do you think Desiree?”

“Ooooo very hot for Jacob,” Desiree comments.

“Put it on,” Veronica says handing it to me. I walk back into my room and slip on the dress. It’s a strapless white lace summer dress thats tight on top and flows out to mid thigh. I add on a long key necklace and put some products in my hair to help control my curls. I add a little lipstick.

“And you look hot,” Veronica says with a smile on her face. She chose a maxi dress that emphasizes her curves. Desiree comes out in the same clothes. “You’re not going to change?”

“There’s no one for me to impress,” she says coming to the mirror and reapplying some lipgloss.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t look cute. Who knows maybe Henry will notice,” Veronica says and I see something flicker in her eyes. She likes him, but he’s still caught up on me.

“Let me help you choose something, you never wear anything that really emphasizes your natural beauty,” I say taking her hand and bringing her into my closet. I give her a short striped dress that’s tight all over.

“Now she’s going to steal all our boyfriends,” Veronica states looking Desiree up and down, but winks at her. “Let’s head down.”

I come up behind the guys and hear them all laugh and get along thankfully. Vacations will be good with Jacob if he decides to join. He looks up and notices me. He looks me over with an approving smile and I just laugh at his stupidity but kiss him quickly on the cheek.

“I’m back,” my mom announces coming through the front door with multiple bags of groceries. Jacob automatically gets up and helps her with most of the bags. “I was trying to only make one trip.”

“I don’t mind helping,” Jacob replies, but I take a bag from him and follow her to the kitchen.

“Ooo the food smells ready,” my mom states as she walks into the kitchen. Luke takes the rest of the bags from her and she gives him a peck on the cheek.

“It’s all ready, I was just letting it stay warm in the oven,” Luke informs her putting the bags on the counter and sorting out what the house needs over what we’ll eat tonight. Jacob and I set the bags down then head to the living room.

“Foods ready,” I inform them. They all get up and follow us to the kitchen. “We’ll eat outside mom.”

“I got some paper plates so that you can just toss them in the fire,” she informs me, “Luke would you mind?”

“I’ll go start the fire,” he says with a smile on his face.

“They’re so cute,” Veronica says nudging me.

“So I made you guys some pizza, hope it’s not too bad since it’s homemade,” my mom says with a nervous look.

“You’re pizza is always amazing Ms. Charles,” Josh says with a giant smile on his face.

“Suck up,” Veronica says rolling her eyes but she laughs. My mom puts out three large pizzas: pepperoni, combination, and veggie for Desiree. We each grab what we want then head outside to the firepit where Luke is struggling to start a fire.

“I didn’t even know how to do this until I moved in with your mom,” he defends. I set down my pizza then help him.

“You got the wet wood, you need the dry ones and some lighter fluid,” I inform him. He nods his head taking mental notes.

“Do you have any kids?” I ask while everyone is inside getting drinks. Jacob’s getting me some pepsi.

“Two little girls and an older son. Why?” He says looking up at me as I light the fire.

“I was just wondering since you’re the same age as my mom and all,” I state, “sorry if it was rude to ask.”

“No, I would be curious to,” he says smiling, “my ex and I had lots of problems and we really didn’t want to split because of the kids but we both thought it was better. She got married not too long after we divorced and I’m trying to win custody because she’s changed a lot.”

“My mom will definitely like having kids around again,” I tell him smiling back.

“Yeah, we’ve talked about it a lot, it would be weird though especially since they’re not your mom’s kids, but they’re not in the safest place right now,” he says sitting down. I grab my pizza and take a seat.

“We have two empty rooms, and one of them can take my room,” I tell him.

“The girls would share. I just have to win the case first,” he says a little sad.

“How long have the two of you been divorced?” I ask.

“Two years; she was fine the first year, but something happened, not sure what, and she just became unfit to be a mother and the kids were with me for a while on joint custody. I moved in with your mom and the kids moved in with theirs and things got bad after that so we’ve been fighting all summer, but I think I’ll get them next week at least on joint custody since they have school,” he informs me.

“Would I be able to meet them before I leave?” I ask. “They’ll be my new siblings soon enough.’

“Of course,” he says and gets a large smile on his face. My friends come outside and Luke gets up. “It was nice talking to you Samantha.”

“I got your pepsi, although I prefer the famous Reed hot chocolate,” he says handing me the drink then sitting down.

“Your mom makes the best veggie pizza,” Desiree says with a large smile on her face as she takes another bite. We all eat our pizza and talk about random things and we all ask Jacob about his high school since that’s where I’ll be going.

“How do you not know what your future high school is like?” Henry asks.

“Well it was a last minute decision and my dad is taking care of all of the paper work this week,” I defend.

“And they’ll accept you especially since you’re an athlete,” Jacob informs me.

“And an amazing one at that,” Desiree pipes in. I blush a little, I’ve had a lot of compliments tonight.

“Thanks,” I say, “I’m going to go inside and make some hot chocolate. Who want’s some?”

Everyone raises their hand so I head inside and try to quickly make the Reed hot chocolate. Smokey curls up at my feet and I try hard not to move her. My mom and Luke help me carry the cups outside to the guests. I take Jacob’s and mine and hand him his. He wraps an arm around my waist and kisses the top of my head then takes a sip. I lean back against him and take a sip as well.

“You got a little whip cream on your nose,” he comments and wipes it off. I notice that we’re the most lovey dovey pair and try not to be, but I don’t move because I’m too comfortable.

“We should have a sleepover this week,” Desiree suggests looking over at me. I look up at Jacob to see what he thinks about this. He just shrugs.

“But then this poor boy would have to deal with us all night,” I state.

“It’s not like you share the same bed,” Veronica jokes, but I blush a little and her eyes get wide.

“Not like that!” I exclaim.

“I’m going to go get a drink, want anything?” Jacob asks.

“Pepsi, “ I say looking over at him and he’s blushing as well. As soon as Jacob goes inside, Veronica and Desiree take his spot.

“You sleep in the same bed?!” Desiree asks again.

“Yeah,” I say trying not to make eye contact.

“And your parents don’t care?” Veronica asks.

“We’re not doing anything,” I defend.

“I don’t see why not,” Desiree says in a hushed tone, “he’s pretty damn hot.”

“Shut up,” I say laughing.
***
“Your friends are fun,” Jacob says wrapping an arm around me as I curl up against him.

“They like you too,” I say smiling, “although partially for physical reasons.”

He chuckles at this and I feel his body move against mine.