I Can’t Make You Love Me

Jaelyn was lounging on the couch in the living room, skimming the articles of one of their coffee table magazines, when the phone rang. She finished the sentence she was reading, then picked up the phone without checking the ID. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon.”

“Jared,” said Jaelyn, closing the magazine and smiling despite herself.

Abbie, who had been on her way to the kitchen to refill her coffee cup, froze. In an instant, she had bounded across the room to press her ear against the outside of Jaelyn’s phone.

“I was wondering if you were doing anything right now.”

“No, I’m—” Jaelyn jerked away from Abbie as the tiny redhead began to wave her arms furiously and shake her head. “—busy?” Abbie nodded and gave her the thumbs-up.

“That’s a shame. I was hoping we might do something.”

“Like what?”

“Whatever you wanted. I just wanted the pleasure of your company.”

Abbie covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes clearly saying a long and drawn-out awwwww. Jaelyn rolled her eyes and said, “Sorry, but I’m in the middle of a thing with Abbie.”

“She can come, too, if she likes.”

Jaelyn bit her lip, looking to Abbie for guidance. She, however, looked as clueless as Jaelyn. Sucking in a breath, Jaelyn said, “Well, um...I’ll have to talk to her about it and, uh...and get back to you.”

“Alright, but Jaelyn?”

“Yes?”

“Playing hard-to-get should really be left to the pros.”

Then he hung up, leaving Jaelyn too stunned to snap a witty reply before the dial-tone sounded. She and Abbie exchanged mystified looks and, finally, Jaelyn said, “Well, you’re the expert here. You told me to play hard-to-get. That is what you were miming, right?”

“Yes.”

“So now what?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you usually do at this point?”

“I’m not you.”

“So what? I need advice here,” said Jaelyn exasperatedly. Abbie stood up and walked into the kitchen. Confused, Jaelyn got up and followed her. “What are you doing?”

“Getting more coffee,” she said, suddenly unable to look away from her cup.

“Abbie, I’ve never dated a celebrity. I need you to tell me what to do.”

“I thought you were just friends.”

“Well...” Jaelyn leaned against the counter, trying to word her feelings in a way that Abbie would understand. “The thing is...he’s trying really hard and I...I feel like he deserves a chance.”

“But do you want him to be your boyfriend?”

“I’m undecided,” said Jaelyn dismissively. “Now tell me what to do. You’re the expert.”

“No, I’m not!” she exclaimed, turning around and throwing out her hands. “I’ve never gotten any farther than playing hard-to-get. I’m so good at it, no one ever actually ‘gets’ me.” Abbie turned back to the coffeemaker, but not before Jaelyn caught the tears welling up in her eyes.

“Abbie...why didn’t you say anything? You let me believe...I mean, you’re always going out and...”

“I go to bars and sit there alone, hoping someone will talk to me,” she admitted. “I’m as clueless about Hollywood dating as you are.”

Jaelyn looked down at the tiled floor, not sure how to make this better. It was now apparent that she was the one with more dating experience and, when she really thought about it, it made sense. Abbie had always been so pushy about Jaelyn finding a boyfriend, even more so once she’d discovered that Jaelyn had no desire for one.

But more dating experience didn’t make Jaelyn any more certain of what to say in this moment.

“Listen,” she said hesitantly, stepping closer to Abbie and laying a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you come out with me and Jared? It’ll be fun. I have a really good idea of something we could do.”

“No,” said Abbie softly. “I don’t want to be a third wheel.”

“You won’t be. It won’t be a date. You’ll see. Just go get dressed. Something comfortable but cute, okay?”

“Are you sure?” Abbie asked, swiping under her eyes and then turning around. The tears were gone, but her face was still hopelessly sad.

“Yeah. It’ll be great.”

“Okay. I need to shower, though. My hair’s a mess.”

Jaelyn grinned. “I’m glad you noticed. I didn’t wanna say anything.”

“Oh, hush,” said Abbie, rolling her eyes and brushing past Jaelyn.

Jaelyn waited until she heard the shower running and Abbie humming some tuneless song before she pulled out her phone and located Jared’s number.

“Are we still playing?” Jared’s voice purred in lieu of greeting.

“Not exactly,” said Jaelyn. “I have something fun for us to do.”

“Do tell.”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Much like everything else about you.”

“Here’s the thing. I just found out that Abbie is...going through a rough time, dating-wise.”

“I understand.”

Jaelyn rolled her eyes. “Sure, you do.”

“I do. I wasn’t always as stunningly handsome as I am now.”

“Anyway,” Jaelyn pushed on, ignoring the previous comment, “I was wondering if you had anyone that, you know, you could bring. So Abbie’s not a third-wheel. Someone who might be interested in a small red-head with a shopping addiction and Starbucks obsession.”

“I could probably find someone,” said Jared, sounding amused.

“Thank you so much. Can you find this mystery guy and meet us at the Starbucks downtown?”

“Are we sure we want to expose him to her Starbucks addiction so soon?”

“It’s best to start these sort of relationships openly.”

“Obviously. You’re so open with me, after all.”

“Shut up. Meet us at...say, 3 o’clock?” She heard a crash from the bathroom and some shrill swearing. “Make it 3:30.”

“Sure. I’ll scrape a suitable suitor together and see you there.”

“Awesome. Thanks.” She hung up and, praying Jared actually found someone decent, went to get ready for her impromptu double-date.


“Are you sure I look okay?” Abbie asked for about the fourth time. She was dressed in white capris, a blue top, and pink tennis shoes. It should have looked garish, but somehow Abbie pulled it off. Jaelyn was wearing a similarly simple outfit of blue-jeans, a white tank top, and flip-flops.

“You look great,” said Jaelyn, grabbing Abbie’s arm and tugging her toward the crosswalk. “Did you bring your scrunchie?”

“Yup,” she said, holding up her wrist and brandishing said scrunchie. “It’s my lucky scrunchie.”

“Oh, is it?” asked Jaelyn, hoping her voice sounded appropriately surprised and not like she’d already heard this three or four times.

They rounded the corner and Abbie, completely forgetting her nerves, suddenly squealed, “Starbucks!” She rushed forward, forgetting everything but the smell and taste of caffeinated goodness, and ran right into somebody as she made for the door. Jaelyn, who had burst out running to keep up, managed to catch her before she could fall.

“Sorry,” Jaelyn gasped, looking up at the man Abbie had bumped into. Laughter made her look to his right, at a very familiar face. “Jared!”

“Jaelyn, Abbie,” said Jared calmly, forcing his laughter to stop. “You’ve met Shannon, I see.”

“Sorry,” breathed Abbie, looking up at Jared’s companion.

Shannon was about an inch shorter than Jared, with short, dark hair, brown eyes, and the longest eyelashes Jaelyn had ever seen on a man. His ears stuck out slightly and his eyebrows were heavily slanted, giving the impression that he was always slightly surprised, but he was cute and smiled politely at them as he said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Shannon...Leto?” Jaelyn asked.

“Yup, I’m the brother,” said Shannon. “I guess I shouldn’t ask if he’s mentioned me?”

“Only once or twice.”

“So, coffee?”

“Absolutely. Ladies first,” said Shannon, holding open the door.

Abbie blushingly stepped into the Starbucks and Jaelyn followed, grabbing her shoulders and whispering, “Don’t get flustered. He thought it was cute.”

“Did he?”

“Totally.”

“Why is he here? Did you tell Jared to bring him?”

“Gosh, I love coffee,” said Jaelyn loudly, stepping away from Abbie and grabbing onto Shannon’s arm. “There’s so many choices, I need a second to decide. Why don’t you and Abbie go first?”

“Sure,” said Shannon, looking confused as he was shoved away from one red-head and toward another.

As she hung back, Jaelyn was aware of Jared lingering at her side. They watched as Shannon and Abbie stepped forward at the same time, Shannon stepping back and putting a hand on Abbie’s shoulder as he doubtlessly told her to go first. Abbie giggled and allowed him to steer her toward the counter.

“And you were worried about first impressions,” teased Jaelyn, giving Jared’s arm a gentle nudge.

“Unwarranted, obviously,” replied Jared, putting his arm around Jaelyn’s shoulders and giving her a squeeze. “Nice to see you.”

“You, too,” Jaelyn said, suddenly flustered. Although he wasn’t putting any weight on her, Jared’s arm on her shoulders seemed to weight her down, unable to move or think properly.

“Do you know what you want?”

Did she know what she wanted? Jaelyn wondered. She’d wanted to accept Jared’s offer even before she’d found out how desperately Abbie needed a date. And there was no denying she’d spent a good amount of the past week thinking about him. But was she ready to be in a relationship again? Was she ready to risk it all happening again? Of course, this was a different situation and a very different man, but still she worried.

“Jaelyn?” Jared’s voice repeated, snapping her out of her thoughts. Jared was watching her curiously.

“What?”

“Do you know what you want to order?”

“Oh,” said Jaelyn, eyes snapping to the menu above the counter. “Almost. You go ahead.”

“I’ll wait with you.”

“No, really, you go ahead. I’m right behind you.”

“If you insist.”

Jared stepped into the line, already a couple of people behind Abbie and Shannon, and Jaelyn breathed in slowly. She was definitely developing feelings of some kind for Jared, and she needed to figure herself out soon if she was going to let him in. If she couldn’t let him in...it was only a matter of time before he stopped trying.

And what would she do then?