Page 37 of Sweet Rivals

“Jenna?” We had gotten to the bottom of the porch, onto the uneven sidewalk when I heard Jared call my name. I turned and instinctively pulled my arm away from Joel’s. I wasn’t doing anything wrong by keeping the platonic—I think—plans with him. Still, hearing Jared’s voice reached somewhere deep into me and pulled at an unexpected heat that tried to throw me off guard “What’s going on?”

“I, well, we,” I was stammering like an idiot in my usual way when Jared was within a one-mile radius.

“We’re going to dinner,” Joel said, eyebrows raised in derision at Jared’s unexpected arrival.

“Why?” Jared asked incredulously.

“Because I asked her, and she said yes. Did we need your permission?”

“Jenna? I,” Jared swallowed hard and took a breath before continuing as if he was rewriting what he had planned to say. “I don’t think you should go to dinner with Joel.”

Joel just laughed in a deep bass that vibrated through me. “You know Jared, you never told us what you were doing here.”

“I stopped by to see Jenna,” he said.

Joel lifted an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I’m not answering to you.”

“You asked me what I was doing here. Only fair,” Joel said.

“Cause you give a shit about fair? I’m not sure what the hell you are doing here at all, let alone why you are taking Jenna out,” Jared said.

“Saving you from yourself, little brother. Like usual,” Joel said.

Both of them changed entirely when talking to each other. I didn’t know who I should fault for what assholes they sounded like, or if I could fault anyone at all. Maybe siblings just brought out the worst in each other. Still, it bothered me.

Jared shook his head. “Typical. You think unless I am following your perfect, prescribed footsteps, I am fucking up,” he said. “I’m a grown adult. I am perfectly capable of figuring my shit out.”

“Are you? I guess Daddy’s money makes it easier,” he sneered.

I cringed. Suddenly, I wasn’t all that keen on going to dinner with him.

“Alright, maybe I need to give the two of you some space,” I said, holding up my hands and backing away. “Clearly, there are some things to work out between the two of you.”

“Don’t worry about all of this. It’s why you should never go into business with family, right?” Joel said with a smirk.

I couldn’t exactly relate. Sure, my parents made me crazy sometimes, and I didn’t always agree with their choices, but it was nothing like this.

“Jenna,” Jared said, his deep brown eyes met mine and held my gaze as if he was trying to communicate something silently. “Don’t go to dinner with Joel.”

“Jesus Christ, Jared,” Joel said. “Stop being so dramatic. We are just getting a bite to eat.”

“Jenna, please,” Jared said. “Don’t go out with him.”

“Why do you care? What are you even doing here?” I asked.

“I just wanted to apologize for the misunderstanding earlier.”

I snorted a laugh. “Misunderstand? Right. I’m not sure what is going on between the two of you, but I’m not really interested in getting in the middle. The two of you can fight this out another time. Joel and I are going to dinner, and I will see you at the bakery tomorrow.” Admittedly, I was surprised that he was apologizing. I had just convinced myself that I would never hear those words from him, and now, here he stood, proving me wrong.

“Jenna,” Jared grabbed my upper arm, wrapping his strong fingers around my bicep and pulling me close. A thrill of excitement that had no business being there shot like electricity over my skin. I could feel the warmth of his body radiating into me. If I stood there too long like that, all of my willpower might melt away. Memories of his lips on mine flooded my thoughts. “Stop being so stubborn. Joel has no interest in you. He is using you.”

That statement was a cold bucket of water that brought me back to my rational thought. “So now I’m stubborn?”

“I thought that was pretty well-established,” Jared said, the hint of a smirk peeking through his dark expression. Alright, maybe he had me there. But still. It stung that Jared thought Joel wouldn’t be genuinely interested in me as a dinner companion or maybe more.

“Using me for what?” I asked.