Page 23 of From Me to You

“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what is wrong.”

“I’m not, okay. I just got here from Oakland today. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong is that you are an ass. I can’t believe you would show up here after making a fool out of me. I know I don’t have any experience, okay? I haven't kissed a bunch of guys before to be an expert at it. In fact, you wanted to kiss me. You even asked me. If it disgusted you so much, why did you even keep going? Why would you say all those words to me?” I screamed.

“What?” His brows furrowed further. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I am talking about. You texted me you were sorry that you kissed me.” I pointed my finger at him.

He looked taken back for a moment and then he threw his head back and laughed. I stood there, shocked. He was laughing at me now.

“I wasn’t sorry I kissed you. I was sorry I kissed you like that,” Jay said through his laughter.

“Uh?” It was my turn to look confused.

He held my chin up and locked his blue-blue eyes with mine. “I was sorry I kissed you like that. Dragging you out like some caveman. It was your first fucking kiss. You deserved to be taken out, wined, and dined before you gave me your kiss. I shouldn’t have manhandled you in the back of the field like that.”

“But I liked you manhandling me,” I mumbled without thinking.

Now I felt so stupid for assuming things and screaming at him like that.

“You should improve your texting skills. It sucks,” I said.

He shrugged. “Sorry, I should have been clear about what I meant.”

“And wined and dined? Seriously, I can’t even drink wine. I don’t want to be wined and dined. I liked our kiss. I loved it even. It was perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing.”

He smiled. “Come on, we have got a house to paint and a bookshelf to fix.” He pulled me out to the back of his car.

“I brought a few different shades of pink. I didn’t know which one was your favorite,” he said sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair. He bent to pick up a few different cans of what I assumed to be paint.

Oh, my God! Did he just buy me paint? In different shades of pink? I think I might just marry this man. I couldn’t believe he remembered that pink was my favorite color.

“You didn’t have to buy it. I could have brought it.”

“Don’t worry about it. I made some extra cash from the gigs, so it’s no big deal.”

I knew paint was expensive. And I knew the guys weren’t doing well in the money department—according to Katy, they were hardly getting by to buy new equipment or afford an actual space for practice. I knew they used Jay’s makeshift garage/room as their practice space for now.

“I can pay you the cash.”

“Nonsense, I don’t want your money, Evelyn.”

“Well, you spent it on buying paint for my house. I should have been the one to buy it.”

“Well, I want to buy it for you. We are done talking about this.” He dismissed me and walked toward the door. I let it go for now.

I put the keys in the fob and held the door open for him. He left the paint cans by the stairs and went back to the car to get the rest of them.

I sighed as I watched him. If he kept this up, I was sure I would end up falling for him—actually, I might have already started.

He rushed in with the rest of the supplies. “I asked the guys to help. They will be coming in later. Katy and Lily said they would be joining too.”

I nodded, Katy and Lily didn’t tell me anything about it during lunch. They might have assumed I already knew.

This was all getting too much for me. All my life, only my grandma and Aunty M cared for me. These people, whom I had only known for like two weeks, had already infiltrated the walls I had put up all my life.