Page 17 of Burning Embers
“I…um… You? With me? Um.” She continues to blink, not finishing her stuttered statement.
What the fuck?
Is that a no?
Jake chuckles and once again wraps an arm around her shoulder, steering her towards the door.
“Come on, new girl. Before you begin drooling all over the store’s floor.” He chuckles wanly, stealthily sidestepping the elbow she throws at his stomach.
Drooling?
What the toaster-loving fuck just happened?
And what am I going to do now?
Six
IZZY
Jake continues to tease me the entire drive home, much to my chagrin and Lissa’s amusement. I’m not the type of girl to blush easily, but even I can admit that my cheeks lit to an inferno when I set eyes upon the striking man in the technology store.
To say Ethan’s cute is a fucking understatement. The man is sex on a stick, all rippling, chiseled muscles, tousled blond hair a few shades lighter than my own, and dreamy green eyes that reel me in. I’ve never had such an attractive guy talk to me before, let alone ask to sit by me at lunch. Most of the students at my old schools gave me a wide berth, unwilling to associate with the freaky new girl who bounced around from home to home.
Gossip and rumors persisted, following me everywhere I went. Most thought I was a troubled kid who beat the shit out of her foster parents or stole from them. Others assumed I was a slut who tried to seduce every man within sight. Those reasonsmustbe why I bounce around so often.
Cue the sarcastic roll of my eyes.
Anyway, all of those rumors stemmed back to one thing and one thing alone—I was a social pariah. Even when guys foundme attractive, they kept their distance, only flirting with me when they thought no one was in view. The one guy I dated seriously kept me as his dirty, little secret.
Look how well that relationship ended.
So to have Ethan suggest I sit with him at lunch? It’s a new and slightly unnerving experience for me. I can’t help but wonder if he’ll change his mind the second the rumor mill begins working its malicious magic.
“Do you need a napkin to wipe all of that drool from your chin?” Jake asks now, jabbing a finger at my face. A teasing glint lights up his eyes.
“She’ll probably need a bucket to catch all of it,” Lissa chimes in.
“Okay, okay. I see what this is. Tease the new girl.” I roll my eyes exaggeratedly, but I’m not too upset by their lighthearted jabs.
If anything, it makes me feel like I…belong. There’s a sense of kinship in the air that has been noticeably absent from all of my other foster homes over the years.
“Jake, Lissa, knock it off,” Hale chastises from the front of the car.
In the rearview mirror, I watch his lips twitch in the beginnings of a smile.
I know he’s up to mischief a mere second before he says, “When we get home, we’ll need to set a tarp down to catch all the drool.”
“Hale!” I gasp in mock outrage as Lissa and Jake fall apart in laughter.
“You couldn’t be any more obvious if you tried,” Jake teases. “You practically had heart eyes.”
“I did not!”
“Did too,” Lissa interjects, bouncing up and down eagerly. “You totally find Ethan attractive! Eeep! Just wait until you see his brother and friends?—”
“All right, all right.” Hale turns the car into his long driveway. “That’s enough teasing for one day. Lissa, Jake, help Izzy take in all of her bags. Izzy? If you don’t mind, can I talk to you for a second?”
A wave of trepidation rushes over me at his words.