“You okay?” Jake asks after a moment, and I realize I’d stopped moving right in front of him.
“Yeah, sorry.” I look up at him. God, he’s tall and his hands aren’t dirty, they’re just big. His jaw tenses and my hip brushes against his but I keep moving to the end of the bed like he asked.
“Count of three,” he says, spreading his arms across the length of the bed. I get a good look at his tattoo and make out the word, “blood.” “One…two…three.”
He bites down on his lower lip when he lifts the mattress and I move quickly to keep it from knocking over the lamp or falling off the other side. The springs bounce and he still has to grab for the lamp with his hand to make sure it doesn’t topple. He smiles at me, clearly proud of his success, and my stomach flip-flops and I look away, but not before I note how great his smile really is.
Katie is right. He is hot.
“Awesome, thanks. Ms. Nye would ream me for breaking another lamp.”
“You’ve broken one before?”
He scoffs. “No. Not me, but George is a spaz. She doesn’t even let him work in the rooms anymore.”
George…Sierra mentioned him this morning. Something about broken cups.
“Well, I can vouch for your efforts,” I say, moving back over for the linens. He tosses the rest of the tools in the box, clearing the floor. I rip open the packaging, pulling out the fitted sheet. One side falls to the floor but Jake catches it, lifting it before it hits. He doesn’t say a word, just walks to the opposite side of the bed and eases the elastic over the end. I do the same and quickly we’ve started on the flat, top sheet.
Once the comforter is spread and the pillows are fluffed I say, “Thank you. You didn’t have to help.”
“No problem.” His hands are on his hips and I feel his eyes on me. I can’t remember the last time a boy looked and spoke to me—excluding my run-ins with Dexter.
I turn away from him, using the excuse to gather the trash. His voice is quiet but curious, when he asks, “So, why’d you stop coming to the fence to watch the sunset?”
Heat runs up my neck. It’s a stupid physical response but the one I get when anyone notices anything about me. It means I can’t fade into the walls and disappear at will. When I don’t reply, he adds, “Did I scare you off?”
“Uh, no. Not exactly.” Although he had. Just the mere fact he’d noticed me sent me running.
“I heard about the guy in the street. I’m sorry about that, especially if I had something to do with it.”
“No. I shouldn’t have gone out there. I knew better.”
He frowns. “Better than what?”
“Better than to go out by myself.”
“In Lee Vines? Usually at that time of day the only thing you’re likely to run into is a raccoon.” He leans against the dresser, arms crossed over his chest. The line of muscle defining his forearm is disturbingly distracting. “But if you want the yard at sunrise, you can have it.”
I clench the wrapper in my hands. “That’s not fair. You were there first.”
A small smile lifts the corners of his mouth. It’s friendly but it makes me incredibly nervous. “How about we share the sunset, we can just keep quiet, you know. No talking or acknowledging each other.”
“You don’t think that’s weird?”
He lifts his shoulders in a shrug. “You’re not the only one that doesn’t want to be noticed out there, Starlee.”
The fact that he knows my name stops me; not just because it surprises me but because it’s jarring to hear my name roll off his lips while also admitting he may have secrets, too.
“Thank you,” I say, but add quickly, “for helping with the sheets.”
He holds my gaze for a beat. “You’re welcome.”
The moment, all of it, is nice, so nice that I can’t help but feel the familiar wave of panic skitter up my limbs like ants. Without another word I bolt from the room, knowing I’m being rude, but it’s the longest conversation I’ve had with a boy in a long time. A very handsome boy, offering to hang out with me in the quiet, early mornings. It’s too much, and I leave before I do something or say something stupid that will ruin the moment.
8
The office is closed and we’re sitting across from one another at the breakfast table when the heavy footsteps climb the steps. I stiffen at the sound but Leelee simply rises from her seat at the knock on the door like it’s no big deal.