I’ve only seen him once since then when I purposely went looking for him. I pretended to run into him, which was pathetic, but when I found him with another girl it was bittersweet. It made me realize I needed to move on too. Jason wasn’t coming back and even if he did try and crawl his way back to me, I’d step right over him. I’ve never fallen so easily for a man and the one time I let my guard down I was left shattered and alone.
Jon guides me up a driveway and opens a side door. “You hungry? My mom’s going to ask you to stay for dinner.”
I flick my gaze to Jon as he holds the door open for me. He’s handsome and maybe a year or two older than me. This could be my move-on moment, but there’s no spark. He seems nice enough, but I’m not sure if he’s hinting at me staying because his mom is going to ask or because he wants me to. He seems like a good guy, but I’m not feeling anything romantic.
“I probably shouldn’t,” I admit as I enter. The scent of food hits me and my stomach makes a loud growl, causing Jon to chuckle. All I’ve had so far today is coffee. I still haven’t gotten my pie and from the look of things I won’t anytime soon.
“I don’t think your stomach agrees,” Jon teases me as we walk through a kitchen where a woman is standing at the stove. She has dark hair with a few gray streaks and she turns to look at us.
“You’re late.” Her eyes fill with surprise when she sees me and I know it’s his mom.
“I need the first-aid kit, Mom,” Jon tells her. Her eyes roam over me quickly before she darts off, shouting a “be right back” over her shoulder.
“Let’s sit you down.” Jon leads me out of the yummy-smelling kitchen into the dining room. The table is set and ready for what has to be a giant family. If I didn’t know any better I’d think it was Thanksgiving.
I glance over when I see someone enter from another room and all the air in my lungs freezes. Jason stands there looking as shocked as I am. We stare at each other for a long moment, neither one of us saying a word.
“You okay, Skyler?” Jon asks me.
He puts his hand on my thigh just above my knee. No, I’m not okay. So many emotions come flooding back to me and then I see her. The same girl I saw Jason with before. She walks in right behind him and her eyes move to where I’m at with Jon and then to Jason.
Jason stares at Jon, and I watch anger take over his shocked expression.
“What are you doing with my girl?” Jason points his finger at Jon and I realize I didn’t know he had a brother. It’s another reminder that I wasn’t worth confiding in. “Sky, come here,” he orders, but doesn’t glance my way.
“I’m not your girl,” I answer as I glance at Jon and watch a small smirk pull at the side of his mouth. I see it now, why his eyes felt so familiar. “I’m with Jon.” The words pop out of my mouth before I have a chance to think them over and to my surprise Jon’s smirk turns into a full-on smile before Jason launches himself across the dining room table.
Chapter 2
Jason
“Over my dead body!” I shout as I roll onto the floor with my little brother.
“If you give Marco a black eye that won’t heal before the wedding, I’ll kill you all.” I hear my sister say from behind me somewhere as I feel arms tugging at me. “You better quit! Here comes Ma.”
The sound of my mother’s footsteps makes me come to my senses long enough to release the grip I have on Jon and let go. Marco gets in between us and pushes us apart.
“What’s going on?” Mom asks as she looks around the room. Finally her eyes narrow on me as she steps forward. “Jason, can you help me in the kitchen for a second?” I watch as she passes a first-aid kit to Jon and he moves to Skyler.
“If you put on finger on her, I’ll remove it,” I warn him, and he stops in his tracks. Then I look at Skyler and see her knees are bleeding. “Shit.”
“Jason.” My mom’s voice is stern and I have no choice.
I walk over to Skyler and pick her up and then grab the first-aid kit out of Jon’s hand as I go into the kitchen.
“Put me down,” Skyler protests, wiggling in my arms and I nearly pass out from the pleasure of her against me.
“No,” I manage to say through gritted teeth as I sit her down on the stool and open the little box.