The Crush

I glared at him.

He continued to tease, laughing harder. “Seriously, though, when it rings, do you answer it?”

Jace shook his head. “Leave her alone, jackass. You shouldn’t have been looking at her search history.”

“I wasn’t expecting to see that shit! It was on the screen when I grabbed the phone to search for a damn movie.”

“Imagine if she searched your history, all the shit she’d find. And then called you out on it?”

“That would definitely not be a good thing.” Nathan chuckled.

Thankfully, Nathan dropped the subject, and I went to busy myself by getting the dessert ready. These past few days had been full of embarrassing moments.

Opening the container of cookie dough ice cream, I decided to let it sit for a bit so it could soften. After grabbing three bowls, I sifted through the silverware drawer.

Then the doorbell rang.

I turned to Nathan. “Are you expecting someone?”

“It’s Linnea. I invited her to join us,” Jace called, heading to the door.

My heart sank. Great. Up until now, he hadn’t brought her over to the house. I’d hoped it would stay that way.

“Did you know he invited her?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Nathan took one of the spoons and dug into the ice cream. “What’s the big deal? It’s his house, too.”

“This is a family thing. I don’t like letting strangers join.”

“Well, she’s hardly a stranger to him.” He wriggled his brows.

I couldn’t roll my eyes back far enough.

A few seconds later, Jace and Linnea entered the kitchen.

“Linnea, you’ve met Nathan once before, but I don’t think you know his little sister, Farrah.”

Ouch.

Little sister.

Bite me.

She looked me up and down and flicked her red hair off her shoulder. “Nice to meet you. Farrah’s such a pretty name. Your mother must have liked Charlie’s Angels.”

“Why?”

“Farrah…Fawcett? The actress? She was one of Charlie’s Angels. It was a TV show years back. She’s iconic. She’s dead now, unfortunately.”

“Oh.” I knew about the actress. I also knew my mother thought of her when naming me. But I’d forgotten the name of the show she was on.

Jace flashed a mischievous smile. “My dad used to have a vintage poster of Farrah Fawcett hanging in our garage. It was definitely one of my first pieces of…material.”

Material? It took me a few seconds. Oh.

And now I was jealous of a dead actress because Jace had whacked off to her picture?

“I remember that poster!” Nathan laughed. “She was so hot.”

“That time we met before, Nathan,” Linnea said, “I don’t think I realized you and Jace grew up together.”

Nathan sighed exaggeratedly. “Yeah. I’ve been stuck with this guy my entire life.”

“That’s so great. It’s rare to have long-lasting friendships.” She turned to me. “You’re a lot younger than they are, right? Are you in high school?”

No, she didn’t.

Jace chuckled under his breath.

“High school? No. I’m twenty-one.”

“Oh. Sorry. My bad. You look younger.”

So much for dressing provocatively to appear older. But it seemed this chick was looking for ways to insult me.

“And are you thirty?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Her expression dampened. “Twenty-six.”

“Ah.”

Jace disappeared into the bathroom off the kitchen, leaving Nathan and me alone with Linnea.

She took a seat on one of the stools by the small center island. “Do you go to college around here?”

It really wasn’t any of her business, but I explained anyway. “I took classes at Palm Creek Community College for a while, but I’m taking a break at the moment. Hoping to enroll somewhere next year. I don’t want to waste time until I’m sure what I want to major in. Leaning toward education.”

“You should teach English,” Jace said from behind me as he emerged from the bathroom.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you said you like to write. Might be a subject you’d enjoy teaching.”

I nodded. “It’s definitely on my short list. Although, if I’m going to teach someday, I guess I’d better get over my fear of public speaking.”

Linnea nodded. “Oh…I hate to get up in front of a crowd.”

No one asked you, but okay.

Seeing as though we now had another mouth to feed tonight, I guessed I’d try to be cordial, even if having her here irked me. I walked over to the cabinet. “We’re having ice cream. You want some?”

“I’d love some,” she answered.

I almost wished she’d refused “because she was on a diet” so I could hate her even more.

After distributing an equal amount of cookie dough ice cream into each bowl, I took mine and left the others on the counter.

I was first to venture into the living room, plopping down on the couch and selecting the video-on-demand options. Nathan sat on the chaise lounge, which meant the only spots for Jace and Linnea were on the couch next to me. I shifted over when they approached. To my delight, Jace sat on the side next to me. Silver lining? At least with three people on the couch, I was forced to sit closer to him than I would have if it were just the two of us.