“You want to grab lunch? Brian has to leave.” Jake’s hands land on my hips.
Brian raises his hands in surrender. “I can take a hint. Bye, Nina, see you later, Flash!”
I start to laugh until I catch the look on Jake’s face. He starts toward me, and I run up the steps and into the spare bedroom locking the door. “I’m still up for lunch whenever you calm down!”
“Yeah, well just remember I might forgive, but I won’t forget, Sparky. Get dressed and meet me downstairs, I’m hungry!” I hear him walk away and can’t help but laugh. I love being here, and being with him.
We decide to go into town for lunch. There is a cafe that has the best paninis and chocolate cake. When the waitress comes over, I decide to order my cake first as an appetizer, then I give her my sandwich order. As Jake orders, he spends the entire time looking at me like I have two heads. Once she walks away, he shakes his head. “You have a crazy sweet tooth.”
“Nina?” I hear a voice call my name and my stomach drops.
I turn to see all the people I have been avoiding for years. My mom, stepdad, and Camden. Can I just pretend it’s not me? Maybe I have a doppelganger. Nope, totally wouldn’t work. “Hey.”
I have no idea what to say to them, even though my mom has tried to reach out I never really responded. All their memories held for me was pain. I know I shouldn’t have taken it out on them, but I just don’t feel at ease with them, and I’ve pushed them away because of it.
Everyone is just standing there frozen in awkwardness. “Hey, I’m Jake.” He offers his hand to my stepdad, then Camden, before greeting my mother as well. They introduce themselves as I am still in shock. “Would you guys like to join us?”
Say no!
“That sounds nice.” My stepdad replies in his no-nonsense tone.
Fuck my life.
Chapter Twenty One
Nina
Sitting here with my family and Jake is the most awkward thing, ever. Everyone is sitting in silence, and I am glaring at Jake, cursing his soul for initiating this.
“So, Jake, how do you know Nina?” My mother asks in her singsong voice.
“Um, we are dating.” He looks over at me and seems confused as to my irritation.
“That’s nice. How have you been, Nina? We miss you.” She looks at me, and I swear she has tears in her eyes. I know I hurt her when I left, but that house and everyone in it is just a bad memory. They all remind me of what I lost that night. My sister.
“I’ve been good.” What else do I say? I mean it’s not like I can sum up six years in a sentence. Even if I could, I’m not sure that I would.
“You know, you’re always welcome to visit.” My stepfather joins in. He and I have never really been close. In a way, I guess I always resented him for not being my dad. We never bonded and I know that is largely because of me. He and Camden moved into our house a year before Carly died.
“I know, thanks.” I nod, completely uncomfortable.
My phone rings and I thank God. “Hey, Sam!”
“Hey, did you want to hang out tonight? I haven’t seen you in forever. I could kick Hunter out, and we can have a girl’s night.”
“Oh my God! Are you serious? No, don’t worry about it. I’ll be right over.” I know it’s wrong, but I need a way out of this lunch.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Her voice raises in confusion.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon!” I hang up the phone. “Hey, sorry, but I have to run. A friend of mine is having an emergency.” I stand up, wave goodbye to everyone and run away from that nightmare. I don’t even care that I don’t have a car I will hail a damn cab.
I feel like a complete bitch. I wonder if any of them even bought my story. I know they are my family but being around them just seems wrong and I don’t understand why. My attitude is completely immature but I don’t know how to handle this any other way. Avoidance is the easiest method and the one that has been doing just fine for me.
“Nina!” I turn around to see Jake running up to me. “What was that all about?”
“You know you shouldn’t have done that.” I cross my arms still angry with him.
“Done what? Be polite and introduce myself to your family, or offer to let them eat with us? I don’t understand the issue here.” I know he was just trying to do the right thing. Besides the one time we talked about Carly, I haven’t told him much about my family.
“I know that you didn’t know, but I’m not close with my family. I was completely uncomfortable.” I look down embarrassed for being mad at him and for how poorly I handled the situation.
“Why? What happened that you are so closed off from them? I mean I know you lost Carly, but I would have figured you would lean on your family.” His words hurt, mainly because I know he is right.
“It’s not something I want to get into right now. Maybe in time.”
He wraps his arms around me. “It’s okay, I’m here whenever you’re ready. Just next time clue me in.”
I nod. “Deal.”
“Okay, well, I’m still starving. Are you going over to Sam’s?”
“Yeah, but not ‘til tonight. Let’s get some food.” I grab his hand, and we walk toward his car. I shoot a text to Sam letting her know I haven’t lost my mind and that I’ll see her tonight.
***
I pull into Sam’s driveway for our girl’s night. Before I can knock, the door opens, and Hunter is standing there. “Hey, I was just leaving so you girls can spend the rest of the night binge eating and man-hating.” He smiles at me before walking to his car.
“Sam?” I walk into the house and close the door behind me.
“In the kitchen!” I walk through the house finding her opening a bottle of wine. “Hey! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” She walks over, giving me a hug and then handing me a glass of wine. “Come on let's sit down.”
We head to the living room, and Sam puts on some movie that we have seen a million times. We tried renting movies before, but we usually just end up talking through most of it, so it’s a waste.
“So what’s been going on? How is everything with Jake?” She crosses her legs and faces me.
“Everything has been good. It's…different. He is the first guy I have ever been in a relationship with. Honestly, I feel lost most of the time because I have no idea how to function in it.” I take a sip of my wine. “I’m also scared that I’ll screw it up. I just don’t want to get hurt.”
“Let me fill you in a little bit on Jake. He is one of the most genuine guys I have ever met. He means what he says, he doesn’t play games, and he will do anything for the people he loves. Don’t second guess anything. You’re lucky because Hunter and I spent most of the first few months we were together messing with each other’s heads.” We both laugh. I remember how she used to vent to me that he drove her crazy. “Just relax. Let things happen naturally. If you spend every minute trying to prevent bad shit from happening, you’ll never experience any of the good.”
“You are very wise, Yoda.” I laugh, and she throws a pillow at me. “Hey now! You almost made me spill my wine. That’s a party foul and a crime punishable by execution.”
“Yeah, yeah. Any way, I’m glad that you guys are giving it a shot. I swear the boys were about to start taking bets on how many times you told him to get lost.”
I laugh thinking about Jake’s persistence. I’m going to try to follow her advice and stop stressing all of the little things. Jake has never given me a reason to worry or doubt him; I need to relax.
Chapter Twenty Two
Nina