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.
We decided on the Pete Davidson movie, and everyone seemed to be into it. It was set in Staten Island, New York. I loved any movie set in or around New York City. One of my dreams had once been to live there, even if just for a couple of years to experience something that was the polar opposite of Florida.
At one point in the middle of the film, Jace stood up and grabbed Linnea’s empty bowl, piling it atop his. He reached out to me, and I handed him my bowl as well. He was thoughtful like that sometimes. Jace didn’t bother grabbing Nathan’s bowl, though, which was on the floor next to my brother’s feet.
Jace returned holding two bottles of beer and handed one to Linnea. This time when he sat down, he was much closer to my side than before. In fact, I could practically feel the warmth emanating from his body. The fine blond hairs on my legs stood at attention. If I shifted my thigh just a couple of inches in his direction, my leg would be up against his.
Then, about a half-hour later, Jace stretched his leg out. His knee now happened to be grazing my thigh. I didn’t dare move. Instead, I enjoyed the feel of his hard knee through the denim of his jeans. This was okay, I told myself, as he was the one who’d shifted in my direction.
From where she sat on the other side, I wasn’t sure if Linnea had noticed my leg was touching Jace’s. Was it a coincidence when she repositioned her body to be closer to him? Maybe I was ballsier than I thought, because as soon as she did that, I did the same—moved just a hair closer so a bit more of my leg pressed against his. If he hadn’t realized that our legs were touching before, there was no way he didn’t know now. Yet he didn’t shift away from me.
The fact that he stayed put likely didn’t mean anything. But still. He stayed in the same position for ten whole minutes. Trying to figure out what it meant was likely going to consume me later, but for now, I pretended to watch the movie, pretended like my entire body wasn’t on fire.
After the movie finished, Jace grabbed his keys. “Ready to leave?”
Linnea stretched and yawned. “Yup.”
“You coming back tonight?” Nathan asked.
“Nah. Probably gonna sleep at her place.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Linnea said goodbye, but Jace never made eye contact with me before he left. My delusional mind proceeded to create a story in which he felt guilty for enjoying the contact of my leg.
I guess I should’ve been happy that he went to her place. The last thing I wanted was to hear anything happening in his room. But all night, the memory of Jace’s leg pressed against mine continued to torment me. And I couldn’t stop thinking about what he might have been doing with Linnea. She got to lie next to him, to be held. As attracted to Jace as I was, if given a choice between getting to have sex with him once or just being held all night, I wasn’t sure which I would choose.
Okay. Sex would probably win.
I’d slept with two people in my life, but neither was someone I truly cared about. Maybe that’s why I’d never fantasized about being held by either of them. My first time was with my prom date my junior year of high school. It was a miserable and painful experience, and we never even went out again after that. The second person I slept with was my one and only serious boyfriend, Jordan. We’d broken up a few years ago when he got a scholarship to an out-of-state school. I couldn’t blame him for leaving, but it had hurt all the same.
My thoughts returned to Jace, and I tossed and turned all night—my body still on fire.
Chapter 3
* * *
Farrah