Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 129881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 649(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
“No. Not a cat.” I shut and lock the door. “I have a malicious housemate who hates everyone, especially me. Seriously, Jake. Don’t get too close. Stop. I wouldn’t pet her. She’s not normal. She’ll—purr and lean into it because that’s how she usually reacts to affection. What the fuck.”
“What.”
“She hates being touched!” I step closer and then freeze halfway into the kitchen when I hear a hiss. “Seriously? I feed you, you psycho. I’m the reason you’re even alive, and you let some stranger pet you?”
Jake scratches her neck and runs his hand down her back. “She seems to like it. Here. Do you want to come up?” He pats his chest, and my jaw drops open when Bella actually climbs up his body and lets Jake hold her like he’s cradling a newborn. “Aw. Do you like me? I like you too.”
Bella bats her paws at his face, and Jake smiles like he adores her.
And if anyone ever asks me, I’ve never been jealous of an animal. Not once.
“I wish you’d look at me like that,” I mumble.
“What?” His head lifts.
“Nothing.” I open the snack cabinet and rummage around. “What do you feel like watching? I was leaning toward a Netflix documentary. Something really fucked up. But if you’d rather watch an actual movie, that’s cool too.”
“I don’t care. You can pick.”
“Popcorn?”
“Sure.”
“The TV is in the next room. If you want to go sit, I’ll make us a snack bowl.”
Jake crosses the room and turns the corner, and I catch a glimpse of Bella’s tail as it curls around his back, like she’s actually holding on to him too.
Bitch.
I grab the biggest bowl I can find and start filling it with random snacks while the popcorn pops, until I catch sight of my hair in the reflection from the microwave, and then I remember how badly I was sweating minutes ago and sprint out of the room and up the stairs.
I wave to Jake when I’m halfway up, shouting, “Be right back!” and “Just put her down if you’re sick of her!” because over my dead body is Bella staying curled up on his lap while we watch a movie. That’s my spot.
Or, at least, I feel the option should be available.
I burst into my room, tearing off my shirt and tossing it onto the floor on my way into the bathroom.
I lean over the sink and splash cold water on my face and head.
I wet a rag and scrub my pits. Shit. I hope he didn’t smell me already.
I reapply deodorant and squeeze my curls with a towel so they aren’t dripping, and I keep messing with my hair while I grab another shirt and hurry back out of the bedroom.
I’m dressed by the time I hit the bottom of the stairs, and I notice Jake staring at me.
“What.”
“Did you just wash your hair?”
“Sort of? I didn’t want to smell like sweat.” I wipe a drop of water off my cheek.
“I wouldn’t complain if you did.”
Oh really.
I glare at Bella when she lifts her head from Jake’s thigh, watching me like I’m interrupting their precious time together (she wishes), and then I return to the kitchen, grab the popcorn out of the microwave, and dump it into the bowl. I mix the snacks up so everything is evenly distributed.
And I pull on my beanie before I return to the living room.
“What do you want to drink?” I ask Jake, handing him the bowl.
His eyes reach my face and then lift. “Anything but root beer.”
“I only get that if I have vanilla ice cream.”
“Yeah. You’re normal.”
“Thanks?” I laugh.
“Nice beanie.”
I blush so fast, it’s ridiculous.
Then I notice Bella snuggle even deeper into Jake’s lap.
“Seriously. Just push her off. She’ll deal with it.”
“She’s fine,” Jake says, holding the bowl against his chest so he doesn’t rest it on top of Bella, and god forbid, inconvenience her.
Bella and I lock eyes.
I glare at her again before leaving the room, returning with two glasses of Coke.
“There’s so much stuff in here,” Jake says in wonder, finger fishing through the snacks. “Pretzels. M&M’s. Oreos. I thought you were just giving me a bowl of popcorn.”
“Um, can you say boring?” I sit beside him and fucking grin when Bella jumps down, then I lean forward and set our glasses on the coffee table. “I like salty and sweet bites with popcorn. And the M&M’s get all melted and coat everything in the bowl. It’s good. Trust me.”
I snatch the remote off the other armrest, cue up Netflix, and begin scrolling.
And when I don’t feel the contact I need to feel, I scoot over until I do.
“I like touching,” I share, just in case he’s curious.
The warmth of his arm against mine is so right. I never want to move.
“I can tell,” Jake says mildly. He munches on the snacks.