“What in the hell was that?” she asked. “Who taught you to be so damn disrespectful?”
“Mom, I said I was sorry, okay?” I ran a hand through my shaggy hair and sighed, folding my arms. “Things are still kind of touchy with her, you know?”
“Yeah,” Mom agreed, glancing over her shoulder at Jason, still sneaking stabbing glances in my direction. “Her boyfriend probably could have told me that.”
“As far as I know, they’re not really dating. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume she was with that idiot just to make the rest of us jealous.”
Mom shook her head, lips pursed again. “You need to figure out where you stand with her, and she needs to figure out where she stands with you,” she said. “But more importantly, you need to figure out with Jake and Aaron if she is worth losing many years of close friends over.”
“I know.”
Mom smiled at me across the table, finally done reading me the riot act. She reached over the table and rested her cold hand on mine.
“You’re a good man,” she said. “So act like one, son.”
Chapter 21
Renee
Jason was still talkingan hour later, long after dinner had ended, and honestly, he lost me about forty-five minutes before that. Jason talked a lot, it was one of the things that bothered me, but I could only try to ignore it. When he spoke, he didn't care who was listening. He basically just talked and hoped someone responded, so I’d found that as long as I offered up a random nod and gasp of surprise at the right moments, he was perfectly content with that.
Eventually, we ended up at the library. Even though it was late, this library stayed open until around Midnight. I’d become pretty taken with this library, especially this late at night. It was quiet and cozy, a far cry from campus frat parties and the usual day-to-day ruckus.
“Okay, how did we end up here?” Jason asked, brow furrowing as he looked around in distaste.
“I like it here,” I told him.
“Do you want me to take you home?”
“No, actually.” I dropped his hand and stepped into the warmth of the building, forcing a smile. “I have some studying to do. Are you okay calling it a night?”
“Studying? You didn’t even have your school bag.”
“They have everything I need here.” I smiled patiently at him, just wishing he would leave already. I could only listen to him talk about his academic achievements for so long before wishing I could turn my hearing off.
“Whatever the lady said,” Jason said with a wink, kissing the top of my hand. He pulled me into him, of course, and planted a kiss on my head. I waited for the sensation I yearned to wash over me, the desperate desire to have his hands on me, against my body and skin. I wait for the tingling between my legs or the quickened beat of my heart.
