It takes me a second to realize Jake is waiting for me to respond. Dammit what would his actual girlfriend say in thismoment?Think Eliana, think.“Looks like not all of your charms have been lost.”
Jake takes one of my shaking hands into his and gives it a squeeze. I try to ignore the voice in my head that tells me how nice of a gesture that was. This was all an act. Nothing more.
“You two are cute.” She makes a content noise. “Jake’s sisters are going to be so jealous that I got to meet you before they did. I let them know that the three of us were going out to dinner.”
Jake’s eyes widen. Oh shit. So much for keeping this lowkey. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
Katherine just shrugs as Jake reaches for his phone, and pulls up what I can assume is the family group chat. “Dammit. You’ve really done it now mom.”
“What? I’m just the messenger,” Katherine teases.
“I hate to be a buzzkill…” I hesitate, hoping what came next wouldn’t come off wrong. “But a part of the reason why Jake and I kept this from you was because he knew I was applying to work for you. I don’t want people to think that the only reason I got the internship position is because I’m dating your son. The cat’s clearly out of the bag, but maybe we can keep it between us?”
Katherine gives me a sympathetic smile. “Don’t worry honey. I know all too well how hard it can be for a woman to make her name in academia. And so do Jake’s sisters. I support your decision to keep your private life private. I just hope you know that his sisters won’t relent until they get to meet you. You may have to come over to our house for family dinner.”
If my heart wasn’t already in my stomach, it certainly would’ve dropped there now. I don’t know if my heart could handle a series of dinners pretending to be Jake’s girlfriend with his entire family. Hopefully she would forget this invitation,and the fact that I followed up with, “That sounds great. Looking forward to it.”
Chapter 22
Jake
I’ve been dodging my mom’s requests to bring Eliana over for dinner for the past two weeks, but knowing my family, they won’t stop until they get what they want. Which means I need to fess up about lying soon. My stomach churns just thinking about it. Somehow I had managed to get myself into two majorly shitty situations in the span of a couple of months.
Unfortunately in my attempts to get to know Eliana more she would just divert back to asking me questions either about course material or my life. Stalking her on the internet proved to be basically futile. I did learn she had a substantial One Direction obsession when she was a kid -— Zayn was her favorite — but given there I had no way of getting in contact with him I was back on my hunt to find out who she really was. It had become somewhat of an obsession the more time we spent together. The more I revealed parts about myself the more I was desperate to get underneath her rough exterior, beautiful mind, and brown eyes that made my heart jump to my throat every time she beamed at me when I answered aquestion correctly. I was starting to get the same rush I did scoring goals every time I work a smile or a laugh out of a girl who managed to carry the whole weight of the world on her shoulders.
Somehow Eliana had gone from being someone I tolerated to ensure I wouldn’t lose hockey, to one of the first people I wanted to talk to as soon as I woke up, or after I got out of a practice. When I told her we were friends a few weeks ago I meant it. Whether or not she believed me was a different story.
After dinner with my mom I realized that Eliana had saved my ass twice now when she didn’t need to. Even though I told her how much it meant to me, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to also show it. Plus if that meant spending more time with her and proving to her that I’m more than just some new emotional baggage in her life, then it would be a win-win. I knew asking her to hang out would be a futile effort. Her schedule was filled to the brim and I had a feeling if I suggested a break I would either be fully dismissed or set her off the edge completely. Both were options I wanted to avoid. So instead I got a little creative.
I make it all the way up the stairs of Eliana’s apartment when I run into her roommate, Nicole. She looks really confused by my presence.
“Jake?”
“Nicole, good to see you.”
Nicole stands in the doorway, not letting me in. “If you’re hear for Eliana I need to warn you she’s really freaked out about her midterms coming up. I’m not sure if she can help you right now.”
Ah that explains the lack of her inviting me. She thinks I’m here to add more to Eliana’s plate, not help lessen some of the burden she was carrying.
“I know. She mentioned being stressed about some big termpaper earlier this week. I wrapped up all of my exams and figured I’d come and help out a bit.” I lift my arm to reveal a bag filled with groceries. “I was planning on making her some dinner while she writes. I bought enough to feed a small army.”
Portion size was never something I could get right, especially as an athlete who could eat mountains of pasta before and after a game with no problem.
My response appears to completely throw Nicole off. “You’re being serious.”
“Yup.” I open the bag wider. “All of this will be made into spinach and ricotta stuffed shell pasta covered in vodka sauce.”
Nicole steps aside from the door, eyes still locked on me. “That’s her favorite.”
Perfect. I had hoped as much given she ordered the same dish at dinner the other night. “Yup.”
She looks back at the door, then at me, and shrugs, propping the door open. This time her tone is a bit lighter when she addresses me. “Come on in. Eliana’s got tunnel vision so she may not even realize that you’re here. Or that you’re making her food. I’m heading to the library for a last minute Orgo cram session.”
I head straight for the kitchen, leaving the groceries on the counter, and decide to make my presence known so I don’t cause a jump scare when Eliana inevitably comes into the kitchen. I stop outside of her room. Her door is propped open, providing me with a full view of her typing feverishly on her laptop.
I find myself frozen in place at the sight of Eliana. Her long wavy hair is thrown up haphazardly on top of her head, strands spilling out of the hair clip in all directions. Her deep brown eyes are slightly hidden behind black-rimmed glasses, while she lounges in long pajamas decorated with a faded “1D” logo -— no doubt a leftover clothing item from her earlier days whereshe was obsessed with the boy band. I was mesmerized, and debated for a moment how weird it would be to continue to stand in her doorway and soak up the parts of her she kept hidden.Incredibly weird. Even weirder that you even considered standing here watching her do homework like a stalker. Who even does that?
Siding with my inner monologue, I knock on her door, which barely does anything to shift her attention away from the screen in front of her. “Hey Nic. I thought you were heading out to the library?”
