Page 19 of Falling Into You

“I’m not gonna hurt you, I swear. I just want to show you a stunt I learned.”

Rory snorted a laugh. “A stunt? What stunt?”

“What’re you, scared?” Jacob chided.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not scared. But the last thing this squad needs is meending up in a cast like Stuart.”

“He’s really good, I swear!” Willow called from the stands, eliciting a few laughs. “Let him try,” she added, undeterred.

Rory turned and eyed Willow. Jacob knew that Rory knew who his sister was. As captain of the eighth-grade squad, they’d spent a lot of time together at town events and competitions. Willow was well-respected as a promising young cheerleader, just like Rory had been at her age.

Finally, Rory rolled her eyes and stood, pressing her palms into her cotton shorts. “Fine. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Jacob waited until she was in front of him. “Chair sit?” he said.

She titled her head dubiously. He tilted his in the opposite direction. Then she turned around and looked at Willow, who nodded her encouragement. “He can do it, I swear.”

“Fine,” Rory said. “But if you drop me, you’re going to have them to answer to.”

She gestured toward the rest of the squad, then turned around and got in position in front of him.

“Carlos, can you spot it?” Jacob asked.

“Sure.” Carlos walked over and stood next to his right side, ready to catch Rory if she went down.

Jacob, meanwhile, tried really hard not to notice how good the back of Rory looked in those short shorts. This was the girlfriend of one of his best friends. So what if he’d liked her first? So what if he’d been thinking about asking her to homecoming last year before Tucker did? Tucker was the one who’d manned up and done it. Tucker was the one who’d won the girl. Jacob needed to concentrate on winning this spot.

He placed his hands on her little waist. His face instantly warmed at the contact.

Concentrate, idiot, he told himself.If you let yourself get distracted, you will drop her.

“Okay, ready?” he said, making his voice deep and authoritative.

She nodded. He counted it off.

“One, two!” She bent at the knee and jumped straight up with a boost from him. He flipped his right hand around so his palm was up, and before he could even blink, they’d done it. Rory was sitting on his hand, one leg bent, one extended, arms thrust above her head in a V.

“Holy crap. You did it, man!” Carlos exclaimed.

Jacob wanted to cheer, but he was too busy looking up and making sure he didn’t drop one of the most popular girls in school on her face.

“Ready to dismount?”

“Ready!” Rory replied.

“One, two!”

She piked down and Jacob caught her in both arms. Her face was inches from his, so close he could count the tiny freckles around her nose.

He grinned down at her. “How you like me now?”

She stared back at him with shocked wide eyes, and something else on her face that Jacob couldn’t quite name.

Rory

“I can’t believe this is actually happening.”

Rory sat down hard on the bottom bleacher and planted her elbows on her thighs, her head in her hands. The crowd had dispersed at her request so that the team could deliberate, but there was really only one option. An option that seemed inconceivable.