Page 32 of Falling Into You

“Okay then.” Rory laughed. “I could never imagine calling Owen an asshole.”

“I mean, he’s clearly not all up in your grill all the time, so I don’t see why you would,” Jacob agreed. He lookedaround at her tidy, modern living room and sighed. “I could get used to this, though.”

Rory felt her heart squeeze. “I wouldn’t mind a little bit more company around here, to be honest.”

“Yeah?”

She lifted one shoulder and picked at a loose string on her leggings. “My parents are practically never around. I’m the one who watches Owen after school and makes dinner most nights. We both do all the chores. It’s like we’re the parents and they’re the kids.”

“Wow. That sucks.”

“No, I mean, they love us.” She paused, then shrugged again. “But if I’m honest, sometimes I think they forget we exist.”

“I feel that,” Jacob said.

“Really?” Rory looked at him, dubious. “Your parents have, like, regular jobs, don’t they? Regular hours, Monday through Friday?”

Rory leaned back on her elbows and fixed her gaze on him. Part of her couldn’t believe she was sharing this stuff at all, let alone with Jacob, of all people. But for some reason it felt safe. Maybe because she figured that after cheer season was over, they’d go back to being out of one another’s lives. Or maybe he was just easy to talk to.

One thing was for sure: She never would have told Tucker any of this. He would have teased her and said she was lucky to have the house to herself all the time—to have so muchfreedom. It certainly allowed them endless, uninterrupted make-out sessions, which she knew he appreciated.

But she would have preferred to have parents who were able to come to her games more often. They hadn’t made it to one yet this year. Meanwhile, Jacob’s mom and dad had both come to his first game as a cheerleader—though she supposed they’d also been there to cheer for Ford. Jacob’s mom was the one who had taken the photo that he’d texted to Rory yesterday.

It was Jacob’s turn to shrug. “Oh, they’re around, but with seven kids, it’s like... you have to always be working an angle to get their attention.” Jacob put both his legs out like he was going to do a split, but he could barely get them into a right angle. He reached forward with both hands and wasalmostable to bend at the waist. “One time, I told them I exploded a science experiment in my room, just to get them away from everyone else so I could ask them to sign a permission slip.”

Rory laughed. She put her legs out to mimic his stretch, facing him. “You’re kidding.”

“Dead serious. That’s what I mean. Sometimes I think they forget I exist, too.”

Their eyes met across their yoga mats, and Rory felt something shift in the air between them. Everything felt a little more charged, suddenly. She wondered if he felt it, too. She reached for his hands, and he eyed hers suspiciously.

“What? What’re we doing here?”

“Just hold on to my wrists,” she said. “I’ll tug you forward a little.”

“That sounds painful,” he said.

“You can tell me when to stop,” she replied. “Sometimes it’s just good to have a little extra help.”

“Okay. But if you tear something, you’re the one who’s going to have to answer to the squad.”

Jacob reached out, and electricity shot up Rory’s arms as his fingers closed around her wrists. She pretended everything was normal as she gripped his wrists back. But then he looked her in the eye again, and her heart went ballistic. Who knew stretching could feel so... intimate?

She gave him a little tug, and his mouth twisted up in a wince.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yup. Fine,” he wheezed. “Just don’t go crazy here, Graham.”

She gently pulled on his wrists again, and she could tell he was getting a little bit deeper into the stretch. Upstairs, she heard her brother’s bedroom door open and close, then his footsteps as he jogged down the stairs and into the living room.

“When’s dinner?” he asked. “Do you want me to preheat the oven?”

Rory and Jacob both looked up, but didn’t separate.

“Would you?” Rory said. “Four hundred.”

“On it!” He was just turning around when the doorbellrang, and he went right over to get it. He glanced out the window, then unlocked and opened the door.