Page 46 of Falling Into You

“You don’t have to feed me on top of everything else,” he said. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

“You’re notin my hair,” she shot back. And then she didroll her eyes. Dang it. So close. “And I’m starving, and I hate eating alone.”

Jacob’s stomach rumbled audibly, and they both laughed. “I guess I am, too. But where’s your brother?”

“Oh, he went over to a friend’s house an hour ago to play D&D.” She waved a hand toward the direction of the front door. “He won’t be back for hours.”

Jacob’s heart gave a littlethunk. Alone in the house with Rory. What would Tucker think? How bad of an ass kicking was he in for if he found out?

“So? What’ll it be?” Rory asked, cocking one eyebrow.

Screw Tucker.

“Pepperoni and fresh tomato, but only if it’s from Nino’s,” he said. “Aside from the fact that I get Nino’s for free, Calucci’s does the chunks and I like the slices.”

“Pizza snob, huh?” she said with a grin.

“A guy’s gotta have standards,” he shot back.

Rory nodded like she very much approved. “Nino’s it is.”

Rory

Okay, this was bad. She was bad. It was just all bad.

As she walked into school on Monday morning and headed toward the gym, Rory’s heart pounded and her palms were sweaty. Why? Because she was anticipating seeing Jacob. Not Tucker. Jacob. She didn’t understand how it had happened, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him. About his soulful green eyes. About his easy laugh. About his strong, capable hands. Yesterday, when they were rehearsing in her yard, each time he’d gripped her waist to toss her she’d wanted to giggle and cry simultaneously. Because what was happening? Was she actually falling for Jacob Reilly?

She needed to sort out her brain. But she didn’t have time for that. There was too much going on. It was homecoming week. Voting for king and queen was happeningthis morning during first period—which was why she was wearing her favorite kilt-style skirt and had her hair in its highest pony. Regionals were on Sunday. Jacob needed to ace his math test first, of course. And she had to get her nails done for the dance and figure out a hairstyle, and she still hadn’t bought shoes. Normally this all would have been done weeks ago, but she’d been so distracted. Suddenly it was time—this weekendshe might very well be crowned homecoming queen.

With Tucker by her side.

Ugh. It was all too much. She came around the corner into the gym lobby just as Tucker and Jacob were walking in through the far door. They were arguing. Instantly, Rory stepped back behind the wall, pulse pounding in her throat. What were they arguing about?

Back pressed against the wall, she aimed a tight smile at a pair of freshmen walking by, who understandably gave her confused looks in return. Tucker and Jacob were getting closer, and she was just thinking about diving into the girls’ locker room when they seemed to stop. Luckily, she could hear them perfectly.

“We’re four and four, man. We can’t lose another game, or we’re not gonna make the playoffs,” Tucker was saying.

Jacob’s voice was low and he sounded frustrated. “I still don’t know what you want me to do about it. I already tried to talk to Coach. He basically told me to eff off.”

“Then you have to beg,” Tucker insisted. “Tell him you’ll wash his car every day for a month. I don’t care. We need you back on the team.”

“Dude, even if I could somehow convince him, the next game is the same day as regionals. There’s no way I can do both.”

Rory’s heart went pitter-pat beneath her red sweater, and she almost laughed. She never knew that pitter-patting hearts were a real thing until that moment. The moment Jacob pointed out that the cheer squad needed him. That it actually mattered to him. She wanted to kiss him for it. If she was being honest with herself, she just wanted to kiss him, full stop.

“Screw the regionals!” Tucker snapped. “Who the hell cares about cheerleading? The whole thing is a freaking joke. You did it as ajoke! This is actually important!”

Rory felt like she’d been slapped. Before she could think twice, she came out of her hiding spot, striding purposefully around the corner.

“I can’t believe you just said that!” she shouted at Tucker.

Everyone in the gym lobby stopped talking. Which, to be fair, wasn’t a ton of people. There was a group of freshmen and sophomores who probably had gym first period and two gym teachers chatting over coffee. But it still got noticeably quiet.

Jacob turned beet red, as if he’d been saying that one of the things she loved most in the world didn’t matter.

Tucker didn’t turn red. He didn’t even have the sense to look caught out. He just tilted his head at her and rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Rory. You know how much this season means to me,” he said. “Without Jacob, we’re screwed.”