Page 21 of Learning to Love

He rolls his eyes at me and mumbles something underneath his breath, making me smile to myself. We pull up to a two-story house one street behind the end of Fraternity Row. It's yellow, with green shutters. The Fearless Five share this five-bedroom house. They are the only lower classmen that don't have to share rooms at the football house. All senior players live in the houses on this street and the football house is the next street over.

We walk in, and the aroma that meets us there makes my mouth water. Jake wouldn't tell me what his menu consisted of, but I knew it was some kind of pasta. Maybe chicken Alfredo. If he ever wants to get lucky, it better be chicken Alfredo. The King of all pasta!

Jake goes to put my stuff up, and I head to find the kitchen. My stomach won't have it any other way. This house is more spacious than it looks on the outside. It has a living room, den, and a game room. As I round the corner from the living room, I hear Jaxon laughing about something. "Hey, bestie!" I shout!

He looks up from the stove. "Bestie! Beyond glad that you could make it to our humble abode."

Sasha laughs. "Hi, Jaxon!"

He beams and I laugh. "Hi, Sasha. Where have you been my whole life?"

"Right here waiting for you, Stud!" She says with a wink.

He "catches" her words with his hands and places them over his heart like you would when someone blows you a kiss. He's darling, and whoever conquers this wild boy's heart will have one of the good ones.

Enough mushiness. I can't control myself anymore. I head towards the stove to see what goodness awaits us. If The Jake Ryan doesn't make it into the NFL, I'm sure he can open up a restaurant. Don't tell my Mama, but I think this smells better than anything I've ever smelled in her kitchen, and my Mama can cook! These thick thighs convey just how good her food taste.

I knew it was chicken Alfredo when the tasty aroma hit my nose. This dish is in the top five of my favorite meals, and it looks like he grilled the chicken before adding it to the sauce. I can't! I'm going to make a pig of myself. He will never want to see where this is going! It was fun while it lasted because this thick chick is about to eat.

He comes behind me and wraps his arms around my slender waist. Cold chills go up and down my arms, and my stomach has about a million butterflies flying around in there now. My hunger goes to zero in an instant. I don't hear anyone else, and my vision grows blurry in an I'm drunken on The Jake Ryan type of haze. He whispers in my ear. "I'm glad that you're finally here."

I turn around and smile shyly at him. "Thank you for inviting me."

His long fingers stroke the side of my heart-shaped face. "I hope you like what I've fixed for you."

"It smells heavenly." I run my fingers through his shaggy dark brown hair. Exploring the soft tresses, I realize his hair is as smooth as it looks. I've wanted to do this since forever. Even better than his dazzling smile and six-pack, his hair might be my new favorite thing about him.

The other four members of the Fearless Five break our trance as they start singing a terrible rendition of a popular oldies song, "And they call it puppy LOVE!!!"

I bury my face in Jake’s chest as I’m blushing on a level I've never blushed before. Jake is chuckling, but I can tell he's embarrassed, too. His reaction to me was not a figment of my imagination. That doesn't mean I'm special to him, though. This "whatever we're doing" could only be temporary. I do think we are heading towards the beginning of a full-fledged summer fling though. I may be innocent, but I'm not naive. I can't allow any deep feelings to develop for him. I need to accept this for what it is, which is fleeting. People like him don't end up with people like me. I realize in this beautiful moment that when I'm old and gray, I'll remember all of this, and I'll smile.

Gathering all my nerves, I finally look at everybody and laugh. "Don't be jealous because I'm the guest of honor!"

He puts his arms around me from behind and rests his chin on top of my head. "Haters, every last one of em'!"

Jaxon rolls his eyes and looks at Dallas. And because they're them, they reenact the whole scene. Dallas bats his eyelashes and flips his nonexistent hair from side to side. While Jaxon has this goofy grin on his face, and his eyes are going for dreamy, but they look creepier than anything else. We all howl out in laughter.

I kick Jaxon in the shin. "Is that any way to treat your Bio study bestie?"

He looks offended. "We just wanted to show y'all what we saw. I think I need to go take a cold shower after that!"

I pinch his arm. "Shush!"

Sasha feels the need to insert her two cents into the convo. "You better watch out, Jake. She likes to pinch."

She sees my face and starts running. I chase after her, trying to get close enough so that I can pinch her. She screams as we run through the living room. She's fast, but I fake a cramp, and she's a sucker. She's a nice one but still a total sucker. I pinch her arm, and she yelps. I turn around, trying to get away from her before she retaliates. The facial expression on every single one of the guys is hilarious. I roll my eyes and head back to the kitchen. Boys will be boys. "Take a picture. It'll last longer."

Axel laughs. "I wish I would have videoed it, and I'd watch it every night before going to sleep."

Hector smiles. "Me too. Four or five times."

Jake grabs my hand as I walk by him. "And I'd break your damn phones, too."

They laugh. "That's cold man. That's real cold."

We line up for the grub. Jake makes sure I'm in front. I put a generous portion on my plate, but not more than the boys do. Sasha eats like a bird, so I have more on my plate than she does but I'm okay with that.

"Jake, this is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth," I say after my first bite. I genuinely mean it.