One Of The Guys

Chapter 17

The rest of the night was really fun. I'm starting to actually like Garrett. He ends up staying over and both the guys crash on my floor. When I wake up in the morning, an arm is wrapped around me.

"Ugh. Jaaaake." I say, groaning.

"Is there a problem?" He mumbles into my collarbone.

"Yes. There is. Somehow, you got in my bed, in the middle of the night, when you were supposed to sleep on the floor by Garrett." I say, turning to face him.

"Oh well. You know that I always end up here. You should've just let me in the first place." Jake says, grinning.

Despite my best efforts, I smile back. That's when I notice Garrett staring at me.

"Sooooo. This happens a lot?" Garrett asks, biting back a smile.

"As sexual as this may look, there is nothing going on." I say, pretend glaring at Garrett.

"Uh huh. How'd he, uh, get there?" Garrett asks, scratching his head.

"I have no idea. When he sleeps on the floor at our sleepovers, he always seems to find a way into my bed. I just thought it might be...awkward if you, uh, saw this. So I made him sleep on the floor. But you can see how well that worked." I explain. He nods and laughs.

Jake throws a pillow at Garrett after turning to face him. Garrett raises his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, okay." Garrett says, stifling back a laugh. Jake stands up and yawns.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." He says. Garrett and I just stare at him.

""What?" He asks, then he looks down.

"Oh." He says. He is wearing just his boxers, nothing new for me, but Garrett already thinks that there's something going on between us.

"Go take your shower." I say, throwing a pillow at him. He walks out, swinging his butt from side to side.

I laugh, it's a classic Jake. Making awkward situations even more awkward. Garrett just stares at me.

"Oh my god. It's not like that. He walks around my house like that all the time!! Once, he answered my door wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Here, it's normal." I say.

"Okay. I guess I believe you about Jake." Garrett says.

"What about your mom?" He asks.

"What about her?" I reply.

"She doesn't care?" He asks, surprised.

"No." I reply.

"Where is she?" He asks.

"Visiting my family in Georgia." I reply, the lie slips right out.

"Why'd she leave you behind?" Garrett asks.

"She knows that I can't miss school now with all the scouts and football. So she let me stay behind." I reply, another lie. Although, she technically did let me stay behind. I didn't have a choice, but still. It counts.

"Oh. How long is she going to be gone?" He asks. What's with all the god damn questions?

"A month." I reply.

"That's a long time." He replies.

"Not really." I snap, finally reaching my breaking point.

"Okay." He says cautiously.

"I'll go......make breakfast." I say. And he just nods.

********Jake POV*******

I take a 5 minute shower, which is probably a record for me, and hurry to get dressed. When I rush downstairs, I find Taylor making eggs and toast. I raise my eyebrows at her.

"He kept asking questions about my mom, so I told him I'd go make breakfast." She explains. I nod.

"Hey, guys." Garrett says, coming downstairs.

"Hey." We say.

"It smells good." Garrett says.

"Well, it smells better than my usual pop tart." Taylor jokes.

"I bet." Garrett says, laughing a little. Then it's silent. Like no one knows what to talk about.

So we just wait for Taylor to finish cooking breakfast. When she's done, we eat as if we haven't eaten in days.

"We better go before we're late." I say. They nod and we put our dishes in the sink, then Taylor and I get into my truck while Garrett gets into his.

When we get to the school and get out, I put my arm around Taylor. Protecting her in a way. She smiles and we walk over to the guys.

"Soooo. A sleepover?" Noah asks.

"Yeah. Our twosome turned into a threesome for the night." Taylor says, smiling at Garrett.

"Fun." Alex says in a flat voice. What is wrong with him? Whenever Taylor and I are together, he acts all weird. Wait, I know this. He likes Taylor, duhhh.

"It was. Taylor prank called Coach and screamed 'the aliens are coming' then hung up." Garrett says, laughing. The guys just stare at us.

"It wasn't on purpose. I scrolled through Garrett's contacts, eyes closed, and stopped on a random one. It just happened to be Coach." Taylor says, shrugging as if to say 'oh, well'.

We might pay for it at practice. But who cares? Definitely not me. Or Taylor. Or even Garrett. The guys might, but I don't really care.

"We should do that again." Taylor says, smiling at Garrett.

"Do what?" Garrett asks.

"Have a sleepover. Duhhh." Taylor says.

"Yeah. That'd be pretty fun." Garrett says, smiling.