Falling in Love with my Best Friend

Chapter 17: Surprises

"So why did you come here?" I asked, holding a hairband between my teeth while pulling my hair up out of my face. We'd said goodbye to Catherine back in the parking lot with the promise of seeing her again tonight at Matt's party. Jake was driving us home in his truck.

Jake got a mischevious grin on his lips. "I needed to tell you something."

"Okay..." I trailed off, my brow furrowing curiously. "What?"

He continued smiling, clearly amused with whatever secret he was keeping from me. He was wearing a cotton black t-shirt and I found my eyes wandering down to his tone biceps that peeked out under the hems of his sleeves. My cheeks heated with a blush and I quickly pulled my eyes away.

"What do you think about coming to my sister's wedding next Friday?" he asked finally.

"Chelsea's?" I asked, confused as to why he created so much suspense for that question. "Yeah of course!" I exclaimed.

"Great," he said, smiling as he turned onto our street.

"Oh my gosh," I muttered in disbelief. "Has it really been that long? I remember when her and Ben had just started dating."

Jake nodded, his lips pulling into a grin.

I gasped and started laughing at a particular memory. "Remember when Ben tried to make her dinner in your house and we had to hide up in your room? And we were muffling our laughter as the smell of burnt toast filled the house. Your sister kept knocking on the door to ask us what he meant by 'you smell like your house'. 'Is that a good thing? Do I smell good?'" I quoted her, laughing.

Jake laughed too, the memories passing behind his crystal blue eyes. "Yeah and then you almost fell off the bed when Ben burst through the door, thinking that he'd almost burnt the house down trying to make lasagne and asking how to hide the damage."

I clutched my stomach, laughing at the memory.

I realized we'd pulled into the driveway of his house and it was probably time to go home but I really didn't want to leave yet. After all of the tension between us lately it was just so refreshing to have a nice conversation with Jake. I opened my mouth to ask him to hangout just as he spoke.

"Well I guess I'll see you tonight," Jake said, twisting the keys to cut the engine off.

My heart dropped.

I smiled quickly to mask the hurt. "Okay." I pushed my door open, stepping out into the warm air. "See you later," I called as I walked up to my house.

I didn't turn to see if he responded, unlocking my door and stepping inside.

Jake's POV

I watched her walk briskly up to her door as I sat alone in the car. I sighed, dropping my head. Why am I such an idiot?

I shouldn't have said that, it's not what I meant. I just kind of blurted it out. I wanted to hangout with her longer but I didn't want to be too clingy if she was hoping to get home. I wish I had asked her to stay.

I walked up to my house slowly, unlocking the door and walking into the kitchen. Mom had left a note saying she was at a meeting and that dinner was in the fridge.

I walked to the fridge, pulling out the leftover casserole and setting it on the counter. My phone pinged and I pulled it out quickly. I tried not to feel dissapointed when the ID read Tracy.

Could I get a ride to the party tonight? My car won't start up.

Sure, I typed back. Pick you up around 8ish.