The kitchen was a bit more modern even with the walls being the same as the living room. White tiles covered the floor, and the appliances were all stainless steel. As we made our way to the end of the kitchen, I noticed a man, Jesse’s stepdad, Mark, I assumed, sitting at a large oak table in the dining room.
“Emma, this is Mark,” Jesse said as we reached the table. “I don’t think you two had a chance to meet in California.”
Mark stood and shook my hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I said as I looked at him.
His hair was a dark brown with a bit of gray starting to show through. His eyes were a soft chocolate color. He was dressed in simple jeans and a flannel shirt. I glanced at Jesse’s mom to see that she was also in jeans. I looked down at my skirt and white dress shirt, suddenly feeling overdressed.
“Don’t just stand there, you two. Sit down,” Trish said as she took the chair next to Mark.
I sat down in the chair between Mark and Jesse. I folded my hands nervously. While I knew his mom wasn’t angry with me, I still felt unsure of myself. I hadn’t thought to ask Jesse what to say or how much his mom knew when it came to Ally.
I bowed my head as his mom said grace. Once she was finished, we started passing plates full of food around the table. His mom had obviously spent a lot of time on dinner. The table was covered with more food than any of us could ever eat.
“How’s school?” his mom asked as she handed Jesse a plate of pork chops.
“It’s going good.”
“Are you in school, too, Emma?” Mark asked.
“I am.”
“Is that how you two found each other again?” his mom asked.
“Kind of,” I answered. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I also wasn’t going to reveal anything about Ally in case Jesse hadn’t mentioned it.
“Kind of?” she asked.
“Truthfully, I came to West Virginia to look for Jesse. I knew he planned to go to college, so I enrolled at WVU because I knew it was one of the biggest schools in the state. I figured that it was the best place to look for him.”
I didn’t mention the fact that the only way I knew he planned to go to college was because he bitched about his mom forcing him to go instead of finishing up his apprenticeship at the tattoo shop.
“That has to be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. You better take good care of this girl, Jesse,” Trish said.
“I will, Mom.” Jesse rolled his eyes.
“How long have you two been together? I feel like I’m asking a million questions, but since my dear son never calls me, I’m a bit out of the loop.”
I smiled as I glanced over at Jesse. I knew exactly why he hadn’t called his mom that much. If he had, he might have slipped and told her about Ally.
“Just recently. The campus is huge, and we never ran into each other at school. We met at a party off-campus.” I lied smoothly.
“Ah, I see.” She smiled at me.
I felt bad for the little white lies I was telling, but I knew Jesse would kill me if I told her the truth. I almost wanted to just so another person would know exactly what Ally was really like.
Mark wasn’t much of a talker, but he seemed nice enough. It warmed my heart to see how much love was in his eyes when he looked at Jesse’s mom. It was obvious that he thought the world of her.
I glanced down at his mom’s hand and noticed her wedding ring. “Wow, that’s beautiful.”
She smiled proudly as she held out her hand to let me see it better. “It is. Mark picked it out on his own. He has great taste.”
“Of course I do. I married you.” Mark grinned at her.
Her cheeks went pink, and she looked away.
“You guys are so cute,” I told them.
Jesse rolled his eyes. “I was thinking more along the lines of nauseating.”
“Oh, shut up,” I told him.
I felt myself relax as dinner progressed. It was like the last two years had never happened. His mom was as warm and kind toward me as she had been before. I should have known that I had nothing to worry about. It was just so important to me that Jesse’s mom liked me. If she hadn’t, it would make things hard for Jesse and me. I’d heard the horror stories about how the mother-in-law made the wife’s life hell until she couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want my life to be like that. My own mom hated me enough for everyone.
We spent the rest of the evening with his mom and Mark. It was nice to just relax and spend time with them. When it was time to go, Trish hugged us both tightly.
“Make sure that he comes around more often. I miss him,” she whispered in my ear before letting me go.
“I will.”
I fell asleep on the way home. When I woke up, Jesse had me cradled in his arms as he walked through his house. He laid me down on his bed and pulled off my shoes. I snuggled down into the covers. I was too tired to try to talk with him. He crawled into bed next to me and wrapped his arms around me.
Chapter Eighteen: Jesse
“Happy birthday!” Andy shouted as he walked into my house, unannounced.
Emma and I had finally managed to crawl out of bed right before he showed up, and I wasn’t conscious enough to deal with his shouting.
“Fuck off,” I mumbled as I reached into the cabinet for a bowl.
All I wanted for my birthday was a bowl of cereal—and Emma naked. That wasn’t too much to ask. I didn’t need to be tormented by Andy.
Since we had been kids, he’d tortured me on my birthdays. To me, it was just another day, but to him, it was his favorite day of the year. He would run through the halls at school and sing “Happy Birthday” to me until everyone else would join in. He’d gotten a fist to the stomach more than once for that shit.
“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine, snookums?” He tried to kiss me on the cheek.
I glared as I shoved him away. “Are you high?”
“I’m high on life.” He grinned at me. “It’s my two best friends’ birthdays. Why wouldn’t I be happy?”
For some reason, Andy found it hilarious that Emma and I were born on the same day.
“You’re so fucking weird,” I grumbled.
We both looked up as the bathroom door opened.
Emma stepped out, wearing nothing but a towel. “Jesse, I have a birthday present for you.” She stopped dead when she saw Andy standing there. “Oh shit.”
Andy laughed. “Don’t stop just because I’m here. You could make it my special day, too.”
I elbowed him in the stomach—hard. He grunted in pain as Emma flipped him off and walked into our bedroom.
“Thanks, asshole. You just cockblocked me on my birthday.”
Andy laughed. “Mission accomplished.”
Emma emerged from our room a few minutes later and walked into the kitchen. “Let’s try this again now that I’m wearing clothes. Good morning, Andy.”
“It’s afternoon,” he pointed out.
“We slept in,” I told him.
“I’m sure you were sleeping,” he said.
He was right, but I wasn’t going to tell him that. Over the past two weeks, I’d slowly started to relax when Emma and Andy were around each other. Now that we were all three hanging out together, I could see that nothing was going on between them. But that didn’t mean I was going to tell him that I’d spent half the night fucking her on every surface in the house, including the counter that he was currently leaning against.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
“So, what are we doing today?” Andy asked.
“We? If you mean Emma and me when you say we, then we’re going to watch a movie on the couch and order pizza. If you think you’re included in that we, try again.”