Chapter 48

Jake

I’m not a very talkative person… or well. I talk easily to those close to me, and then I act reserved toward newcomers. I’ve always been like this, even from a young age. This made it hard for me to make friends as a kid,

but I was never bothered by that.

Winnie, my childhood friend and old

neighbor, made me feel seen throughout my

childhood.

Instead of ignoring me like everyone else

did, Winnie included me in everything. We were partners in crime, and I fell for her because she always smiled and made my day

better.

This is why Winnie has been on my brain for the past twenty-two years. People claim kids can’t fall in love and don’t know what those

emotions are, but trust me when I say that

I’ve loved Winnie for years. She has always been the one, but I’m starting to believe she doesn’t deserve me.

In the end, I never mattered as much to her

as she did to me…

I try to push that feeling aside and focus on the tacos I’m making. I chop some

vegetables and put some meat on the stove.

Winnie is sitting by the table, glancing at me whenever she thinks I’m not noticing it. Now that I’ve voiced my thoughts to her, she suddenly sees me, but karma is a bitch

because I wasn’t born yesterday. It will take

miracle for me to regain my interest in

Vell…

ou don’t get over someone you’ve liked for ears in a day, but I’m certainly chillier

ward her now. I asked Winnie to do

rands with me because I was too chicken

it to ask her out on a date. And what does

19

Chapter 48

she do? Break my freaking heart.

I’m still hurting….

However, she bought me the cookies we used to steal from the cupboard as kids, so my heart isn’t entirely frozen over. I’m also a nice guy, so it’s not like I won’t be her

friend.

“Jake?” Winnie asks in a low voice.

I don’t look at her from where I’m standing by the counter. My sole focus is on the cucumbers that I’m chopping for our tacos. ” Mhm?”

“I’m an asshole.”

almost smile. Almost. “Yes, you

getting up from her seat. “I want to make it up

Winnie is a klutz and would probably end up cutting her

2/13

fingers.

want to

I don’t want

to visit the hospital.

it!

stone when Winnie determinedly

up to stand beside me. She is much shorter than me,

heart flutters

It’s frustrating.

shouldn’t. I try to turn the

  1. Have there ever been a more tortured

man?

mad at someone who makes your heart sing oudly in your chest. Simply looking at her nakes me start to forget

4/12

hair is a mess around her head, and I sigh when she grabs a knife without putting up her hair.

this far? Those bangs make her half-blind, and if Winnie doesn’t put up her hair, the chances of her cutting herself

around your arm or something?” I ask.

up at me, all dazzling teeth and annoyingly cute freckles. My heart clenches, but I ignore that feeling. “But I don’t need one. Just tell me what you need

my eyes at her. Winnie is definitely living a dangerous life, and I open a drawer to take out a rubber band. “First off, you need to put up your hair. I don’t want you slicing up your fingers, Mrs.

Klutz?” She blinks up at me.

smile, just this once. “It’s what you are,”

and mash down the

I’m mad at

it this far

life.”

that clumsy!”

when you ran into

second year of high school because

showing around the new

ears turns red,

a one-time

shit happens…’

in the past. Pretty sure that’s why you started to hold on to my arm. ” I smile at the memory. It’s a fond one. And you picked me, not Mark, because according to you, I was heavier with a bigger chance of stopping your fall

emergency.”

“How are you

6/12

things?!”

snort, and Winnie turns

blonde hair

and I have to fight every instinct telling me to hug the shit out of her. I’m not

whenever I’m

myself by talking. “I just do… I also remember how you slipped and

didn’t think anyone saw me! I was on my

heading there too and saw the whole spectacle. Kinda wish I had filmed the entire thing. It was

all over, see where else she can blush.

Chapter 48

to look away by

find more things to admire about her appearance,

count the freckles on her

me

that for

welcome…” I mutter and nod at the

“You can cut up the salad and put it

in a bowl.”

“Yes, sir!”

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