Chapter 23


    Amber


    I look up at Jake in surprise when he hangs up the phone. He wants me to come to his house? I figured I would just bake everything here in the ranch’s kitchen, and that Jake would bring everything to Lily once I’m done. Jake must see the surprise on my face, because he raises his eyebrows at me.


    ‘What?’ he asks, unsure. ‘Not good? I assumed you would know what to get. Lily sure as fuck isn’t going to be able to tell you.’


    ‘No, no, I know what to get,’ I reply quickly.


    ‘So, what? You don’t want to come to my house?’ Jake asks me. His face falters a bit.


    ‘No, I’d love to! I mean, it’s fine, it’s just…,’ I look at Jake hesitantly. ‘We need to bake a ton of stuff, and it requires a lot of kitchen space and a big oven.’


    ‘Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure our kitchen will do,’ Jake says with a knowing grin. He jumps up and offers me his hand to help me get out of bed. ‘Come on, I guess we’d better get going. Should we make a list of what you need?’


    ‘No, I roughly know what to buy. But based on the texts I just read, I’m gonna go ahead and assume that you might not have all the baking supplies we need at your place?’ I ask Jake as I let him pull me up.


    ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t count on it,’ Jake replies with a chuckle.


    ‘Then I do need to stop by the house first, to get some baking supplies from Marjorie’s kitchen.’


    ‘Sure, no problem,’ Jake nods. ‘We need to stop by your place anyway, to pack a bag. I assume you’ll want your toothbrush in the morning,’ he smirks.


    I watch Jake disappear into the bathroom to brush his teeth, still processing everything. Honestly, I think I’m in shock. Not only is Jake taking me to his place, but I’m also staying overnight? Part of me wonders if I should be annoyed that he just assumed I’d stay with him tonight without asking, but that feeling is quickly overshadowed by the thrill of knowing we’ll be spending the entire weekend together. That’s definitely a first!


    After we get dressed, Jake tosses a duffle bag filled with dirty clothes in the back of his truck and drives it over to the Jenkins’ house. I quickly brush my teeth and grab the supplies I need from the kitchen, tossing a couple of Pop-Tarts in the toaster for us. I hand the supplies to Jake so he can load them into his truck, but then I’m faced with the dilemma of packing an overnight bag. Toiletries are easy enough, but what else should I bring? I groan in frustration. Well, screw it. Not wanting to keep Jake waiting too long, I toss a clean pair of jeans, a simple black shirt, and some panties and socks into my bag. Slinging it over my shoulder, I wrap the Pop-Tarts in napkins and rush outside, climbing into the cabin of Jake’s truck.


    ‘Got everything?’ Jake asks me, while he gratefully accepts a Pop-Tart from me.


    ‘I think so.’


    ‘Alright then. Let’s hit the grocery store!’ Jake mumbles with his mouthful. He seems genuinely enthusiastic about the whole ordeal. I’ve come to realize that Lily is very important to him, so I’m happy to help her out in this case. My sheltered upbringing may have left me lacking in some everyday skills, but baking isn’t one of them!


    Inside the grocery store, I quickly and efficiently fill our cart with flour, eggs, butter, milk, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla extract. I also grab some salt and baking powder, just in case Jake’s house doesn’t have it stocked, along with packages of orange, black, and white frosting. I throw in two large chocolate bars and two bags of Hershey’s Kisses. Biting my bottom lip, I mentally calculate how many cookies, brownies, and muffins we can make with all this. Is it enough, or do we need more? After a moment, I nod to myself.


    ‘I think this will probably be enough,’ I declare.


    ‘Are you sure? We can ask if they still have some sugar left anywhere else in Wisconsin?’ Jake teases me.


    ‘Oh, shut up, Jake,’ I grin, rolling with my eyes.


    ‘No, seriously! Maybe we can stop by a local windmill and get some additional flour if you need more, since you seem to have emptied the store.’


    ‘Just get to the register! We have a lot of baking to do,’ I say in a huffy tone, as I give him a shove in the right direction.


    Still laughing, Jake pushes our cart to the register and pays for the groceries. When we’re walking back to the pickup with everything stuffed into two paper bags, I send Jake a curious glance.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ‘Could you tell me a little bit about your siblings?’ I ask him.


    ‘What do you want to know?’ Jake asks. He puts his grocery bag in the backseat of the pickup and then puts mine away as well.


    ‘I don’t know,’ I shrug, as I climb back into the passenger seat. ‘I’ve never had any siblings. What are they like?’


    The truth is, I''m kind of nervous about meeting Jake’s family. What if they don’t like me? I know I''m not his girlfriend, but somehow I get the feeling that this casual thing between us will be over very quickly if his siblings don’t like me.


    ‘They’re great,’ Jake promises, as if he can feel my nervousness. ‘Although I might be biased, since I kind of have to like them.’


    ‘Jake!’ I swat his arm.


    ‘Fine, fine,’ Jake laughs, raising his hands in mock surrender. He starts the truck and smoothly pulls out of the parking lot. ‘Let’s see. As I told you, Hugo is our big brother, in the most literal sense of the word. He’s so huge that Lily gave him the nickname "Herc," short for Hercules, shortly after she came to live with us. It’s kind of funny—he looks like a bulldozer, but he’s actually a very successful businessman now. The tattoos and muscles are just remnants of his past. He did a lot of boxing when he was younger, and he still likes to spar as a way of working out. He’s an incredibly hard worker. He hardly ever lets himself take a break to have fun or let loose. Ever since we came to live with him, he’s done absolutely everything he can to make sure we’re provided for.’


    ‘It sounds like you really admire him,’ I conclude with a smile.


    ‘You have no idea how much,’ Jake agrees, shaking his head with nothing but respect for his brother. ‘Honestly, there isn’t anything any of us wouldn’t do for Hugo, after all that he’s done for us. He doesn''t like to acknowledge it, but we all know we owe him our current lives.’


    ‘After what you’ve told me, I totally get that,’ I nod. After a short silence I glance back over at Jake. ‘What about the others?’


    ‘Cooper is the second-oldest. He’s my biological older brother, and basically a huge clown, but with muscles instead of a red nose,’ Jake says, grinning. ‘He works at Hugo’s construction company, so I guess being at building sites all day will do that to you.’


    ‘And here I was thinking you were actually pretty well-built,’ I mutter under my breath, but Jake catches it anyway.


    ‘Oh yeah? You think I’m pretty?’


    Jake glances over at me, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively while flexing his arm muscles without taking his hands off the steering wheel. My cheeks immediately flush, and I swat his arm again, which only makes him laugh.


    ‘Anyway, Cooper is about as easy-going as they come,’ Jake continues. ‘Honestly, nothing ever fazes the guy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him cry or get upset about anything. Even when our parents died, he just pulled himself together and made the best of our situation, right from the start. He’s basically always happy, loves pulling pranks on Nate, and generally enjoys having a good time. He’s pretty much a serial dater and always goes after kind of crazy girls.’


    ‘Right, crazy girls…’ I say slowly, instinctively scrunching my nose. I don’t like it when men talk about women they’ve been with in that way. Or, in this case, who their brothers have been with. It makes me worry that Jake might talk about me the same way once he loses interest, especially if he finds out I’ve fallen in love with him after I promised him things would stay casual between us. I stare out of the front window, but my thoughts blur the view.


    ‘What? No, Amber…’ Jake glances over at me, shaking his head with a stern expression. ‘I’m serious! Just last week, Cooper brought this girl home, and she saw one of Lily’s bras in the bathroom he shares with her. She completely flipped out, accusing him of cheating, and then went so far as to break the mirror with Lily’s hair dryer. Even though Cooper had already told her the bra belonged to his sister. And another girl before that actually tried to throw out all of his underwear in the middle of the night. She claimed not wearing underwear would improve his sperm count and that she wanted to have his babies—even though that was the first night they’d even slept together.’


    ‘Okay, that does sound a bit extreme,’ I admit, feeling a bit relieved. The corners of my mouth curl up as I glance over at Jake, grateful for his reassurance.


    ‘I’d say so,’ Jake chuckles. ‘Cooper is a fucking magnet for that sort of thing. Doesn’t bother him though. He just laughs it off and moves on to the next girl. Nate, on the other hand, is pretty much the opposite. He used to be a total grumpy, angsty teenager. He and Lily fight a lot—Nate can be a bit of a dick to her, and Lily really knows how to push his buttons. Typical brother and sister stuff, I guess.’


    ‘Are you and Cooper like that too?’ I ask curiously.


    ‘Nah, Coop and I have always been good,’ Jake says cheerfully. ‘We’re both pretty chill. We hung out with the same friends even as kids, and we like a lot of the same stuff. We watch the same movies, played catch all the time when we lived at the warehouse... And since he’s smart enough not to pull pranks on me, there’s no reason for us to fight,’ he chuckles.


    ‘Okay, so I guess it’s just Nate I should watch out for then?’ I laugh, though the thought honestly makes me a little nervous.


    ‘No! Oh, damn it, I didn’t mean it like that,’ Jake quickly corrects himself. ‘Nate is great. He’s usually a pretty cool guy, just more quiet and laid-back compared to me and Cooper. He likes to read and restore old motorcycles. He’s a brilliant mechanic, actually, and super loyal and dependable. Whatever you’ve got going on, Nate will always have your back in a heartbeat if you need him. He and Lily just clash a lot, that’s all.’


    ‘That does sound pretty great,’ I smile at Jake.


    ‘He’s a really good guy,’ Jake promises me. ‘And Lily…’ His expression softens with affection. ‘Lily is Lily. Smarter than all of us combined, without a doubt, and indisputably awesome. She’s probably going to be a rocket scientist or maybe even the president one day. But she’s also our baby sister, and we’re all ridiculously protective of her. Especially Nate, even with the whole love-hate thing they’ve got going on. But yeah, that’s everyone.’ He pauses for a moment before grinning. ‘And just in time too, because we’re here,’ he declares, pulling the truck into a parking lot.


    I glance out the window, blink twice, then look again. My brow furrows in confusion as I turn back to Jake, unsure of what’s going on. I thought we were heading to his house, but instead, we are parked in front of a one-story school building. The parking lot in front of it is mostly empty, save for a few vehicles scattered around. A black Mercedes is parked next to us, with a silver van featuring the “HercuStruct” company logo, a black motorcycle, and a sleek blue sports car in the nearby spots. My eyes then lock on a stone sign that reads “Proles Middle School,” and my frown deepens.