Sophie and Jake (Passports and Promises) Read online

  First impression? He was way too hot. Out of my league completely. And the fact he didn’t even realize it made me even more certain about my feelings for him.

  I loved Jake Hunter with all my heart.

  He gave me a cauliflower. He paid attention when I rambled, and actually cared about what I said. All those silly, unimportant things I spoke with him about, some so trivial it was almost embarrassing, but to him, those things seemed important. He actually listened to me, and he understood me, too. He proved that today. He brought me a cauliflower because he knew it would make me laugh, and he’d been absolutely right.

  Now I sat on the couch, my hand clinging to his, and the cauliflower cradled in my lap, as my parents began their none-too-subtle interrogation. As they asked him question after question, all in the guise of being socially acceptable small talk, all I could think about was the hand holding onto mine.

  Mano a mano. Finally.

  As soon as there was the briefest lull in the conversation, I jumped to my feet, pulling Jake with me. “We’d better go. We made plans for lunch.”

  “Oh, have fun,” said Mom. She glanced at the cauliflower in my arms. “Do you, uh, want me to cook it?”

  “No,” I said, aghast. “No way. Give me a second. I have to put it in my room. And nobody is allowed to eat it while I’m gone. Got it?”

  My parents nodded, confused, and Jake’s lips twitched, like he tried not to laugh. I winked at him, and took off like a flash, running to my room. I placed the cauliflower carefully on top of my dresser, and checked myself in the mirror.

  Bleh. Nothing interesting there. Same old boring Sophie. At least my clothing looked nice. I wore my favorite pair of jeans, the ones that made me look like I had more curves than I actually possessed, and a soft, white cashmere sweater. It had cost me the entire stash of babysitting money I’d earned over the summer, but it was so worth it. And I’d taken Emily’s advice. I had on a padded bra. No, my boobs did not look huge, but at least it seemed like I had some cleavage, which was an improvement.

  I jogged down the steps and grabbed my coat off the hook by the front door. “Bye. See you,” I said, grabbing Jake by the sleeve.

  He paused, stopping to shake my mom’s hand, and then my dad’s. “We’re planning to go to lunch, and a movie. Would you both be okay with that?”

  They nodded, even my dad. He was trying hard not to like Jake, but it was futile. Jake was likeable. Impossible to resist.

  My mom beamed at him. “I hope you’ll be able to join us for dinner tonight.”

  “It would be my pleasure, Mrs. Barnes. I promised my father I’d be home by ten, but I should have plenty of time for dinner.”

  They stood at the door and waved as we headed to the car, an expensive-looking Volvo. It screamed “money.” I drove a used VW Bug that had belonged to my grandmother. It was purple, and covered with a collection of psychedelic flower magnets I’d found online. I’d thought the magnets would hide the rust stains. They didn’t, but they gave it a retro, sixties vibe I found amusing. There was nothing amusing about Jake’s car, however. It was the nicest car I’d ever seen.

  “Nice ride,” I said as I slipped into the passenger seat.

  “It’s my dad’s car,” he said. “He insisted I take it today. My car is my brother’s old car, and it’s not great for driving long distances.”

  “Is it a clunker? I have a clunker. It’s the ugliest car ever made, but I love it. I named it ‘Elsie.’ It used to belong to my grandmother. It’s a convertible VW Bug, although why my grandmother bought a convertible is a complete mystery. The woman hates to have her hair messed up. She’s kind of psycho about it.”

  He smiled as the started the car and the engine purred to life. “My car is a convertible, too. Funny, huh?”

  “But I bet it isn’t purple.”

  “Uh, no,” he said. “It’s grey. It’s a Porsche, one of the older models.”

  “Oh.”

  Suddenly, I realized his car cost nearly as much as our house. Well, not quite, but close. I pondered the implications of this when he reached for my hand and brought it to his lips, twining his fingers with mine.

  “Where did you want to go for lunch?” he asked. I had to concentrate all my mental power for a moment in order to understand his question. The brief touch of his lips on my skin distracted me to the point my brain had basically stopped working.

  “Lunch?” I asked, befuddled.

  “Yes,” he said. “Aren’t you hungry?”

  “I’m always hungry,” I said. “It’s kind of a thing with me.”

  “I know,” he said with a laugh. “Do you have a place in mind?”

  “Well, it’s a hole in the wall, but they have good burgers and fries. Sound okay?”

  “Everything sounds okay,” he said, “as long as I’m with you.”

  Chapter 10

  ~Jake~

  Sophie didn’t walk like a regular person. Either she ran, or she sort of marched, with an adorable bounce in her step. I smiled as I watched her. I couldn’t seem to stop smiling today. I hadn’t felt this happy since…well, since forever.

  I thought I’d been prepared for what Sophie would be like, but I’d only touched the tip of the iceberg getting to know her online. In person, she was…mesmerizing. Like she had too much energy to contain in her body, and it seeped out in everything she did. In the way she walked. In the way she gestured with her hands as she spoke. Even in the way she laughed. She was…joyful. And I’d never been so enthralled by a person in my entire life.

  “You have to order one of the big burgers,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “They serve them with an absolute mountain of fries. It’s spectacular. Homemade French fries. So good. They have to use an actual cookie sheet to serve them because that’s how many fries they give you. Crazy, huh?”

  She’d brought me to a place called The Pit Stop, decorated with wallpaper depicting classic cars and actual hubcaps on the ceiling. We sat at a booth with a view of the river, and chatted as we waited for our food, holding hands across the table.

  Mano a mano.

  It was like once we started touching, we couldn’t stop. Like we were two magnets drawn to each other with an invisible force.

  We ate our fries and burgers, which really were tasty, and drank homemade chocolate milkshakes, chatting the whole time. When Sophie suggested a walk by the river, I jumped at the chance. Although it was cool outside today, the sun shone brightly, and a walk sounded like fun.

  Okay, I’ll be honest. With Sophie, anything sounded like fun. If she asked me, “Hey, do you want to get a root canal after lunch, and maybe listen to a lecture on the reproductive systems of gnats?” I would say, “Yeah, sure. Great.”

  Yes, I had it bad. I’d known it for a while now, but it had been confirmed the minute she stepped out of her house and flung herself into my arms. Sophie was the girl for me, like she’d been custom made in some awesome girlfriend factory in the sky, stamped with the words, “Exclusive. One of a kind. Created especially for Jake Hunter.”

  And I heard one thing go through my head the whole time I was with her: Mine, mine, mine. I felt a kind of caveman-like possessiveness over her, which would have been stalkerish and scary if she didn’t seem to feel exactly the same way. Or, at least I thought she did. I had my doubts, but my feelings were confirmed when she brought me to a small overlook rising above the confluence of two rivers, the Ohio and the Beaver, and turned to me with a happy smile.

  “This is the spot,” she said, her cheeks pink from the cold.

  I looked around. “It’s nice,” I said. “But why is it important exactly?”

  She came closer, looking up at me shyly from beneath her eyelashes. “Because this is where you’re going to kiss me for the first time.”

  My breath caught in my chest. Mine, mine, mine, the voice screamed inside my head as I leaned over and brushed her lips with my own. I kept my eyes open, watching as her eyelids fluttered closed, her lashes dark against her flawle
ss skin. I closed my own eyes and groaned against the sweet softness of her mouth.

  As I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close, a breeze caught her soft hair and whipped it around us. The words popped unbidden into my head again.

  Mine, mine, mine.

  I didn’t realize I’d uttered the words out loud, until Sophie repeated them. “Mine, mine, mine,” she said, and kissed me over and over and over again.

  Chapter 11

  ~Sophie~

  Kissing Jake was even better than I hoped. I’d chosen the Pit Stop for two reasons. First of all, their fries were the best in town, and, secondly, I decided the overlook would be the perfect spot for our first kiss.

  I was right—on both counts.

  I’ve been kissed before, a few times, in fact, but never like this. With Jake it was…well…how could I put it? Amazing, spectacular, and incredible didn’t quite cover it. And when he murmured the words, “Mine, mine, mine,” against my lips, I nearly swooned.

  Yeah, I’m serious. I nearly fainted like one of the ladies in a Victorian novel. You know what I mean, right? The kind wearing corsets and getting “the vapors”? I almost required smelling salts.

  It was that bad. I’m not even exaggerating.

  Afterward, he held me close and kissed the top of my head. I snuggled against him, breathing him in, my arms wrapped around his waist under his coat.

  “Well, I’m glad we got the hard part over with,” I said, my cheek pressed to the soft flannel of his shirt. His jack was open, so I sort of nestled inside it, running my hands over the firm muscles of his back.

  He brushed aside my hair and looked at my face. “Have you been stressed about it?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. Not at all. I looked forward to it. I doubted it would live up to my expectations, though.”

  “Did it?” he asked, the side of his mouth quirking up into a sexy half smile.

  I reached up and put my hands on his cold cheeks. “It surpassed them, which is saying something. My expectations were extremely high.”

  He leaned forward, touching his forehead with mine. “If I told you I’m crazy about you, would it be too soon?”

  I couldn’t speak at first. I went up on my tiptoes to kiss him again. “Nope. I’m crazy about you, too.”

  When his tongue touched mine, a pulse of pure desire shot through my body, shocking me with its intensity. Holy guacamole. It was like Jake had found some hidden, secret string linking directly to my lady parts. One touch of his lips and—bingo—I was more aroused than I’d ever been in my entire life.

  It made me wonder, if he could turn me on with nothing more than a simple kiss in public while fully clothed and still wearing our coats, what could he do to me if we were alone? And naked? The thought of it made me so hot I thought I might self-combust. Boom.

  “Do you want to go see a movie now?” he asked.

  Hmmm. Alone with Jake in a dark place? Yes, please. But I couldn’t sound too eager. Instead, I shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant.

  “Sure. If you want.”

  We decided on a sci-fi action movie. Of course. An easy choice. The other options were a sappy romance, a comedy, and a kids’ film.

  “Aliens,” I said. “I want aliens.”

  “Me, too,” he said. “Definitely.”

  I gave his arm a squeeze. “I love that you have good taste in movies. And, by ‘good taste,’ I mean you like what I like.”

  He laughed, and bought me some popcorn. He ordered a large, not even asking if it was too big. It wasn’t. I was hungry again already, even after the huge lunch, and he kind of suspected as much.

  I pulled him up the stairs to the last row of the theater. The make out section. I’d never sat there before. I preferred the middle, dead center, with the best view and sound. But today was special, and any opportunity I could grab to make out with Jake was golden.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” I said as we sat down.

  “Mind what?” he asked.

  “That I chose make out row.”

  He looked around, surprised. “This is make out row?”

  I nodded. “And I plan to make out with you, so I thought it was a wise choice.”

  He leaned back in his seat, giving me a naughty grin. “Since I’ve been thinking of nothing else for weeks now, it sounds good to me.”

  As soon as the lights went out, he pulled me close. We hadn’t even gotten through the commercials with the dancing cups of soda before I was breathing heavy, my hands tangled in his hair. Thank goodness the theater was nearly empty. The only other people were an older couple who sat way in the front and couldn’t possibly hear what was happening many, many rows above them.

  Hopefully.

  “Sophie,” Jake whispered. When his hand cupped my breast over my sweater, I arched against him. “Sweet Sophie. I can’t believe I’m actually with you…touching you.”

  He reached under my sweater, and as soon as his hand brushed across my skin, I jumped a little in surprise. Not because I didn’t want him to touch me, but because I hadn’t expected it to feel so nice. Immediately, he pulled away.

  “Sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m moving too fast.”

  I grabbed his hand and put it back under my sweater. “Oh, no. You aren’t. I want you to touch me, Jake. Please.”

  As soon as we started kissing again, a noise interrupted us. Someone stood next to Jake, clearing his throat. We both turned and looked up in surprise.

  “Mr. Hawthorn?” I asked, befuddled. My calculus teacher, a young guy with a bushy beard and glasses hovered next to us. Standing right behind him was my English teacher. “And Ms. Majors?”

  Now it was their turn to look surprised. “Sophie?”

  I quickly adjusted my sweater. Thankfully, nothing appeared to be exposed, although I had to wonder if the same applied to my teachers. Were they like dating?

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Although difficult to tell in the dark, and with Mr. Hawthorn’s bushy beard, he appeared to blush. “We’re here to catch a movie.”

  And you’re sitting in make out row?

  The unasked question hung between us, but we all chose to ignore it. Instead, I said something stupid.

  “I’m almost done with my calculus homework.”

  “Uh, good,” said Mr. Hawthorn, nodding approvingly. “Do you mind?” he said, pointing to the seats at the end of our row. “We’d like to sit over there.”

  “Oh. Sure.”

  We shifted aside so Mr. Hawthorn and Miss Majors could get past us and secure the darkest possible corner of make out row. I watched them as they sat stiffly in their seats, trying to act like this was all perfectly normal, which it wasn’t. At all. I had a feeling no one would be making out in make out row during this particular movie. What a pity.

  Jake and I shifted in our seats, eyes on the movie screen. He leaned closer and whispered to me. “Are they both your teachers?”

  “Yep. Not awkward at all. But, in all honesty, it could have been worse.”

  “How?”

  “It could have been my old CCD teacher, Sister Agatha. If she’d caught us in the middle of what we’d just been doing, she wouldn’t have been so polite. She would have hit both of us with a ruler.”

  For some reason, the image of Sister Agatha attacking us struck Jake as incredibly funny. So funny, in fact he snorted. Afterward, we both lost it, giggling uncontrollably. The older couple in front of us shushed us, even though the movie hadn’t even started yet. They were still playing the preview reel.

  “Sorry,” I said, in a loud whisper, and curled up next to Jake, tears on my cheeks from laughing so hard. I tried, and failed to give him a stern look. “You need to behave, Mr. Hunter, or they are going kick us out.”

  “That would be tragic.” He stared at me, his eyes so intense and beautiful it made my heart do a little flip-flop in my chest. “You make me so happy, Sophie,” he said, touching my cheek with his hand.
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br />   “You make me happy, too,” I said, snuggling against his arm as the movie began. “Now be quiet. The bad aliens are about to attack.”

  “How do you know? Have you seen this already?”

  I shook my head. “I always know. Trust me. And I’m always right.” The words had no sooner left my lips when a giant alien spacecraft fired on a ship filled with innocent civilians, mostly women and children. Very bad aliens indeed. “See? I called it.”

  Jake looked genuinely impressed. “You’re good.”

  “Yep. Remember that.”

  Chapter 12

  ~Jake~

  As we drove back to Sophie’s parents house, we kept glancing at each other and grinning. This had been the best day of my entire life. Being with Sophie was like a salve to my wounds. I hadn’t thought about Dylan in hours, which was a relief. I needed this vacation from my worries.

  “Just to be clear,” said Sophie, raising one finger in the air. “I normally don’t sit in make out row on the first date. In fact, I’ve never sat there before. Ever.”

  “So I’m special?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

  “Well, I’m glad.”

  “Tell me the truth, though. Did I do it right? The making out thing? Until my teachers ruined it with their presence, I mean. Is there anything I should do to improve?”

  She looked so adorably serious and concerned I had to laugh. “Uh, no. It was absolutely perfect. The best ever.”

  She frowned. “You’ve made out with a lot of girls, haven’t you?”

  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. “Well…a few. Does it upset you?”

  She shook her head. “I assumed as much. It’s kind of stupid to be jealous about it. It isn’t your fault. The problem is you’re way too handsome for your own good.”

  “I am?”

  She gave me look of pure disbelief. “Uh, yeah. I didn’t expect you to be like me, you know. Inexperienced. A virgin. Yikes. That would be impossible.”