by Erica Lee
Jenny shook her head. “I don’t want to make you stay in his big house by yourself. You’re already going to be living in a place that’s far from most of your friends and family.” She hesitated before adding, “You know, I did get a pull out couch for my apartment. My place obviously isn’t the biggest, but Ryan and I made it work living there together. You could.. stay with me… if you wanted to.”
Everything inside of me was telling me that this was a terrible idea so I was shocked when my mouth started moving and I found myself saying, “What the heck? Let’s do it! That sounds like fun.”
I’m not sure what part of pining over Jenny while we lived in such close quarters sounded like fun, but it seemed like the only option. Now that the thought of having more time with her was in my mind, I couldn’t imagine not going through with it.
The next day when Todd picked up Jenny so they could head to the airport, I did my best not to mention my trip. Todd was obviously going to find out, but I needed to figure out the right way to tell him.
Later that night, almost immediately after Jenny texted to tell me that they made it back safely, a call came through from Todd.
He cut right to the chase without even saying hello. “Jenny and I had a very interesting conversation on the plane. She told me all about this trip you guys planned for May.”
“Yeah, about that…” I started to say but was interrupted by Todd snickering loudly.
“Let me break it down for you,” Todd quipped. “Just a few months ago, you were doing everything in your power to avoid this girl. Now you are flying across the country to shack up with her. You’re losing your mind.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him, but realized I had nothing to fight back with. He was right. I had completely lost my mind and was in way over my head, but it was too late to turn back now.
Chapter 13
I felt nervous excitement building up inside me as I waited outside of the LA airport for Jenny to pick me up.
“Hey pretty lady. Looking for a ride?” Jenny shouted out the window as she drove up.
I made a face like I was thinking about it. “I don’t know. I’m kind of on the lookout for a really gorgeous California girl who enjoys a good party, but is also down to stay at home and watch High School Musical with me.”
“It looks like it’s your lucky day,” Jenny said as she got out of the car and wrapped me in her arms. I squeezed her tighter against me and then pulled back so I could look into her stunning eyes.
When I found myself getting lost in those eyes, I forced myself to look away. If I was going to survive this living situation, I was going to have to learn how to keep my feelings under control.
Jenny looked over toward my three bags and rolled her eyes. “Well gee.. do you think you brought enough?” She poked me in my stomach as she teased me.
“You know, instead of making fun of me, you could be a good hostess and offer to help me with said bags.”
As Jenny bent down to pick up my bag, her v neck slipped down to reveal the very top of her black lace bra. Every part of my body felt like it was on fire, but I willed myself to look away. Unfortunately, I was too late.
“Enjoying the view?” Jenny asked while tilting her head up at me.
“Oh. I wasn’t. I mean…”
My stuttering was interrupted by Jenny’s laughter. “Might as well get used to it if we’re going to be living together for the next month.”
I smiled slyly at her, trying to make up for my stuttering. “I mean, it is a great view,” I said flirtatiously.
Jenny put my bag into the car then moved her eyes up and down my body, causing another bolt of electricity to pulse through me. “The view from over here isn’t so bad either.”
We put the other two bags into the car, then headed toward Jenny’s apartment. When we arrived, I dropped my bags at the door and took in my surroundings. It felt different from the last time I was there knowing this would be my house for the next three weeks until we left to spend a week back in Jenny’s hometown for her sister’s wedding.
Jenny wrapped her arms around me from behind and rested her chin on my shoulder. “So, what do you think? Think you’ll be able to turn this small space into your office for the next few weeks?”
“It’s perfect Jenny,” I answered sincerely. “It already feels like home.”
Jenny smiled and closed her eyes, chin still rested on my shoulder. “It does, doesn’t it?”
She drew in a deep breath through her nose and I couldn’t decide if she was taking in her surroundings or taking in me. I know which one of those I was hoping for.
Since it was Sunday, we spent the rest of the night relaxing on the couch. Before long, neither of us could keep our eyes open. Jenny helped me with the pull out couch and tucked me in just as she had a few months prior.
“I’m sorry I have to work so much while you’re here,” she apologized while running her hand through my hair. “I couldn’t get anymore days off since I’m taking the week for my sister’s wedding.”
“Don’t even worry about it.” If every night ends like this, I’m completely ok with it. “I’m just happy with any time we have together.”
The next day when Jenny got home from work, she was surprised to find that I had gone grocery shopping and cooked dinner for us.
One of the benefits of having a stay at home job was that I could do things like this and we quickly fell into a pattern. Everyday, Jenny would leave for work and I would get up to do my work for the day. Once I was done, I would either make dinner or order something for us. We normally spent the rest of the night watching tv, playing board games, or just talking. The nights spent talking were my favorites. Jenny told me all about her family and I found myself getting more and more excited to officially meet them. Every night, Jenny continued to tuck me into bed and kiss me on the forehead to say goodnight. It was completely platonic, but still extremely sweet and made my heart play tricks on me.
Our weekends were spent with Todd and Ryan either sightseeing or going to the beach. For whatever reason, none of us were feeling LA nightlife at the time so we spent most evenings in.
The night before we were leaving for Jenny’s hometown, right after she had headed into her own room, I said a silent prayer thanking God that I had her in my life. All of my worries from the past year were starting to disperse. If we could make it through three weeks of living together with no one else around and not have any almost moments, I guess we could just be friends. Yep. We had made it through the toughest challenge and I hadn’t let my feelings ruin this friendship. Nothing could possibly go wrong now.
Chapter 14
My nerves got the best of me as we pulled up to Jenny’s childhood home and I could feel myself starting to sweat. Jenny must have noticed because she looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“What’s up with you?” She asked. “You look like you’re about to throw up.”
“I just really want your family to like me,” I admitted. “You’re so important to me and they are important to you so I want to make a good impression.”
Jenny put her hand on top of mine and gave me a reassuring smile. “They already like you. They’ve heard so much about you, I’m sure they feel like they already know you.” I felt excited over the prospect of Jenny telling her family about me but that excitement died when she added, “I mean they visited LA a few months ago and we spent time with Todd and Ryan so your name came up a lot.”
As soon as we were inside, a little boy with blonde curly hair came running toward us.
“Auntie Jen,” he screamed excitedly as he jumped into Jenny’s arms.
Jenny showered him with kisses and then started to tickle him. “Man Patrick. You’re so big. How old are you now? 25? Did you graduate from college yet?”
He laughed as he tried to wiggle his way out of her arms. “No silly. I’m four.”
Just as she put him back down, a little girl with curly brown hair and shimmering brown eyes just like Jenny’s
ran up to her.
“Me next,” she begged with outstretched arms.
Jenny picked her up and repeated the same process with her as tears ran down the little girl’s face in laughter. I got lost in the moment and stared at Jenny, picturing her doing that with our.. I mean… her.. children.
Jenny looked over at me and caught me staring. “Take a picture. It lasts longer.”
“Hardy har. Good one,” I joked, trying to hide my embarrassment of being caught once again. “I was just thinking about how much she looks like you.”
“Yep, she definitely has those Hanson family genes,” I heard another voice say. I turned to see a short petite blonde enter the hallway.
She immediately walked over to Jenny and wrapped her in a big hug. “I didn’t think I would see you guys tonight,” Jenny said as they pulled apart.
A guy who looked like the male form of Jenny then walked into the room and put his arm around her. “Are you kidding me? I couldn’t miss the opportunity to welcome home my kid sister. We never see you anymore now that you’re living that movie star life in Hollywood.”
He then turned to me and reached out his hand. “You must be Rory. I’m Jenny’s brother, Jake. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
I shook his hand and he elbowed Jenny in the ribs. “This one here wouldn’t stop talking about you when we came to visit her a few months ago. It was all ‘Rory this’ and ‘Rory that.’ You’re even prettier than she described though, which is hard to believe with the way she talked about you.”
Jenny glared at her brother as her face turned more red than I had ever seen it before. She gained composure and pointed to the petite blonde. “Rory, this is my sister in law Ashley.”
She bent down to get on the same level as her niece and nephew and hugged them close. “And these two cuties are Patrick and Kelsey. Can you guys give Rory a hug?”
They did as instructed and when I stood back up from hugging them, another girl close to our age who also looked a lot like Jenny, came running into the room. She had her arms spread open and I was sure she was rushing to give Jenny a hug, but was surprised when I found myself tangled in her tight embrace.
“Rory! It’s so nice to meet you,” she said without letting go. “I’m Jasmine. I’m so happy you could come for my wedding.”
She pulled back, keeping her hands locked on my arms, then looked at Jenny with a mischievous grin. “You were right Jenny. This girl is stunning.”
She turned back to me and winked while Jenny’s face turned red once again.
“Oh, I didn’t,” Jenny began to say, but was interrupted by the sound of a motherly voice.
“Would you kids please stop making fun of your sister? She’ll never come home if this is how she gets greeted.”
She gave Jenny a kiss on the forehead, then turned to me and opened her arms. “Rory! So great to meet you. Incase you haven’t noticed, we’re a hugging family.”
While I was in the middle of hugging her, I felt a strong hand land on my back. I turned around to see a man who looked like the older, more gray version of Jenny’s brother. He smiled and flashed me a friendly wink. “It’s great to have you here Rory. We’re all looking forward to getting to know you better.”
Jenny rolled her eyes at her family and grabbed my arm, directing me toward the staircase. “Calm down people. Let’s give our guest the chance to breathe, ok?”
I tried my best to offer them an appreciative grin as Jenny pulled me up the stairs. Once we were in her room, she let go of my arm.
“I’m really sorry about them,” she apologized. “They can be a bit much at times, but I promise that they really do mean well.”
I snickered at her apology. “Jenny there is nothing to be sorry about. Your family is great. I can already tell that I’m going to get along with them.”
The truth was that I could already tell that her family was the type of family I had always dreamed of being a part of. All of those times I would listen to my parents fighting, I would picture a happy family, including lots of teasing siblings and loving parents. My mom did everything she could for me, but this was of course something that she could never give me. I wasn’t going to share any of this with Jenny though. For some reason, admitting that I wanted a family like hers seemed too intimate.
“I’m glad you feel that way, because the truth is, we only have a few more minutes up here before someone comes looking for us. Yes, they are that crazy,” she explained with a giggle.
I nodded in understanding, then studied Jenny’s room. I noted that she had very few pictures. There was a double frame that had two pictures of her and Allison in graduation caps and gowns, which I had to assume were from high school and college. There was one picture of her whole family at what looked like her brother’s wedding and then another of just her and her siblings at the beach when they were younger. The walls were covered in inspirational quotes. It kind of looked like tumblr had exploded on her wall, with pictures of landscapes such as mountains containing the words like “The best view comes after the hardest climb.” The mirror of her vanity was adorned with notecards that she had written herself reminders on. I read one that said “Reminder: You deserve to be happy” and was about to read the next when I was interrupted by a knock at the door.
Jenny opened it up and her parents were standing there with my bags. Her dad lifted up the two that were in his hands. “We figured we should drop these off for you,” he proclaimed.
“I hope you don’t mind sharing a room with Jenny this week,” her mom added. “Jasmine isn’t moving out until after the wedding and Jake has been gone so long that we actually turned his old room into an office.” Her face turned red like she was embarrassed that they had redone the room of her grown son.
I told them not to worry about it, then Jenny and I followed them downstairs, knowing they would probably find any excuse to come back. After dinner, Jake’s family said their goodbyes and Mrs. Hanson asked if we wanted to play a game of charades. Jenny and Jasmine quickly agreed, leading me to believe that this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary with their family.
Mr. Hanson decided it should be kids vs adults and when our last turn rolled around, the game was tied. Jenny picked a card and a wicked grin entered her face. When the timer started, she held up two fingers to indicate that it was two words and then flashed the two fingers again to show that she would be giving clues for the second word. She pointed to a calendar and jasmine and I started rattling off words until I shouted the word “day” and she gave me a thumbs up. Next, she held up one finger to confirm that we were moving on to the first word. She started doing a humping motion and made a face while sticking her tongue out. Although it was absolutely ridiculous and meant to be funny, I could still feel my face turning red at the thought of Jenny doing what she was demonstrating to something, or rather someone, other than the air.
“Hump,” her sister squeaked out between giggles. “Hump day!”
They high fived as her mom shook her head. “Jennifer Anneliese Hanson! That was completely inappropriate young lady.”
Now it was Jenny’s turn to get a red face, although I had a feeling it wasn’t because of her mom scolding her because Mrs. Hanson immediately started to giggle despite herself when Jenny retorted, “Oh stop. You’re just mad because you lost.”
“Jennifer Anneliese Hanson, huh?” I remarked with a smirk once we were back in Jenny’s room.
She pointed a stern finger at me. “Don’t you ever repeat that again. You got it?”
“Aw why not? I think it’s adorable.” And it really was. But then again, anything about Jenny was adorable to me.
Before I knew it, Jenny’s hands were on my sides tickling me. I began gasping for air as the laughter poured out of me. “Tell me you’ll never repeat that again,” Jenny demanded as she dug her fingers in.
“Fine,” I said between breaths. “I’m… done.. I.. won’t.. say it.”
“That’s what I thought,” Jenny said with a smug
grin.
I went to the bathroom to change and brush my teeth and by the time I returned, Jenny was already tucked underneath the covers. I took a blanket out of my bag, laying it across the floor, then motioned to the pillow laying beside Jenny.
“Mind if I use that?” I asked.
Jenny looked from the pillow to the blanket and then back at me. “I can’t make you sleep on the floor. You’re my guest. You can… you know… share the bed with me.”
I stared at the bed longingly, but shook my head. “Didn’t we have this same talk a few years ago when you tried to get me in bed with you? I stand by what I said back then. It’s not a good idea.”
Jenny rolled her eyes at me. “Oh come on. So much has changed since then. We’re older and more mature. Plus, we’ve been friends for so long now, I think we can handle it.” She stared at me for a moment then added, “But if you’re going to be stubborn, I’m still not going to make you sleep on the floor. I will be the one to sleep there. You’re my guest.”
I sighed. “I’m not going to make you do that,” I remarked as I crawled onto the other side of the bed. “But don’t go getting handsy on me,” I joked, knowing my words didn’t match what I was currently feeling.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jenny mocked. “Ok. That’s a lie. I’m totally going dream about it, but I won’t do it.”
With a wink, she rolled over to face the opposite direction and I didn’t hear another peep out of her the rest of the night.
The rest of the week flew by with Hanson family time and last minute wedding preparations. I was never around another family that was as close as Jenny’s. Even Todd’s close knit family didn’t seem to share the same bond.
Somehow I was able to survive the nights spent laying just inches away from Jenny. It certainly helped that we both squeezed to the edge on our respective sides of her queen size bed, but that wasn’t enough to completely kill the desire inside of me. Baby steps. This was another good test. Another one that I happened to be passing.