Chapter 4

Jake was back a couple of days later. Sam didn't know until she saw him sitting in the seat in front of her in her English class.

She smiled at him when she saw him and slipped into the seat behind him.

"Hey," Sam punched his shoulder lightly. "How'd it go?"

"Hey," Jake returned. "It went pretty well."

She looked at his shorter hair since she hadn't really been able to see much with it mashed down from his hat. Sam had to admit she liked it. It wasn't as short as Quinn's or Nate's, more like Bryan's where it grazed the collar of his shirt and looked layered. She had the thought that she wanted to run her hands through his thick hair and was horrified.

"What's wrong?" Jake had seen the look upon her face.

Sam blushed, pretending to get something out of her backpack.

"Nothing's wrong," Sam said, trying to get her thoughts under control.

Jake didn't believe her and wondered what was going on.

"I got something for you," he told her.

"What?" her head came up. Oh gosh, he was looking incredible. His dark brown eyes were soft in his face and his full mouth was pulled up into a smile. She felt the heat in her face and throughout her body again.

"Are you sick?" Jake asked. He saw a small bead of sweat drip down the hollow of her neck. He felt an irresistible urge to lick it away.

Sam saw Jake color before he looked away, rummaging through his backpack. Oh gosh, had he read her thoughts and knew what she was thinking? Sam blushed even more.

He came out with a small box in his hand and he put it on the desk in front of her.

"What's this?" Sam looked from the box to his handsome face.

"Guess you need to open it and find out," Jake's eyes dance with mischief. Those darned mustang eyes!

"It won't explode will it?" Sam teased and was rewarded by a snort from Jake.

"Nah, not this time," Jake teased back. "Exploding gifts won't look good on my college application."

Sam giggled, then opened the box. Inside was a small gold turtle necklace.

"Oh Jake, it's beautiful," Sam murmured.

"I saw it and thought of your turtle immediately," Jake told her.

"My turtle?" Sam was confused.

"You don't remember your turtle," Jake sighed a longsuffering sigh, feeling the guilt wash over him again over her accident.

The teacher called the class to order just then and Jake turned around in his seat. Sam took the necklace out and put it on. The little turtle nestled in the hollow of her neck.

Even though she had no idea what Jake meant about her having a turtle, she treasured the gift. Jake wasn't the biggest gift giver in the world, so his giving it to her meant a lot to her.

Oh stop fooling yourself, Samantha, she thought. She liked thinking that Jake thought enough about her to think of her when he saw the turtle necklace. That he had thought of her while he had been college shopping.