Note from the author: The religious material in here was not meant to be offensive to anyone. If you find it offensive, please let me know and I will remove it at once. When I wrote this I wasn't expecting anyone but my aunt to read it so I totally forgot about it. Please don't be mean about it and report me or anything though because I really wasn't trying to offend anybody. This is simply how the characters act and what they do religiously is just as much a part of their character as what kind of sodas they like or thier favorite type of music.

One more disclaimer: As I said before, the song I Got Nerve by Hannah Montana does not belong to me and I don't pretend that it does. Just adding that in there just in case.

Please review!!

Chapter 6: Easy as Pie

The next day as I was walking back to work from lunch, my cell phone rang. "Hello?" I answered, looking both ways before I hurriedly crossed a street.

"Hey Jenna, I called you last night but you never picked up." It was Lindsey.

"Lindsey! Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot that you were going to call me, you must've called after I was asleep and I didn't hear the phone," I apologized.

"It's alright, I was really tired. How could you forget? You never forget stuff like that," Lindsey sounded hurt.

"Oho, wait till I tell you," I laughed. "Do you have time? It's a long story," I said.

"I've got time," Lindsey replied though I was sure she didn't.

"Well when I hung up with you, I started thinking about Joe and what you said and I asked myself if I liked him or not, I couldn't really decide if I did. So I started doing Joe math," I began.

"Joe math?" Lindsey laughed.

"Don't ask," I muttered, "And I had just figured out that math couldn't decide if it liked Joe or not and the phone rang and guess who it was," I continued.

"Josh?" Lindsey asked.

"Joe."

"NO!"

"Yes."

"What did you say?"

"I dropped the phone, actually," I laughed, "he asked me out to dinner."

"And you said no of course," Lindsey sounded like she'd hurt me if I didn't agree.

"Not exactly," I said slowly.

"JENNA!! What is wrong with you?!" Lindsey shouted.

"Lindsey, tone it down," I said, I was back in my office and people were staring at me. I guess Lindsey could be heard through the phone.

"So what happened?" she persisted.

I explained the rest of the night to her and she got really REALLY angry when she heard I invited him into my apartment for apple pie, and even angrier, if such is possible, when I told her I massaged his shoulders. "Jenna, do you want a brainless football player for a boyfriend, emphasis on the player part of his title?!" She exclaimed.

"No, I don't," I said quickly, "I want Joe for a boyfriend. The really sweet Joe I had dinner with last night," I defended him. I happened to need the copier which is right near Josh's desk as I was saying this. Through my peripheral vision, I could see Josh twitch when I said this and tried not to laugh.

"Jenna, what if he was just pretending to be that way so you'll like him and then turns out to be a jerk like Josh?" Lindsey retorted.

"Lindsey, after I talked with Sanders about this and he told me how Joe was acting, I'm pretty sure Joe is being completely honest with me unlike other people," I said, trying to emphasize to Lindsey that Josh was not even ten feet away from me while we were talking so I couldn't talk about him without creating a scene. However, I was proud to see Josh twitch again.

"What if they're all in on it? Trying to get back at Josh?" Lindsey suggested. I wondered why she didn't like Joe so much.

"Lindsey, I could tell you quite a few reasons why I think that you're wrong but I have other things to do right now. If you want, you are welcome to come over tonight and we can talk more. Aren't your parents going to dinner or something tonight?" I asked her.

"Yeah, they won't be in until late. I think I might come over," Lindsey said.

"Great, I'll see you then," I said, returning to my desk.

"Bye," she said and we hung up.

As I walked to my car from work, my cell phone rang. I looked at the screen and saw that it was Joe (I had programmed Joe's number into my phone last night so that if he called again, I wouldn't have to risk dropping my phone on hard pavement). "Hey Joe," I said.

"Hey, Jenna." I loved the sound of his voice, it was so happy sounding. At least when he talked to me. "Do you know what I have been craving all day?" he asked me.

I hoped he was talking about food. "No, what?" I asked warily.

"Apple pie."

I laughed. "Really?" I said, still laughing. "That's strange, I wonder why you've been craving apple pie," I said sarcastically.

"It's a strange thing," he said.

"Well, I'll just have to satisfy your craving," I told him, "after all, we can't have Boston's star quarterback craving apple pie before the big game coming up. Would you like to come for dinner, too?" I offered as I got into my car.

"I would never turn down a dinner made by you," he replied. I tried not to roll my eyes and blush at the same time.

"Come on over tonight whenever you like. I'm just driving home now so don't come right away. Is there something in particular you want me to make?" I asked.

"I'm not a picky eater," he said.

"Great, well if you have any suggestions just give me a call. I'll have to see what I have at home," I muttered more to myself than to Joe.

"If you need me to stop at the grocery store, call me," Joe offered.

"Thanks," I said, my face turning red. Why, I don't know. "I'll see you tonight, then."

"Bye, Jenna," Joe said and I hung up.

When I got home, I fed Peanut and looked through the cupboards, deciding to make chicken pot pie. I set the chicken out to thaw and, seeing that it was only five thirty, gave it a half hour before I began cooking. I changed into an old black tanktop and my gray 'barn bum' sweatpants. I put my hair into a ponytail and started working out. I work out everyday, it especially helps when I'm anxious, which I will not deny being just then, if asked.

I was just reaching my favorite song on the Hannah MontanaCD when I saw it was six o'clock and I was incredibly sweaty. I hopped into the shower, took the quickest three minute shower of my life, changed into another old gray oversized T-shirt, and this time my black sweatpants that say 'kickin butt' on the back with little horseshoes. I blew my hair dry and had just finished putting it into a ponytail when the doorbell rang.

I ran to open the door, shutting Peanut in my room so he wouldn't hurt poor Joe. Any time a man had come anywhere near me when Peanut was around since the Josh incident, Peanut would attack them. It was beginning to be a problem. I hurried to open the door, and when I saw Joe standing there, all dressed up and hair combed real nice and everything, I realized I looked like a hobo, and slammed the door in his face before I could say hello. "Hold on one second," I said, opening the door again and closing it in his face.

I ran to my room, changed into brown corduroy pants, a dark turquoise 'smock top' with a dark blue cami underneath and brushed my hair after I took it out of the ponytail. I brushed up a little more makeup and ran back to the door. "Sorry about that," I said as I let him in.

"No problem, these are for you," he said, handing me a bouquet of roses.

"Oh Joe," I said, grinning a broad grin, "Thank you, they're lovely," I smiled up at him. He was smiling back.

"You look very pretty," he commented.

"Thank you," my face was turning red. "You can take your shoes and coat off," I said, gesturing towards where my shoes were by the door. "I'm going to get a vase for these," I muttered to myself and hurried into the kitchen to find a vase.

Of course, my only vase that was large enough for this fairly large bouquet of roses was on the tippy-top shelf that I couldn't reach. I was just straining to reach it when I felt a hand on my back, shrieked and leapt nearly high enough to reach it.

"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you. Do you need help?" he offered, withdrawing his hand.

"Please," I replied. He reached up, didn't have to stretch at all, and handed it to me. "Thanks," I said for the third time tonight.

"No problem," he smiled. I smiled back and laughed. "What's so funny?" he asked me.

"Nothing, you're just so happy all the time, it's contagious," I said, smiling even broader. "That's another one of those things I like about you," I added.

Joe smiled bigger if that is possible and we both began laughing uncontrollably. I don't know why, I guess we were both nervous and giddy and glad to have something to laugh about.

When we were gasping for breath, I filled the vase with water, put the roses in it and set it on the dining room table. "Can I help you make dinner?" Joe asked as I opened the fridge.

"Sure, you can start by handing me the cutting board and gray knife behind you," I said, putting the chicken that was still rather cold in the microwave to help them thaw. Joe took the cutting board and knife to the counter by the sink and I went to the fridge. I handed him a bag of carrots, celery, an onion and peas and he put them on the counter. I brought out a bag of potatoes and a jar of chicken gravy from the pantry and a pie crust and was ready to start the pot pie.

"You can peel the potatoes in the sink while I cut these up," I told him, handing Joe the bag of potatoes.

"How do you peel potatoes?" he asked me after a minute of staring at the peeler and potato blankly.

I looked at him for a second before I realized he was being serious and went to the sink to help him. "It's not difficult at all, just take the peeler and peel away from your hands. Like this," I said, taking his hands and, with my hands over top of his, guided them as I peeled the potato.

I let him try himself and he struggled with the next stroke. "Would you rather I peel the potatoes and you cut up the vegetables?" I offered.

"Yeah, please," he said. We switched positions and I quickly peeled four potatoes and he chopped them up as I peeled two carrots and washed them. We worked quickly that way, me peeling and washing the vegetables that needed to be peeled and washed, and him chopping up all of them. When we were finished, I got the chicken out which he chopped up while I put the crust in the pie pan and put water on to boil the chicken.

About a half hour earlier than it normally would have taken me to prepare the pot pie, Joe and I had it in the oven and baking. I washed the dishes and he dried while we waited for it to bake. Once, while explaining how often my mother called me, I threw my arms out too quickly and threw soap foam at Joe, which hit him in the forehead.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said, laughing.

"You think that's funny, huh?" he asked, jokingly and splashed more bubbles on me. I shrieked and jumped away, spraying bubbles in Joe's direction.

Before I knew it, we were in a bubble-battle and we were both covered in bubbles, wet in several different areas and laughing uncontrollably. It was then, covered in bubbles and doubled over laughing that the doorbell rang.

I took my gloves off and, still laughing, Joe and I walked to the door. I opened it and realized that I had also invited Lindsey over for dinner. Immediately, my laughing ceased and as Lindsey saw me and Joe standing in the door, laughing together and wet, her eyes grew wide.

"Hey, Lindsey," I said after a second of recognition passed over both of us. "This is Joe, Joe this is my best friend Lindsey," I introduced them.

"Nice to meet you," Joe said, extending his hand, but Lindsey looked straight at me and said, "We need to talk now."

She grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall. "Joe, will you shut the front door please?" I called over my shoulder as I was dragged.

"No problem," he said and I heard the door close.

Lindsey pulled me into the master bedroom, and locked the door behind us. "What is going on?" she whispered. She sounded dangerous and unfortunately for me, Peanut likes Lindsey. I was getting afraid.

"I'm so sorry Lindsey, I told you that I'd told him to call me when he was ready to come over for pie and he called after work today. I completely forgot that you were coming too. Please don't hurt me," I said hurriedly and squinched.

"I understand that much, I mean what is going on now? Why are you and him covered in bubbles and wet?" she growled.

"We were washing the dishes," I muttered, confused that she'd figured out why Joe was here with her.

"And?" she asked.

"And we started a bubble-battle," I continued, sounding like a guilty child.

She looked as if she were really going to kill me for a minute and then she began to laugh. "A bubble battle?" she asked.

I nodded. "Sorry, do you want to start another one? It was a lot of fun," I said, still quiet and afraid she would be angry.

"No, I'd rather not," Lindsey replied, shaking her head, "Can you ask him to leave?" she asked me after a pause.

"Lindsey," I groaned, "Can't you try to get along with him for one night?" I begged her.

"Not really, no," Lindsey said.

"Lindsey, he brought me flowers and we were just having a really good time together. Please? I'll take you out to dinner anywhere you want anytime you want for the next month," I promised.

"Anywhere and anytime?" she asked after a hesitation.

"Absolutely," I said.

"Alright, but can I please be mean?" she asked.

"NO!" I replied firmly.

"Party pooper," she mumbled and we left the room.

As we came down the hall, the timer for my pot pie went off and I ran to the kitchen. Joe was walking to the oven to turn the timer off. "I'll get it," I said. I didn't want him to burn himself or anything. I looked at the pot pie and saw that the top was not yet golden brown and set the timer for another five minutes.

As I checked the pot pie, I heard Joe say to Lindsey, "Hi, I'm Joe."

"I know who you are," Lindsey replied, her voice dripping with dislike.

"Lindsey," I snapped.

"What?" she asked innocently. I glared back at her and went to the sink to find the dishes done.

"You finished the dishes?" I asked Joe.

"Yeah, you don't mind do you?" he replied.

"Thank you Joe, that was really nice," I said and smiled at him. He smiled back. Big happy perfectly-aligned-teeth-smiley Joe.

"Jenna, what are you making?" Lindsey asked me, breaking the happy stare between me and Joe.

"What?" I mumbled, still in a daze. "Oh! I'm making chicken pot pie," I said, shaking my head quickly as if to erase the feelings that had washed over me, and turned to look at Lindsey. She was glaring at me. "Do you want corn on the side?" I offered.

"I love corn," Joe said immediately.

"Who doesn't?" I replied and got a can of corn out of the pantry. I had put it in a bowl when Joe stepped next to me.

"Do you need any help with anything?" he asked me.

"Would you mind putting this in the microwave for a minute while Lindsey and I set the table?" I said as I took silverware and napkins out of a drawer.

"No problem," Joe replied and did as he was told.

"Come on Linds," I said and pulled her by the sleeve of her shirt into the dining room where she set plates and napkins down and I put silverware and glasses down.

"Jenna, he needs to leave now," Lindsey said, not bothering to lower her voice.

"Ssh!" I said, putting a finger to my lips, "Don't talk so loud," I whispered. "And he is not leaving until or after you leave," I said quietly.

"Jenna he is all over you and he is trying to do the same to me, he's trying to get me to be all nice and encourage you to like him – that's not gonna happen," Lindsey said in a loud whisper.

"Lindsey, please, for this one night just forget about any grudges you've got against him and try to get along with him. Please," I said.

"Not if he continues to act like this," she said.

"Like what, exactly?" I asked indignantly.

"I saw the way you two stared at each other and how he keeps moving to where you are and trying to help you with something and keeps 'accidentally touching you',"Lindsey said.

"So what if he likes me and I like him back? So what if he stands by me? What is so bad about our hands touching for crying out loud Lindsey, you act like an old woman! You know me, you know I wouldn't do anything bad. I haven't even really hugged him yet. He hasn't officially asked me out. How much do you think I will allow to happen in one night?" I defended myself. I have good judgement and I thought she would realize that after knowing me her entire life.

"What if he gets aggressive? He's huge, how will you stop him?" she protested.

"Lindsey, remember Peanut?" I said, my voice dropping even lower.

"What if you can't get to him?" Lindsey continued.

"Lindsey, I can take care of myself. To be honest, even if he did try something like that – which he wouldn't – what do you think you can do to stop him? Incase you haven't noticed, you are incredibly small and I doubt your hands can cover the length of his pressure points, let alone reach them. Lindsey, I'll be fine. Calm down and be nice or no dinners for the rest of the month," I told her as I lit three candles on the table that smelled like vanilla.

She was about to say something else when Joe came in to tell me the timer was going off for the pot pie. "Thank you Joe, I'll be there in a second," I told him and he grinned and walked back to the kitchen. "Be nice," I repeated to Lindsey and went to the kitchen.

I took the pot pie out of the oven and laid it on the counter to cool. I turned around from the counter to find Joe trying to make a conversation with Lindsey.

"So how long have you known Jenna?" he asked her.

Lindsey, with her arms crossed over her chest replied, "Much longer than you," in an icy tone.

"Lindsey!" I snapped, and she looked over at me innocently. "Be nice or go away," I said. She was really beginning to embarrass me.

"Bye," she said instantly and walked out of the kitchen. Two seconds later, I heard the door slam and I rolled my eyes, still angry at her. I looked over at Joe. His eyes were wide and he looked shocked.

"What'd I do?" he asked me.

"You didn't do anything. Lindsey's being a brat," I told him. "What would you like to drink?"

Soon, Joe and I were sitting down to dinner. He was about to devour my beautiful pot pie when I cleared my throat. "What?" he asked, a fork halfway to his mouth.

"We have to pray first," I said as if everyone knew this, I mean, who didn't?

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said and put his fork down. "Go ahead," he told me.

I took his hands, closed my eyes and prayed, "Dear Lord thank you for the food we are about to eat and thank you for giving me a wonderful job so I can pay for my nice apartment and yummy food when so many people aren't fortunate enough to get the education needed for my job. I thank you Lord for giving me a job that also allows me to meet people like Joe and I pray that you would help our friendship to grow. Please help Lindsey to be kinder to Joe and forgive me for getting angry at her. Please bless this food to our bodies and let us have a safe day tomorrow at work and remember to thank you for all of the blessings you bestow upon us. In Jesus name I pray and always will, amen," I said, opened my eyes and let go of Joe's hands.

"Do you do that every night before you eat?" Joe asked as he took a bite of pot pie.

"Yes," I said, "I always have a reason to thank God for everything he has done for me up until dinner time every day. I also pray before I go to sleep, which takes longer because I pray about everything that happened during the day rather than just the food," I replied, taking a bite of my own pot pie. Ooh, it was good. I would have to remember to thank God later for giving me a mother who could cook extremely well.

"This is delicious," Joe said, taking another bite of pie.

"Thank you, it's my mother's recipe," I told him.

"I'm going to have to meet her and thank her for teaching you these recipes," Joe said.

"I don't know if you want to meet her, she's insane," I replied, rolling my eyes.

"Is she crazier than you?" he asked me. That could have been taken as an insult, but I didn't. He was only speaking the truth.

"Yes, definitely," I answered and Joe laughed.

After a moment of silence, I asked him, "So if you had an entire day to do whatever you wanted, what would you do?"

"That's easy, play football," he answered immediately.

"But you do that every day," I said, "don't you ever get bored?"

"Nope," he replied simply, "Football is my life. Outside the field, nothing else matters." That sounded a lot like what he had said on his ESPN interview. Had he memorized the entire thing? I decided I didn't want to know.

"Really? That must get awfully boring after a while," I muttered more to myself than to anyone in particular. "Do you ever take a day off and just do something else, something relaxing and non-violent?" I asked him.

"Of course not," he said immediately and I was afraid I'd made him angry unintentionally. "How could I expect to win the championship if I decide I'm too tired today, I'll just skip practice. That's why we're going to win this year. We never say no," Joe replied. He sounded like he was giving a pep talk to his team rather than just having dinner with a nerdy little journalist who knew nothing of football.

"So you definitely think you're going all the way this year?" I continued.

"There is no doubt in my mind," Joe said.

Hmm, interesting. So football was still his life. Maybe I should ask another question to make myself feel better about liking him.

"Do you go to church?" I asked him.

"No, Sundays are game days, I have to get ready for the big game," Joe replied.

"Did you ever consider going outside of football season?" I continued.

"No, I usually practice Sunday mornings outside of football season," said Joe. Oh my holy schnitzel, this guy did nothing but play football!

"If I asked you to come to church with me would you consider coming?" I pressed. I had to get a good answer out of him.

"I don't know, are you inviting me?" he asked slyly.

"Well, not for this Sunday. I think it's better if we give Lindsey a bit of a break before she sees you again. Lindsey and I go to the same church and it would be pretty bad if you came, we wouldn't want to cause a scene in the middle of church," I said.

"Why doesn't she like me? Did I say something to make her angry?" he asked.

"Well, Lindsey doesn't like you for the same reasons I didn't like you before, she thinks you're too arrogant and self-centered. And she also doesn't like it when I talk about guys. We're twenty-two years old and she still thinks we're too young to be dating. I swear that girl won't be married until she's eighty-five years old," I told him.

"I'm sorry if I made her mad at you," Joe said.

"Don't worry about it, she needs to get over herself. She knows I've got good judgement and that I can take care of myself. Give her some time and she'll come around eventually," I said. We had both finished our pot pie at that time.

"Would you like another piece of pie?" I asked Joe.

"No thanks," Joe said and grinned. I stood up and took my plate and silverware. I was going to get Joe's too but he took it before I could.

"I'll get it," he said, smiling. I smiled back and took my plate to the sink.

"Do you mind if I use your restroom?" he asked as he set his plate on the counter at my request.

"Not at all," I replied and watched as he walked out of the kitchen. When I heard the bathroom door close, I sighed and felt a flurry of butterflies whirl through my stomach. I hoped Lindsey didn't stay mad at me for too long. I had never wanted this to come down to a choice between Joe and Lindsey. I should get a second opinion on this, I thought to myself as I put the rest of the pot pie in the fridge and started washing the dishes. I was thinking of a list of friends and family to call when Joe came back into the room.

"Hey, why don't I do the dishes for you?" Joe offered, stepping up next to me. He put his arm around my waist and I inhaled quickly, and began giggling.

"What?" he asked as I jumped away from his hand right into Joe.

"You're touching my tickly spot," I gasped looking up at Joe who seemed to be quite pleased that I had nearly jumped on top of him and was now so close I could smell his spearmint-scented breath. I wondered if he had brushed his teeth when he was in the bathroom, his breath smelled so nice and as he breathed, strange sensations took over my stomach. I tried yelling mentally at them to calm down or Lindsey would have a reason to worry but they paid my warnings no heed and continued scurrying around.

"I'm sorry," Joe said, removing his hand. I still didn't move but stared up at him. My goodness, he was handsome. I wondered if I would be liking him so easily if he was ugly.

"Don't be," I whispered, and we held a steady gaze for a time – long or short I couldn't tell. After a pause, I said, "I don't mind getting the dishes, you're my guest, you shouldn't have to."

"No, I'll get them, you made me a big dinner, the least I could do is help you with the dishes," he insisted.

"Are you sure?" I asked him and when he nodded earnestly, said, "Well alright then, if you insist." I handed him the sponge, got a rag out, and started to dry the dishes I had washed already. "Thank you," I added.

"No problem," Joe said, "I should be the one thanking you for letting me eat here."

"I don't mind, it's nice to have company that doesn't have a tail to share dinner with," I replied and he laughed. I have nothing against sharing dinner with Peanut but sometimes it's nice to talk to someone who actually talks back.

"Do you still want apple pie?" I offered.

"I would love some," he answered immediately. Actually, I think he just wanted to stay longer and the pie was a good excuse. I also won't deny the thought crossing my own head.

I put two pieces on their own plates and asked him, "Ice cream?"

"Of course," he replied and smiled.

Smiling myself, I put a scoop of ice cream on each plate and put the plates in the microwave. I dried the dishes Joe had finished washing while the pie was in the microwave.

"If I ate here everyday, I'd need to work out twice as hard," Joe commented.

"You're welcome to eat here as often as you like," I replied.

"Really?" he seemed pleasantly surprised.

"Definitely, I don't mind at all," I said, "just call before you come so I know how much food to make." And how dressed up to be, I added mentally.

"Thank you very much," he said earnestly, smiling at me.

"You're welcome," I replied smiling too. His smiles were so contagious, no wonder everybody loved him – he was so darn happy all the time! "I wish everybody could be happy all the time like you," I added.

"Don't be fooled, I'm not always this happy," Joe said.

"Really? You've always been like this anytime I've ever seen you," I replied and realized once the words were out of my mouth what I'd just said. Duh Jenna, I heard Lindsey yelling in my head, because he's always happy when he's around you!

"That's because you make me laugh," he answered.

"You haven't been laughing all night, just smiling," I remarked thoughtfully, ignoring the microwave going off.

"Well I don't laugh to your face when you're being serious, that would be rude," Joe replied as if this were obvious which it probably should've been. "The way you say things sometimes just makes me laugh," he added.

He just won't admit that he likes being around me and I make him happy, I thought to myself then thought, well really, Jenna, who would? That's kind of embarrassing.

I went to the microwave and handed Joe his plate of pie. "Mmm, looks good," he said.

"Thanks, where do you want to sit – dining room or living room?" I asked him.

"Let's stick to the dining room, I don't want to risk the couch 'engulfing' my pie," Joe said and I laughed.

"No problem," I said, still laughing.

We started eating the pie and Joe made several approving noises as he ate – let me rephrase – devoured his piece of pie. "Is it good?" I asked him.

"Very," Joe said through a mouthful of pie. I really didn't need to see that.

"I'm glad you like it," I said and thought, Wow. I wouldn't want to see him on Thanksgiving. "So do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?" I asked him.

"I'm going over to Sanders' place. He's having the whole team over, so I'll probably be there most of the day and all night," Joe replied, "How about you?" he asked.

"I'm flying into Pittsburgh to visit my family," I replied.

"Is that where you're originally from?" he asked me.

"Yes."

"So what made you want to come to Boston?" he pressed.

"There are more and better jobs here," I answered vaguely. Actually, I'd been asking myself the same question since I decided to move here to Boston. I mean, I loved it there in Boston, but I always wondered why I didn't go to Kentucky or just stay in Pittsburgh. I guess I had needed to find a good paying job, save up my money for a while, buy a horse farm in Lexington or Midway, whichever I chose at the time, and find another job, maybe one with less hours, and have a nice little horse farm in Kentucky. I had also wanted to get married before I bought the farm but if I wasn't by the time I had enough money saved, I'd still go anyway. "How about you, have you always lived in Boston?" I asked.

"Born and raised," he replied and smiled.

"Did you ever want to go elsewhere?" I continued.

"Not really, I love it here," he said. He had finished his pie and I had too. I checked my watch. It was nine-thirty.

"Do you need me to go?" he asked suddenly. I guess he'd seen me eyeing the watch.

"No, no, no, no, no," I said quickly, "I was just seeing what time it is, I don't want you to leave," I replied.

"Are you sure? Cuz if you need me to go, I'll go, I don't want to be a burden," Joe said quickly.

"No, you're not a burden, not at all," I reassured him.

I reached for Joe's plate to take it to the sink but he took my hands and said, "Hey, listen."

I looked up at him expectantly, oh my – he was holding my hands! I tried to surpress a smile and a sensation in my stomach. His hands were so big and warm. I liked them.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said and looked down at our hands now linked together.

"Yes?" I asked when he didn't continue after a moment.

"I - …" he began when my cell phone started ringing. I know where I stand I know who I am I would never run away when life gets bad, it's everything I see every part of me, gonna get what I deserve – I got nerve, blared from my phone.

"Just a second," I said, leaned back and grabbed my phone out of my purse on the floor. "Hello?" I answered, staring at my left hand that Joe still held in his.

"Hey," came the drawling voice of my mother.

"Hi mom," I said blandly.

"What are you doing?" she continued.

"I have a friend over right now, it's not really a good time to talk," I replied.

"Tell Lindsey I said hi," mom said, assuming that my guest was Lindsey.

"It's not Lindsey," I said.

"Who is it?" mom snapped – going from happy, drawling tone to a snappy, sharp tone. I never understood why or how she could do that.

"Joe," I replied vaguely.

"Joe who?" she continued.

"Kingman," I mumbled.

"What? I can't understand what you're saying."

" Joe Kingman," I nearly shouted.

"Since when do you like Joe Kingman? I thought you hated him? And now he's having dinner there. How long has he been there? When were you going to tell me that you're dating Joe Kingman?" she snapped.

"Mom! Chill out!" I yelled, "He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends," I said through gritted teeth. I could feel Joe staring at me and my face turn red. I looked up at him, smiled sheepishly and mouthed 'sorry – crazy mom' I pointed towards my phone. He nodded understandingly.

"Well you better be careful around him, men like him can get aggressive and you're only a little girl," she warned me. As if she had any room to talk about large men becoming aggressive.

"You can save the safety lecture, I already heard it from Lindsey. And I'm not a little girl – I'm twenty-five years old mom for crying out loud! I'll talk to you about this later," I said and when she continued hollering over the phone, I added sarcastically, "Good-night mom. I love you too." I flipped the phone shut and put it back in my purse.

I looked up at Joe who was staring at me with wide eyes. "Sorry about that, I told you she was crazier than me," I said and he laughed. "So what did you need to tell me?" I asked him after he stopped laughing.

"Uh, you know what, it's not really that important," he said, letting go of my hand, which I looked down at sadly. I liked holding his hand.

"Are you sure?" I asked, it was best that if he had something to say – however painful it may be to listen to – for him to say it.

"Yeah, it's fine," he reassured me.

"Okay," I mumbled, "well I'd better let you go, it's getting late," I added after a moment.

"Yeah, definitely," he said and stood up. I walked with him to the door and watched as he put on his leather coat. As he swept it from one arm over his back, a gust of air flew by me and I caught a whiff of the lovely smell that went with that coat. It smelled like a combination of men's deodorant, spearmint, and leather. What a lovely smell. They should make a candle with Joe-scented wax. I would buy one.

"Anytime you want to have dinner here, just call, okay?" I reminded him before he left.

"I will," Joe smiled, "thanks for dinner and the pie," he said.

"No problem. I'll see you later," I replied. He embraced me in a one-armed hug and left, still smiling.

As I closed the door, I groaned and went to let Peanut out of my room. After I put the plates we had eaten pie off of in the sink, deciding I was too tired to do them at the moment, and let Peanut out one last time, I showered and went to bed. However, I was unable to fall asleep for several hours and lay staring at the ceiling, pondering upon many subjects.

One, mom, what had she called for in the first place? What would she think of me having dinner with Joe? Would she constantly be bugging me about it? Would she be asking my doorman every night if he saw Joe leave? Would she call Lindsey and request an extra dosage of annoying close watch on sneaky little Jenna and her big, mean aggressive Joe? I hoped she wouldn't flip out too much but I know my mom better than that to know that she would not easily forget this incident.

Two, Lindsey, would she be really super infuriated with me or just plain mad? Would she understand that I know what I'm doing? Would she be able to see past the old Joe we both hated? Would she see past Joe period for our friendship? Would she trust my judgement? Would she become annoyingly watchful of me and check my cell phone while I was in the bathroom to see if Joe had called or texted and then read the texts though I rarely get them (he usually called)? Would she still hang out here like always? Would she harrass Joe? Would my friendship with her ever be the same again?

Three, finally and most obviously, Joe. What did he want to say that was so important before mom called but so not important after she called? Was it something I had said that made him change his mind about what he was going to say? I tried to think back to what I had said and remembered telling mom he was not my boyfriend through gritted teeth. That was probably a bad thing if he had wanted to ask me out. Maybe that's why he wouldn't tell me what he was going to say – maybe he was planning on asking me out and then was afraid I'd say no after how I'd told my mother that he was only a friend. Uh-oh, I could've just ruined a big chance to move up in my relationship with Joe. Schnitzel. Me and my big mouth. Mom and her big mouth.

I also wondered how he felt about me. Did he like me as much as I liked him? Did he have sensations in his stomach every time we touched? Did he enjoy the smell of my coat as much as I did his? Did he want to come back the way I wanted him to come back or had my phone call with mom and the incident with Lindsey thrown him off too much? I hoped not, cuz if he was willing to ask me out I was more than willing to accept.

The last thing I wondered about was how my life was going to change now that Joe was comfortable coming to my place for dinner at any time. Would this effect my horseback riding schedule? NO! If nothing else, that was staying the same no matter what. If he wanted to come he was more than welcome but I refused to give up my barn time for him, perfect teethed or not. What about the days I didn't ride? How much time would be dominated by him? Would I have enough time for work? Would I have to stay up later? Would I always lay in bed for hours wondering about these things?

One thing I knew was for sure as I began drifting off and the image of Joe standing so close I could smell his breath entered my mind – I was losing the normality and regularity of my life… and it was easy as pie.