Chapter 11

Jake couldn't believe he agreed to this. He was out to dinner with Nate, Nikki, Quinn, Debi and Nikki's sister Devon. Devon seemed nice enough, but they didn't have a lot in common.

Nate kept telling him to give Devon a chance and Jake vowed to. Devon was pretty. She had dark brown hair and was about 5'6" tall. She at least was taller than Samantha. Oh gosh, he had to stop thinking about Sam. She was lost to him. She belonged to Bryan.

Jake sighed. He was never any good at small talk. Heck, he knew he was never any good at any kind of talk. His lack of conversation didn't seem to bother Devon too much, at least.

He looked over at Devon and was surprised to see her smiling softly at him.

"Do you like to ride?" Jake managed to ask.

"Horses?" Devon asked.

Jake nodded.

"I love horses," Devon told him. "Nate tells me you're good with horses."

Jake tried not to blush, but he did shrug.

Devon found his blush endearing. Jake was so shy but he was quite cute. Of course, Devon knew he would be since he was related to Nate. Devon found her sister's boyfriend very cute, or should she say handsome since he was 27 years old.

Devon thought Jake seemed younger than his 24 years, mostly due to his shyness. He wasn't like any other guy her age. Most of them were stuck up, sure of themselves and not afraid to let everyone know how much of a pain in the ass they were.

She looked over at Quinn and bit back a grin. Kinda like Quinn. Though he made her laugh, he was the exact opposite of Jake and Devon liked that Jake wasn't like that.

"Do you like to dance, Jake?" Devon asked him.

Jake tried not to make a face.

"No," Jake shook his head slightly. "I don't mind watching other people dance."

"Oh," Devon murmured.

So he didn't really seem to like anything except horses, Devon thought to herself. That was okay since she liked horses. She liked Jake too though she didn't know how to let him know.

"Let's go to the club after dinner," Quinn suggested. Devon glanced at Jake who paused while eating but didn't seem to grimace.

"I'm game," Nikki said. "There's a new song out that I'd love to dance to."

"Is it the one you have on repeat on your computer?" Devon asked with a laugh.

"That be the one," Nikki laughed and nodded.

"What song is that?" Nate wanted to know.

"It's called Forever," Nikki told him.

"We'll request it if they don't play it," Nate said and Nikki gave him a kiss.

"You gonna dance, Jakey?" Quinn teased.

"Nah, I'd rather watch you make a fool out of yourself," Jake said.

There was a full second of silence as everyone looked at Jake in shock. Then the whole table burst out laughing.

"Oh my gosh, Jakey made a joke," Quinn was choking on his laughter. "There's hope for him yet."

Nate snorted and even Jake grinned.

Devon almost dropped over at the sight of Jake's face when he grinned. My goodness he was more than handsome when he forgot his shyness and let go to be himself. How had this guy slipped by the rest of the women in Darton County?

She met Nikki's eyes and the two sisters exchanged a look. Nikki saw the naked hunger on Devon's face and knew the reason for it. She had met Jake a few times and once he loosened up a bit, he was very handsome. Nikki could tell that Devon had just figured that out.

Of course, Nikki thought all the Ely brothers were handsome but there was something special about the smile of Nate's. It made her insides melt when he flashed it at her.

"Let's go," Nate stood up after they were done with their meal. The three couples left the restaurant and climbed into Quinn's Tahoe and headed for the club.

Nikki sat on Nate's lap in the backseat. Devon sat next to Jake and due to the room, or lack of room with four adult bodies in the back, she was sitting very close to Jake. She liked the feel of his hard body next to hers.