Chapter 5 - Daisy to the rescue
"Well, if it isn't my two favorite customers!" Daisy, the older woman who waits on us every Saturday, exclaimed as Josh and I walked through Lorrett's front entrance. I smiled into her shoulder and embraced her hug. Her wrinkled face lit up when Josh's little arms wrapped themselves around her waist. "Well, good morning to you, too, Josh!" She laughed, "Your usual table for two?"
"Actually, a table for four … or three?" I hesitated, a blush rising to my cheeks. A part of me hoped Jacob would show up this morning but being aware that he was the witness to Tyler and I's makeout session made me wary. I was sure the crush Bella told me about wasn't that serious but it definitely had me walking on eggshells since I woke up. Butterflies were prevalent in my stomach as we were directed to a larger table than our usual one. I tried blaming them on an after-effect of the kiss from last night, but I knew deep down they were for someone else. Someone tall, someone with beautiful tan skin, deep dark brown eyes, and the cutest dimples. I sighed to myself, turning my attention to the one boy who really mattered. "So, what's for breakfast?"
"Chocolate chip pancakes." Joshua answered, his face lighting up when Bella walked through the door. He waved her over excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.
"Hey, Kid." Bella laughed, taking a seat next to my brother and giving him a side hug. "How's everyone? How was last night?"
"Awful." I mumbled into my coffee mug, earning a surprised look from my friend. "Awful, but great at the same time? I don't know." I huffed, eyeing her accusingly. "Are you going to sit there and pretend that you don't know what happened?"
"What are you talking about?" She questioned honestly, nose scrunching up in confusion.
"You told Jacob I was sick." I stated, rather than questioned. Bella's face turned beet red and she nodded. "So, he showed up at my house last night with cough medicine and the works."
"Oh!" She laughed a little, shrugging. "Well, what's so wrong with that?"
"Besides the fact that he showed up while I was tongue deep in Tyler's mouth, practically dry humping him at my front door - nothing." Bella's lips formed an 'o' but before she had a chance to respond, my brother chimed in.
"What's dry humping?" He questioned, looking up from his coloring book.
I couldn't help but laugh at his innocence. It surely did break the tension between Bella and I as we looked at each other with amused expressions. "Eyes, and ears, on the page, Josh!" I breathed through giggles.
"Have we decided on what we want for breakfast?" Daisy asked, offering Josh chocolate milk to which he gladly accepted.
"A vegetable omelet for me." Bella said, smiling lightly at the elderly woman, "With wheat bread, no butter, please."
"Chocolate chip pancakes for Josh - mickey mouse style." I winked at my little brother, then continued, "And I'll have the eggs benedict - my usual - with homefries. Perhaps half a blueberry waffle, too?" I mused as my stomach growled with appreciation.
"Sure thing." Daisy noted, "And you said you might be expecting a fourth person? Do you want to put an order in for them, or …"
"I don't think that's necessary, he's not -" I started, only to be cut off.
"I'll have a double meat lover's omelet, extra homefries, white bread, and the other half of Katherine's blueberry waffle."
Without fail, a shiver ran down my spine at the sound of his voice. I don't think I could ever get used to someone saying my name the way Jacob did. I looked up from my coffee and met his gaze. His eyes were tired but beautiful, nevertheless. He had dark circles and bags under them. It looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. I couldn't place my finger on the emotion behind his orbs - but overall, he looked completely broken.
"Is this seat taken?" Jacob practically scoffed, and I flinched at his tone.
I looked at Bella, knowing damn well she chose to sit by Joshua for a reason. I shook my head no, gesturing for him to sit down. Almost instantly warmth surrounded me. I could literally feel the heat radiating from Jacob's body the moment he sat down. But emotionally, being this close to Jacob, made me feel hot. And not just in the horny sense of the way. A heat wave traveled throughout my body and my muscles relaxed, causing me to shiver. As if on purpose, I leaned closer to Jacob's side until our shoulders touched.
It was like fireworks. With that simple touch our eyes snapped to each other. Electricity coursed through my veins as my fingers twitched, itching to touch his hot skin even more. It was just Jacob and I in the room at that moment. Everyone else disappeared. I hadn't realized I stopped breathing until I let out a shaky breath in desperation. Jacob smirked. I noticed a playful spark making its way to his depressed eyes. But as soon as it came, it went.
"So is this the guy you were dry humping last night?"
"Joshua!" I hissed, kicking him under the table. He stuck his tongue out at me and laughed. If only he realized what he was saying. "This is Jacob. He's Bella's friend."
"Hi!" Josh squeaked under my glare. "So you're Bella's boyfriend?"
I froze in my spot, glaring even more at the brother I loved dearly. I didn't bother looking to the side of me to gauge Jacob's reaction for I felt his eyes on me the minute my posture stiffened. My eyes darted between Joshua's and Bella's but no one said anything. Bella stifled a smile, covering her mouth with her hands when she noticed my annoyed expression. Josh was innocent looking, biting his lip nervously when he realized my annoyance was toward him. Jacob, well, the minute I decided I was brave enough to look up at him another voice rescued me from my left.
"Hope I'm not interrupting something." Daisy laughed, her hands full of plates. I exhaled a sigh of relief and shot up from my chair to help her pass out the dishes. "Oh, you! If you continue doing that they're going to give you my job!"
"You're irreplaceable, Daisy!" I mused, earning a few nods and cheers of agreement from the diner. I winked at her, incredibly grateful for her perfect timing. I did all I could to ignore Jacob's gaze, but it was inevitable. "Double meat, extra potatoes." I said, placing one plate in front of his face. He lifted his head to look at me at the same time I was leaning back to grab our waffle and our noses grazed for just a moment. I swallowed the lump in my throat that began to form and shakily handed him the waffle.
"Everything alright?" He asked, genuinely concerned but with a devilish glint in his eyes.
"Mhm." I answered, in a higher pitch than expected. "Can we have extra syrup, Daisy, please?" I asked politely, smiling at my oldest friend. "Well, this looks delicious." I said casually, cutting into my eggs benedict while my stomach growled loudly.
"Did you not eat last night?" Bella laughed, shaking her head at the noises my stomach was making.
"I did!" I chuckled, "But not much. I had a sandwich and some carrot sticks."
"Oh! That sounds… fun?" Bella questioned, seeming confused at my choice of dinner but trying her hardest to be polite.
"That sounds like a cheap date." Jacob's voice boomed loudly as he chuckled into his plate. "A sandwich and some carrot sticks." He repeated in disbelief, shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he shoved another fork full of food into his mouth.
"It was fun, Bella." I agreed, completely ignoring Jacob. "But, we can talk about that another time. When my little brother isn't noseying in on our conversation." I stuck my tongue out at him before taking some of the whip cream from his pancakes on my finger and putting it on his nose.
"Hey!" Josh squealed, before bursting into a fit of laughter and trying to lick the cream from his nose with his tongue. "I think I can…" He trailed off in between attempts. Before long, all three of us were laughing at Joshua's failure. I got up from my seat to wipe his nose clean with my napkin before giving him a peck on the cheek, "I love you." He said through giggles.
My heart melted and I grabbed my little brother into an embrace, "I love you, too."
Breakfast went by smoothly. The four of us ate in a comfortable silence, only exchanging a few insignificant comments here and there about how good everything tasted. Jacob and I stole a few glances at each other while eating. I would stare for just a few seconds before his eyes would meet mine. Every time we made eye contact my stomach would churn and leave me breathless. Was it possible for someone to really look so handsome without even trying? It truly did look like Jacob just rolled out of bed: his hair was a mess, his eyes were baggy, he wore cut off shorts and a t-shirt with flip flops - yet, here he was, all model-like and beautiful.
Beforelong we left the diner and headed to our cars. I buckled Josh in the backseat and turned to face Bella and Jacob. "So, where to next?" I asked, avoiding Jacob's eyes.
"Well, I think the plan was to head to Emily's so you could meet everyone. I'm sure the pack is all there. Probably eating." Bella said smoothly, shrugging her shoulders.
"I don't want to disrupt their meal." I started to object but was cut off by Jacob's reassurance. "Okay, fine. Who am I following?"
"I actually need to stop by Harry's and pick up some fish-fry for Charlie." Bella said, taking a few steps back toward her car with a mischievous grin on her face. "And Jacob didn't drive here so he should probably ride with you. You know. So you don't get lost."
My heart dropped. I couldn't get anything coherent out so I just laughed nervously, glaring at my friend as the truck sped out of the parking lot leaving me with Jacob. I turned to face him but hadn't realized how close we were and practically bumped into him. We both jumped back, muttering apologies at the same time. I let out a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts.
"Listen, Jacob -"
"Your brother is probably getting cold in there." He interrupted me, walking toward the passenger side door. I followed him, knowing damn well my little brother knocked out with a full belly. "Oh …" His hand froze at the car handle, peeking in, "He's sleeping."
"Yeah. Mickey Mouse pancakes are not for the weak." I laughed lightly, crossing my arms across my chest. Jacob chuckled slightly, looking into my eyes. Just like all the previous times, my heart skipped a beat. "Umm," I started, fumbling with my fingers, "Listen, as I was trying to say before, thank - thank you. For the medication. And, I'm sorry."
"You're sorry?" He answered me with a hard expression, searching my eyes for further explanation.
"I - I don't know why Bella lied." I finally let out, passing the blame onto her. "I wasn't sick." He snorted at that, rolling his eyes. His face contorted into a mix of emotions. I could definitely make out anger and annoyance. "I didn't ask her to." I let out weakly, starting my walk to the drivers side and hopping in. It took Jacob a minute but he finally joined me and entered the car. It was almost comical seeing his large figure squished into my small car and I would have laughed had it not been for our shoulders touching. I let out a shaky breath as the electricity shot through my body, causing me to shiver.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Jacob let out a little too loudly, causing Josh to stir in the back. In a perfect world, I'd have something sarcastic to say. Or rather, I wouldn't answer him at all as it was none of his business. But instead, I shook my head no, never breaking his gaze. This seemed to lighten the air. His shoulders relaxed slightly and the defeated look on his face became slightly more optimistic. I wasn't sure how long we stared at each other before Josh stirred again, breaking our trance. "Emily's house is just five minutes away. Take a left at the stop sign."
I looked at Jacob again but he was now staring out the windshield, noticeably ignoring me. I cleared my throat, starting the engine and heading down the path to Emily's house as Jacob instructed me along the way. I still wasn't sure why his friends wanted to meet me but I suddenly felt nervous to them, or the pack, as they were referred to as. However, despite the nerves, and the awkward turn of events this morning, there was something comforting being in Jacob's presence.
