Chapter 31

I glance at the calendar only to see that the dinner with Jacob and his parents is tonight. I take a deep breath before rushing to get ready. I straighten out my hair before applying a small amount of makeup.

My fingers hover over Jacob's name on my phone screen but I'm quickly interrupted by a knock. The only possibilities are either Chrissy, Miles or Jacob and I have a hunch which one of those three is knocking, I open the door with disappointment on my face.

"Oh," I say and want to mentally slap myself.

"Not good enough?" he says with a slight smirk.

"No." I tease and his smirk disappears. He shuts the door behind him and walks in uninvited. "Chrissy isn't here," I inform him, backing a few steps away.

"Oh no?" he asks.

"No," I say.

"I know. I hoped I'd catch you alone." He says stepping in closer. The butterflies in my stomach start to flutter and I feel uneasy.

"W . . . what?" I ask hoping he'll somehow change the words.

"you heard me Madison." He steps closer, licking his lips.

"This dress looks good on you," He smiles.

"but that's beside the point." He's just flirting, harmless flirting like he does with everyone. I don't want to roll my eyes but Miles always manages to get the best of me.

"So what's the point?" I ask determined.

"Look, Chrissy, and I have been dating for a year now and I wanted to do something special for her. She's been raving about some wooden cabin and I was wondering if Jacob and you would join us, I know she'd love to have you two with us. She won't shut up about her new best friend." He lets out a slight giggle.

"I'd love to come." I smile.

"Halloween weekend it is then." He says before turning on his heel and exiting the room. I sigh before finally hearing another knock at the door as I stand up with an annoyed expression, I see Jacob stepping through the door.

"Expecting someone else?" he asks, raising a brow.

"no." I smile. His blue button-down makes his eyes pop. I forgot how handsome he really was. His strong hands hold a dozen roses whilst his pearl teeth peek through his smile.

"Oh and this." He puts his other hand forwards revealing a beautiful glass vase. "I figured you wouldn't own one." He smiles. "Thank you so much. This is . . .

it's perfect." I say looking up at him. I empty a water bottle into the vase and soak the flowers in the glass vase.

"Ready?" he asks grabbing my hand gently.

"Yes." I smile.

Holding Jacob's hand makes me feel warm, almost giddy like a little kid on Christmas. Everything about him makes me excited and it's a weird feeling.

I look up at him and smile even though he's focused on getting us to the car. The knot in my stomach gets bigger the further we are from campus.

I look up at Jacob, who's hand is resting on my thigh and I immediately understand that this is just as nervewracking for him.

"So are you uh . . . are you excited?" I ask.

"Yeah." He says calmly but I can easily sense the knot in his stomach.

"I'm sorry. I'm pretty nervous actually." He admits after a minute of silence.

"Why?" I ask and he chuckles.

"My mom is sort of . . . I don't know, she's . . . well, she means well but she's not the kindest person you could meet, or at least that's what a lot of my ex girl—" he stops.

"That's what people say." He corrects himself, but I can't help the slight jealousy. This is my first relationship and I always assumed Jacob had been with someone before but hearing about it, even just a little makes me want to throw up.

"I can handle a little mean." I smile and rest my hand on his shoulder.

"I hope so." He says almost stammering.

"Sorry, I shouldn't be this nervous bringing you home...I just, this is the first time I'm serious about bringing someone home." He explains and looks up at me with his adorable blue eyes and the jealousy disappears.

Jacob's red Ferrari parks in front of a huge house and I can't help but stare. The garden is huge and tall trees surround every corner. The home is white and two stories tall, it's almost like looking at a poster out of a magazine.

"Is this where you live?" I ask surprised.

"Yeah, wait till you see how my mom decorated the inside." He simply says before exiting his expensive car and opening the door for me.

As we walk through the small pebbles leading to the front door we're faced with a large white door. Jacob takes a deep breath before opening the large door, leading us inside of the beautiful home.

The house is spotless and the dinner table is meant for at least twenty people. The table is dressed in white with perfectly places silverware. Everything is dressed up perfectly. Jacob fixes his blue tie as soon as he hears heels clicking on the floor.

"Hello." His mom says politely as she steps down the last step leading to the downstairs floor. Her lips are red and her short blonde hair lies perfectly on top of her shoulders in slight curls.

"Hi," I say, my voice lower than intended.

"I'm Helen, nice to meet you, Madison right?" she smiles and I nod.

"Let's sit down, John will be here in a second." She informs us. The chairs are tall and comfortable and as we sit down I see an older version of Jacob traveling down the stairs.

"Sorry, I'm late everyone, Madison, a pleasure." He says, shaking my hand with a smile.

"It's no problem." I smile. Jacob kindly places some chicken, salad, and bread onto my big plate that I almost drop. Our nerves seem to be intertwined. Jacob's mom doesn't look as intimidating or mean as he described her to be. I take a bite of the bread and as soon as I do; a question is thrown my way.

"So, how did you two meet?" Jacob's dad asks.

"We met on the train here . . . to WSU." I smile.

"Interesting, I thought Jacob only traveled in his car." His dad says with a mouth full of salad before patting the ends of his lips with a thick white napkin.

"Guess I tried something new," Jacob says with a smirk.

"So Madison, tell us a little about yourself," Helen says and I try my best to chew the food as fast as I can. My mind and nerves work together to form a coherent sentence but all I can manage to say is; "Oh, uh, I come from a small town in Ohio where I live with my mom and I'm glad that Jacob is now a part of my life too."

"Well, I'm glad you two met," Helen says.

"your new girlfriend looks to be promising, she's not as tacky as the other promiscuous young ladies you've brought home." His mom adds as she stabs her fork at the salad.

"Helen, please," John says.

"I think we've had enough for today," Jacob says, grabbing both of our plates. I'm thankful he's trying to shift away from the awkwardness that has now landed in this house. John stands up, dusting off his dress pants.

"Madison would you help me in the kitchen?" Helen asks as Jacob and his dad clear the table.

"I made some raspberry cake," She says and I smile.

"I'm sorry, the way I acted out there was inappropriate, you're a guest and you don't deserve this kind of behavior." She says.

"Really, it's okay." I smile.

"I will admit, I don't have the best track record with Jacob's exes," she sighs before continuing; "What I'm trying to say is that I'm truly very happy that he's found, someone . . . charming." She smiles. I hate the mention of Jacob's exes but the way she explained the situation makes me feel calm, I smile before helping her with the cake, Jacob lights up at the sight.

"This cake is delicious," I say and receive smiles from his parents.

"Miles would differ," Jacob says all of a sudden. I look at him confused and Jacob's dad explains;

"Miles and Jacob have known each other from birth, his mother and Helen here are best friends and it just happened that they got pregnant the same year we did."

"But they've grown apart for the past few years," Helen says with an unreadable expression on her face.

"what do you mean?" I ask.

"Mom, drop it," Jacob says with an eager stare at his mother who seems to be ignoring him.

"All I'm referring to is a few bad choices that I think Madison should know of, that's all." She says, sipping her wine.

"That's enough!" Jacob says, raising his voice. I stay still, unsure of what to do, I've rarely seen him angry and I definitely didn't expect it to be directed at his mother like this and so . . . all of a sudden. Before I can get back into reality, Jacob grabs my hand, making me stand up.

"Thank you for the dinner, but we're leaving." He says with an exaggerated smile before we head towards the door. I manage to smile at his parents before Jacob drags me out of the house.