I tucked her under my arm.
Alexis’s gaze bounced from me to Jules and she stormed across the room. “Fine, I’ll put on your clothes. Thanks, Berk.”
She disappeared upstairs and Jules turned to me, nibbling her bottom lip.
“I don’t think she likes me very much.”
I rubbed her nose with mine, the deep freeze from outside finally thawing. “She has a hard time with new people sometimes. How could anyone not like you? And you brought cookies. That’s a guaranteed friend-maker. Don’t worry. She’ll warm up to you.”
Her smile told me she wasn’t really buying it. I’d have to talk to Alexis about how I felt about Jules and make sure Alexis didn’t give her a hard time. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d gone all protective on me with a girl I was interested in.
Jules wasn’t some football groupie or someone trying to hitch a ride on my pro career. My going pro was probably the only way I’d even be good enough for Jules. She was used to living life a certain way, and without that draft pay check, I wasn’t going to cut it with only a business degree. Not that she ever made me feel like I was a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, which made me want to give her the moon and stars. She deserved them. Every single one.
30
Jules
Berk, LJ, and Keyton were in the basement, checking all the water valves after a message from their landlord. My landlord would most likely send me an inflatable raft if I told him there was a leak in the basement.
Marisa was on drink duty. And I was in the living room with Alexis.
She’d trudged down the steps wearing rolled-up sweatpants and a thermal, choosing those over what Marisa and I had offered to her. With her feet tucked up under her, she’d been engrossed in her phone since the guys left.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed some cookies and made my way over to Alexis, who hadn’t even acknowledged the letter I’d written her or me for that matter. So, she hated me. I wished that was something new I was dealing with. But this time I didn’t want to let things lie. She was important to Berk and I wanted to find out more about her, maybe even be at least friendly if friends was pushing it too far for her.
“Did you want to try one of my salted caramel cookies?” I held out the container in front of me and stood in front of her.
“No.” She didn’t look up from her phone, swiping her finger over the colorful candy on her screen.
“If you’re not a fan of those, I brought a few other kinds over.”
Looking up like I’d just offered her a roach sandwich, she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I don’t want any of your baking.”
Being Brave Jules, I set down the container and sat on the coffee table across from her. “You don’t seem to like me, and I’d like to find out what I did.”
Her lips twisted and she continued to stare.
“Did you read my note? I’d really like for us to be friends.”
“Why?”
“Because I care about your brother and he cares about me too.”
Alexis’s head snapped back like she hadn’t thought I’d call her out or hadn’t noticed the eye-daggers she’d been shooting my way since she’d slipped into the back of the car. She stood up, appearing a lot taller than her five-one stature. “I have all the friends I need. And I don’t need another fake friend who only tolerates me because she’s trying to bone Berk.”
“I’m not. I mean—” My cheeks heated and I’m sure my neck was a nice deep crimson.
“That’s not why I’d like us to be friends.”
“Really?” She tilted her head to the side. “If Berk weren’t in the picture, you’d still want to be friends with me?”
“If our paths crossed, sure, why not?” I shrugged.
“I liked the letter chick better. At least I didn’t have to pretend to like her.”
“The letter chick. Was she his ex?” I wasn’t above a fishing expedition.
“The one he’s head over heels for. The one he talked my ear off about for months solid before you showed up. I’m pretty sure he’s still hung up on her. She was everything he wanted in a woman, according to him.” She said that last bit like she was chewing on broken glass.
My heart did a little flip. And then the guilt hit came. I needed to tell him. If he cared that much and thought she’d abandoned him, that had to hurt. He deserved to know.
“Excuse me for not thinking this thing you’ve got going on with him is going to last. It never does.”
And that was what I was afraid of most. How would he react when he found out I’d been lying? Which was worse, me lying as TLG or me lying as me?
“I get that you want to be a good sister and protect him and we’ll last however long we do, but I’d still like to get along with you. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to push you out.”
She sneered. “He’d never let that happen.”
“Exactly, so you shouldn’t feel threatened.”
“I don’t,” she snapped.
“Then there’s no reason for us not to get along.”
“Maybe I just don’t like you. Why do we have to get along? Are you one of those people who has to be liked by everyone? Is that why you show up with the big smile and the tractor trailer of baked goods? Because you can’t stand the idea of someone not liking you so you bribe them into it?”
I took a step back.
Hostility radiated off her and she was hitting that nail head on. Who could dislike someone who showed up with cupcakes and cookies? I’d been using that since middle school to get people to like me—or give me a chance. Or at least get people to not let their friends be shitty to me in case they didn’t get whatever I decided to bake and bring into school that day. Not that I’d had a chance to do much of it with my mom around watching everything I put into my mouth like a hawk.
And I’d carried that over into college. New student orientation, here’s some no-bake peanut butter balls for everyone. Once I’d gotten a kitchen, there was no stopping me.
“I don’t want any hostility between us to affect either of our relationships with Berk.”
She smirked. “Oh, it won’t. He’s always been there when I need him and there’s no one out there who can stop him.”
“I’d never want to.”
“You’d be the first.” She eyed me suspiciously. Who had Berk dated before me to make her so wary of anyone new in his life? What kind of women had he been with that made Alexis so distrustful?
“I’m willing to prove it to you.”
“Maybe you can. In your letter you talked about doing something special for him this semester.” She rubbed her chin. “His birthday is coming up soon.”
I leaned in. “His birthday? He didn’t mention it.”
“He doesn’t like to make a big deal out of it, but maybe you’d like to do something for him.” She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “A surprise party?”
“That’s a great idea. I’d love to do something for him. Would you be up for helping?”