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As I promised, here's another chapter of The Songs of You and Me. If you missed a previous chapter, go back to your inbox and search in the promotions tab or junk folder...

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Fifteen Years Earlier

JANE

My shift at the diner was almost up. I couldn’t wait. Summer was great, but waiting tables for eight hours took away some of the holiday appeal.

“Can you take this order out? You can head on out after. It looks like someone’s waiting for you.” Miss Mabel gave me a knowing wink.

I tried to hide the blush creeping up my cheeks. This past month, Jackson came to pick me up and hang out after my shift almost every night. Still, Miss Mabel’s comment made me blush. I couldn’t figure out why he would want to spend his free time with me, but you wouldn’t hear me complaining.

“Enjoy your burgers.” I smiled at the cute, young couple as I placed their order in front of them. They looked great together, and my stomach twisted with a pang of jealousy, wishing it were Jackson and me huddled close like that.

I turned to the counter. The object of my obsession stood leaning against it, staring at me. The blush from earlier made another appearance. My lips curled up in a smile. I forced my feet to take slow, precise steps toward him, hiding how much those baby blues affected me.

“Hey there.” His smile brightened the whole diner as he dragged his fingers through his dark hair. It was longer than usual, curling slightly around his ears, but I loved it. My gaze followed his fingers, and I imagined what it would feel like to brush my fingers through it. I gulped and mentally slapped myself. Focus, Jane!

“Hey, yourself. I didn’t realize we had plans.” At least, none I could think of. His presence alone made me forget my name.

“We don’t.” He grinned again. That was so freaking distracting. How was I supposed to pay attention to what he was saying? “I thought we could grab a pizza at Marco’s and hang out. You game?”

Was I game? Of course I was game!

“Sure, sounds great. Let me go get cleaned up. I’ll be out in a sec.” After the first time Jackson showed up here unexpectedly, I had the sense to start packing a clean shirt, deodorant, and my makeup in my bag—just in case. I’ve been grateful for that foresight many times.

Ten minutes later, I walked through the hall leading out to the diner, feeling much better about my appearance.

“You look nice. Going on a date?” Miss Mabel didn’t miss a thing.

“It isn’t a date.” I needed to point this out to her every single time. She was relentless in her matchmaking efforts. Also, I didn’t want her to slip up and tell my parents I went out with Jackson on a date. That might put an end to these friendly hangouts, as I referred to them when Mom asked.

“Well, have fun.” She waited to see me off.

“I will.” I dashed through the door before more questions started. No need explaining why we were going to Marco’s for pizza and not staying here for burgers. We tried that once. Yeah, we wouldn’t be doing that again after Miss Mabel’s well-meant but very inappropriate meddling.

“You look nice.” Jackson’s gaze swept over me, and the approval made me tingle.

“Thanks. So, pizza. Marco’s. Lead the way.”

“I thought we could walk. It’s really nice out tonight.” He was right. The weather was warm, nearing 70 degrees. Not bad for the lower Hudson Valley in July.

Jackson took my hand. It shouldn’t surprise me anymore. He’d done this before over the summer, whenever we were alone. Still, his touch affected me, leaving my tummy in a flurry of butterflies.

“We meeting anyone there?” I asked the first thing that popped into my mind, trying to calm the storm going on in my belly.

“Sarah and Tom are out. Just you and me.” His smile set my skin ablaze. I turned to stare at the blue sky, anything to distract myself.

At Marco’s, we were seated and handed a menu. Not that we needed one. We always had the same thing—a large pepperoni pizza with a Dr Pepper for Jackson and a Coke for me.

We both smiled as the waiter left, and the smile turned into a laugh as we set the menus aside.

“Same as usual, it is.” Jackson took my menu and put the two together.

“We’re so predictable,” I teased.

“Predictable isn’t the word I would use for you.” Jackson awarded me with another one of his winning smiles, and I felt my insides melt to mush. The power this guy had over me was frightening. He would end up breaking my heart, and he didn’t even know he was holding it in his hands.

JACKSON

Jane gazed up at me with an unreadable look. Like she was challenging me. But to what?

Honestly, summer so far was pure torture. With school out, there was a lot of time to hang around with her. At first I “accidently” managed to be at the diner at about the time she finished her shift. Then I would take a book of Sarah’s over to her at work and hang out with her for a while. Eventually we’d ended up spending time together almost every day. And I’d nearly told her exactly what I felt more times than I could count. Something kept pulling me back. Yeah, her dad. That was probably the biggest thing holding me back. Sitting here with her, I wanted to tell Mr. Pierce to go to hell.

“This is soooo good.” Jane took a hearty bite of her slice. As she chewed, I noticed a little sauce smeared on her lip. I wondered what it would taste like to lick it off of her lips. I mentally shook myself. When her tongue popped out of her mouth and did that very thing, I gulped down some of my cold soda to clear my head.

“You done?” I downed the last of my drink as I waited for Jane to indicate she was.

“It’s my turn to pick up the check,” Jane protested as I paid the bill and got up to leave.

“I thought by now you’d have figured out a gentleman never lets the lady pay.” I turned up the charm, opening the door for her to exit the restaurant.

“That would make it a date. And we both know this isn’t a date.” We went through this conversation every time I spent any money on her. Didn’t matter if it was a buck to get a Coke from the vending machine or a pizza. She felt the need to point out it wasn’t a date.

Normally I would reply with a lame answer that I would never let a girl pay regardless of her being my date or not. Tonight, I was feeling braver than usual.

“Why, Jane,” I grabbed her hand and pinned her against one of the cars in the lot. “Do you want it to be a date?”

This was probably the boldest move I ever pulled. I didn’t back down and stared at her, putting force behind the words I just delivered.

Jane stared up at me, confusion written all over her. She bit her bottom lip, distracting me. How I wouldn’t love to throw caution to the wind.

“Jackson Wright!” Jane smacked me on the arm and broke the intense moment. “Stop it! Just because your lines work on all the other girls doesn’t mean you can use them on me. You hear?”

She smacked me again, but her lips were fighting a grin. I was thrown off by those pursed lips and how they would feel pressed up against mine.

“Stop grinning like that.” She sounded flustered.

She huffed again and started walking off. Instinctively, my hand reached out for hers to stop her from walking away.

“Wait up. You know I didn’t mean anything.”

I couldn’t be sure, but I swore I saw her face cloud over. She was quick to hide it, but I saw it. How I wished I could just forget about that stupid rule.

“Hey.” I halted her completely and turned her to me. “You know I’m an idiot sometimes.”

“Sometimes?” There was the Jane I knew.

“Okay, most of the time. I’m sorry, okay? Forgiven?”

“Forgiven.” She offered a weak smile, and before I said something else I might have to apologize for later, I crushed her to me and offered all the words I couldn’t say through the strongest hug I could give. If only she could sense my true feeling for her in this embrace. If only she were sixteen. If only there weren’t so many if only’s.

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