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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

“’Bye Mom, ‘bye Dad.” I hung up the phone and rolled on my side to face Sarah, who was sprawled on her queen-size bed. Her vanity was littered with an array of nail polish and makeup containers, all of which we had tried on at some point this afternoon. The clutter was a stark contrast to her otherwise tidy room.

“How are the folks?” Sarah skimmed over the pages of the latest edition of Seventeen without looking up. Her long, dark almost-black hair was in a ponytail today. Her long lashes and those same baby blues like her brother made her a natural beauty.

“They’re fine. Enjoying the Hamptons and some time alone for their anniversary.” I was spending the weekend with the Wrights. I loved it there. It always felt like home, just more relaxed. Sarah’s parents were great.

“I guess the big twenty is special.” She turned another page and stopped to read over an article that caught her attention.

“So you sure this setup with Evan is going to work tonight?” I didn’t buy into Sarah’s brilliant idea of making Jackson jealous by sitting through a date with Evan. The guy was such a meathead, I didn’t understand why she would set me up with him. Plus, it wasn’t really a date. If her parents thought it was a date, they would tell my parents, so yeah, technically not a date. Sixteen couldn’t come soon enough!

“Jane.” She pinned me with a hard stare. “Situations like these call for forceful intervention.”

“What do you mean situations like these? Where are you getting this crap?”

“It says so right here: ‘If a person displays jealous feelings, then it’s fair to assume they have a love interest in the other. If they remain indifferent about the other’s actions, it’s fair to assume they don’t care about the other person in a romantic way.’”

“So if Jackson doesn’t respond, you’re telling me he doesn’t care?” My voice cracked on the last word, a knot forming in my stomach as that thought settled. I blinked, not wanting to mess up my mascara and blush.

“Jane, I don’t make up the rules, I just carry them out.” Sarah returned to the article. When I didn’t respond, she looked up.

“Hey.” She scooted closer. “Jackson likes you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He just needs a push in the right direction. And if it doesn’t work out, Evan is genuinely interested in you. He’s been begging Tom for weeks to set you two up.”

I cringed at the mention of Tom’s teammate.

“Evan isn’t that bad. Seriously. You need to give him a chance.”

“Even if Evan likes me, you’re forgetting one important detail.” I scrunched up my nose, frustrated with the situation. “I can’t date until I’m sixteen.”

“We’ll figure something out.” Sarah, ever the optimist.

“Sure we will.” I rolled my eyes.

Sarah picked up the magazine again and shoved it in my hands. “Here, why don’t you read this article? It’s all about how to make that special guy notice you. It can work for either one tonight. It’s up to you. I need to fix my makeup.”

Sarah hopped off of the bed and applied another layer of mascara and lip gloss, leaving me to stew over the ten ways to attract the attention of that special love interest. As if it wasn’t hard enough, I now had to remember ten strategies to get me through tonight. That was if Jackson even decided to stay in and watch a movie with us.

JACKSON

Sarah walked in the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Hey, Jacks, you want to join us?”

Tom, Sarah‘s boyfriend, and some of the guys from the team were over for a movie night. I didn’t have anything better to do. Also, I liked Tom. He was a great guy, and treated Sarah right.

“Sure. What movie are you guys watching?”

“We rented Finding Forrester. It’s supposed to be good. Something about a writer.”

“Chick flick?”

“Do you think the guys would have picked a chick flick?” Sarah moved on to the pantry, adding to her array of snacks.

“Valid point.” I moved closer to Sarah so I could whisper something for only her to hear. “Why are they over?” I meant why would the guys want to hang out on a Friday night with Tom and Sarah cuddled up together on the sofa, watching a movie?

“Evan, one of Tom’s friends,” as she whispered Evan’s name, I looked over to see him talking to Jane, “he’s got a thing for Jane. Tom promised to set them up.” I knew Evan from school. He was an okay guy, I guess. Not as tall as me, but not short, either. I could admit that he wasn’t ugly. Girls might even think he was hot, with his blond hair, dark brown eyes, and olive-toned skin.

I suddenly developed a serious dislike for the guy.

Tom joined Sarah and started hauling the food downstairs.

“Jackson, grab the drinks, will you?” The rest followed, and I looked up to find Jane in the throng of them. Evan rested his hand on her lower back, both of them walking down the stairs together.

The night just took a turn for the worse.

The movie had been going for about twenty minutes, but I had no idea what it was about.

Evan secured one of the twin seats and got Jane to sit with him. Five minutes in, he did the whole yawn and stretch move, draping his arm around her. The idiot. Such a lame move.

“You okay?” I heard the twit ask her as she got up. Jane walked toward the stairs, in my direction.

“Fine, just need a restroom break. Don’t bother pausing it.” Her face read pure relief. “The sooner this is over, the better,” she muttered under her breath. I snickered, causing Jane to look up in alarm. I winked, and she smiled. It did funny things to my insides.

“I’m going to get a Coke,” I whispered to Sarah, noticing Tom finish the last can. The perfect excuse. I knew I should leave it, but the pull this girl had on me was beyond my control.

“So, Evan, huh?” I blurted out, when I found her in the kitchen, snacking on chips.

“Don’t even start. I don’t know what your sister was thinking.”

“You both looked awful cozy in there.” I winced, noting the jealous tone. Jane wasn’t mine, and I hadn’t done anything to change that.

“Real cozy.” Jane’s sarcasm lifted my spirits. “I love Sarah, but sometimes she makes it hard for me to remember that.”

“Yeah, she can be a handful.” I wasn’t happy with this setup, either, but if it gave me time with Jane now, I wasn’t going to complain.

”If Evan puts his arm around me once more, I might punch him.” That mental image plastered a smile on my face.

“So why did you agree to this ‘date’ if you don’t like the punk?” Must be a loaded question, because Jane turned a cute shade of pink as she fidgeted with her sleeve.

“I don’t really know. Sarah thought it would be a good idea, and then she made me read a magazine article on how to make him like me. I don’t even want him to like me.”

That sounded like Sarah, all right.

“So, what are you supposed to be doing to get him to like you?” I couldn’t help myself. Her fidgeting and blushing were too tempting to leave it alone.

“I’m supposed to flirt. But I think he’s doing enough of that for the both of us.” She huffed and averted her gaze.

“Does it make you uncomfortable when a guy flirts with you?” I closed the distance between us and leaned into her personal space. The nearness forced her gaze up. She looked confused, like she was trying to figure me out.

“No, just incensed.” Her voice came out breathless.

“Incensed?” I raised my brows. Her choice of word had me smiling, but not backing off.

“You know what it means.” She caught on to what I was doing.

“Am I annoying you now?” I raised my hand and rested it on the cabinet, right next to her head. She gulped but didn’t move to push me back. Her eyes dipped down to my lips. “Are you irritated, Jane?” I whispered, so close I felt her breath fanning my face. Her hand came up to rest on my chest, my muscles tightening under her touch.

“There you both are.”

Jane jumped back and bumped into the counter at the sound of Tom walking into the kitchen.

“We ran out of chips.” He grabbed another bag out of the pantry, unaware of the tension between us.

“We better get back down there.” She made a move, and I caught a hint of coconut, inhaling deeply. That might be my new favorite fragrance.

We got downstairs, and Evan’s face broke out into a huge grin. The poor guy was smitten. He was about to be crushed.

I tried to focus on the film, but Jane cuddled up so close to Evan made it hard to think.

All of a sudden, Jane got up and came and sat right next to me.

“What’s up?” Her hair tickled my jaw as I leaned in to whisper.

“Can you believe he tried to hold my hand? And it looked like he was going to lean in for a kiss.”

Poor guy. She blew him off in front of everyone.

“You don’t mind me sitting here till he goes, right?”

Did I mind? I’d been hoping for this all night. “No problem.”

With her next to me, I relaxed and tried to tune into the storyline. It didn’t help that she was sitting with her thigh pressed against mine.

Calm down, dude! I told myself. I had to pull it together before she noticed the effect she had on me. Jane started to yawn. I guess she wasn’t the only one who’d had a long week.

Twenty minutes later, she’d fallen asleep. Her head rested lightly on my shoulder. Before I stopped to think twice, I put my arm around her and pulled her close. She stirred but didn’t wake. Her closeness brought that fragrance from earlier back in full force, and her hair tickled my jawline. I guess she used some kind of coconut shampoo. It suited her perfectly.

I saw Evan shooting bullets at me with his stare. He must have been hoping for this outcome. I didn’t care. All I could focus on was how right it felt to have Jane in my arms. She fit perfectly there. With Jane so close, it was simple to lose sight of why I couldn’t have her. It was easy to forget her dad would skin me alive if he knew I wanted her, or that she was almost three years younger, my sister’s best friend, and therefore totally off limits.

The movie finished, and Sarah switched off the TV. After a few peeks at a sleeping Jane, and me with my arm still draped around her, the guys gathered the empty bowls and headed up to the kitchen, leaving us in the basement.

“Hey, Jane.” I nudged her gently, trying to wake her up.

“Mhm?” She stirred.

“It’s time to get up.” I didn’t know what I said, or maybe I moved too quickly, but her eyelids fluttered open and she looked straight up at me. She seemed confused, but then understanding dawned. Her cheeks darkened, and she fumbled to straighten herself. Man, how I loved it when she blushed like that.

“Sorry about that.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Don’t worry about it. You only slept like,” I checked the clock on the wall, “forty-five minutes.”

“Oh my gosh, Jackson, why didn’t you wake me?” She squirmed.

“What, and miss out on that beautiful snoring?” I teased.

“I do not snore!” She swatted me as I blocked her attacks with one of the throw pillows.

“Well, maybe not snoring, but it was entertaining all the same.” The seriousness from earlier returned as our eyes met.

“Now you’re being mean.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

I grabbed her hand as she began to fidget and gave it a squeeze. “Jane.” I didn’t know how to tell her how I felt. This girl had me on fire. How I wanted to let the fire consume me. Before I could lean in and throw caution to the wind, I was interrupted, again. This time by Mom.

“Jackson, Sarah’s off to bed. Weren’t you supposed to get to bed early for the game tomorrow?” Mom’s gaze on my hand wrapped around Jane’s was a sharp reminder of why I needed to leave her alone. Our parents were tight. Mom wouldn’t let me mess around with their rule.

“Thanks for keeping me safe from Evan.” Jane smiled before she disappeared upstairs. I could swear she looked disappointed.

Even though I couldn’t start something with Jane, I couldn’t deny the way she made me feel, how perfectly she fit in my arms, and how great it felt to hold her close.

Stay tuned for Chapter 5 next week...

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M

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Mylissa's Books

The Rules Series

Rules are made to be Broken (Book 1)

Rules are made to be Ignored (Book 2)

The Rules Novella Series

Rules Don't Apply

Playing by the Rules

The Songs Series

The Songs of You and Me (Book 1)

The Songs That Brought Me Back (Book 2)