Real Men Knit(68)

20




The shop was in pretty good shape, though Kerry and Jesse were so very not. Since they had kissed, Jesse had been nothing but weird, doing his best to avoid and sidestep her. And when he did encounter her, he went overboard. He either treated her like they were in an eggshell-walking, sketchy-boss-with-subordinate, full-of-too-much-sexual-tension-but-scared-as-shit-of-HR thing, or like he was a newfound kinda-hot-but-still-awkward-and-weird jealous boyfriend whenever one of his brothers showed her any attention. He was enough to make her head spin. It all seemed to boil down to him not wanting to be near her. Could it be he really did regret their kiss? Every time she’d gotten within two feet of him, he’d backed away like he was allergic to her or something. It was damned infuriating.

He was damned infuriating!

Fine, if that was how he wanted to play it. Cool, Kerry thought as she headed into work at the center. She could wait. Maybe not for long, but she could wait. It wasn’t like she’d not held out for him this long. Kerry stopped short then and shook her head. How ridiculous was he? No, how ridiculous was she? Waiting, holding on, putting her life on hold while Jesse controlled all the moves. How long was she going to do this? She was no longer Kerry Girl but Kerry. Not his girl but a woman with wants and needs. If he wasn’t ready to be the man, to get his head out of his ass and fulfill them, then she surely needed to get her head out of her own ass and do it herself.

Nodding, she let out a breath and gave a small fist pump to gear herself up. Now she just hoped Jesse didn’t show his ass and could put on a professional face in front of the kids today. If avoiding her was his thing, fine. They would do it that way. At least she’d gotten him to agree to living up to the commitment that Mama Joy had previously made with the center to have the kids come in for an outing. They had so few chances to get out, with funding being cut left and right, but the shop was so close, and this was something the kids usually enjoyed. She was glad to still be able to do it.

After his little storm-out while painting, Jesse had returned a short while later with the requested beverages for his brothers and even a drink for her. They finished the painting and were sharing a pizza when Damian showed up just late enough to not get dirty. Kerry got them to take a few more posed pictures with some yarns once they’d cleaned up.

But things got awkward again when Noah threw her on Jesse’s lap and they all were posing for a selfie. She tried to scoot up and over when she saw how uncomfortable he seemed. But once she inched over closer to Lucas, Jesse pulled her in tighter, making things hella more obvious instead of keeping their secret like she was sure he’d planned. She couldn’t get her head around the man, but then again, that wasn’t her main objective right now, now was it?

“You got some, didn’t you?”

Kerry gasped and her eyes went wide as she looked around to make sure nobody had heard what Val had said.

“Could you not, Ms. Big Mouth! And the answer is no.”

“Dammit,” Val hissed. “Do I have to go over there and throw you in somebody’s bed?”

“No, you do not,” Kerry said, “and I can find a way to a bed just fine by myself, thank you.” Wait. She couldn’t believe she was actually having this conversation. Like seriously entertaining it. What had happened to her over the past week?

Val looked at her seriously. “How do you know this? What’s your plan, and are you getting close?” Her eyes took on a serious glint, and Kerry fully expected her to pull out her bullet planner to start taking strategy notes at any moment.

But she knew her friend, so she went along with it. She looked back and forth around the classroom, then went to the door and peeked out to be sure no one was in the hall. Kerry came back in. They had a few moments before the kids would be in, so she pulled up a chair next to Val’s.

“I don’t have a set plan, but let’s just say things are in motion.”

Val’s brows shot up. “Things? In motion? Please tell me we’re talking dicks and tongues, because if we’re not, I’m going to make you eat paste right here and right now.”

Kerry tightened her lips but nodded.

Val pumped her fists in the air. “Yes!” She looked at the clock on the back wall and sat back down, realizing they didn’t have much time. “Now, tell me which one? Jesse? Lucas? Noah? Damian?”

Kerry frowned at her.

“Lord, could it be all of them, or more than one? You lucky wench!”

“Are you crazy?!” Kerry yelled.

Val took a breath, then smoothed her hair and fanned herself. “Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Of course it’s Jesse. It’s always been Jesse for you.”

Kerry frowned deeper. She didn’t like the sound of that. Always been Jesse for her. That didn’t bode well with her one-and-done plan. She blew out a long breath of air. “It’s not like that,” she said, and waved a hand in the air. “We did end up making out in the loft the other night. But we were interrupted when Lucas came home, and now Jesse’s acting all weird. I think he’s scared to take things further. Doesn’t want to mess up our friendship or some such nonsense.”

Val’s brows drew together, and she was quiet. Quieter than Kerry was comfortable with. Finally, Kerry gave her shoulder a shake. “What’s up? Why are you silent now?”

Val shrugged, then smiled. “No reason.”