Give in to Me (Heart of Stone #3)(14)
Author: K.M. Scott

“Okay. Just remember how great a teacher you are. Those kids are lucky to have you, and your principal needs to remember that.”

She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I know. I promise we’ll talk when I get back.”

“Good because we need an old-fashioned girls’ night in, complete with our favorite movies and buckets of popcorn, and tonight looks like the perfect night for that.”

Jordan’s expression softened. Nodding, she said quietly, “It’s a date. I’ll see you when I get back.”

At a little after seven, she texted me to say everything had worked out and her principal had even apologized for jumping to conclusions before she had all the facts about the fight. I was thrilled and texted back that I was heading to the kitchen to make the popcorn. Girls’ night in was on!

We both needed this kind of night. I was feeling a little better since finding out Tristan had been receiving all of my texts, but I couldn’t say it wasn’t frustrating that he never responded. I was sure Daryl would have some valid reason why he couldn’t if I bothered to ask, but it was still aggravating. And with Jordan’s job woes, she was dealing with her own frustrations. A few great chick flicks and too much popcorn were definitely what the doctor ordered.

Two Jiffy Pop pans into my popcorn popping, I heard a knock and turned around to see Gage standing there. “Hey, want some popcorn?”

“No. I just wasn’t sure who was in here making all that racket,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s just me. You have to shake this stuff or it burns,” I said as I turned back toward the stove.

He walked in and stood next to me. “Wouldn’t microwave popcorn be easier?”

“No way! That stuff is bad for you. Something in the chemicals they use and the heat of the microwave, or something like that. It’s Jiffy Pop all the way.”

“Health nut, huh?”

I looked up at him and laughed. “Not exactly. I think there’s like two hundred grams of fat and carbs in all this popcorn.”

He looked down at the giant bowl half filled with Jiffy Pop that sat on the countertop and scooped out a handful for himself. Throwing a piece up in the air, he leaned his head back and caught it in his mouth. “Mmmm…not bad. A little buttery, but not bad.”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those popcorn eaters who doesn’t like butter?” I asked as I continued shaking the pan on the stovetop.

Throwing another piece up above his head, he caught the second one in his mouth and smiled. “Butter’s okay, but I don’t like my food swimming in it.”

I grabbed a kernel and threw it up in the air, but it came nowhere close to my mouth and fell on the floor next to me. I’d never been good at that kind of thing.

Chuckling, Gage looked down at the floor and back up at me. “Looks like you need some practice at that trick. Watch.” He stepped behind me and leaned in close so his head was next to mine. “I’ll throw it up in the air and just position yourself underneath it.”

He tossed the popcorn in the air and moved back away from me so I could catch it. Leaning my head back, I watched as the kernel dropped right toward my face. All I had to do was keep my mouth open and it fell right in. Excited, I stopped shaking the pan of popcorn and turned around to face him.

“I did it! Now with just a little practice, I’ll be able to do it without your help.”

“Glad to be of assistance. Any time,” he said with a smile.

I caught a glimpse of someone standing in the doorway and looked around Gage to see Jordan standing there with a hurt look on her face. Before I could say a word, she turned on her heels and disappeared. Taking the pan of popcorn off the burner, I set it down and asked, “Can you pour this into the bowl when it cools down? I’ll be right back.”

Jordan had gone to her room, and by the time I got to her, hurt had turned to anger. I knocked on her door only to hear her yell, “Go away!” and knew she misunderstood what she saw in the kitchen between Gage and me. I knocked again and waited a minute for her to let me in, taking her silence as the okay for me to enter.

The look on her face was one of complete betrayal. It stopped me dead in my tracks as I closed the door behind me. “Jordan, I think I know what’s wrong, but you’re mistaken.”

“I don’t think I am. What was going on in there, Nina?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. Gage was just keeping me company while I was making our popcorn, and then he was teaching me how to do that throwing it up and catching it in my mouth trick. That’s it.”

“Gage? When did he become Gage? What happened to calling him Varo, like you always have? Since when did you two become such close buddies?”

I took another step toward her, but she moved away, her anger coming off her in waves. “He’s still Varo. It’s just that he told me his name today and I was just trying to be nice.”

“You’ve changed, Nina. I can see it clear as day now as you’re standing there. You’re different. Maybe it’s the money or maybe you’re just lonely since Tristan doesn’t seem to ever be coming back.”

Her words hit me like a fist to my chest. “That’s not fair, Jordan. I’m no different than I’ve ever been. I can’t believe you’d bring up Tristan never coming back like that.”

“Isn’t that what the whole Gage thing is about? You knew I liked him, and still you’re acting like that with him? Why would you do that?”

Defensiveness raged inside me, and I lashed out. “That whole Gage thing, as you call it, is just me being the same old Nina I’ve always been. That I’d never been really nice to him or West wasn’t because I didn’t think I should be but because I was feeling depressed all these weeks. So now I feel a little better and I get accused of being someone else and not myself? That’s bullshit and I don’t deserve it.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she screamed, “You have everything here! Why do you have to go after him too? Isn’t it enough to have all the money you’ve ever wanted? Now you want another guy in addition to Tristan? What happened to waiting for him and being so madly in love?”

Jordan had never yelled at me like that and I stepped back in astonishment for a moment, but I wasn’t stunned for long. I barked back, releasing all the months of unhappiness on her. “I have nothing here! What do I care about money when the man I love is absent all this time? You think I stay in my room curled up in a ball so much because I’m fucking happy? I stay there because it’s all I have left of him. It’s the only place that truly feels like he’s there with me. I’m not doing anything with Varo, and if you think I would do that to Tristan or you, the two people I love more than anyone else in this world, then maybe you’re the one who’s changed, not me.”