Give Us a Chance (3 page)

"Yeah, obviously," she says, "but you could maybe wear shirts without holes."

"I'm not trying to impress anyone, so what do I care?"

My dad puts the pizza in the oven and sets the timer. "I'm going to go lie down until it's done." He comes over and hugs me. "You came in with those groceries and I didn't get a hug."

I hug him back. "Go rest. We'll tell you when dinner's ready."

After he's in his room and closes the door, I go up to Liza. "Is he not feeling well?" I ask because my dad would never tell me. He believes in keeping your problems to yourself, and so do I, which is why I haven't told my family about my financial struggles. That's my problem, not theirs.

"He switched to a new pain med," Liza says. "It makes him really tired."

"Why didn't you tell me he switched meds?"

"Because he just started it yesterday and I haven't talked to you until just now." She opens the cupboard and takes out some plates. "Ivy, you've gotta stop worrying so much. Dad is fine."

"If he was fine, he'd be able to work, and he wouldn't have to rest before dinner."

She turns to me. "It's the meds that make him tired. He's not sick. He has a back injury." She pauses. "It's not like Mom."

I nod. "I know. It's just sometimes I worry that—"

"It's not cancer," she says softly. "It's a back injury. He's not going to die. And he's got
me
here, a live-in nurse, keeping watch over him."

Liza is in nursing school. She's in her last year. Unlike me, she's book smart. She's always done well in math and science, my two worst subjects. She decided to be a nurse back when our mom got sick. Liza was only nine at the time and she told everyone she was going to be a nurse so she could make Mom better. Mom died before that could happen, but Liza still decided to be a nurse.

"You're not a nurse yet," I tell her. "And you're never home." I take some glasses out. "I'm not blaming you for that. I know you're busy with work and school, but I worry about Dad being here alone all the time."

"Ivy, I promise you he's fine. He's just tired." She opens the fridge and takes out a two-liter of pop. "So anything interesting happen at work today?"

"Jake asked me out."

She grabs my arm, her eyes wide. "Jake Wheeler?"

"Yeah. Why are you so surprised? You know he's been trying to go out with me."

"That was months ago. I didn't know he was still interested."

"He stops by the library a few times a week and I'm pretty sure he's not just coming by to have lunch with his brother. I always catch him watching me from Nash's office." I take the pop and start filling the glasses.

Liza leans against the counter. "He comes by just to see you? How long has this been going on?"

"A couple months maybe? Ever since I started working there."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

I shrug. "What's there to tell? I'm not going out with him."

She takes the pop from me and sets it down. "Ivy. This is Jake Wheeler. THE Jake Wheeler. The hottest guy in Chicago."

"His brothers are just as hot." It's true, but personally, I find Jake to be the hottest of the four. And it's not just his physical appearance. Jake has a boldness, a swagger, a confidence that drives women wild, including me. When he enters a room, he takes it over. That winning smile. Those deep blue eyes. That sharp jawline. He exudes masculinity, which is why women can't help but fall all over him. But not me. I'm not that girl. Okay, maybe I am, but I'm trying not to be, which is why I'm not falling for Jake.

"So what did you say?" Liza asks.

"About what?"

She rolls her eyes. "What did you say to Jake when he asked you out?"

"I told him no before he even got the words out."

"So he didn't actually ask you out."

"He was going to. He just didn't have a chance. But then he asked me to dinner."

"Did he say where?"

"Yeah." I laugh. "Burger King."

She scrunches her face up. "Seriously? A fast food place?"

"I think he was joking. He was trying to convince me that it wouldn't be a date, but just two friends having dinner."

"Why didn't you agree to it?"

"Liza, we've talked about this." I pick up the plates and go around her to the kitchen table. "I'm tired of being cheated on. And lied to."

She takes the glasses and follows me. "You broke up with Ryker almost a year ago. You need to get over it."

"Ryker was just one of many guys who cheated on me."

"That doesn't mean they all will. Come on, Ivy. Don't you think it's time to start dating again?"

"Maybe, but not with Jake Wheeler. Manwhore of the century." I return to the kitchen and get the salad bowl. "The only thing Jake is interested in is a one-night stand."

"You don't know that."

"Oh, please. Everyone knows that." I set the salad bowl on the table and we both sit down. "You've seen him at Hoedowns. How many girls has he gone home with?"

Hoedowns is the restaurant where Liza works. It's a barbecue place where the waitresses wear cut-off denim short shorts and skimpy plaid half-shirts that tie in front and barely cover their breasts. My dad hates that Liza works there, but he's given up trying to make her quit. She makes a ton of money in tips, enough to pay for her college tuition, so she's keeping the job until she graduates. She keeps trying to get me to work there too but there's no way I'm wearing that stupid outfit and having drunk guys grab my ass. I'd end up punching them in the face and get fired.

"Jake hasn't been there in months," she says, taking a sip of her pop. "Maybe he's done with the one-night stand thing."

"I doubt it. He's only 23. He has plenty more wild oats to sow. That boy isn't settling down anytime soon."

"Neither are you. You said you don't want a boyfriend, right?"

"Not a serious one, at least not right now."

"So go out with Jake. Keep it casual."

"Meaning just sex? No. I did that with Ryker and look how that turned out."

"I don't mean sex. I mean, do what he suggested. Go out with him just as friends and see what happens."

"He only said that so I'd go out with him. He doesn't want a female friend. I've seen how he looks at me. He wants sex."

"Do
you
?" She gives me a sly grin. "I mean, seriously, Ivy, it's been like a year."

"It hasn't been a year," I say defensively. "More like eight months."

"That's practically a year. You've gotta get out there again. You know what they say...use it or lose it."

"Use what? That doesn't even make sense."

"Whatever. The point is, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if you ended up having sex with Jake, right?"

Just hearing her say 'sex with Jake' caused a slight tingle between my legs. I seriously need to get some control when it comes to him. He's not even near me and I'm having a physical response.

"Ivy?"

"Yeah. I'm sure sex with Jake would be...good." I said 'good' but what I meant was mind-blowing. Why else would girls be lining up to have sex with him? And given that I get hot and bothered just thinking about him, I can only imagine how my body would react if I actually felt his hands all over me and his—

"Then do it," Liza says, interrupting my thoughts.

"And be just another notch on his belt? No. Forget it." I pull some napkins from the holder in the middle of the table and distribute them among the three place settings.

"Ivy, you're not listening." She pulls her chair out a little and turns so that she's facing me. "Jake wants you. We know this. What we
don't
know is whether he wants just sex or more than that. So you need to figure that out, and when you do, you need to make him work for it."

"Work for what? Sex?"

She swats my arm. "Stop going back to sex. Give the guy a chance. For all you know, he wants more than that with you. Otherwise, why would he keep trying?"

"Because he doesn't like being told no. He'll keep trying until he gets it."

"Or..." She smiles and twirls a piece of her long blond hair around her finger. "He might actually like you and want more than just sex."

"I doubt it." I pluck a piece of purple lettuce from the salad bowl and stuff it in my mouth. "I'm starving. I'm gonna check the pizza." I get up, but she yanks me back down.

"In a minute. We're not done here."

"Fine. Hurry up."

She sits back and stretches her legs out in front of her. "Do you like this guy?"

"I think he's hot." I pluck another purple lettuce leaf from the bowl.

"But do you like him, aside from his looks?"

"I don't know him."

"So that's step one. Get to know him. And if you like him, then make him work to be with you. Don't make it easy. If Jake likes a challenge, he'll like you even more if he has to put in effort to be with you."

This is suddenly sounding fun. Make Jake work to be with me? I'm sure he won't do it, but that doesn't mean I can't try. And I'll have fun doing it. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hang out with the hottest guy in Chicago.

"He'll give up on me after a week," I say.

Liza shrugs. "Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on how much he likes you. And if he gives up, then you'll get what you wanted. He'll finally leave you alone. You win either way."

"That's true."

"So you're doing this?" she asks, moving to the edge of her seat.

I smile. "I'm doing it. Jake Wheeler has no idea what he's in for."
 

CHAPTER THREE

Jake

"So how'd it go?" Callie asks as soon as I walk in her and Nash's apartment.

Before I can answer, Nash yells from the couch, "Did she say yes?"

"Not exactly." I take my coat off and sink into Nash's recliner. It's brown-and-black plaid and ugly as sin but the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in. I tried to buy it from him but he refuses to sell it, which is dumb because he hardly ever sits in it anymore. He always sits on the couch so he can be next to Callie. She's now sitting beside him, wedged under his arm. Don't those two ever get tired of touching?

"So she turned you down?" Callie asks.

"I didn't even get a chance to ask her. She said 'no' before I even got the words out."

Nash winces. "Ooh. Not good, man. She really doesn't like you."

"She likes me." I yank on the lever on the recliner, lifting the footrest up. "But she thinks I sleep around."

"You do," Nash says, flipping through channels on the TV.

"Not as much as I used to."

Nash sets the remote down and looks at me. "How many girls were you with last week?"

"Are we counting weekdays only or including weekends?" I was totally serious but Callie's laughing under her breath.

Nash is shaking his head. "This is why she won't date you. You've got a reputation, bro. Everyone knows you sleep around. All the guys on my crew talk about you like you're some kind of god, the way you get so many women. I know Ivy's heard them talking."

"The guys really say that about me?" I can't help but smile.

"Shit." Nash rolls his eyes. "You're a lost cause."

"So you never asked her to dinner?" Callie asks.

"I did. I told her we could just go as friends but she wouldn't agree to it."

"Where did you tell her you'd take her?"

Maybe I should make something up. Callie's going to kill me if I tell her the truth. I was only joking when I said that to Ivy but I think she might've thought I was serious.

"Jake?" Callie says, still waiting for a answer.

"Burger King," I say casually.

"What?" Callie and Nash say at the same time.

"I told her I'd take her to the Burger King down the street from the library."

"Burger King?" Callie looks pissed. "You seriously told her you were taking her to Burger King?"

"What's wrong with Burger King? They have good food, and in my defense, that one by the library was just renovated. It's like new inside."

"You're such an idiot," Nash says, laughing. "Even
I
wouldn't do something that stupid."

"I was joking. You two need to lighten up."

"Did she know you were joking?" Callie asks.

"She was laughing, so probably."

Callie sighs. "This is a disaster. She'll never go out with you now."

"She will," I say confidently. "I'll wear her down eventually. But you're right. I will have to work harder with her. But I'm taking a different approach than I usually do."

"Which is what?" Nash asks.

"I'd rather not share my technique just yet. I need to see if it works first."

"Whatever you do, you better not piss her off," Nash says. "I need her on this project, and I'm thinking of hiring her for the next one too."

"I was going to hire her for the house on Milton Street."

He shakes his head. "She's too talented for that. We need her for the historical museum."

That's the project we just won. We bid on it months ago and just found out we got it. People were so impressed with how we restored the Victorian mansion that city leaders started calling us, asking us to put in bids on other public projects. I admit I feel some pride over that, given that I was in charge of the Victorian. It was the first project I'd been the lead on. Nash and my dad were in charge of all our previous projects.

"Yeah, you're right," I say. "Ivy needs to be on the museum project. Did you ask her yet?"

"No, but I will."

"I could ask her."

"No." He shoots me his warning look. "We need to keep your love life and work life separate. And if you piss her off, I'm banning you from the worksite."

"I'm not going to piss her off. I'm not an ass."

"I can think of a few girls who would disagree with that."

"Hey, I always make it clear I don't want a relationship. They know it's just sex."

"And that's not the case with Ivy?"

I sigh. "Would you shut up about this? Mind your own damn business."

"This IS my business. She's my employee."

"Yeah, and earlier today you were telling me to ask her out. Now you're telling me to stay away from her? Make up your damn mind."

"I only told you to ask her out so you could get her out of your head. You've been obsessed with her for months. I assumed she'd tell you no and you'd finally move on."