The Apocalypse (49 page)

Jake considered this. It seemed like a good plan in theory. If Hannah wasn't going to come to him, then he could go to her. Ethan was right—girls did tend to like it when guys made the first move. Clearly, Hannah was taking her sweet time about making a move, if she was even going to, so it was up to him to start the ball rolling or the boat rocking, whichever was going to happen.

He almost placed a mental bet on the boat rocking. Or sinking.

When the guys went into the mall, Jake and Ethan let Brent lead, as Jake was focused mainly on what he was going to say to Hannah. He didn't want to look weak and needy by asking her what was going on because she could also take that as him being demanding. But Jake knew better than to wait on her now because he'd
been
waiting on her…to absolutely no avail. Right now, he was going in without a clear plan, and it was sort of unnerving.

Ethan nudged his shoulder suddenly. "There's your girl, Jake."

Sure enough, standing in the line to get ice cream in the food court was Hannah, a contemplative expression on her face. Something snapped in Jake. How hard could this be? He knew what he wanted—Hannah—and he thought she maybe kind of wanted him too. That was his goal, and he felt rather confident about it.

The distance across the food court seemed to disappear beneath Jake's feet. Before he knew it, he was standing behind Hannah, blanking as the seconds passed. Huh. Now what?

"I'd go for butter pecan," he said suddenly.

Hannah whipped around to face Jake, and nothing but surprise lit up on her face. "You would?" she asked, her forehead wrinkling. Jake grinned back at her. "I'm not a big fan of pecans."

"Fudge ripple then."

Tilting her head to the side, Hannah considered that. "Okay," she agreed easily, stepping up to order her ice cream from the ice cream scooper. "Three scoops of fudge ripple, please, in a cup."

Jake stepped up beside her. "And two scoops of
butter
pecan on a sugar cone," he added. He glanced at Hannah and smiled. "My treat."

She looked suspicious briefly, but her face relaxed, and Hannah returned his smile. "Thanks."

Jake and Hannah took turns switching from watching each other and watching their ice cream being prepared. It was mildly awkward, standing there and not knowing what to do or say.

"How have you been?" Hannah asked finally. She was still a little upset that Jake had gone so long without talking to her; it was completely random for him to appear now. "I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Basketball's been kicking my ass." Jake met her eyes, trying to think of a way to let her know he'd been waiting on her without sounding accusatory. "What about you? Where have you been lately?"

"Not much of anywhere," Hannah answered honestly, her eyelashes sweeping down in a grand blink. She accepted her ice cream and said her thanks. "I've…kinda missed seeing you around."

Jake relaxed his shoulders. "I've missed seeing you too."

Uncertainly, Hannah nodded back to him, and the pair migrated to
a
nearby table to eat their ice cream. Both of them tended to their snacks silently for several moments, both lost in thought and worry.

At last, Jake took a deep breath. Hannah wanted him to make the first move? Fine, he'd take the initiative. "Look, um, I'm sorry I haven't been in touch much with you lately." He rolled his cone between his fingers. "I was trying to give you time to think about everything. I didn't know if you were still mad."

Hannah surprised him by smiling. "You weren't avoiding me because you changed your mind about me?"

Jake looked at her oddly. "No."

"Just checking." Hannah sighed softly, though the smile never left her eyes. "Jake, can we stop the bullshit and just get together already?"

Laughing, Jake was thoroughly shocked, not to mention impressed. "You want to do that, Han? Let it go and get it together just like that?" His lips were twitching with the urge to smile at the thought. "Don't get me wrong—I'd love that. But…you'd be okay with it? You've been pissed at me lately."

"And you've been pissed at me for your whole life," Hannah countered. She set her spoon down in her ice cream. "We're going in circles at this point. Either we're in or we're out, and I'm in."

Hannah watched Jake weigh that in his mind. She really was tired of this—both of them being scared to make the next move. Since she'd already gotten hurt, Hannah decided it didn't matter if she just put herself all the way out there again. At least this time they were communicating.

"I'm definitely in," Jake answered softly, a smile plastered on his face.

Instantly, a grin formed on Hannah's face. Had she been with her girls and felt this much excitement, she would have squealed in excitement, but she forced herself to refrain. Instead, she leaned over the table, and kissed Jake softly. He returned the kiss, and their lips stayed locked together lengthily.

"One condition." Jake motioned across the food court, where Tisha and Brent were watching their table intently, both looking smug and pleased with themselves. "You get to tell Brent and Tisha. From the looks of things, they're going to be pretty cocky about the news."

Hannah followed Jake's hand and wrinkled her nose at the sight. "We were totally set up." She glanced back at Jake and shrugged. "It's a deal though…but I've got a condition for you."

"Okay. Sure."

Cheekily, Hannah grinned at him, smugness now showing on her face as well. "You get to tell our mothers."

"That's not funny," Jake deadpanned. He swiped the spoon from her ice cream and brandished it at her threateningly. "It's not an even trade at all."

Hannah scoffed. "I never pretended that it would be."

"You hate me," Jake sighed, shaking his head. "I'm convinced of it now."

Those big blue eyes of Hannah's rolled majestically. "Jake Allen, I have been crazy about you for longer than you even know. Don't give me that."

Just hearing it from her straight made Jake grin unwillingly, all pretense of sulking vanishing. "All right, Hannah Ayers. You win."

THE END