we'll make sure of it."
She nodded against his chest, grateful for his confidence and reassurance. She resisted the urge to breathe deeply and drag his unique scent into her lungs. Hell, no wonder she couldn't stop shaking. In love with both of her roommates—talk about pathetic.
Emma squeezed her eyes closed, grinding her teeth against the onslaught of emotion. Jason held on a moment longer and then stepped back again to look at her. She stifled the urge to squirm under his gaze and looked up to his face.
"Vegetables are peeled. Anything else I can do in the kitchen?" He said it very seriously, but she smiled anyway. Jason had always been a disaster in the kitchen. He knew it, and he knew his roommates knew it too. If any of them wanted to actually eat tonight, Emma was their best chance.
"Thanks, but I can take it from there. Why don't you ask Casey if she wants a glass of wine? It might help her to relax."
He grinned then, the salacious bad-boy grin that she'd been seeing since high school.
"Did you just suggest I visit our very naked roommate in the bathroom?" She'd known him long enough to know what he was doing. He was trying to distract her, trying to put the normal back into the evening, and she felt very grateful for his effort. Maybe she wouldn't kick his ass for his earlier behavior.
"Gutter brain," she said, using the insult she'd been using for almost fifteen years.
"Spoilsport," he countered, a huge grin spreading across his face.
Emma rolled her eyes at the absolute lack of remorse, swatted his arm, and turned back toward the kitchen. "Ask through the door— without opening it." She didn't quite catch the smart-ass retort as she headed into the kitchen, but she could always guess. Fifteen years was a long time in any friendship, especially when the three of them had lived in the same house for the last five.
She grabbed the knife from the chopping block, quickly sliced the vegetables, and dropped them into the water to boil. She turned to the refrigerator, grabbed the steaks she'd marinated earlier and dropped them into the broiler, glad to be moving, comforted by the normality of her actions. She loved cooking, had one day hoped to have a family including a few kids to cook for, but being in love with her two best friends, and having absolutely no chance with either of them, didn't really bode well for her future dreams.
Casey was beautiful, the quintessential example of blonde and gorgeous, with the perfect mixture of intelligence and caring. Emma had been half in love with her ever since they'd met as preschoolers. It hadn't been until a few years ago that she realized she was no longer only half in love with the woman. The startling, very private epiphany was quickly followed by an equally stunning realization that she loved Jason as well.
She must be a sucker for punishment. In love with two people so far out of her league that she'd need to grow a foot taller and lose fifty pounds to even be considered passably attractive, and of course, she was the homebody type, so that even when all her friends had gone off to college, she'd happily stayed behind, working at the local supermarket. She'd been dreaming of a home and family for so long, and been so convinced that it would happen just as she imagined it, that somehow she'd gotten to twenty-eight without really noticing.
Now she just felt pathetic.
Overweight, no career, bleak future, and two roommates who were barely home. Yup, pathetic. She grabbed the wine bottle from the back of the fridge, wrestled the cork out, and grabbed three glasses. She usually didn't drink alcohol. Not that she didn't like it. She just didn't really think of alcohol as necessary to her daily life. Her roommates on the other hand…
"Three glasses?" Jason's query over her shoulder was so unexpected that she jolted and poured wine outside of the second glass.
"Ah-ah. Wasting wine is a very big no-no." He grabbed the bottle and shooed her back to the cooking.
She nodded against his chest, grateful for his confidence and reassurance. She resisted the urge to breathe deeply and drag his unique scent into her lungs. Hell, no wonder she couldn't stop shaking. In love with both of her roommates—talk about pathetic.
Emma squeezed her eyes closed, grinding her teeth against the onslaught of emotion. Jason held on a moment longer and then stepped back again to look at her. She stifled the urge to squirm under his gaze and looked up to his face.
"Vegetables are peeled. Anything else I can do in the kitchen?" He said it very seriously, but she smiled anyway. Jason had always been a disaster in the kitchen. He knew it, and he knew his roommates knew it too. If any of them wanted to actually eat tonight, Emma was their best chance.
"Thanks, but I can take it from there. Why don't you ask Casey if she wants a glass of wine? It might help her to relax."
He grinned then, the salacious bad-boy grin that she'd been seeing since high school.
"Did you just suggest I visit our very naked roommate in the bathroom?" She'd known him long enough to know what he was doing. He was trying to distract her, trying to put the normal back into the evening, and she felt very grateful for his effort. Maybe she wouldn't kick his ass for his earlier behavior.
"Gutter brain," she said, using the insult she'd been using for almost fifteen years.
"Spoilsport," he countered, a huge grin spreading across his face.
Emma rolled her eyes at the absolute lack of remorse, swatted his arm, and turned back toward the kitchen. "Ask through the door— without opening it." She didn't quite catch the smart-ass retort as she headed into the kitchen, but she could always guess. Fifteen years was a long time in any friendship, especially when the three of them had lived in the same house for the last five.
She grabbed the knife from the chopping block, quickly sliced the vegetables, and dropped them into the water to boil. She turned to the refrigerator, grabbed the steaks she'd marinated earlier and dropped them into the broiler, glad to be moving, comforted by the normality of her actions. She loved cooking, had one day hoped to have a family including a few kids to cook for, but being in love with her two best friends, and having absolutely no chance with either of them, didn't really bode well for her future dreams.
Casey was beautiful, the quintessential example of blonde and gorgeous, with the perfect mixture of intelligence and caring. Emma had been half in love with her ever since they'd met as preschoolers. It hadn't been until a few years ago that she realized she was no longer only half in love with the woman. The startling, very private epiphany was quickly followed by an equally stunning realization that she loved Jason as well.
She must be a sucker for punishment. In love with two people so far out of her league that she'd need to grow a foot taller and lose fifty pounds to even be considered passably attractive, and of course, she was the homebody type, so that even when all her friends had gone off to college, she'd happily stayed behind, working at the local supermarket. She'd been dreaming of a home and family for so long, and been so convinced that it would happen just as she imagined it, that somehow she'd gotten to twenty-eight without really noticing.
Now she just felt pathetic.
Overweight, no career, bleak future, and two roommates who were barely home. Yup, pathetic. She grabbed the wine bottle from the back of the fridge, wrestled the cork out, and grabbed three glasses. She usually didn't drink alcohol. Not that she didn't like it. She just didn't really think of alcohol as necessary to her daily life. Her roommates on the other hand…
"Three glasses?" Jason's query over her shoulder was so unexpected that she jolted and poured wine outside of the second glass.
"Ah-ah. Wasting wine is a very big no-no." He grabbed the bottle and shooed her back to the cooking.
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