Jared looks over at me. "Are you okay?"
His concern makes Sawyer pop her head between our seats to look at me. "Sarah?"
I flush. This is embarrassing. I don’t want to have to admit I'm feeling queasy. "I'm just warm," I mumble noncommittally.
"Do you want me to turn off the seat warmer?" Jared asks, his hand poised over the button.
"Oh my God, I thought I was losing my mind. Yes, please turn off the butt heater."
Sawyer collapses into convolutions in the backseat while Jared tries to keep a straight face. I roll my eyes. It’s not like either of their asses were on fire. In fact, I’m feeling a little miffed that I received no heads up that my butt was going to be artificially baked. I shuffle in my seat again as my rear returns to room temperature. Jared looks over at me again. Why do I always have to act like a spaz in front of cute boys? Once his eyes are back on the road, I have a better chance to discretely check him out. He's tall. I can't really tell if he's muscular or not since he has a snow jacket on. He seems fit, though. He's wearing a knit hat, so I'll have to wait until we're back at their place to see what his hair looks like. He has pale brown, maybe hazel, eyes and an adorable crooked smile.
I can totally see why Sawyer thinks I'd like him. I can't deny I find him attractive. Hopefully, I can make it through the next week without walking into anything around him. I sit quietly for the rest of the trip while Sawyer and Jared catch up. Sawyer seems to make friends wherever she goes and somehow stays on good terms and in touch with all of them. She met Jared while protesting against whaling one summer with an environmental group off Japan. His mother is a marine biologist, and he had been along for the adventure.
They became fast friends and had stayed in touch ever since. Jared only spent summers growing up with his mom, living the rest of the year inland in Colorado. He and Caleb are both snowboarders. Caleb competed the year before but had had a nasty fall and fractured his wrist. Jared isn't very competitive, he mainly boards for fun and works just enough to have plenty of time for it.
He says dude a lot, starting almost every third sentence with it. Out of curiosity, I start mentally counting them to see how many times he'll say it between now and their apartment. I count to thirty-two, I think, as he pulls into a parking spot. In that moment, I'm pretty sure I won't be falling in love with Jared.
He and Caleb live on the ground floor. He carries our bags as we follow him into his apartment. Caleb is sitting on the sofa, his wrist in a cast. He stands to hug both of us, his hug for Sawyer noticeably longer than mine. This is not their first meeting. Caleb is originally from Minnesota and Jared put Sawyer in touch with him once when she was in St Paul. She had been tagging along with some friends who were in a band. Tired of the VW Bus she had been crammed in, she crashed with Caleb for a weekend. I never got the entire story out of her on what they did that weekend, but I had a good idea. When he sat back down, she sat next to him and fingered his cast as she asked how his recovery was going.
I follow Jared into the kitchen after he says, "Dude, I could go for a beer. Want one, Sarah?"
I could absolutely use a beer, but I hesitate when he hands me a Miller Lite. He gives me a look, and I grab it before he thinks that maybe I don’t like the brand. It just reminds me of Will. Being reminded of Will in the presence of the dude-spouting potential replacement is not a good thing. All it does is drive home how not Will Jared is. His strikes are adding up. Now that we are inside, I’m able to check him out without his hat or bulky coat on. He has short, almost buzzed dark brown hair and is built. I find myself staring at his chest and suddenly don’t mind his overuse of the word dude.
Since I have a meeting the next day, we all just hang out that night and watch a movie. Sawyer and Caleb disappear halfway through, which makes things a little awkward with me and Jared, especially after the movie is unable to drown out the, um, noises they’re making. At first, we both try to pretend like neither of us can hear them. Then I can’t hold it in any longer. I giggle. Thankfully, that seems to break the tension, for a short while anyway. Jared laughs. I laugh. Then we just look at each other, and it’s awkward all over again.
Sawyer and I are supposed to be sharing the pull out sofa this week. Clearly, it’s all mine now. I just can’t actually go to sleep until Jared gets off of it. I really do need to get a good night’s sleep but don’t have it in me to point blank tell him that. Instead, I yawn, even though I’m not really that
