The Hard Crush 1 (Feelings For You)

TWENTY-NINE

He was eavesdropping; something he rarely did. But at that moment, he was driven by the forceful urge to do so because he was certain that the voice he heard was quite familiar.

"What are you doing?"

Jerry spun around, stunned by the sudden interference. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" He snapped.

"I wouldn't if I didn't see you eavesdropping on women's private conversation," Rachel shot back.

"Who's in there with mom?"

"Come see for yourself," she brushed past him and walked into the kitchen. "Mom, Jerry's home!" She announced.

Shit!

He had no choice but to go in as well whilst giving Rachel a death glare. "Hi, mom -" he paused at the door as he was met with a familiar face. He stopped breathing for a second and he tried not to wonder why, because really, the answer was obvious. He really didn't like doing this, but he did it nonetheless; he faked a smile. "Hi, Mrs West."

Winifred's mom gave him a genuine smile, something he was unable to return for some reason. "Jerry, dear, how are you?"

"I'm doing great, ma'am, and you?" He strolled in and went to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, because why not? He took large gulps of the water while simultaneously trying to look less tensed in the process. His brain was at work now, trying to deliver him with possible reasons why Winifred's mom was in their house.

It's just her mom for crissake, stop being overly dramatic!

"I'm excited," Mrs West responded with a little clap. "Now that me and your mom have established that we both enjoy cooking, I think it'd be a great idea for both families to have dinner together this Friday."

Jerry couldn't help it. He couldn't control himself. The water came rushing out of his mouth before he could do anything. He nearly choked and Mrs West gave him a worried look. His mom was horrified. Rachel was holding in her giggles.

Jerry wanted to disappear.

                                     ***

"You spit on her mom!" Conrad exclaimed.

Jerry shot him a glare. "I did not! I don't think it touched her. It just happened so fast , I couldn't control myself."

"Wait, so we're actually having dinner with the Wests."

"It seems like it."

Conrad's expression changed as a sudden realization hit him. "Oh shit."

"What?"

"That clingy girl, she going to be there too."

"You mean Beatrice. She's a nice kid, stop being rude."

"I'm not, I'm just stating the obvious."

Jerry frowned at him. "Stop it. You have that look of distaste on your face."

"Sorry. She's just too loud. She talks too damn much. I can't stand her."

"Then why do you?" Jerry questioned quizzically. "You know she likes you. It's been obvious for years now, so why do you keep leading her on?"

"I'm not leading her on," Conrad argued, a slight shadow of guilt covering his face. "I've given her signs here and there but she's still not getting the hint. And look, I'd have told her straight to her face but then I don't know how she'll react. I'm scared she'll get really hurt if I tell her I don't like her back. I'm not one to hurt a girl's feelings. I don't know how to do that."