Babysitter or Boyfriend?

Chapter 22

Chapter 22 (La-la-laaaaaast chapter)

Avery's POV:

The day after Thanksgiving, my plan was to avoid Jake as much as possible. I knew I would forgive him eventually, but for now I felt pretty entitled to enforcing the silent treatment.

What I didn't realize, however, was that avoiding him would be much, much easier than I thought. From the time I woke up, around ten, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, my brother was nowhere to be found. I asked my mother, but she simply shrugged and said she didn't know where he'd gone.

It was nearly four thirty and I was pouring myself a glass of lemonade in the kitchen when Jake finally sauntered into the room. I glanced at him over my shoulder, then turned back to my lemonade.

"Hey, Ave," he said a little hesitantly.

"Hi," I responded shortly. "Where've you been all day?"

Jake's lips quirked in a tiny grin. "Actually, it's kind of a surprise," he told me, and I gave him a strange look. "Ave, I know you're still pissed as hell at me, and you have every right to be, but can I ask you a favor? Will you come somewhere with me?"

"Where's somewhere?" I asked, after regarding him suspiciously for a long moment.

The grin on my brother's face widened slightly. "Um, it's sort of a surprise," he replied. "But we gotta go, like, right now. Please?"

I sighed. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that, as angry as I was with him, all he had to do was say "please" and I gave in. Still, I knew he'd do the same for me, and since I didn't have plans for the rest of the afternoon, I figured I could at least give him the benefit of th doubt.

"Fine," I finally agreed, seeing the way Jake's face lit up as I brushed past him. "Let me put some shoes on."

Five minutes later, I climbed into the passenger's seat of Jake's car and pulled the seatbelt across my chest. "So, you're really not going to tell me where we're going?" I glanced at him.

He shook his head. "It'd ruin it," he responded. "But it's going to take us about forty-five minutes to get there, so get comfortable."

I settled back in my seat and tuned the radio to my favorite station as Jake backed out of the driveway. I increased the volume of the music, hoping it would serve as a distraction from the conversation I knew we had to have at some point. He didn't seem to mind, and drove with a pleasant half-smile on his face. What on earth was he up to?

Less than an hour later, Jake pulled off the highway and onto a dirt road. "What on earth?" I murmured, glancing from side to side. "Jake, where are we?"

"Relax, sis," he chuckled. "This is me, remember?"

With I sigh, I sat back in my seat and waited until, a few moments later, Jake brought the car to a stop. We were on the banks of the American River, and almost entirely surrounded by trees. Of course I trusted my brother, but this was getting ridiculous.

"Okay, Jake, I'm losing my patience. Tell me what's going-" And that's when I saw it. My voice trailed off as I spotted, through the trees, a massive, multi-colored, billowing...

Balloon.

I jerked my head to look at my brother. "Is that...?"

Jake grinned. "Avery, do you remember about a year ago, when you told me that you thought the most romantic thing a guy could do for a girl was to take her on a hot air balloon ride at sunset?" his eyes searched mine, willing me to remember.

"I remember," I said, nodded. "So...you're taking me on a hot air balloon ride?"

My brother laughed. "I'm not," he replied, shaking his head and pointing out through the front windshield. "He is."