“PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE,” BRIT SAID AS WE walked out of the arena together. “You knocked one rail after being so nervous. For your first YENT practice with Callie, you did an amazing job.”
“Thanks,” I said. “That means a lot. Your ride was fantastic, Brit.”
Brit smiled, ducking her head a little. “Thanks, Sash. Apollo is a great horse. He makes everything easy.”
“He’s a fantastic horse,” I said. “His—”
I stopped midsentence.
“Sash?”
Brit followed my gaze. Across the lawn, Eric and Jacob stood just feet apart.
Talking.
“Omigodomigod!” I whispered to Brit. “There’s absolutely no way this is good. Jacob and Eric HATE each other! Hate! What could they possibly be meeting about that isn’t going to end with campus security breaking up a fight?”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Brit said. “They might have bonded in a class or during a sport or something.”
I rubbed my forehead so hard, I was sure all of my makeup had come off. Brit pulled down my hand.
“Maybe they’re talking about football?” Brit offered.
“Eric hates football!”
“Um, maybe they’re talking about horses?”
“Jacob is terrified of horses!”
“School, then,” Brit said. “They’ve got to have something in common with classes or something.”
I saw Jacob shift on his heels and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“I have to go over there,” I said.
“Sash—” Brit started to reach for my arm, but there wasn’t any need. I stopped, watching Jacob and Eric fist bump (such a dude thing ). Then they walked away from each other.
That was it for me.
“Meet you in our room?” I asked Brit.
“See you there,” she said.
I walked across the courtyard toward Jacob.
“Is everything okay?” I asked. “What’s going on? You never talk to Eric.”
Jacob took my hand. “Everything is totally fine, Sash. I promise. Let’s sit for a second.”
Still holding Jacob’s hand, I followed him over to a wooden bench a few feet off the sidewalk.
My knees bounced when we sat down. I couldn’t imagine what he had to talk to Eric about.
“I got Eric’s e-mail from the school directory,” Jacob said.
“Um, why?”
Jacob put his hand on my knee, calming my bouncing. “I needed to apologize to him. He … actually is a decent guy and I was wrong at your party. Eric deserved to hear an explanation from me.”
“And he agreed to meet you right away?” I asked.
Jacob nodded. “He e-mailed me back a couple of hours later saying he would meet me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to make sure he’d show,” Jacob said. “I didn’t want you to get excited about the possibility of us getting together and then have something go wrong during our talk.”
“I would have done the same. What did he say?”
Jacob rubbed my palm. “At first, he just listened. After I talked, he said he appreciated me coming to him and then said if I ever hurt you, there would be a problem.”
“And what did you say?” I rubbed my other hand on my breeches.
“That there would never be a problem because I’d never hurt you,” Jacob said. I’d never seen such intensity in his eyes.
“You don’t have to tell me everything, but I just want to know … how did things end?”
Jacob ran his thumb across my cheek. When his hand was back in my lap, it felt as if there was still a warm spot from where he’d touched me.
“You can ask me anything you want, Sasha. We agreed that the past was just that and it was time to move forward. It’s a waste of our time and energy to avoid and antagonize each other.”
“Really? That’s great!” If I tried to stand now, I felt as if I’d collapse into the ground. This was beyond a major relief in my life. Just having Jacob and Eric agree to coexist was a huge deal that I never expected.
I scooted closer on the bench, giving Jacob a quick kiss. “Thank you so much, Jacob. You have no idea how much stress this takes off me. I know it couldn’t have been easy to talk to him like that. This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.”
And it was. Eric and Jacob had been enemies, with understandable reasons, but the fact that they were able to come to an agreement not to fight meant so much.”
“I’d do anything to go back and fix what I did,” Jacob said. “And talking to Eric was just the beginning.”
I stared at him, tilting my head. “What does that mean?”
“Eric asked me for a favor,” Jacob said. “He asked me for help.”
“Help? With what?”
“Eric told me he knew that I’m good at math,” Jacob said. “He wondered if, as part of our moving forward, if I’d tutor him for a while just to get him on track. He said his grade in the class was so low that he was in danger going on academic probation.”
“Oh my God,” I said. “That’s awful! How did you feel about him asking you?”
“Like it was a good step forward,” Jacob said. “Which is why I said yes.”
For seconds, I just looked at him, unable to find the words. “That was beyond generous of you, Jacob. It was more than enough that you apologized to him, but to also tutor him? I can’t even find the words to thank you.”
And Jacob didn’t wait for me to find them. He touched his lips to mine and The Jacob Effect made all of my worries and anxiety about school, riding—everything—go away.
We sat on the bench for a few more minutes before Jacob looked at me. “Want to go to The Sweet Shoppe?” he asked. “I haven’t been there in forever. And by forever, I mean for two days.”
I giggled. “I’d love to.”
“Do you want to invite Brit?” Jacob asked as we stood. “I’d like to get to know your roommate.”
“That’s a great idea. I’m sure she’ll be up for it. Give me an hour to shower, change, and get ready and then we’ll meet you there. Okay?”
“Perfect. See you there.”