JAKE’S POV
We were talking and laughing and it felt – nice. It felt nice. I couldn’t remember the last time I simply hung around a girl for their company rather than the s*x that was to come after. Clara Hansen could be funny when she was not scared and she made me want to see her smile as I told jokes. Most of the jokes were the silly things my best friend and beta, Mason, used to say when we hung out. Mason was either always being sarcastic or a goofball with more jokes than anything else.
“ – and that’s why the tortoise has a cracked shell, “ I concluded with a flourish and she giggled. It was a tall tale that Mason had reworded until it sounded more ridiculous than factual and I only ever used it when I was trying to seduce a shy girl, something I had only ever done once in my li
