You Mean Something: Woods Lake #2 - Jesse & Lexie - Woods Lake

The books in the Woods Lake series is a series of connected standalone novels with recurring characters. Each book gives a complete story with HEA for the couple. Some scenes and stories occur in multiple books. When this happens, the story is told from a different character's perspective in each book. Jesse - 28; mechanic; self-proclaimed "not a relationship guy"; others describe him as "a fun for a weekend guy, not a relationship guy."Lexie - 22; art teacher; recently out of a relationship and has sworn off dating and men. One night, Jesse saves Lexie from having to spend time with her sister's boring friends. After less than an hour of hanging out and catching up, he realizes that he doesn't want her to go and finds a way to spend time with her the next day. After finding out that they both like pizza, poker, swimming, and video games, they decide to be friends. When Lexie's ex shows up, and she needs a place to stay, Jesse offers his guestroom for a week until he knows her apartment is safe to return to. By the end of the week, Jesse may not want Lexie to leave, but he's not sure she would want to stay. Can a guy who's never committed to anything more than a fun weekend or two weekends, at most, become boyfriend material? He's never wanted to try, but for Lexie, he's willing to and hopes that she considers him more than just a distraction from the drama in her life. *****"I was always the weird art girl that never fit in because I'm super shy, would rather being reading or painting, and there were exactly zero art classes offered all through school.""Since when are you shy?""Since forever.""But you're talking to me and telling me everything.""I've literally known you my entire life. It's different.".*****."I'm a total nerd Jesse. Backyard BBQs, pool hangouts, poker, or video games. That's more my speed.""If you tell me you know how to cook, you might just change my mind about my opinions on relationships. I love barbecues, pool hangouts, poker, and I'm a video game nerd." She squinted her eyes together a bit. "What's that face?"*****"I'm a firm believer in what you see is what you get and with me you get someone to hang out and do things with and have the freedom to walk away anytime because I'm not looking for a commitment." I reached across the table and touched her hand. "I don't know what he did Lexie, but if he let you walk away or pushed you away, it's his loss."*****"Where have you been all my life? You play video games. You can kick my ass swimming. You like poker. You like pizza and beer and you eat brownies from the pan.""All of that describes a friend. That's where I've been, in the friend zone.: *****As soon as we pulled into the driveway, I saw her. She was sketching on the back porch. She saw me and ran for me. She jumped into my arms. I lifted her by her thighs and guided her to wrap her legs around my waist. "I was so worried about you. What happened? Are you okay?""I'm fine. We didn't lay hands on him. We had a discussion. We escorted him to his truck. I pinned him against his truck and made a couple of things very clear to him. First, he kept saying that you were his, and I told him that he lost the right to call you his girl when you were no longer his only. He asked how long you'd been sleeping with me. I didn't correct him that you weren't because it's none of his business. I told him you could choose what you do with your body, and it's none of his business. I also made it clear that women don't belong to men in the way he thinks they do. The last thing I told him is you're mine. In the sense that you're the person I take care of and protect. You are mine."