He was grinning again. It was infectious.
I found myself grinning back, and I teased, “Let’s face it…”
He waited for me.
“You’ll probably break up in six months.”
He held up some fingers. “Three. My bet is three.”
“Of course. I should’ve known.”
“And we’ll be together again in six months.”
I pretended to hit myself on the forehead. “What was I thinking?”
He pretended to be disappointed, shaking his head and making a disapproving tsk sound in his throat. “I don’t know. What am I going to do with you? It’s like we don’t even know each other.”
That warranted my first real laugh in a long time, a really long time. It felt good. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For”—letting me relax—“making me think the world isn’t going to end.”
“You could make it up to me, you know.”
My eyebrow arched up again, and I waited, my grin still in place. “Oh, yeah?”
“Next time you do an interview, let it slip that I am the greatest stud you’ve had in bed. My cred will go through the roof. Tara will either be the most envied girl, or I’ll be the luckiest guy, depending on if we’re on a break at that time or not.”
My insides were aching from the laughter. I shook my head, pressing a hand to one of my ribs. “We have to stop joking. I’m beginning to hurt.”
“Eh.” Jake winked at me, his tone unforgiving. “You’re the one who called me. You should’ve known.”
“I should’ve?”
“Yeah.” He made one of those disapproving tsks again. “I mean, especially the last time you saw me…two days ago? If you didn’t know that we’d be rolling in giggles here, you’re just stupid.”
I barked out a loud laugh. I wasn’t even trying to hold it in now. No other cars were in the parking lot, and it was early. Any morning joggers or walkers would be distracted by their headphones or dogs.
Jake had been furious with me the last time I saw him. And now, seeing him like this. He was with Tara, and he was happy. And this was how we were at our best, as friends.
Once my laughter faded, I asked, “You’re not mad at me?”
“No.” He shook his head, growing somber with me. “My ego was wounded. Hell, my ego took a nosedive underground once I saw you with him, but no, I’m not mad anymore. I wasn’t mad before either. I was madder at myself. I knew there was a guy, remember?”
Kian’s voice came to me again. “A guy knows. He knew someone else was in the picture.”
Jake began to pick at his steering wheel. “I mean, that was our whole thing. We were going to be accountability partners.”
“I know, but—” He wanted more. I knew it. He knew it.
“I had no reason to be mad,” he said with more force. He wanted to make sure I got it.
Holding his gaze, I nodded. “Thank you.”
He nodded. “Yeah, no problem. But since we’re here, what did the douche do? You didn’t call me to hash it out at six in the morning.”
Gone was the teasing and precious camaraderie. It was down to business now.
I pressed my lips together. “He used me.”
“Bullshit.”
I frowned, my eyebrows bunching forward. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t that, not from him. “Huh?”
“I call bullshit. That’s the biggest piece of stinking diarrhea I’ve ever heard. Who told you that?”
“His sister.”
“Is she a royal bitch or something? A spoiled princess or something like that?”
I tried to figure out if he was joking. I didn’t think he was.
Shifting in my seat, I crossed my arms over my chest. I uncrossed them then and picked at the imaginary lint on the bottom of the sweatshirt. My head folded down. What did it mean that both Snark and Jake weren’t buying it?
“I mean it, Jo…rdan—whatever name you want me to call you. I meant what I said. I saw how he looked at you in the apartment. And I saw how he looked at me. I was competition. He was jealous of me. Since that was the first time I saw him up and close, I’m inclined to think he was jealous about the time I got to spend with you. There was no agenda from him.
“Whatever was told to you that got you running out of his place at this unholy early hour, it’s bullshit. Go back, and listen to him. The guy’s almost obsessed with you. I could tell. Even though I’m not on the same level as him, I could’ve been, if we had been given a real shot. If I’d killed someone for you and then found you again later, I could have felt what he was feeling for you. I don’t know for sure what it is, but it’s real.”
I…couldn’t talk. My throat closed up. My fingers curled up into balls, and I only sat there, feeling a small seed of hope taking root.