Page 100 of Jake's Angel

“What? No, I don’t mean we had sex. I mean, weliterallyjust slept in the bed together.” Her face falls.

“Yeah, I guess it would be an asshole move to try to have sex with you after how freaked out you were, but still. You were in his bed with him, and all the sexual tension between the two of you, I would’ve thought …” She shrugs, pursing her lips.

Letting out another long sigh, I sit up, hugging the pillow to my chest. “He was sweet to me, Sadie. He gave me his T-shirt to sleep in and made me tea. He laid with me and held me so I could feel safe while I slept. Caressing my skin, dragging his fingers through my hair. He wrapped himself around me when I was having a nightmare and whispered in my ear how he had me, and I was safe.” I chuckle. “For the first time in a long time, I actuallyfeltsafe. When he was caressing my skin, he found the scars.” Her eyes widen in shock. She’s the only person who’s ever seen them besides me. If I had to be seen in a bathing suit or there was a chance they could be seen in a changing room for any reason, I covered them with several layers of makeup. It wasn’t a perfect camouflage, but it was enough to make them not stand out.

“Dammit, Avery!” she shouts, standing up from the bed. “He obviously wants to protect you, so let him. Tell him who didthis and let him handle it for you.” She stops mid-rant when she notices my tears. “Shit. I’m sorry.” She whispers in my ear, wrapping her arms tightly around me in a warm embrace. “Shhhh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“It’s not that.” Pulling back, I wipe away my tears and rub my hand on the blankets.

“What is it then?”

“God, I feel stupid.” I throw my head back, glancing up at the ceiling, trying to regain some control of my emotions. “The whole time we talked, the way he was looking at me, and holding me, I guess I thought there was more going on between us, but I was wrong. He was tasked with taking care of me and protecting me. Coupled with his guilt for what happened in the past, he’s obligated to care. Or pretend to anyway.”

“You like him.” It’s not a question. “You’re starting to really like him, aren’t you?”

“Well, I was until this morning.”

“What did he do?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nope. Nothing.”

“And that’s a bad thing? I’m not following here, Aves. SPIT. IT. OUT.”

Burying my head in the pillow still crushed against my chest, I gather all my strength, because I know how stupid this is going to sound, but she’s like a dog with a bone. She won’t quit.

“We were talking this morning about tattoos. I’d gone into his shop the other day and talked to Jesper about covering up my scars.”

“The day you got your piercing.”

“Right. Well, Jake was not happy about me being there for some reason. Anyway, he was asking questions and when Iwouldn’t answer, he pinned me down on the couch and tickled me.”

“Jake wasplayingwith you?”

“When you say it that way, it sounds dirty?”

Cocking her brow, she asks, “Was it?”

I shove her shoulder. “No. Geez, Sadie.”

“But you wanted it to be?” She pins me with a glare, and I can’t stop the heat from slowly making its way up my face and ears from the embarrassment that I feel. “Oh my God. You wanted to do the deed with Jake?”

“No. No. I just. I don’t know. I felt like there was a connection there and maybe he was going to kiss me, but he didn’t. Instead, he became, I don’t know, indifferent. He pulled away, acting like nothing happened. I mean, one minute he was hot and panting in my face, the next he was distant, like a switch flipped. He started talking seriously about the cover up I want. When I told him I’d go to Big Rock when I was ready for the tattoo, he got all pissed. Demanding he would do it. The ass.”

Sadie’s grinning from ear to ear and I’m scared to ask what she’s thinking. For all I know, she could be plotting his demise. She’s scary like that sometimes.

“He pinned you down, but didn’t kiss you, but you wanted him to. Then when you mentioned letting one ofhisguys, who he trusts to work for him, doing your tattoo, he got mad?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“He wants to fuck you,” she shouts.

“No. I’m certain that’s not it.”

“It has to be it. You said he pinned you down and you thought he was going to kiss you, but then he pulled back and acted indifferent, right?” I nod. “Then he got pissed when you wanted someone else to do your tattoo?” Sadie’s face light up. “Oh, he wants you, but he’s pissed at himself because he wants you.”