*Mikayla*

I ended up having to Facebook message Lucy to pick me up and drive me back to the mall to get Mandy's car. She didn't ask questions. I didn't tell her anything.

When I get back to the house, I hear Jake and Julie in the back yard. When I look through the gate, I see her holding a baseball bat and him pitching b.a.l.l.s slowly at her, encouraging her while she laughs.

He's trying to make up for it.

Good. He should. He's an a.s.shole.

I'm laying in bed when I hear tapping on my window.

I get up and lift it open without saying a word and get back into bed.

Once I'm in bed and under the covers, I feel the bed dip next to me and hear him place something on my nightstand. My phone.

"I called Logan."

"Good."

"He didn't tell me anything though."

"Good."

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Have you quit being an a.s.shole?"

"Yes." He tries to get me to flip over so I can look at him. When I do he rests one hand on my leg and moves the hair out of my eyes with the other.

"I'm sorry, Kayla... for what I said about Megan, and the way I acted. I don't know what got over me. The thought of you and Logan, of anyone else... it just-"

"Jake, stop." I sit up so I can see him properly. "Logan saw me buying a pregnancy test and-" Jake's eyes bug out for a second before I a.s.sure him. "I'm not." I wave my hands in the air. "I just thought I was. I was late, and I was buying the tests, he saw me, I panicked. He took me to see his dad, he confirmed I wasn't. I had to pick up Julie from her friends, and he took me to get her because Mandy's car was still at the mall, Julie's friend lived a street over from his house, so he drove home to pick up his gear before he was going to drop us back off to the car. That's where you come in and act like an a.s.shole, a.s.shole."

He's silent. I continue.

"He was going to meet you at the cages after he dropped us off. He was just there for me, that's all." I pause for a minute. "Wait, he didn't tell you?"

Jake's shaking his head, taking it all in. "He said it wasn't his story to tell and if I wanted to know I had to hear it from you." He blows out a breath, puffing out his cheeks with the force of it. "f.u.c.k, Kayla. I really am an a.s.shole. I was a d.i.c.k to him and to you. And Julie, s.h.i.t, I scared the s.h.i.t out of her. Why didn't you tell me? Was that what last night was about?"

"Yeah, I didn't think about it until I was at the pharmacy with Julie, and then I wigged out and I didn't know what to do. I didn't tell you because I wanted to be sure first. I didn't know what I was going to do if... you know."

"So you're not. For sure? Like 100%?"

"Yeah, Jake." I nod my head. "I'm sure."

He breaths out a heavy sigh and we sit in silence for a long time.

"Can I stay with you tonight... please, Kayla?" It's barely a whisper.

I scoot across the bed and lift the covers. He takes his shirt off and gets in. We face each other. Holding on, not wanting to let go, not even for a second.

We're looking so intently into each others eyes, trying to see into each others souls.

Talking without speaking.

Feeling without touching.

"Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"It's just you. It's only ever been just you. It will always only ever be just you."

And then he kisses me. A quick kiss on the lips. But it has the pa.s.sion of a thousand kisses, and holds the power of a thousand promises.

"So much more than a lot," he says, before we fall asleep, the best way we can, in each others arms.

Chapter 27.

*Jake*

After that night of the pregnancy scare, or whatever it was, Kayla and I have been a little off. We still talk, and we're still close, but it's like, I don't know, like our planets aren't aligned or something.

I was an a.s.shole to her, and to Julie, and even to Logan. I apologized to him, and he gets it, but still, I feel like a d.i.c.k. I should have been there for her, instead, I went all neanderthal on her and f.u.c.ked it up.

I've just finished at the gym with the guys, they're all meeting up at some club tonight. One of those ones where you can get in at 18, Dylan's cousin or something is the bouncer so we'll be able to get drinks, no problem.

Obviously, they asked Kayla to come with. I don't know if she'll want to, but I know I'm not going without her.

"It's open," she yells out after I knock.

I walk into her room, she's lying in bed with her e-reader.

"Hey," I say shyly, not looking at her.

It's bad enough that things have been off between us but her lying in bed like this... I don't know that I can handle it.

"Whats up?" She hasn't taken her eyes of her book.

f.u.c.k, her and Lucy are book best friends, whatever the h.e.l.l that means.

I clear my throat, because truthfully, her in bed is making me nervous. "The guys are all going to this club tonight, they wanted to know if we'd come." It's said as a question.

"Jake, I don't really feel like it, you can totally go though." She puts her book down and looks at me.

I'm still standing by the door. I haven't moved closer to her. It's too d.a.m.n tempting.

"It's cool, honestly, I'd rather just stay with you." I tell her, because it's the truth.

She smiles a small smile. "I have like, two chapters of this book left, and then can we go?"

I smile and nod.

Then we're just looking at each other.

No one saying anything.

And I realize I should probably be going and leaving her to read, but I don't want to leave, because I'm a f.u.c.king creeper.

She must somehow know this because she rolls her eyes just slightly, and lifts the covers of the bed on one side.

It's an invitation.

And I'm sure as s.h.i.t going to accept.

I know a huge grin is smeared on my face, but I don't care.

I walk over to the bed, but then I realize I'm still in my gym gear and I smell like sweat covered a.s.shole.

"I think I should take a shower first," I tell her.

"Okay," she says, and continues to read her book.

I get in and out of the shower in 1.3 minutes flat. As I'm drying off I remember that I don't have any clothes.

s.h.i.t.

I can't get back in my sweat covered a.s.shole clothes, so I put the towel around my waist and think.

If I leave this room, I can go down and outside, then through the house to my room, but if my parents and Ju-ju are home then I have to explain why I'm stepping in from outside in nothing but a towel.

s.h.i.t.

I could climb out the window, jump the roofs, and hope that my window is open. This sounds like a better plan unless my neighbors see and call the cops because a fricken creeper is on the roof of the house in nothing but a towel.

I go for option A, surely it makes more sense.

I step out of the bathroom, in nothing but a towel and she automatically looks up at the sound. She does a double take when she sees me.

Her eyes go wide and her mouth opens a little. Her breathing catches and she starts to blush. I stand here for a few seconds. Internally, I'm f.u.c.king fist pumping the air celebrating.

Because I'm a douchebag.

When she finally looks away, we speak at the same time.

I say, "I don't have any-"

She says, "Top drawer of my dress-"

Then we laugh a small nervous laugh together.

I walk to her dresser and see my boxers and a plain white shirt. It's the one I gave her the first night she stayed with me.

While I dress, boxers under towel, shirt on, towel off, I see her eyeing me. When I'm done I look at her, but she looks away too quickly. She was watching me dress.

More internal fist pumping.

After I'm dressed, I crawl under the covers with her. It's warm from her body heat, and I'm a little cold. Okay, not really, but whatever excuse to be close to her.

She's back to her reading her book, facing the other way, when I try to get settled. I can see the red still coloring the tips of her ears.

I come in close to her and spoon her as she reads. She tenses on impact, but then relaxes a little. I don't even care that I'm hard and she can feel it. I just want to be near her.

Once my arms are around her, I hear a small moan escape her mouth. I'm hoping I didn't imagine it.

I must fall asleep holding her because I get woken by her turning in my arms. By the time I register what's happening and open my eyes, she's looking right at me, inches from my face.

*Mikayla*

G.o.d, he looks so fricken good it should be illegal.

He's got those tired sleepy eyes and he's blinking trying to focus. When he finally does, his lips turn up at the corners and his voice is scratchy. "Hey, beautiful," he says, and I swear to G.o.d I legit swoon.

I move to get out of bed and start getting ready.

"In a minute, just wait..." his arms tighten around me and his head is in the crook of my neck. My hands go around him, holding the back of his head.

The position is so intimate. Like we're more than this. Whatever it is we are. And for a second, I close my eyes and imagine that this could be our life.

But only for a second.

His breathing changes and a tiny moan escapes him, then his nose is running down my jaw towards my mouth and my breath catches.

His hand on my waist moves lower down the side of my body, to my hips, lower again, past my a.s.s and onto my bare thighs. I'm only wearing boy shorts and I don't think he knew because the second his fingers skim my skin, he sucks in a breath, holds it, then lets it out so fricken slowly it warms my neck.

Then, his hands tighten on my thigh and he brings it over his legs so he's hardness is touching me and I can tell how badly he wants me.