Page 100 of Work It Out
“And here I thought we’d bonded.” Jake shook his head. “How quickly the bromance fades.”
Through the closed door, Blaine pointed two fingers at his eyes, swiveled them to Jake, then back again in the classicI’m-watching-youmove and strode toward the building.
“Is it weird that I totally want to do you in here just to screw with him? Well, that and you look incredible, and I missed you like crazy.”
“What are you doing here?” As greetings went, it wasn’t her best, but come on. The last time she’d seen his face it’d been attached to another woman.
The wind kicked up, catching a piece of her hair and whapping her in the face with it. Jake caught the lock and wrapped it around his fingertip, his thumb rubbing over the strands as if memorizing their softness. When he looked up again, his eyes sparkled silver in the glow of the Christmas lights adorning the peaks and ridges of the gym’s facade. “You’re here. Where else would I be?”
Oh, I don’t know. Sucking face with Blondie McLonglegs?
She was 90 percent sure she only snarked that in her head, but as he so often did, Jake divined her thoughts with ease. “It was a screen test, cupcake. I would’ve told you about it, but you weren’t answering my calls.” No censure tinged his voice, not even a whiff of smart-ass. “I’m an actor. Sometimes that’ll mean kissing other women. It used to be something I considered a perk. You ruined that for me, you know. I think you owe me a new perk. Like, maybe every time I have to kiss some hideous hag actress, you should sex me up for hours to erase the traumatic memories.”
Her balled-up fist ached to plant itself in his smug face. “Damn it, Jake.” Why did everything sound so simple, so manageable when he said it, but so complicated in her heart?
“Ooookay.” He slowly unclenched her fingers and tangled them with his own. “Some couples swear by the angry sex route. Like anytime I have to touch another woman, you go all territorial and tie me up, reassert your claim. Others say you’ve got to treat your partner like royalty for a couple of days, so they know where your heart is. I’m down for whatever makes you happy, cupcake. No sacrifice is too great. I could tie you down and—”
“But it’s her!” Rayah shouted.
“And she’s not you!” Jake shot back. The muscle in his cheek flexed. “Don’t you get it, Rayah? You may hate your name, but you are my sunshine. You make everything brighter. I knew it the first time you scowled at me and the world lit up like never before. I don’t want anybody but you. If you’re mad that I didn’t follow you to Indianapolis, I get that. I wanted to, but I had to settle a few things in California. Then I only had a few days to—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Rayah plopped one hand over his mouth. “You were going to come to Indy?”
Thunderclouds darkened his gray eyes. “What the hell kind of question is that? Of course I was coming. The production company insisted on a screen test ASAP. I told them I could be there that day, but I couldn’t stay in town. I was going to knock that out and head straight to you. Then Shawn and your asshole father—”
She closed her eyes. “Oh, God. What did he do now?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “Between Blaine and me, I think he finally got the message. You’re the strongest woman I know. You don’t need anyone’s protection. But you have it, Rayah. You have a family here, any one of whom will go to the mat for you without question. Though I do worry about Blaine. He seems so chill on the surface, but he’s got a serious dark side to him.”
He didn’t know that half of it.
Or maybe he did.
“What did you guys do?” she demanded.
Jake pulled his phone from his pocket. Tapping at the screen, he said, “After I fired Shawn for that stunt with the pictures and that asinine statement about us, I—”
“You really fired your agent?”
His expression screamed,Come the fuck on. “Uh, yeah. About five seconds after I saw that article. But the next day I got an email from your dad.” He told her about the pictures and what her father had threatened to do, that Shawn had been the one to come up with the idiotic blackmail plan, and how Blaine had come to California to help him explain in graphic detail what kind of hell would rain down on anyone who messed with her ever again.
“Blaine hates California.” She stared at him slack-jawed. “Like Professor Umbridge– level hates it.”
Even in the freezing night air, his half smile melted her heart in seconds. He slapped a palm to his chest. “A Harry Potter reference? Be still my heart.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know, cupcake.” He rubbed his stomach. “Believe me, I know how much he hates Cali, but he loves you more.” He placed his phone in her hand, his Instagram on the screen. “I should’ve talked to you about it in advance. I would’ve if…” If she hadn’t gone totally AWOL.
She read through his latest posts. The first was a shirtless pic she kind of hated to share with the world because she knew it would go in an untold number of spank banks. She would’ve preferred to keep his body all to herself. The caption made her chuckle. It was just so him. But as she continued to scroll, her chest got tighter and her heart raced faster.
He’d told the world about his condition, probably ruining his chance at his action hero dreams. The decision might’ve had something to do with money, but it wasn’t the point. She was. He was willing to tank his career if it meant keeping her safe from her father.
The last collage knocked the breath out of her. And that was before she read the caption.
This, my friends, is what love looks like. Fall for someone badass enough to carry you when you stumble, strong enough to let you do the same, then be brave enough—love hard enough—to celebrate her strength. If she has a pet pig, put a ring on it.
A startled laugh bubbled out of her chest, the kind of effervescent joy that couldn’t be contained. That was her Jake summed up in a few lines. He could speak from his heart in a way that would’ve made her green with envy if he didn’t so regularly use it to make her love him more. Yet, even when he was laying himself bare and making her cry with beautiful words, he always, always made her laugh.
