Jake Undone
Page 21

“He’s really cute,” I said as she handed it to me. He was. With dark, longish hair under a Yankees cap and big blue eyes, I could see why she was feeling like that about him.”
She looked hopeless. “What am I gonna do?”
“Well, Skylar, I would say a wise old man, but in reality…a wise, pierced, tattooed man once told me, you can choose to stay in the present and let go of the fear or you can choose to engage it.”
“He sounds hot.”
“He is. The point is…you are worrying about what might happen instead of using this time to be with the person you care about. He wants to see you. What are you afraid he’ll think? You’re beautiful.” She was. Not many people can pull off bald, but she looked angelic.
“You want to see beautiful?” She scrolled through her phone and handed me another photo of Mitch and her. She had long flowing auburn hair, a little more meat on her bones and color in her cheeks, and the two of them looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch ad.
“You were gorgeous then with your hair, and you are gorgeous now without it. What can I do to make you see that? You need to let him see you.”
She seemed to be struggling with my suggestion but eventually shook her head in agreement. “Okay, then. I’ll need your help. I’ll need props.”
“What?”
“Props! For the Skylar Seymour Pretend I Don’t Have Cancer Extreme Makeover Edition. I have a wig, but it’s lame. I’ll need a really good one, like with real human hair and highlights like yours. It needs to be unbeweaveable. And I’ll need some makeup and chicken cutlets.”
“Chicken cutlets?”
“Those boob enhancers. I wouldn’t expect you to know what those are, Dolly Parton.”
I looked down at my breasts. She had a point.
“I need to look even better than before.”
“Even though I think you look perfect right now, I will do whatever it takes to make sure you feel confident enough to see him.”
Because I know what it feels like to be crazy for a guy who’s also your best friend.
I put my hand on her knee. “Give me a few days, okay? My roommate works in a salon downtown. I think she can hook me up with some human hair.”
“Good.”
What have I gotten myself into? Whatever it was, it invigorated me and gave me a sense of purpose. If it was possible to fall in love at first sight with this person, I think I might have.
“Skylar, how often to do those candy strippers…stripers…come to visit you?”
“They’d be more exciting if they were strippers. They come by a couple of times a week.”
“Well, I’m gonna talk to someone and figure out how to be your candy striper from now on.”
“Do you have a boyfriend, Nina?”
“No, but there is someone special who I really care about. He’s kind of like my Mitch. His name is Jake.”
“Have you screwed his brains out yet?”
“Skylar—”
“Well, have you?”
“No.”
“What are you waiting for? You’re old enough.”
“I know that. But things are complicated. We’re supposed to talk soon, so…”
Why was I getting into this?
She sat up eagerly. “Will you text me if something happens?”
“I…I guess.”
“Good.” She grabbed my phone and programmed her number into it.
I stared at her smooth head and her beaming eyes that I had just put a glimmer of hope back into and realized I hadn’t been lost at all earlier. Something had led me to exactly where I was supposed to end up. I just couldn’t figure out who was meant for whom.
CHAPTER 17
The next day, Sunday January 8th was my twenty-third birthday, but I hadn’t told anyone, not even Jake. Ryan knew when my birthday was somewhere in the back of his head. He certainly hadn’t given me any indication that he remembered this year. So, there would be no fanfare. I was planning on a quiet day (after yesterday’s events), trying to get all of my ducks in a row prior to Jake’s return from Boston. He said he would be coming in really late tonight and that we would be going out tomorrow and having that “talk.” My stomach was in knots. It had been two weeks since we had seen each other. I missed him something fierce.
I had arrived home after an early afternoon run to find a large gift-wrapped box sitting on my bed. I opened the small note card. If you thought we were going to forget your birthday, think again. Dinner. Tonight. 7pm. Eleni’s. Drinks are on Telly. Drunk Greek Circle Dancing. Wear Your Party Dress. Love, Tarah and Ryan
I clutched the card to my chest and giggled, secretly happy they figured it out. I immediately unwrapped the purple paisley wrapping paper. Inside the box, was a beautiful strapless, red mini dress. Tarah and I had gone shopping a few weeks ago, and I had tried this exact dress on but decided I couldn’t afford it.
“You’re gonna look so sexy in that, birthday girl.”
I turned around, and she was standing in the doorway.
“Thank you so much, but I can’t believe you spent that kind of money on me.”
Tarah walked into the room and hugged me. “It was nothing. I made some good tips yesterday. You can make it up to me by letting me make you over again tonight.”
“Why would you go through the trouble? It’s just Eleni’s.”
“It’s not just Eleni’s. It’s your birthday and open bar for us. You never know, you might meet some hot Greek down there, named Taso or Christos.”
“And we’ll fly away and live happily ever after in Mykonos.”
“See, now you’re talking!”
“Wearing my bikini, sippin’ a martini in Santorini.” I wiggled my h*ps as I said it and cracked myself up.
“That’s my girl! But seriously, trust me, you’re going to want to look good tonight. I’ve got this idea for your hair.”
“Speaking of hair, how’s that human hair wig search going?”
“Oh! I meant to tell you, I found the perfect one. It matches that picture you sent me of her with the hottie guy.”
Skylar had texted me the picture of her and her friend Mitch, so that I could use it to find a wig that matched her original hair.
“You do realize he’s fifteen…” I said.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Yeah, whatever. Anyway, it’s beautiful, long, auburn, just like in the photo. It should be delivered to the salon sometime in the next week.”
I couldn’t wait to tell Skylar when I went to visit her this Wednesday.
***
Tarah had really outdone herself. I wore my hair down and she created two thin braids, which she tied back over the top. It was very Roman. For makeup, she insisted I wear red lipstick to match my dress.
As I slipped into the strapless frock, I received a text from Skylar.
Have you tapped that yet?
I shook my head. That girl was sex crazy. I’d text her back later.
Ryan peeked his head into my room. “Almost ready?”
“Yeah…just give me a second.”
He stood in the doorway. “Tarah had to run to the drug store. She is gonna meet us downstairs. By the way, a friend of mine from work is going to join us for dinner. His name is Michael Hunt. I think you’ll like him.”
“What do you mean…you think I’ll like him?”
“I mean, he’s good looking, single and I told him about you.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This is why Tarah wanted to dress me up. This was a set up!
“Please tell me you didn’t plan this birthday dinner as a setup.”
“No, it’s not like that. It’s more like I planned this setup as a birthday dinner.”
“Ryan!”
“Come on, Troll. You haven’t been on one decent date since that preppy guy, and I really think you’ll get along with Michael.”
It was evident that Ryan had no clue about my feelings for Jake and Tarah had kept her word about not spilling to him. I couldn’t blame him for trying. Anyway, it was too late now. I’d have to make the best of it.
I shrugged. “Okay, but please don’t expect anything to come out of this. It’s just a friendly dinner.”
“Of course. Relax.”
When we made our way into Eleni’s, Telly greeted us at the door. “There’s the birthday girl!” he shouted.
“Hi, Telly. Thanks for the open bar tonight,” I said.
“Anything for my best customers.”
Ryan and I had just sat down when he waved over to a tall lean guy with short reddish hair who walked in the front door and made his way over to our table.
Ryan stood up, and they clasped hands. “Hey, Michael. Glad you could make it.” He turned to me. “Nina, this is Michael Hunt. Michael, this is Nina Kennedy.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Nina.” He smiled and reached his hand out.
“Same here.”
There was nothing wrong with him. He was cute enough, nice enough, but I knew immediately this wouldn’t go anywhere.
“So, Ryan’s told me a lot about you. He said you guys are like brother and sister.”
“We are.”
Maybe if I bored him to death, he would just leave.
Ryan waved at the door again, and I turned around to see Tarah clicking her heels toward our table.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to get money.” She bent down to kiss me on the cheek then looked at Michael and Ryan. “And who’s this?”
Was she really playing dumb?
“This is my co-worker Michael. Michael, this is my girlfriend, Tarah.”
“Nice to meet you, Michael.”
“Likewise,” Michael said getting up and extending his hand.
Tarah squinted her eyes at Ryan. I wondered why. Had she not known about this?
The four of us sat there like the perfect double date when Desiree approached our table looking smug. “Hi guys. What’ll it be?”
We placed our drink orders, and as she took the drink menus away, she looked at Ryan. “No Jake tonight?”
I wanted to throw up.
Ryan shook his head. “He’s in Boston.”
“Too bad,” Desiree said.
Go away. Shoo!
She walked away, and I could breathe again. Michael started making small talk with me, and I went along with it. Like I said, there was nothing wrong with him. I was going to have to get through this casual date whether I liked it or not.
When Ryan started a conversation with Michael about work, I whispered to Tarah. “So, now I know why you tried to get me all dolled up. Nice try but no cigar.”
She sighed. “Nina…I knew nothing about this.”
“Liar,” I whispered.
She looked over at the guys as if to make sure they weren’t listening. “I did want you to get dressed up for a guy tonight…but it wasn’t for this one. It was for—”
“Jake!” Ryan shouted.
I turned around to see Jake walking toward our table. It felt like my heart started beating again after a two week hiatus. He was dressed up, wearing a sexy navy button down shirt rolled up at the sleeves and dark jeans. His hair was slightly wet. He looked so incredibly hot. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin.
He was looking straight at me when he approached and said, “Sorry I’m late. Happy birthday, Nina.” I flinched when he moved in and kissed me on the cheek, the scent of his cologne now permanently invading my senses. Then, his eyes darted over to Michael and Ryan across the table. He took notice of the seating arrangement: Ryan across from Tarah and Michael across from me. There was an awkward silence.
I looked over at Jake who was now giving them a dirty look. He had figured out what he had walked in on.
Ryan spoke first. “This is our roommate, Jake. Jake, this is Michael Hunt, my co-worker.”
Jake reached out his hand. “Mike, is it? Mike Hunt?” Jake had a devious look on his face, and I knew immediately what he was doing.
Mike Hunt. My cunt.
No one said anything. Then, the shit show continued when Desiree walked over with our drinks. “Jakey…there you are. I thought they said you were in Boston.”
“Funny you should point that out, Des. Tarah had told me it was Nina’s birthday dinner, so I came home early to surprise her.” He looked at me. “Turns out, I was the one surprised.”
Oh…God. Did he think I planned this date?
He handed her his drink menu. “I’ll take a vodka straight, Des.”
I hated that he called her “Des” and wanted to rip my hair out.
“You got it,” she said, batting her lashes flirtatiously before trotting away.
Tarah stood up. “Jake, there is something upstairs I forgot to show you. It’s broken, and I don’t want to forget to tell you about it. Do you mind…before we order our food?”
He raised an eyebrow at her and glanced over at me. He looked upset, and I wanted to scream out in frustration. Then, he got up and followed her out the door.
Trying to regain some semblance of composure, I made small talk with Michael and sipped my white wine, which I really hoped started to kick in soon. He started asking me about my nursing aspirations. While I was answering his questions, all I could focus on was what Jake and Tarah were discussing upstairs.
When they returned to the restaurant, Jake sat back down next to me and downed the vodka that Desiree had brought for him, smacking the empty glass down on the table. He looked over at me and cracked a smile. There was no longer any anger lingering in his beautiful green eyes.
After we ordered our food, Michael continued asking me questions in an effort to get to know me. I stumbled on my words when Jake’s warm hand suddenly slipped under the table and onto my bare thigh. My breath hitched, and I froze as his hand moved under my dress. His thumb grazed the edge of my bikini line. Then, he squeezed my thigh and slid his hand forcefully down the length of it. My skin burned from the friction of his touch. He was staking his claim and my body was getting the message loud and clear. I was wet and so turned on that it felt like I was about to go insane.