Page 78 of Hyde and Seek

In that seemingly inconsequential moment, I knew things would never be the same. Whatever distance I’d tried to keep, whatever piece of me I’d tried to hold back, was pointless. Jake wasn’t going to let it happen and I was tired of fighting it.

There were no guarantees in life, but there were sure as hell regrets. It was time to strap in, hold on tight, and enjoy the ride.

With that decision made, I dropped slowly to my knees.

Jake’s eyes darkened and went hooded as he watched me.

All plans of retribution were long forgotten.

Instead, I unzipped his pants and took him in my mouth simply because I could.

*******

Along with giving me his credit card, Jake suggested I check out a boutique, Ella’s, since he knew the owner. I was grateful for the idea because I didn’t know enough about the event to know what to wear.

When I’d asked him whether it was cocktail or more formal, Jake’s answer had been a shrug since he had no clue what the difference was.

It wasn’t helpful.

After lunch with Ray, I opened my wallet to pay.

“That ratfink!” When I realized that everyone was looking at us, I lowered my voice before continuing. “He’s a thief, that’s what he is. I mean, can you be a thief if you’re replacing money with money? Either way, he’s a sneaky thief.”

“What’re you talking about?” Ray asked.

“This is what I’m talking about.” I held up Jake’s card and a scrap of paper. Those two things, along with my license, were all that was left in my wallet.

“‘Nice try, sweets,’” Ray read out loud. “Yeah, I’m still not following. Is that Jake’s card?”

“Yeah, he insisted he pay for lunch and my dress. I tried to fight him on it, but he… well, he can be pretty persuasive.” I blushed, making it obvious how he’d persuaded me.

She nodded knowingly. “I’m sure he can be.”

“I figured I would compromise and use his card for something, but I’d pay for everything else. As you can see, that thief bastard stole my card!” I slammed my wallet onto the table, drawing glares from those around us.

“How did he know?”

“‘Cause he always does. He swears he doesn’t know my secrets, but he lies. And steals!” I added, shaking my nearly empty wallet for emphasis.

“I don’t know if that’s sweet, hilarious, or scary.”

“Yeah, you basically just summed up Jake,” I muttered as I took out my phone to text him. “I thought I finally got one past him.”

Me:Huh, I feel like my wallet is a little lighter.

Jake:Funny, I feel like mine is a fuckuva lot heavier.

Me:That’s what you get for taking my stuff.

Jake:I was just gonna grab your cards ‘cause I know you. But your wallet was such a fuckin’ mess I couldn’t find them, so I took everythin’. You carry around a lot of shit, babe.

Me:No I don’t! It’s all necessities.

Jake:All these frequent shopper cards for coffee places are necessities?

Me:Hey, I’m close to a free coffee on a lot of those.

Jake:Half of these places went out of business long ago.

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