Page 24 of Jake Forever
Chapter 10
Behind me, I heard Trey call out, "Hey Jake! We're up to five million." He paused. "Wait. Scratch that.Sixmillion. Man, this thing's on fire." He laughed. "It must've been the nipple."
I whirled around. "Will you just stop already?"
Trey, who'd been heading toward us, stopped in mid-stride. Sometime in the last minute, he'd pulled out his cell phone, probably to check his video stats. He shoved the phone back into his pocket and said, "Stop what?"
Through gritted teeth, I said, "Stop talking about that stupid nipple." I threw up my hands. "We've all got 'em. What's the big deal?"
Trey's eyebrows furrowed. "Uh, is that a for-real question?"
Was it? I didn't know. What Ididknow was that I was like five seconds away from making a total fool of myself. I couldn’t let that happen, because, let's face it, I'd done that plenty already, especially where Jake was concerned.
It was a habit I was trying to break, like checking my daily horoscope, which by the way, had told me that I was going to have a really crappy day today. Surprise, surprise. So far, that darn thing had been right.
I was still facing Trey. Behind me, I felt strong arms wrap themselves around my torso. Jake's arms. Those wonderful, tattooed arms of splendor. The arms that not too long ago, had held me all night long and cradled me tight against his naked chest.
I heard his voice, soft in my ear. "Baby, what's wrong?"
I didn't know what to say. I was confused and angry, but pathetically unsure if any of that anger was justified. And his embrace felt good. So good. So perfect. So exactly what I needed.
Suddenly, I couldn’t help it. I turned around and sagged against him. When his arms closed tighter, I heard myself sigh. "I think I was fired today."
He chuckled. "Again?"
I pulled back to look up at him. "It's not funny."
Behind me, I heard Trey say, "Actually, it is. Kind of a bummer though, because I've got this bet with your brothers."
I turned around. "What?"
"Yeah." Trey moved closer, and was now standing within arm's reach. "If you'd kept that job like two weeks longer, I'd have won forty bucks."
I stared at him. What on Earth was he talking about? A bet? With my brothers? And what the hell? Were they bettingforme? Or against me?
Trey once again pulled out his cell phone. He swiped a finger across its screen. When he found what he was looking for, he frowned. "Aw man, that sucks."
I gave a confused shake of my head. "What sucks?"
Trey was still frowning. "Jake's got tomorrow. Damn, what are the odds?"
I froze. What didthatmean? My own boyfriend was betting that I'd get fired? Tomorrow? Well, that was nice.
Trey, looking past me, told Jake, "Guess you win."
I was vaguely aware that Jake's arms were still around me, holding me from behind. But suddenly, his arms didn't feel comforting. They felt like a giant, mocking prison. Was everyone laughing at me?
I yanked myself out of his embrace and turned around to face him. "What does he mean?" I asked. "You bet on me to fail?"
On top of everything else, it felt like just another kick to the teeth. I was one of four kids. All my life, I'd been the carefree one, the fun one, the one who didn't worry about tomorrow, because good times today were far more important.
But that kind of attitude had been a total disaster, especially on the job front. So, for the last few months, I'd been trying like crazy to turn over a new leaf.
Unfortunately, my timing stunk, because this happened to fall around the same time that Jake had roared back into my life.
His life was crazy, so my life was crazy. And then, there were my brothers, crazy times two. And Trey? Well, he wasn't quite crazy, but he wasn't exactly grounded either.
All of a sudden, I was feeling like the only sane person around. The sensation was oddly foreign and in truth, kind of scary.
