Always with You (WIth You Trilogy) (10 page)

“See, when I spank you, I know you like it even if you pretend not to,” he smirked, his eyes burning again. He leaned in even
closer, his lips against my ear. “Because you get really wet when I do it.”

“Oh,” I squeaked.

“Oh indeed,” he winked, putting his pin into the machine whilst I studiously avoided meeting the eye of the elderly cashier in case her hearing aide was super effective.

“So, yes, maybe we’ll do it again one day. But it’s not high on my priorities. I want you to be happy.”

“You make me happy, Jason,” I said honestly, smiling at him because he refused to let me carry any of the bags.

His face lit up at my words and I knew he’d needed to hear them. For a confident guy, he didn’t seem to realise how perfect he was to me. In every way.

If Xander noticed my burning cheeks, he was kind enough not to say anything as we started walking back to Jake’s house.

Friday, 12th July 2013

It was nice to see Ben and Jason so happy. It was obvious that Jason was over the moon with pride for his younger brother. Considering the life they’d come from, it was incredible that the two of them had carved such promising futures for themselves.

“I really love seeing them together,” Hannah smiled at me.

The two of us w
ere sipping on white wine, side-by-side in Jake’s kitchen, and spying on our boyfriends in the lounge.

“Me too,” I grinned. “I’m so proud of them. I can’t believe how well they’ve done for themselves.”

“I know,” Hannah smiled a sad smile.

I suspected she felt the same as I did about their history.

“Does Ben ever talk about it? Their past I mean.” I felt devious asking her but I knew Jason hadn’t really accepted what they’d been through and still struggled with it. I needed all the information I could get to help him when he finally felt able to open up to me more.

“Not so much,” Hannah admitted awkwardly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” I winced guiltily. “I just sometimes feel that Jason really ought to talk to somebody about it all.”

“I know,” Hannah sighed. “They don’t seem to talk to each other about it
much either. They mostly pretend it never happened.”

“I thought maybe it would help if they could find their Mum,” I said tentatively. It felt wrong to be talking about this behind their backs.

Hannah’s head shot up and she looked straight at me. “Their Mum?” She frowned in confusion. “Ben never really talks about her.”

“Oh,” I frowned. “I guess he was a bit younger when she left.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “I guess they’ll talk about it when they’re ready to,” she smiled. “For now, it’s just nice to see them together.”

“It is,” I smiled back. They were always so cheerful when the two of them were together. I loved it.

“Jelly!” Jake slurred, stumbling into the kitchen.

“Jake,” I
laughed at his lack of coordination. He was so wasted he was practically cross-eyed.

“Are you drunk?” He demanded, pointing his finger at me accusatively whilst swaying slightly.

“No, but you are,” I teased.

“Good,” he nodded several times, seemingly amused by the movement.

I reached out and steadied his head. “Have you eaten anything, Jake?”

He seemed a little disorientated.

“If you were drunk, Ian would kick my ass,” Jake mumbled, his eyes back on me instead of rolling around in his head.

“Ian’s away, remember?” I reminded him, glancing over at Xander who see
med to think drunken Jake was amusing, judging by his smirk. I mouthed an apology to Hannah and helped Jake down to sitting whilst he continued nodding.

“Jake, I really think you should eat something,” I insisted.
I swear to God, he doesn’t care about his diabetes.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” He snapped angrily. “You don’t get to fucking tell me what to do.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled quickly, very aware Jake sounded like he used to when we were kids.

“Sure you are,” he snarled. “Just shut the fuck up, Jelly.”

I kept quiet and ignored the desire to snap back at him. I knew silence was the best tactic when Jake was like this. Xander was looking less amused now and I knew Jason wouldn’t put up with Jake acting like a giant dick either. The last thing I wanted was for anyone to get in a fight and ruin Ben’s night.

I pushed up from the floor gently and tried to walk away but Jake showed incredible agility for somebody so wasted and grabbed my wrist before I could
leave.

“Where you going?” H
e slurred.

“Bathroom,” I mumbled, subtly trying to ease his fingers away from my wrist but he just gripped me tighter.

“Fine,” he snarled, letting me go so he could shove past me and get another beer.

I breathed a sigh of relief and went into the lounge where Jason and Ben were sat.

“Hey, beautiful,” Jason smiled when he saw me approach.

“Hey, handsome,” I smiled back. “Having fun?”

“Yeah,” he flashed his handsome, million-dollar smile and my heart fluttered happily in my chest. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I’ve been chatting with Hannah,” I grinned.
“But Jake seems a little wasted and I’m a bit worried. Have you seen him eating anything?”

“No,” Jason shook his head. “He’s a big boy, little squirrel. He has nobody but himself to blame if he wakes up with a killer hangover.

“I guess,” I frowned. Maybe Jason was right. I probably shouldn’t have tried to interfere. If he wanted to drink himself silly, then that was his prerogative.

I sat down on Jason’s lap for a while and snuggled into his chest. I listened to him chat happily with Ben about the jobs he was applying for before remembering that I’d been on my way to the bathroom.

I excused myself from Jason’s lap, pressing a hot kiss to his lips because I couldn’t help myself. Jason’s eyes lit up and he grinned back at me and I knew he’d enjoyed it as much as I had. My lips were still tingling from the lingering electricity between us as I made my way to the bathroom. I dodged past a few happily drunken students, friends of Ben and Hannah’s, before closing the door behind me. I was still on a buzz from our kiss when I came out again.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Jake demanded, shoving me against the wall.

“Ow! Jake!” I cried out, putting my arms out with my hands against his chest to keep some distance between us.

“I asked you a question, Jelly,” Jake growled.

I hate it when he’s like this.
Why did he always have to be so mean to me? It was like we were kids again and he still couldn’t stand the sight of me.

“In the bathroom,” I mumbled, eyes on my feet.

“You said that fifteen minutes ago,” he brushed my hands off his chest and took a step closer to me.

“Why are you mad at me?” I asked, noticing Xander approaching us from the end of the hallway.

This is not good
. Xander would try and stop Jake from having a go at me and Jake wouldn’t back off because he was too stubborn.

“You lied to me!” He snarled.

“I didn’t,” I said quickly. “Jake, let’s talk about this in your room.” My eyes darted in Xander’s direction in a desperate plea for Jake to listen to me.

For once, fate was in my favour and Jake pulled me further down the hallway and into his bedroom.

“I didn’t lie, Jake,” I repeated, putting a few steps between us now that the door was closed. “I stopped to talk to Jason on my way.” I hated that I had to explain myself to him but there was no point arguing with a drunk.

“Of course you did,” Jake rolled his eyes and sat back on his bed.

“Jake, why are you mad at me?” I demanded, still keeping a distance. It may have been the alcohol talking, and not Jake, but that didn’t mean I had to put up with it.

He ignored me and lay back on his bed.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Jake,” I insisted. He didn’t reply so I continued. “At least I didn’t think I had. I’m sorry if I did.” I figured it was best to keep him calm for now.

“Of course not,” Jake frowned. “Little Miss Fucking Perfect never does anything wrong.”

What the hell? Where is this coming from?
“Jake, I-”

“You always were the fucking favourite,” he continued, looking at me with something close to hatred in his
glassy eyes.

I felt sick to have him looking at me that way. I really didn’t understand what was happening.

“They’re always fucking hugging you and buying you stuff and all they ever do is beat the shit out of me.”

“Jake, that’s not true,” I said, completely taken aback. “They love you.”

“Bullshit. With you, Craig’s all soft as fuck. He doesn’t even speak to me unless it’s to give me shit about my diabetes.”

I frowned. That wasn’t true. Yes, I was closer to Craig than any of the others, but Jake had a better relationship with Karl than I did. He used to play football with Jake all the time as a reward for doing his homework.

“He only nags you about your diabetes because he cares, Jake. He doesn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Bullshit, they just want to tell me what to do,” he growled.

I took a step closer because I could see how upset he was and I just wanted to hug him and make him feel better. He was so wrong. They loved us. They were tough on us but they definitely loved us. I was trying to figure out how to explain that to my very drunken brother when my blood turned cold.

Jake’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went deadly still. I rushed to his side and started freaking out because he
was unresponsive.
Crap, what do I do?
I panicked completely and lost all sense of reason.
Think, Jamie-Lea, think
. The doctors had taught us how to help Jake if this happened and Craig made sure we were reminded regularly.
God, I wish Craig was here right now
. I’d never had to deal with Jake when he had a hypo before.

I started digging around
in Jake’s bedside table trying to find his medicine. I grabbed my phone from my pocket and dialled Craig whilst I rummaged around in his drawers and ignored the large stash of condoms.
Got it.
I pulled his medicine tin out from the back and yanked it open.
Please answer, please answer
, I begged silently that Craig could take my call.

I left
a frantic message on his answerphone begging him to call me back whilst I prepared Jake’s glycogen.
I can do this
. I hated the idea of jabbing a needle in his skin but seeing his pale pallor and unmoving state drove home how much danger he was in.

“Xander!” I screamed out. I knew he was nearby and I needed somebody here. I needed help.

I stabbed the needle into Jake just as Xander burst into the room looking as alert and serious as always.

“He’s diabetic,” I blurted, freaking out because I wasn’t sure how long it was meant to take for Jake to come round.

“Have you called an ambulance?” Xander asked calmly. He checked Jake’s pulse and then rolled him onto his side and put him in the recovery position.

“No… I…” I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that. I was wracking my brains trying to remember what the doctors had said.

Jake moaned and my eyes shot to him. He was coming to and I almost cried with relief. I rushed to his side just as my phone started ringing. Craig sounded almost as panicked as me when I answered.

“Sorry,” I apologised. “Jake had a bad hypo and I freaked out.”

“What happened?” Craig asked, obviously concerned.

“He passed out,” I said, my voice trembling as I watched Xander talking gently to a semi-aware Jake.

“Did you give him a shot?” Craig asked.

“Yeah, he… I think he’s awake now.”

Craig had me put him on speakerphone and walked me through checking Jake out and taking his blood sugar readings. When he was sure Jake was okay and we wouldn’t need to call an ambulance, he ordered me down to the kitchen to find Jake some food.

“He’s so fucking stupid,” Craig growled once I’d taken him off speaker. “He should know better by now.”

“He was drunk and upset,” I said, feeling the need to defend him, especially after what he’d just told me. It was obvious he was feeling left out and pushed aside by the others. I knew how that felt and never wanted him to feel that way. He was such a firecracker that I guess I never stopped to consider how he felt about the way the family was.

“Upset about what?” Craig asked, his voice softening somewhat.

“Not really my place to say,” I answered awkwardly. “What sort of food should I give him?” I searched through their fridge.

“Nothing fatty, get him some fruit juice or something. Maybe a couple of slices of bread if he’s up for it. Might help sober him up a bit too.”

I took the food back up to his room, relieved to see that Jake was sat up on his bed. I hung up the call with Craig, promising to call him if I needed help. I was so glad he’d called back. I might have lost it completely otherwise.

Jason was in the room and Xander was explaining what had happened
with the fewest possible words. I offered Jake the juice and he took it without protest, not meeting my eyes. He ate the bread slowly, still not making eye contact with any of us.

“Is he okay?” Jason asked me, studying Jake nervously from by the door.

“I think so,” I whispered. “Is it okay if I stay in here with Jake tonight?” I looked up at the two of them, hoping neither of them would mind.

“Of course, little squirrel,” Jason kissed my forehead gently. “I’ll go back with Ben and crash on the sofa there.”

“Jake already showed me where the spare room is,” Xander nodded. “You need anything, text me.”

I smiled appreciatively, particularly grateful that Xander had dropped the asshole routine for now. I gave him a quick hug which he returned awkwardly but I needed to show him I was grateful that he’d come running when he heard me scream.