Jake Undone (15 page)

was too big.”

Why did I just tell him all of this? I must be drunk.

“Nina…I hope you don’t mind me being blunt.”

“I don’t mind.”

“This…
Spencer
…needs his eyes checked and his ass kicked. There is nothing wrong with your body…

not one thing. I hope you didn’t listen to him.”

Gulp.

“That’s the sad part. For a while, I did believe it. I realize in retrospect that he just got off on bringing

me down. At the time, though, I really did think I was fat and I was even thinner than I am now.”

“Nina—” He started to say something then stopped. “Never mind. Just know…that he was wrong,

okay?”

“Say what you were gonna say,” I said, downing more of the drink.

He slid his tongue ring between his teeth and looked away from me toward the stage when he said, “I

am not sure that I should.”

“Since when have you become tactful?”

He took a sip and replied while playing with his straw. “Since this conversation moved to tits and ass.”

I laughed a little louder than normal and suspected the alcohol was starting to take its toll…on both of

us. “Seriously, whatever you were going to say, I won’t be offended.”

He took another long sip from the bowl, licked his lips and said, “Okay…in that case, Nina, not just as

your friend, but as a man, I am telling you straight up that you have an amazing body. It’s perfect. And your

nimrod ex-boyfriend was right about one thing: you do kind of have a big ass.”

I spit out my drink. “Excuse me?”

He reached across and tapped my arm. “Let me finish. You kind of have a big ass…but it’s the most

spectacular ass I’ve ever seen. You have an hourglass shape and any man with a pulse knows that’s the

hottest kind there is. You’re beautiful, and what makes you even more attractive, is that you have absolutely

no fucking idea just how beautiful you really are.”

I gripped the seat of the booth, floored by those unexpected words that came out of his mouth.

He thinks I’m beautiful.

He thinks I have a big ass!

He thinks my ass is spectacular?

I wanted to tell him right then and there how I felt about him, that I thought
he
was the most beautiful human being on the planet. But the thoughts wouldn’t form into a coherent sentence and just came out as,

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes watching a bald guy and a woman who looked like his mother sing

On the Road Again
before I realized that my bladder was ready to burst.

“Where is the bathroom?”

“I think it’s down that hallway behind the stage.”

The room spun a little when I stood up. As I walked away, I wondered if he was staring at my butt. I

still couldn’t believe what he had just said to me. Oddly, it was the nicest compliment I had ever received.

The bathroom was dingy, the floor was sticky and there was only one working toilet. I had to go so

badly that I could have easily counted to a hundred while I peed and there would have still been more to

come. After I washed my hands, since the mirror only showed the waist up, I couldn’t help but jump a few

times to check out my rear. I wanted to see what he meant by “spectacular.” A woman walked in and looked

at me like I was nuts.

When I reentered the dining area and sat back down, Jake was gone from our booth and I assumed he

went to the men’s room. That is, until I turned to the stage and saw him standing there with a microphone

in his hand.

A bunch of girls at a table in the front started whistling at him and shouting things, like “Hey, hottie.” I

couldn’t quite make out everything they were saying, but this whole scenario suddenly made me nauseous.

The announcer asked, “What’s your name?”

“Spencer,” Jake said, tapping his hand over the mic.

Oh my God. What was he doing?

“What are you singing, Spencer?”

Jake whispered something to him and then spoke into the microphone. “This is a special song for Nina.

Please forgive me for being such an ass goblin.”

I looked around the room, covered my face in embarrassment and tears of laughter formed in my eyes.

The music started and Jake searched for me. As our eyes met, he bounced his head to the music and

flashed me a huge dimpled smile that made me want to rush the stage.

When he started to sing the beginning lyrics, the crowd went wild and several women started to get up

and dance near him. Other people were clapping along. He tapped his foot to the beat as he sang, and it

wasn’t half bad, either.

Everyone except me seemed to recognize the song. I didn’t get the relevance until he belted out a certain

line. Then, I got it. I completely got it…and began laughing hysterically.

I turned to the guy next to me. “What is this song called?”

“It’s
Fat Bottomed Girls
, by Queen.”

Jake’s eyes locked in on mine, and I shook my head at him. My face must have been red as a tomato.

He could see I was cracking up, and he tripped over one of the lines because he started laughing at my

reaction. He was rocking back and forth as he sang, looking at me the entire time.

I couldn’t blame those women for ogling him. He looked hot beyond words as his hips slowly swayed

side to side. I’d probably be right by the stage drooling over him along with them under different

circumstances. His green eyes shined under the lights, and the white shirt he wore under his blue plaid

button down clung to his chest, leaving little to the imagination. He always wore the sleeves rolled up to

show off the tattoos on his forearms.

When he finished the song, the crowd went wild, and I could see his forehead was glistening under the

hot lights. He was sweaty and hot as hell. Several women wanted a piece of him. I heard one yell, “You can

do whatever you want to this fat bottom.”

Ugh.

He started to make his way back to our booth when a couple of the girls sitting at that front table

stopped him. They were attractive and jealousy pumped through my veins as he politely made conversation

with them. One of them grabbed onto his shirt and slipped a piece of paper into the front pocket, causing

my head to throb. My drink started to come up on me as I reminded myself that this guy was going to break

my heart.

Jake interrupted the conversation after he noticed I was watching him. He walked away and cut one of

the girls off mid-sentence. When he sat back down in the booth, my heartbeat started to regulate again.

“You’re a popular guy,” I said.

He chuckled. “Well, you can’t sing a song like that and not expect to attract all the big-butt girls in the

house like a magnet.”

“Yeah, I noticed one of them slipped you her number.”

“Oh…yeah,” he said as he took the paper out of his pocket and threw it in the leftover flame from our

Poo Poo platter.

I feigned pity. “That’s a shame.”

He sighed sarcastically and flashed me a smile. “Isn’t it?”

“I guess there is only one fat-bottomed girl you’re leaving with?”

He winked. “Yeah, I have a feeling I’m taking you home tonight.”

Our waiter came by and collected the empty scorpion bowl and plate, replacing them with the bill and

two fortune cookies.

I started to take out my wallet when Jake said, “Put that back.”

“I’m paying my share.”

“Nina, put it back. I’ve got it. You don’t even work, and it was my idea to go out.”

I listened to him and returned my wallet into the purse. “Thank you.”

“Thank
you
. We need to get you loosened up and buzzed more often.”

“I think I loosened up
a lot
tonight.”

“Yeah…I think so, too.” He smiled.

I pointed to the cookies. “Aren’t you gonna open your fortune? Take the one facing you. That’s the one

meant for you. I’ll go first.”

I opened mine and read it out loud. “
When one door closes, another opens.”

I thought about how true that really was. All of the painful moments in my life have led me right here to

this amazing night with this amazing person. There was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be.

“Your turn,” I said.

Jake reached over, grabbed his cookie and opened it. “Big-butt girl make man smile.”

“No sir!”

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”

“What does it really say?”

He looked down and then up at me.
“Now is the time to make a move.”

Oh, man.

Even the fortune cookie was wondering what was taking him so long. I had to laugh inside at the irony.

“Interesting,” I said.

He let out a deep breath that I could feel from across the table. “It is…very interesting.”

He continued looking at me in a way that was giving me a vibe that he wanted more with me. This man

was going to drive me insane.

Then, he finally spoke. “Want to get going?”

“Sure,” I said.

***

We started to walk home, but it was pretty cold out, so when Jake noticed a cab approaching us, he

hailed it.

Sitting next to him in the backseat was the closest I had physically been to him all night.

At one point, the cab driver took a sharp right turn, and I fell right into Jake. Instead of moving back to

my spot, I stayed leaning against him and could feel his chest stiffen under me. He didn’t move as he

looked out the window.

I had lingered too long to turn away, so I just stayed with my ear on his chest and listened to his

heartbeat that was getting faster and faster, a rhythm I was pretty sure I had created. The heartbeat never

lies. That told me this was a black and white situation. Either he didn’t want me there at all, or he wanted

me there badly. I needed to find out which one it was soon before I completely lost my mind.

I closed my eyes and listened to him breathing. On the top of my head, I could feel his warm breath

that smelled liked alcohol. The close contact and the scent of his skin mixed with cologne was making me

wet. The booze in me and the pheromones in the air had made my usual want for him ten times stronger,

almost unbearable. I took my hand and put it on his chest, watching it rise and fall against the thunder of

his beating heart.

When the cab suddenly came to a screeching halt at our house, I reluctantly lifted myself off of him,

and he paid the driver as we exited the car.

“After you,” he said turning to me, his eyes glassy, as he opened the front door to the building.

“You just want to check out my spectacular ass,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood after having thrown

myself at him in the cab.

“You caught me,” he said as he walked up the stairs behind me.

When we entered the apartment, the living area was dark, but there was light coming from Tarah’s

room, and I was pretty sure she and Ryan were both in there.

Drunk off him, I stopped in front of my bedroom door and desperately wished he would follow me in.

“Thanks again for tonight, Jake. It was just what I needed.”

“I’m really glad you had a good time.” He stood there with his hands in his pockets for a few seconds

before saying, “Good night.”

And with that, he walked past me back to his room, closing the door.

I wouldn’t get the answer to my black and white question until a chance encounter in the bathroom later

that night.

CHAPTER 12

Needless to say, I wasn’t able to sleep at all. After changing into a pair of cotton boy shorts and a tank

top, I just sat up in bed, shaking my foot nervously, trying to figure out what his deal was.

He flat out told me I was beautiful and made me feel like I was the only woman in that entire karaoke

bar, but when given the opportunity to make a move, he wouldn’t budge. Even the damn fortune cookie

was frustrated.

The alcohol was still making its way through me. I pushed off my covers and marched to the bathroom,

noticing from under the closed door that the light was still on in his room.

When I entered the bathroom, Jake’s bare chest smacked me in the face.

“Whoa! Are you okay?” he asked as he rubbed his calloused thumb over my forehead. There was still a

hint of alcohol on his breath. His scent and the quick contact of his chest against my breasts made me

feeble.

“Yeah…I’m fine. Sorry, I didn’t think to check if you were in here. The light in your room was on, so I

assumed you were in there.”

He leaned against the sink and crossed his arms. “What are you still doing up?”

“I can’t sleep, so I came in here to pee.”

He moved away fast from the sink. “Oh…well, I should probably let you do that.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Right,” he said before walking out and closing the door.

I sat down to pee, but even though I had to go so badly, nothing would come out because I was still

focusing on him.

After running the water for about twenty seconds, I was finally able to go since the streaming sound

helped me relax.

When I left the bathroom, I saw that Jake had left his bedroom door wide open, and I took that as a

silent invitation to enter.

It was one in the morning, and he was sitting on his bed with his laptop. He closed it when he noticed

me at the doorway. I walked toward him and sat at the end of his bed. He was still shirtless and wearing a

pair of navy blue sweatpants that hung low displaying the top of his gray boxer briefs.

He sat up straighter. “How was your pee?”

“Fantastic.”

“Good to hear.” His eyes wandered to my chest, causing my nipples to harden.