The Wager (12 page)

Char wiped a warm tear from her eye and tried to keep herself from making too much noise as she sniffled under the blanket.

It was pathetic, really.

She was crying over Jake Titus—again.

Only this time, he hadn’t been rude, just honest. It still hurt like hell. It still made her want to drown her sorrows in ice cream and have a good cry, not that any of that would fix anything.

Friend.

A good friend.

And he liked blondes.

She wasn’t sure why it hurt so much to get rejected again. Maybe it was because of the way he’d kissed her or how sweet he’d been to her today. Then again, it had been her birthday. He was just trying to be nice because it was quite possible, that underneath all that vanity and whorishness, Jake was actually a decent guy.

He just wasn’t
her
guy.

Careful not to make any noise, Char pulled her phone out from underneath the blankets and texted Kacey.

Excited to meet Jace!

There. Sent. She would move on, because if she didn’t she really would be the crazy cat lady, still waiting on Jake to open his damn eyes and proclaim his undying love. Her chances of that happening were probably just as good as Brad leaving Angelina for her.

With a sigh she set her alarm for six so she could get up in time to run back to her apartment and change for work. Alarm set, she tucked the phone back underneath the blankets and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

The sound of Maroon 5 jolted Char awake so abruptly that she almost fell off the bed. In fact, she totally would have except a warm muscular leg was pinning her to the mattress. Somehow, in the middle of the night, she’d thrashed all the covers off of her body and was now firmly planted underneath 185 pounds of lean male muscle.

Maybe she should just enjoy the moment since it would never happen again?

His breathing deepened. When Char tried to pull free, Jake’s arm snaked around her waist and pulled her firmly against his body.

With a moan he pressed his nose into her hair and sighed. Holy crap. Frantic, she looked around the room, then realized she still had her cell phone in her hand. One-handed she pressed a few icons on her screen and turned on the really annoying alarm clock that made people wake up screaming—you know, payback and all that. She pressed it and held it close to his ear.

The minute the alarm went off his eyes snapped open, but he didn’t move. Instead he stared directly into her eyes as if she was some sort of dream. His pupils dilated and his breathing picked up. Every muscle on top of her tensed. Char could swear she heard his heartbeat as he continued to stare at her.

And then, as if snapping himself out of his stupor, he jerked back and looked away. “Thanks for that wake up call. That didn’t make me want to murder you on the spot.”

“Anytime,” Char snorted. “You were sleeping like the dead.”

“I was warm.”

“You were using me as a blanket.” Char pointed out, standing.

“Women are the best kinds.” He turned over his shoulder and gave her a wink just as she threw a pillow at his head. Drat, he ducked.

“You’re a pig.”

“At least I’m not a tease,” he sang.

“What!” Char marched over to his side of the bed and poked him in the chest. “I’m the tease? At least I don’t run around kissing people saying it’s okay because it’s their birthday!” She made fake quotes in the air with her fingers and scowled.

“You liked it. Admit it. And you’re still a tease. At least I was honest about what I was doing. So I like kissing you? Sue me. I like kissing my grandma, too, doesn’t mean I’m going to—” His face contorted.

“No, don’t stop.” Char crossed her arms. “I really want to see where you were going to go with that one.”

“Oh shut up. It’s early and I’m horny and you’re taking your life into your own hands by even standing that close to me in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers.”

“So now I’m not a tease, I’m just available?”

He shrugged. “If the shoe fits—Cinderella.”

Low blow.

Seething, she made a move to slap him, but he caught her hand and pulled her onto the bed, then rolled on top of her. “Admit it. You were thinking the same thing. Oh look, man-whore of the century wants me; I’ll just have a little bit of my birthday cake early…”

His eyes took on a different color, almost as if he was angry. She tried to push against him, but Jake was like an immovable rock. Every single plane of his body felt like it was carved out of stone, but he was warm, so damn warm it was killing her slowly to even be touching him. He was singeing her to within an inch of her life.

“Fine,” she lied. “I just wanted one taste.”

His eyes flared with anger.

“Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it, too?”

Eyes wide, he swore under his breath and released her, rolling onto his back. “I’ll take you home.”

“What? No snappy retort?” Char asked innocently.

He was silent for a moment, then mumbled something about grandmothers and their manipulative ways before he whispered, “No. Nothing.”

“Fine.”

“Fine!” he yelled.

“Fine!” She pushed him back against the bed and ran toward the door to open it, but it opened before she could get her hands on it.

“Everything okay in here?” Kacey asked, peering around Char to give Jake the glare of death.

“Peachy,” Jake sang from the bed, still lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. “I’m friggin’ fantastic. Just waiting for Char to get ready to I can take her back to the city.”

Char pasted a smile on her face. “I’m just going to go wash some of the man-whore from my body and I’ll be ready to go. Some of us still have jobs to go to in the morning.”

“Heard that!” Jake yelled from the bed.

“I’m surprised you can hear anything at all after how loud you snore!” Char fired back and stormed out of the room.

Mad as hell, Jake continued to stare at the ceiling.

Something kicked his foot.

He refused to move.

“What did you do?” The mattress sunk as Kacey sat next to him. “Seriously.”

“Nothing,” Jake grumbled. “That’s the damn problem.”

“The problem is you didn’t do anything?”

“Right.”

“Are you drunk?”

“Why is that always the first thing people ask me? Have I really been acting like an alcoholic these past three years? Seriously?” He sat up and sighed.

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“No.”

“Seriously.” Kacey nudged him. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I think the tin man discovered he had a heart.”

“Was that before or after you didn’t do anything?”

“Both.” Jake rose from the bed and stretched. “Not that it matters, but I took the higher road and now we’re fighting again.”

Kacey shrugged. “Higher roads have better rewards.”

“Says the happily engaged woman.” Jake turned around and winked. “No offense, but I think I like the other road better.”

“Probably because you like easy.”

“Not true.”

“Um,” Kacey snorted, “very true.”

“Karma.” Jake pressed his lips together in a firm line. “For the first time I think I may actually want something that I know I have no chance in hell of getting, no chance of deserving or winning, and it just makes it that much worse.”

Kacey stood. “Why is it worse?”

“Remember when I gave you that turtle for Christmas?”

Kacey laughed. “Speedy? Yeah; best gift ever.”

“And you ended up setting him free in the pond because you said it was better that he be a turtle with his family?”

Kacey felt Jake’s forehead. “Seriously.” She whispered. “Are you on drugs?”

“No.” He swatted her hand away. “I’m trying to communicate.”

“Try harder because you’re freaking me out.”

“You love something, you let it go.” He swallowed and looked away.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Kacey pulled Jake in for a quick hug and kissed him on the cheek. “Since when have you ever backed down from a fight?”

Char came back in the room, interrupting their moment. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Jake called. “Be there in a minute.” Char walked out of the room, leaving it emptier than before. Which was ridiculous. Maybe he was just exhausted. Instead Jake shrugged at Kacey and answered. “I’m not backing out of the fight. I’m just choosing not to participate in it, especially when I know I don’t deserve to even participate, let alone win.”

Kacey kicked Travis awake. He was still snoring on the couch. Poor guy. He was going to be exhausted for their little flight home.

“What?” He jerked up and cursed. “Seriously? You kicked me? Why not wake me up with a kiss or sex or—”

“We have a problem.”

“There is no ‘we’.” Travis rubbed his eyes. “Only me. I have a problem. I slept on the damn couch. I have two kinks in my neck and if I’m not able to share the same bed with you soon I’m going to lose my damn mind.”

“Find your morals.” Kacey punched him in the leg, forcing him to move to a sitting position so she could grab a spot on the couch.

“Lost them. Don’t want to find them.” Travis yawned. “Why’d you wake me up again?”

“The problem.”

“Oh, right.” He sighed. “Do I get coffee first?”

“No,” she snapped. “It’s serious!”

“Holy shit. Are you—?”

“Why does everyone keep asking if I’m pregnant? How’s that even supposed to happen with you sleeping in a separate bed?”

Travis seemed to actually think about this.

Rolling her eyes, Kacey grabbed his hand. “Focus. I think something’s wrong with Jake.”

Travis snorted. “If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me—”

“Shut up. I’m serious! He actually looked sad! He was all depressed and—”

“Morning, Jake!” Travis called as Jake came bounding down the stairs.

“Yup.” Jake waved. “Char already in the car?”

Kacey nodded.

Jake licked his lips and headed for the door. The minute it clicked shut, Travis spoke. “Damn, I think something’s wrong with Jake.”

Reining in her withering patience, Kacey managed not to groan in frustration. “Like I said, we have a problem. What if he actually likes her?”

“Impossible,” Travis said. “The guy hasn’t been in a serious relationship, ever. I mean the closest he ever got was with you and we both know how that ended.”

Ignoring him, Kacey continued. “It just seems like he’s really upset over her. Did you say anything to him last night?”

Travis didn’t answer.

“Baby?”

Travis looked at his hands.

“Did you say something about Char?”

“I may have given him a little… warning.”

“Warning?” Kacey said. “What type of warning?”

“You know… one where I tell him to put on his big boy pants, stop eating where he shits, and leaving Char the hell alone.”

“And he listened to you?”

“Weird, right?” Travis smirked. “At any rate. We both know Jake better than anyone. He doesn’t like her; he just thinks he does because she’s probably the only girl that won’t toss up her skirts for him. Jace is better for her, I promise.”

“But—”

“Kace.” Travis grabbed her hand and kissed it. “Remember, if we lose, Grandma sings at our wedding. I guarantee that if you push Char into Jake’s hands, he’ll bang her and leave her just like every other notch on his bedpost.”

“Okay.” She slumped back against the couch.

“Baby.” Travis chuckled. “I know you have a big heart and want both of them to be happy, but there is no way that Jake’s turned over a new leaf that fast. No chance in hell. And you don’t want to see your best friend hurt like that, especially right before the wedding. Trust me, okay?”

“Okay, but if you’re wrong…” Kacey pulled her legs onto Travis’s lap. “No sex for a week.”

“You do realize we’re not even having sex now?”

“Once we’re married.”

“You’d withhold sex from your husband?”

“To win a wager?” Kacey winked. “Absolutely.”

“Heartless.”

“No.” Kacey kissed his cheek. “That would be Grandma. She’s the one who’s banned you to the couch.”

“I’m only listening to her because she bought a shock collar the other day.”

Kacey gave him a confused look.

“She doesn’t have a dog, Kace. She bought a collar. If I don’t listen, she may use it on me. I put nothing past that woman.”

“Kacey! Travis!” Grandma called from the back room. “Time for breakfast! I’m hungry!”

Groaning, Travis put his face in his hands. “Do you think she has a quiet button? Forget dying from lust. I’m going to go deaf.”

It was quiet for a second then, “Heard that!” From Grandma.

Travis wordlessly lifted his hands into the air in frustration, then got up off the couch. He held his hand out for Kacey and pulled her in for a hug. “Seriously, Kace, don’t worry about it. I promise. Jake’s just being Jake, okay?”

She nodded, but she wasn’t convinced. Because for the first time in years Jake actually looked… sad about the way that his night had gone. He looked anything but happy and, that was the thing: he’d never let a girl affect him like that before. Not even when she and he had been together. Which really made Kacey wonder if he was falling for her best friend.

“Can you drive faster?” Char asked, a bit annoyed that it was taking them so long to get back into the city. She had exactly forty minutes to get ready and be at the office.

“Sure. I’ll just get a speeding ticket,” Jake said.

“It’s not like you can’t afford it.”

“What is up with you?” He pulled into the carpool lane. “Everything was fine last night and then all of a sudden you’re a cold b—”

“If you value your life, you won’t finish that sentence.”

“Brat.” Jake grinned and sped past another car.

Char ignored his ridiculously flashy smile and looked out the window. “It’s fine; everything’s fine. I just have a lot to get done if I’m going to take all that time off from work for the wedding.”

They fell silent.

After a few minutes, Jake asked. “Is it something I did?”