Page 64 of Chain Reaction

Jake’s heart pounded in his throat.

So Raven was seeing someone?

He shouldn’t be surprised.

Maybe it wasn’t surprise he felt. It was more like devastation.

No, that wasn’t the right word either.

He had no right to be upset about Raven seeing someone else. He’d blown his chance with her.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about all his regrets.

CHAPTER 30

Raven showered, then threw on some sweatpants and her favorite sweatshirt. She craved comfort. If she had a chocolate cake right now, she’d eat a huge slice. Maybe even the whole cake.

So it was a good thing there was no cake here.

Though it was late, her mind raced too much for her to sleep. She had more things to investigate.

She grabbed her laptop and headed back into the living room, where she found Jake sitting on the couch looking at his phone. He’d changed into some black sweats and a white T-shirt.

Her throat went dry at the sight of him. She forced herself to look away, to not dwell on the fact he was still the most handsome man she’d ever seen.

Jake stood when she walked in the room.

“At ease,” she joked, trying to break the tension she felt inside her.

He cracked a half-hearted smile.

The light moment was nice in the shadow of all the heavy things they were dealing with.

He nodded to a plate on the coffee table. “I made you a sandwich. You need to eat.”

She glanced at the sandwich, cut neatly into two triangles. “You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.”

“Thank you.” She grabbed it, realizing she was hungry. “Did I miss anything?”

Raven lowered herself into an oversized chair near him and crossed her legs. She placed her laptop on the table beside her, ready to grab when she was ready to do some research.

“Not that I’ve heard.”

She nodded, expecting that would be the answer. Then she took a bite of her turkey on wheat. “This is good. Thank you again.”

“Of course.”

She didn’t want to admit it, but it felt good to have someone watching out for her. She’d been on her own for a long time, used to doing things for herself. She’d almost forgotten what it was like to have someone paying attention to her.

She ate a few more bites before grabbing her laptop. Something had been nagging her, something she wanted to check out more.

“What are you doing?” Jake narrowed his eyes in curiosity as he watched her.

“I need to do more research.”

“I see.”