Page 65 of Jaked

As I looked up at him, the noise surrounding us faded to oblivion. Everything else disappeared until we were the only two in the world. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't seem to pull my gaze away. He lowered his head. I raised mine.

And then, Bianca's shrill voice shattered the spell. "Here," she said, thrusting a gold-embossed certificate between us.

Startled, I shook off the trance and tried to look like I didn't feel like strangling her. 

Frowning, Jake looked down at the certificate. He didn't take it. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

She nudged her way between us and looked up at him. "A sponsor award."

His eyebrows furrowed. "From who?"

"The museum."

"Youkeep it," he said.

"But it's important," she said. "Look." She pointed to a scribbled signature at the bottom. "It's signed by the governor."

"So?" Jake said. "I didn't vote for the guy."

With an irritated sigh, she looked down at the certificate. "Should I get it framed or what?"

"Fuck if I care," he said.

"Is that a 'no'?" she said. "Or a 'yes'?"

"It's a 'get that thing out of my face before I wipe my ass with it,'" Jake said.

She pursed her lips. "You don't have to be so crude about it."

He looked at her with stony expression. "But Iamcrude," he said. "Get over it."

"Alright, fine." She made a "whatever" motion with her free hand. "I'll handle it. As usual." She turned and flounced away.

Watching her go, I heard myself laugh. Sometime in the last minute, the anger had evaporated. Probably, Bianca's interruption had saved me from making a fool of myself. I turned to meet Jake's gaze. I froze.Hewasn't laughing.

"You wanna share the joke?" he asked.

"Oh come on," I said. "It's funny."

"That's one opinion."

"Seriously," I said, "you don't think they'dreallygive you a certificate without the frame?" I looked around. "For an event like this? Trust me, somewhere in this building, there's a nice frame with your name on it." I leaned toward him and said in a low, dramatic whisper. "Shall we search for it?"

He didn't crack a smile. "Screw the frame," he said.

"Oh come on," I said. "Aren't you curious where it is?"

"No. She interrupted us."

And it was a good thing too. I'd been almost ready to throw myself at him. Probably, I owed Bianca a framed certificate of her own. What I needed now was a distraction. I gazed out over crowded museum. "Do you want to look around?" I asked.

"Is that whatyouwant?" he asked.

Well, it was either that or pounce on him. I felt myself nod. "Yup," I said. "Definitely."

Wordlessly, he took my arm and led me through the crowd. I'd never been an art-lover. And from the looks of it, neither was Jake. Still, as we strolled, I found myself getting lost in the experience. Together, we stopped to gaze at paintings, sculptures, and pottery from civilizations I'd never even heard of.

The music, the crowd, the energy, it all should've been distracting. But somehow, it wasn't. In a way, all of the surrounding commotion just made it easier to get lost with him, to enjoy the scenery without feeling conspicuous.