Page 70 of Jaked

Chapter 26

I turned to stare up at him. "Huh?"

Around us, the crowd was still milling, music was still playing, and the Earth, as far as I knew, was still spinning. But for me, everything stood eerily still as I gazed up at him, watching as he looked down on me with a blazing intensity that sent a bolt of heat straight to my core.

He moved his head a fraction toward mine. "Don't think," he said. "Just do it."

And so I did. I stood on the toes of my high-heels and pressed my lips to his. His arms closed tight around me, gathering me close as our lips finally touched. Slowly, my lips moved against his, and his moved against mine, even as our bodies remained nearly motionless amidst the surrounding commotion.

When I flicked the tip of my tongue into his mouth, he gave an audible groan that made my heart race and my knees go weak. My eyes were shut, my pulse was hammering, and my head was spinning – right up until the moment I heard a male voice say, "Jenna? What the hell?"

Jenna? Oh crap. He meantme. And that voice was all too familiar. Scary familiar.

Pushing away from Jake, I whirled around, and there he was – Rango, the ex-boyfriend from hell. His dark spiky hair was styled in a fashionable disarray, and he wore the same kind of expensive, designer clothes he always wore. Beside him, stood Bianca, who looked like she'd give anything for a stick to beat me with.

Jake stepped forward to wrap an arm around my waist. He looked toward Rango and said, "Is there a problem?"

Rango's jaw tightened. He gave me a hard look.

"Hey," Jake said. "I asked the question, not her."

Glancing from Jake to Rango, I felt my temper rise. Was that kiss merely a setup? A sham? Was Jake marking me as his territory or something?

Had I just been metaphorically peed on?

Even amidst all the chaos, one question echoed louder in my brain than the rest. Had Jake known Rango was there? Was that the reason for that kiss? Earlier, Jake had claimed that tonight was for me. Wasthiswhat he meant?

My stomach, dancing with butterflies just a few seconds ago, was sinking like a stone and fast.

In front of me, Rango remained silent, but the look on his face was all too familiar. It was the same look I'd seen at the last party we'd attended as a couple. Throughout the night, he'd mostly kept his cool, until we'd gotten into his car anyway.

A half hour later, his Beamer was smashed, and I was hiding out in the back of an all-night coffee house, calling for a cab.

In front of me, Bianca's gaze narrowed. "I thought your name was Luna," she said.

"It is," I said. "Sort of. It's complicated."

She rolled her eyes. "If you say so."

Bianca was the least of my concerns. I looked from Rango to Jake as they sized each other up. The way it looked, my name wasn't the only thing complicated around here.

Jake was giving Rango a hard look. "You got something to say?" Jake asked.

Rango's gaze shifted to me. "So you're withhimnow?" he said.

Oh God, this was so embarrassing. Not that I cared one bit what Rango thought, but something about this whole scene was way too primitive, like I was a piece of meat being tossed from one guy to the next. And here, I wasn'treallywith either one of them.

"No," I told Rango in my calmest voice, "I'm not with anyone. But that doesn't mean I want to be with you."

He made a hard scoffing sound. "Like I asked."

Color flooded my face. Talk about humiliating.

Jake looked down at me. "Baby," he said. "You don't need to be nice to him." He turned to Rango. "What Luna'stryingto say is 'fuck off.'"

Rango's face froze.

I pushed away from Jake. "That'snotwhat I’m trying to say." Oh sure, the sentiment fit, but the last thing I needed was more trouble.