Page 74 of Jaked

At the memory of that kiss, my stomach clenched. It had felt so real. To me, ithadbeen real. Achingly real. But apparently, it had been real only to me. How pathetic was that?

"No," Jake said. "The plan was to piss him off."

"Why?" I asked.

"Why else? So he'd swing at me."

I squinted up at him. "Why?'

Jake shrugged. "So I could kick his ass."

"You can't be serious."

"Why not?" he asked. "Yousaidyou were cool with it, as long as Rango swung first. Remember?"

"No, I don't remember. And if even I did say that, it's not what I meant."

"Eh, close enough," Jake said.

"No, it's not," I said. "That's insane."

He said nothing.

"Well?" I said.

"Well what?" he asked.

I looked around. "So all of this? The dress? The champagne?" I swallowed. "That kiss? It was all about Rango?" I looked toward the entryway. Somehow, I summoned up a hollow laugh. "Well, I guess that's done. Time to head out, huh?"

All along, I had known tonight wasn't real. But somehow, I'd been telling myself I could enjoy this little game of make-believe and walk away when the story ended. God, I'd been such a fool.

His voice softened. "Luna, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said. "It's just time to go, right?"

"You wanna go?" he said. "We'll go. But we don't have to."

"Look," I said, "I know you were trying to do me a favor, and I appreciate it. Honestly." I sighed. "But, I dunno, I guess it's been a long day."

When disappointment darkened his face, I realized something incredibly stupid. He didn'twantto leave, and I couldn't exactly blame him. I looked around. Music was still playing, the crowd was still pulsing, and if I wasn't mistaken, those two scantily clad girls near the archway were just waiting to make their move.

"Oh. Sorry," I said. "You're probably not ready to go, are you?" I summoned up what I hoped was a cheery smile. "That's okay." I glanced around. "I'll just, uh, call a cab or something."

"You think I'm gonna let you leave alone?"

"Sure. Why not?" I bit my lip. Except, where would I go? Did Jakereallywant me hanging around his place when he wasn't there? Or worse, what if later on, he brought home one of those girls? Orbothof those girls?

Last night, I'd listened to him with Maddie. That had been bad enough. If I had realized it was Jake eliciting those sounds, it would have been a million times worse.

And what about tonight? How awful would that be? When I had just kissed him? When I'd felt his lips pressed to mine? When I'd felt him hold me close? When I'd allowed myself to believe he was actually kissing me back?

Suddenly, my lips felt cold and dry, just like my thoughts. Again, I glanced toward the entrance.

"You okay?" Jake said.

"Sure, I'm fine."

His eyebrows furrowed. He pulled out his phone and started tapping at the screen.