Page 97 of Jaked

Meeting Vince's gaze, I heard myself say, "I guess you'd call us old friends."

Vince gave a slow nod. "Good to know."

Behind me, I heard the balcony doors open. I turned to see Bianca stalk back inside. She looked at Vince and said, "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"What about your things?" he asked.

She turned to give me a dirty look. "IguessI'll have to get them tomorrow."

I couldn't help it. I felt myself smile.

"You don't have to look so smug," she said.

"Oh come on," I said. "You had to know he wouldn’t want you rummaging around here when he's gone. I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figurethatout."

"I wasn't going to 'rummage' anything of his," she said. "I was going to rummage mine."

I couldn’t help but wonder, what kind of stuff did she mean? Visions of lingerie and sex toys popped into my brain. Maybe their relationship had been more serious than Jake had implied.

Against my better judgment, I asked, "When you talked to Jake, did he say when he'd be back?"

Her lips curved into a slow smile. "So you don't know?"

"Never mind," I said. "Forget I asked."

"Oh, I wouldn’tdreamof it," she said. "Let's put it this way. He wasn't alone. So I wouldn't wait up if I were you."

Something in my stomach twisted. I'd feared as much. But then again, this was Bianca. She was probably lying. But what if she wasn't?

Still, somehow, I managed to suck it up and say, "It doesn't matter, because Jake and I are just friends."

Long after they left, that's what I kept repeating to myself over and over again. We were just friends. That's it. I had no claim on him.

I'm not sure what time it was when I crawled, half-asleep into the guest bed, but I knew it was late. Jake still hadn't returned, and after a certain point, it became pretty obvious he wasn't going to.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke, feeling parched and anxious. I sat up in bed and looked around. Moonlight was streaming in through the open blinds, and I tried to get my bearings as I pushed aside the covers.

I was still missing most of my clothes, so I had slept in panties and an oversized T-shirt that I'd found in the spare closet. Quietly, I crept out of bed and cracked open the bedroom door. I peeked around the corner and into the hall. The place looked dark and quiet, just like I'd left it.

Disappointment coursed through me. Either Jake had returned and gone straight to bed, or he was still gone. I tried to count my blessings. The silence might be unnerving, but it was a whole lot better than listening to more female screams of passion.

Unwilling to take any chances, I tiptoed toward the kitchen in search of a cold drink of water. I was just passing through the main living area when something caught my eye, a shadowed figure sitting on the sofa.

I stifled a gasp. "Jake?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's me."

I squinted into the darkness. "Why are you sitting there in the dark? Is, uh, anyone else here?"

"No."

Relief flooded through me. "So what are you doing?" I asked.

"Thinking."

"About what?"

His voice was soft in the quiet room. "You."