The Contest

by Dawn L. Chiletz

  Jake had just finished a practice set when he saw Madi coming toward him. She smiled and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Jake sighed and mentally punched his dick for stirring at the sight of her.

  “Is this a bad time?” she asked.

  He jumped down off the stage. “Nope, all done. What did you think?”

  Her smile faded as she spoke. “I think it’s wonderful, but…”

  “But…?” he questioned.

  “I noticed ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ isn’t on the set list.”

  Jake smiled, “No… it’s not.”

  Madi pouted and Jake had to laugh.

  “It’s set in stone, Mads. Maybe next tour.”

  “I won’t be here for the ‘next tour’. That’s not fair.” She slouched her shoulders in defeat and it made him grin.

  “Maybe I’ll sing it to you again.”

  “Really?” Madi became suddenly excited and Jake instantly thought it was a bad idea. Seeing her so enthusiastic… What if she got emotional again? That could be a one way ticket to his bedroom and he couldn’t go there.

  “We’ll see,” he quickly turned away.

  She continued after him as he tried to walk away from her. “I wanted to remind you that Saturday the twenty third you have to make an appearance at the ‘Hopes for Tomorrow’ charity gala. You’re their speaker remember?”

  He turned back around as he pulled out his phone and looked at the calendar. “Is that this Saturday?”

  “Yes,” she said expectantly.

  “Could you call Stacey and get my tux sent here by Friday? I’ll need a car and a couple of security guards to go with.”

  She nodded. “Do you want to hire more security? Word is spreading that you’re practicing here and Dave told me sometimes there are fans outside the building when he arrives.”

  “I’ll speak to Caleb about that myself, but thank you for letting me know.” He immediately dreaded the conversation of security with him. Caleb had been overanxious ever since more threatening letters had arrived. Maybe hiring more security was a good idea and would put his mind at ease. He turned back away from Madi again but she came along side of him.

  “Chinese tonight? Maybe a ‘Call of Duty’ rematch?”

  He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to relax with her tonight and before his filter kicked in, he smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.”

  She reached up and kissed his cheek before she walked away and he suddenly wanted to kick something. How could he spend another night next to her and not kiss her again? It was getting more and more difficult to resist her. He turned to look back at her and she was coming toward him again. “Son of a b…”

  She handed him her work phone. “You have a call. It’s Alex about Ang’s house. He’s says it’s good to go and wants to know if you want to stop by and make sure it’s up to par.”

  “Thanks.” He took the phone and Madi walked away. Jake suddenly got nervous. If Ang’s house was ready, would Madi be leaving to go with her? That would solve his issues with getting too close to her, but… Then he realized that being away from her would be one hundred times worse than controlling himself around her. What had happened to the Jake he used to know?

  Chapter 33

  Madi

  She paced the kitchen floor. Murphy looked up at her curiously. “Murphy, why is your daddy taking Christine Paul with him tonight? Does he like her?”

  Murphy sat and stared at her, wagging his tail. Apparently he didn’t have an answer either. When Madi had heard Jake on the phone talking to her and laughing, she’d wanted to puke. Had she been wrong about him? She would have gone with him if he wanted her to, but he didn’t even ask. Against her better judgment, Madi had googled her. She was divorced and totally available. There were rumors online that she and Jake were dating. Madi had scoffed. He spent all his nights at work or with her. If he was dating anyone, her name was Madi Ryan.

  Jake had been a perfect gentleman since the night of dinner with his parents. He had made no attempts to come too close and he almost seemed to run away whenever she touched him. Maybe the other night was a mistake. Maybe she was wrong to think things would work out between them. She could feel her blood boil when she thought of Christine Paul with her arm wrapped around Jake. Would Jake even come home tonight? Madi continued to pace until she heard Jake’s bedroom door open.

  Madi gaped at him. She immediately felt wet just by looking at him. He was freaking gorgeous. He walked out of the room fixing his cufflinks. He was wearing the double-breasted black tux with a straight black tie and black vest underneath. It fit him like a glove. His hair was perfectly coiffed and he had shaved, but only enough to give him a sexy, dirty boy look. He smiled at Madi as he walked toward her and she almost passed out.

  “Well, what do you think?”

  “I thought you were going to dress up,” Madi said with a look of boredom.

  Jake laughed and fiddled with his tie.

  “Here, let me help you.” Madi came up to him and started to straighten his tie when she smelled him. Dear God in heaven… It took everything in her power to not fall at his feet, cling to his leg and beg him to stay home with her tonight.

  Jake glared at her as she fixed his tie. “Something wrong, Madi?” he said with a smirk.

  She rolled her eyes. “You know what’s wrong.”

  “No, I don’t think I do.”

  Madi sighed and patted his tie into place. “You look handsome, Jake, as usual.”

  Jake furrowed his brows as he studied her briefly before a cocky smile crossed his lips. “So you think Christine will like it then?”

  Did he really just say that to her? What the hell? Why would Madi worry if Christine thought he looked good? Screw Christine. She hated her. Madi put her hands on her hips as she spoke. “I don’t really know her taste, Jake. Why don’t you ask her if she thinks you’re lickable. I really don’t give a damn.”

  Jake put his hands in the air and backed away from her. “Someone is feisty tonight!”

  Madi turned away to hide her embarrassment. She took a steadying breath. She wanted to punch him. Then she wanted to grab him and stick her tongue down his throat. No, she wanted to kick him in the balls.

  “Maybe you should get out tonight, Madi.” She turned to look at him. “You seem uptight, like you have a lot of built up tension. I know I can’t wait for a release.” Jake raised his eyebrows to her as he said it. What was he trying to imply?

  Madi glared at him. He knew she was jealous and he was purposely rubbing it in. What a gigantic dick. She was pissed. The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, “Fuck you, Jake.” She stomped off to her room and slammed the door. As she leaned against it, the regret crept in. She almost turned to apologize but then she felt the anger rise back to the surface. They most definitely were not dating. Let him go with Christine Paul. If that was the kind of woman he wanted then she hoped he screwed her until his dick fell off. Madi looked for her phone and realized it was on the kitchen counter. She was definitely not going back out to the kitchen with Jake still there. She leaned on the door and scooted to the floor.

  There was a small part of her that wanted to cry, but a bigger part of her wanted to punch a hole in the wall. She looked up from the floor and saw the teddy bear Jake had sent to her in college poking his head out from the pillow. He was mocking her. She could hear him in his teddy bear voice: “You got a teddy bear but Christine gets his dick.” Madi got up and ran to the bear. She picked up the little shit and threw him up against the wall. Then she kicked him. He was still laughing at her so she picked him up and attempted to rip his head off. Damn her lack of strength! She opened up a drawer and shoved him inside under her panties. “No, you little fuck! You don’t deserve to be near my panties!” She picked him up and drop kicked him into the back of her closet. Then she closed the door and started to half laugh, half cry. Fuck Jake Morgan and all his games. Fuck this stupid contest and this stupid job. Fuck LA.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!!

  Madi heard the door close and felt relief mixed with intense pain. She opened the door and moped her way to the kitchen. She picked up her phone and called Kendra. No answer. She didn’t leave a message. She looked down at her phone and contemplated who she could call. She punched in a number.

  “Hi sweetie! How are you tonight?”

  “Ang, I need someone to get me out of this place!”

  *****

  Two hours later she was all dressed up and sitting in a karaoke lounge with Ang, her sister Michelle, Curtis, Dave, Trey, Annie, Caleb and his wife Diane. Thank God for Ang, Madi thought to herself. Ang had an inkling that Madi would be upset tonight so she had already planned a night out just in case. The bouncer almost didn’t let her in, but Trey was a buddy of his and he promised she wouldn’t drink so they let her slide by. Madi felt like she was ten at the time, but she was so grateful to get out of the house she didn’t care anymore. She wore a tight, short black skirt with black heels, complements of Kendra, and a deep set v-neck, tight blue shirt. Curtis had said “Whoa!” when he saw her and her confidence level went through the roof. She had straightened her hair and done her make-up the way Kendra showed her. When they arrived, they looked at the menu. Madi was pleased to see they had chicken salad. She ordered her usual with honey mustard dressing on the side. It felt good to be normal, as normal as she could be. Screw Jake Morgan if he didn’t want her. She didn’t need him or any man.

  *****

  Hours went by and Madi was having a great time. She had almost forgotten about Jake, although a couple of times, Ang would catch her looking off in a daze and would reel her back in. At one point, after a drink or two, Ang semi-slurred to Madi, “I told him he should ask you to go. Sometimes he just doesn’t use his brain, Madi. Don’t be sad!”

  Madi tried to smile. It was almost midnight and people had been singing all night. Trey and Annie had done a duet, which made the bar go crazy. They were both so good together. They had just started playing regular music when some guy came up to Madi and asked her to dance. He was cute enough, but Madi wasn’t sure she wanted to. Ang egged her on, telling her to go and have fun, so she gave in. He was nice, his name was Nick. Madi almost slapped him when he got a little handsy, but as she turned to tell him off, she saw Jake come into the bar. What was he doing here? Screw him! She got closer to Nick and started dancing a little sexier. She had her hands in the air and was laughing and swaying. She glanced toward the table and saw Jake removing his tie and staring at her. Ang was saying something to him but he wouldn’t take his eyes off of her. Nick reached in and pulled Madi’s hips toward him and Madi let him. She looked at Jake and gave him a mean-spirited smile. She turned to face Nick and wondered how Jake liked her little dance. Then she got her answer…

  Jake

  Jake had made his speech to the crowd at “Hopes for Tomorrow”. He was the founder and the charity meant a great deal to him. The charity helped people deal with life after abuse. When he had become famous, it was one of the first things he had done. He sat eating dinner and was listening to Christine carry on about some nonsense when he started remembering his conversation with Madi in the car after they left his parents’. At the time, he had considered that maybe it was not his fault, but once he got home, the guilt crept back in. He knew if he had put Gina’s needs first she never would have gotten hurt. He was selfish. He reminded himself that it was the reason he needed to continue to push Madi away. He didn’t want to hurt her through his selfishness like he did everyone else.

  At the house, he had felt that making her think he was interested in Christine would be the right thing to do. He thought he could make her see he wasn’t a good person. He had succeeded, but it didn’t make him feel better. He could see the hurt look in Madi’s eyes. No matter what he did, he hurt her. He imagined her ignoring him for the next month and it made him feel sick. He wanted to tell her he was crazy about her, but he knew it would never work between them and she would still end up hurt, probably more in the end. Eventually she would see he was selfish and arrogant. He would put work before her and she would hate him.

  He’d felt his phone buzz in his pocket; it was Ang.

  Ang: At Hursch’s Lounge with everyone. You should stop by!

  Jake: Who’s everyone?

  Ang: Me, Michelle, Trey, Annie, Caleb, Diane, Dave, Curtis and of course Madi.

  Madi? She had gone out after all. Why had she been in a bar? She was underage. What had Curtis been doing there? Jake had suddenly had an image of Curtis feeding Madi drinks. He had been able to feel his heart start to pound. Who would protect her? Did she like Curtis?

  “Jake, dance with me?” Christine had smiled at him.

  Jake had felt obligated. He’d really wanted to run like hell to this bar, but he couldn’t leave just yet.

  *****

  By the time he got there, it was after midnight. He walked through the doors and that’s when he saw her. She was on the dance floor. She was smiling and happy. She looked beautiful and he instantly wanted to be next to her. He walked toward Ang and everyone cheered when they saw him. After saying hello, he started to remove his tie when he saw some guy put his hands on Madi’s ass. Ang started talking to him but he didn’t hear what she said. He was sure Madi would get angry but she didn’t. Who in the hell was this guy and why was he touching his girlfriend? Jake caught himself. Did he just think of Madi as his? Madi let him pull her hips into him and then he saw her glare at him. Couldn’t she see how pissed he was? She smiled at him in a way that showed him she knew he was upset and didn’t care. He’d seen enough. He made his way to the dance floor and tapped the guy on the shoulder.

  “You need to take your hands off of her.”

  Madi turned and looked at him with a gaping mouth.

  “Dude, she’s with me. Back off!” the boy said.

  Jake got angrier. “No, DUDE, she’s not with you and you need to take your fucking hands off of her before I make you.”

  Madi could see Jake was furious and ready to fight the guy. She put herself in front of Jake and told the guy she was sorry.

  The guy threw his hands in the air and said something nasty as he walked away.

  “Who in the hell do you think you are, Jake? You can’t just come in here and tell people not to touch me. I’m not yours! I’m not with you and I never will be.”

  Her words stung. He put his hands in the air. “I’m sorry, okay?”

  “Sorry for what? For ruining my chances with a guy who was actually willing to show me that he liked me?”

  “Madi…” he rolled his head back.

  She placed her hands on her hips and took a defensive pose. “Why don’t you go back to your date with Christine and leave me alone.”

  Jake grabbed Madi and pulled her into him. “I don’t want to be with her.”

  She pushed back on his chest. “Well, that’s not the way you made it sound earlier. Was she not as good of a lay as you had hoped?”

  “I didn’t fuck her, Madi.” Jake rolled his eyes.

  “Awww… well I’m so sorry you didn’t get off tonight, but I’m not your consolation prize. The contest is over.” She was pissed. Jake had never seen her so angry before. He should have questioned why she was so angry, but he knew why. She had every right to be. He was an ass.

  He calmed down as he took a step toward her and whispered in her ear, “I don’t want Christine and I never did.”

  Madi backed away and glared at him. “Who do you want? If it’s not Christine, then who?”

  Jake ran his hands through his hair and Madi started to walk away from him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. His face crinkled as he said, “Things aren’t as simple as you make them out to be.”

  “I don’t want to hear it.” She put her hand up to him as he had done so many times before. “I’m sick to death of your games. You could have asked me to go with you tonight. Am I not good enough to be seen with you in public? Am I just a little house bunny that
you toy with and eat with and sing to? I know I’m no Christine, Jake, but dammit! Am I just not good enough for you?”

  “Stop! Is that what you think?” Jake could feel himself getting really angry. He was glad the music was so loud because he was about to shout. “I wanted you to go with me tonight. It had absolutely nothing to do with you not being good enough for me. I’m not toying with you. I didn’t want you to come with me because of the paparazzi. They would take your photo with me and your picture would be everywhere. People would start looking for you on the Internet. Crazy people would start saying nasty things about you and the press would start following you around. Do you think I want that for you? I took Christine because she’s already in the public eye and I knew it wouldn’t affect her. She doesn’t care what people say about her, but I do care what they say about you.”