“Prove it,” I said, turning back to Jake. I nodded my head in the direction of the groupie, who was looking way too excited behind the counter. “You have a nice, probably barely legal girl over there who looks eager.”
Jake didn’t even look in her direction. “I don’t have to go over there.”
“Oh really now?”
“She’ll come to me,” Jake said, and I felt a stab of annoyance at his cockiness. I wondered for a moment if I saw myself a little bit in it. I had noticed the guy in the corner with the laptop as soon as I walked in, mostly because I knew he had noticed me. I shook away those thoughts. I wasn’t Jake. If I wanted something from that guy, I would go up to him. I wouldn’t do what Jake was doing now, waiting for that girl.
“Hi, you’re Jake Kennedy, right?”
I don’t know why I was surprised for even a moment that the girl had come over. I felt a larger stab of annoyance.
Jake turned to her and smiled. “Maybe. And you are?”
“Mackenzie,” the girl said, tossing her hair just so. Of course.
Jake threw a glance my way, and this time, I could read all of the amusement. Mackenzie glanced my way, her excited look switching to disgust very quickly. “Ah. Mackenzie, this is my friend, McKinley.”
I smiled thinly, looking over at Laptop Boy, who was looking more hopeful over the top of his computer. I felt a sudden desire to cross the room to join him. This was ridiculous. Why had I even texted him that stupid ‘yes’? Why had I even told him to prove it? Prove what?
I turned back to Jake and Mackenzie. She had taken a seat on the armrest of Jake’s chair and her hand was resting on Jake’s very impressive bicep. Jake was grinning up at her, his fingers playing with the ends of her ponytail. He reached up and laid a palm on her thigh.
That was enough for me. I stood up, smiling at both of them and started making my way over to Laptop Boy. Halfway there, I looked over my shoulder and saw Jake’s eyes following me, that stupid little smirk on his face. I turned back around, angry, focusing on my prey. I could get that kind of attention just as fast and just as easily.
I was in big trouble.
Chapter Four
Days had passed since the disastrous coffee meet up, because I refused to call it a date. I spent another twenty minutes or so in that Starbucks talking to Laptop Boy before I busted a move out of there.
I would like to say that I never talked to Jake again. That after seeing him acting just as I figured a hot young celebrity would, I could give up on that challenge and forget about that extremely hot gas station kiss. It was just a challenge. That’s it. And it was one challenge that I didn’t have to text back.
“McKinley, can you hand me a napkin? I just spilled orange juice on myself,” Amanda said, sounding irritated.
Tom says he misses you because you’re not a bitch like Andrea.
I smirked and texted back, Tell Tom I miss him too.
“McKinley? McKinley? McKinley!”
“What?” I snapped, looking up from my phone.
Amanda glared at me. “God, who are you texting?”
“No body,” I answered.
Amanda put her pen down and looked at me. “What is with you lately? You’re always on your phone. You hardly listen to me. You’re on a whole other planet.”
I stared at her, hating how perceptive she always was. “I’m fine, Amanda.”
She stared at me for a moment. “Did you meet someone new?”
I hesitated. “Sort of.”
“Have you broken up with Gabriel?” she asked, returning back to her magazine. I shook my head. “Well then.”
“Well then indeed,” I answered. My phone buzzed and I automatically reached for it.
You free tonight?
At that, there was a knock on the door. I hopped off the stool and went to open it. Gabriel stood there waiting for me.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey.” He leaned over and kissed me lightly. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing my jacket. “I’m leaving, Amanda. Lock up when you leave.”
She nodded.
Sorry, date night.
* * * * * *
“So how’d it go?”
I cradled my phone between my ear and shoulder so I could type at the same time and sighed. “About as well as I thought. He acted like he didn’t give a shit and left me with the check.”
“Ouch,” Amanda said. I heard water running in the background and knew that she was probably washing dishes. “So now what? Are you going to hit up mystery boy?”
“Okay, there is no mystery boy, for one thing. And I just want to stay away from boys at this point.”
“Until a boy catches enough of your interest. You don’t stay single for long.”
“Amanda,” I said, pausing in the middle of typing. “You make me sound like a slut.” There was silence on the end. “Amanda!”
“You know, I’m just kidding with you,” Amanda said, laughing, “ and stop scowling. I can practically hear it over the phone.”
I laughed; I had, in fact, been scowling. My phone vibrated and I held it out so I could read the message.
Come outside.
I stared at it for a moment. “Oh, sorry, Amanda, dropped my phone.” I shut my laptop and went to my door. I crept past Luke’s room, downstairs into the diner and to the backdoor. I flipped the backlight and was both surprised and unsurprised to find Jake standing there. “Um, Amanda, I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I hung up and slid my phone in the pocket of my hoodie. “What are you doing here?” I asked, stepping outside into the cold. My arms immediately wrapped around myself.
“Had a long day on set,” Jake said, hands in his pocket.
“Bad day?” I asked, taking a step closer.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he answered. “I started driving and eventually realized I was driving here. I wanted to see you.” He looked up at me. “Hope that’s okay.”
I nodded. “Yeah, its okay.”
A corner of Jake’s mouth turned up. “Thanks, McKinley.” I nodded, smiling. “How was your date?”
I sighed. “Jake…”
“What? I can’t ask a question?” he asked, a hint of amusement in his face.
I shook my head. “Lets just say there won’t be any more dates with Gabriel.” There was a long pause and I looked up to see Jake barely concealing a smile on his face. “God, Jake, you are a terrible actor.”
He laughed. “That’s good to know, considering what I do for a living.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you ever heard of playing hard to get?”
“I thought that was for girls.”
“It works for boys too.”
“Well, I usually don’t have to play any games. Girls usually just…well, come.”
“Lovely choice of word, Jake, and it must be nice.” I wrapped my arms a little tighter around me. The weather had seemed to get the memo that it was fall and there was a slight bite in the air.
“Are you cold?” Jake asked, taking his hands out of his pockets, looking concerned.
“No, I’m okay,” I said, eyeing him warily.
Jake smirked and reached out for me and pulled me into his arms.
I scowled, even though admittedly, I was warmer. “I could’ve just gone inside and gotten a blanket,” I grumbled.
“Yeah, but a blanket doesn’t hug you like this,” Jake pointed out. He pulled me tighter against him and his cheek was resting on my head. My heart was banging hard in my chest. We stayed like that for a while; Jake seemed content to staying silent. Then suddenly, he pulled away.
“I really like you, McKinley,” he said, sounding so sure of himself.
“Jake,” I said, hesitating. I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I did like him; he was someone new and he was exciting. But getting involved with him was different than getting involved with boys like Gabriel. It was an unknown territory and I didn’t like it. I liked being in control. I liked being able to se
e the end because, inevitably, there was always an end. “Jake, I just don’t think…”
I didn’t get a chance to finish. Jake grabbed me and started kissing me. This time, I was responding and enthusiastically. How could I keep myself playing the game when I was being kissed like this? I was grabbing at him, pulling him closer. He pulled back and looked at me, his hands lost in my hair.
“God, don’t stop,” I said, pushing him in the shoulder impatiently and then dragging his face to mine.
“Jesus,” Jake breathed, in between kisses. He lifted me off the ground and set me on the trunk. I started to protest-I should not be sitting on the 290,000 dollar car-but he just silenced me with more kisses. His hands were fumbling at the zipper on my jacket and his was already on the ground. In less than five minutes, I’d gotten more turned on than the six months I spent with Gabriel. I could not wait to tell Amanda.
Shit. Amanda. I yanked myself back though I didn’t go far, his grip on me was so strong. “Wait, wait a second.”
Jake looked down at me, breathing hard. He was standing between my legs and his hands were on my waist. “What? Too much?”
I bit my lip and then smiled. “Okay, I like the direction this is going in. I’m not going to lie. But I’m not sure how I feel about this.”
Jake brushed a strand of hair away from my face with a finger and I flinched away from him. This was too affectionate for me. “What do you mean, this?”
“Jake,” I said. I paused, trying to think of a way to explain it to him. “Look, you don’t want to get involved with me.”
“But I do want to get involved with you. I like you. You’re great.”
I winced. “I’m not. I’m really not.”
“Look, McKinley, I’m not trying to sound like a dick but my every movement is followed, especially my dating life. I don’t just date anyone. I’ve dated two people and I only date someone if I think it’s going to be worth it.”
I pulled away and covered my face with my hands. “No, no, no, do not say things like that. No talk like that. I do not do emotions.”
“McKinley.” He took my hands off my face. “Come on.”
I looked up at him and found myself weakening. “I don’t make promises…I can’t make any promises,” I said, firmly.
“Okay,” Jake said, allowing himself a small victory smile.
“It won’t end well,” I warned him.
He chose to ignore this. “So can I come inside?”
“Definitely not,” I said, shaking my head. “ I do still live with my dad, you know.”
Jake made a face. He looked past me at his car. “Well, maybe…”
“No way,” I interrupted. “Not in a car that costs more than I make in ten years.” Jake raised his eyebrows at me. “What? I Googled it. A little much, don’t you think?”
He ignored me again. “What do you think about your car?” He glanced over at my black 2010 Honda Civic that was probably only worth a small percentage of his.
“I think that it is time for you to go home,” I said, patting him on the shoulders, lightly with my palms. “And I really need to get off this car before I dent it with my butt.” I hopped off the car.
“Can I call you tomorrow?” Jake asked, stepping back.
I stood on tiptop and kissed him lightly, very fast. “Sure.” I smiled at him and started walking back to the diner. “Oh, and Jake? Lets keep this our little secret, yes?”
He raised his eyebrow but shrugged. It occurred to me that maybe he was used to having secret flings with random girls. “Agreed.”
I nodded. “Good night.”
The next morning, after a night’s sleep had given me time to get over the way I felt in Jake’s presence, I felt enormously guilty. I was hiding something huge from my best friend; something that I knew would hurt her badly. So I did the only that I knew to get rid of a boy.
I ignored him. The best way to get rid of someone was to just ignore them. Stop texting them, ignore their phone calls, delete them on Facebook, stop following them on Twitter.
That is, until I discovered the magazine cover.
I was waiting in line, buying tomatoes because we were out at the diner. I wasn’t really paying attention at first. I’d gotten two texts simultaneously, from Amanda and Jake. I sighed, clearing them both and shoving my phone back in my back pocket. That’s when I noticed the magazine cover.
I knew it was me right off the bat. It was a picture of the first kiss Jake and I had shared in that gas station. It was an extremely blurry picture, probably taken from a cell phone, but I could tell it was me. To someone who didn’t know me, you couldn’t tell. Or at least, I hoped. I grabbed the magazine and felt my heart slam in my chest. Jake Kennedy’s New Girl: Who is this Mystery Girl? I quickly put the magazine back on the rack, paid for the tomatoes quickly and booked it out of the store.
As soon as I got back to the diner, I practically threw the tomatoes at Luke. “Is Amanda here?” I asked.
“Yeah, she’s upstairs watching TV. I asked her if she could come downstairs and help, I’d pay her for the afternoon. She said she didn’t want to get dirty.” Luke rolled his eyes as he dumped the tomatoes into the prep sink.
I rolled my eyes and glanced down at the diner. “You need help now?”
He shook his head. “Nah, go upstairs.”
I nodded, taking two steps at a time as I walked up. As I suspected, Amanda was planted on the couch, watching something on E! and flipping through their newly delivered gossip magazines of the week. I paused, took a deep breath and tried to act natural. My phone buzzed and I saw that it was Jake.
Hey are you busy or something?
I typed quick response. Look at the new US Weekly that came out today.
I looked up. “What’s up girl?”
Amanda didn’t look up, just shrugged. “Not much. Hiding from Luke.”
I shook my head. “You know, it would not have killed you to help out while I was gone.”
Amanda turned to look at me, no amusement on her face. “Sorry, not really in the mood to put on a smile and work on my day off.”
I walked over and sat next to her on the couch. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
She passed the open magazine. I kept my face as clear as I could, taking in the small article. There was only one more picture, an even blurrier picture of me getting into Jake’s car. “Who is she?” I asked, after a moment.
“I have no idea,” Amanda said, making a face and taking back the magazine. “They don’t know who she is, the stupid bitch.”
I looked at her, my eyebrow raised. “Wow, really, Amanda?” I glanced at my phone.
Shit. At least they don’t know who you are. Does Amanda know?
I sighed and tapped out a quick response.
No. She saw the cover, didn’t recognize me.
Amanda sniffled, rubbing her nose. “I know it’s stupid but…but I gave him my number! I had my chance right there! And he just rejected me and it feels terrible.”
“Amanda, you need to stop caring about Jake Kennedy,” I said, firmly. I felt my phone vibrate in my lap and I made the decision to ignore it. “You are a beautiful girl and guys love you. What do you need Jake Kennedy for?”
“I’m being silly, aren’t I?” she asked, offering me a watery smile.
“No sillier than normal,” I said, smiling back at her. I took the magazine away from her and tossed it on the coffee table. “Let’s forget about all this, okay?”
Amanda nodded, sniffling some more. “Do you have tissue?”
“Yeah, in my room.”
As soon as she left the room, I picked up the magazine and skimmed the article. Amanda was right in that they had no idea it was me-though I felt it was a near miracle that Amanda, my own best friend, didn’t know it was me. The article called me an “every day girl”, which felt like a kind of stab when they mentioned Andrea Tremaine as his ex. They did have the decency to call me pretty. I shook my head and put the magazine back on the table.
/> “McKinley.”
“What?” I turned around to see her holding a small white envelope. “What’s going on?”
She looked calm but I could feel a chill emitting from her from across the room. “Why didn’t you tell me that Jake had sent you those flowers?”
A Little Less than Famous Page 7