I felt my heart sink. “What are you talking about?”
She threw the card in my lap, which I now recognized as the card from the flowers Jake had sent me. “I threw this away.”
“Yeah, well I dug it out of the trash. I’m nosy and I wanted to see what Gabriel had said. I didn’t expect it to be Jake.”
“Amanda…”
She reached over and grabbed the magazine and stared at it for a moment. “I can’t believe that I didn’t notice that this was you. Its so obvious that its you.”
My phone chose that exact moment to ring, belting out my favorite Ben Wright song. I glanced down though I already knew who it was.
“Answer it,” Amanda said, in that hard calm that I knew so well. Amanda lost her temper but, unlike me, this did not spell trouble. You knew you were in trouble when her anger was calm and silent, to the point.
“No,” I answered, just as calmly.
“Answer it, McKinley.”
“No, Amanda.”
Before I could react, she had snatched my phone out of my lap. She stared at it for a moment and then threw it at me. I ducked just in time and my phone went straight into the wall, and broke into several pieces.
“Jesus, Amanda,” I said, standing up. “Are you going to pay for completely destroying my phone?”
I felt my temper flare up and Amanda kept her scary calm. “You are such a bitch, McKinley.”
“Me, a bitch?” I said, bending over to pick up the larger pieces of my phone. “You destroyed my phone! God! I’m sorry about Jake. He kissed me, okay, and I pushed him away.”
Amanda stared at me, her arms crossed, her blue eyes blazing. Amanda knew me super well; only Luke knew me any better. She was testing me but I knew I was a good liar, I’d always been. “And that was the only time you guys kissed?”
“Yes,” I lied, looking at her straight in the eye.
“Don’t lie to me, McKinley.”
I stared at her a moment longer, her still wet eyes staring back at me. “Okay, I did. I did and I’m sorry, Amanda. It was really stupid of me and I don’t even know why I did it.”
“Oh come on, McKinley,” she replied, harshly. “It’s Jake freakin’ Kennedy.”
“Exactly,” I said, taking a step towards her. “I don’t want to date a guy who is famous. I don’t want that kind of attention and I definitely do not want to be on magazine covers.”
“Wow, McKinley, must be nice to be so selfish,” Amanda said, frowning. “You knew how I felt about him, you knew this would hurt me! How could you take Jake Kennedy away from me when I have liked him for years?”
I didn’t know why but it suddenly hit me: Amanda was still stuck in her teenage fantasy. I’d put up with the immaturity for years, had waved it off as cute or adorable but now I was just angry. “Are you kidding me, Amanda? Are you seriously kidding with me right now? You don’t even know him so how can you be in love with him? You’re in love with his character on his stupid show, God, Amanda, or maybe even the more ridiculous characters he plays in his stupid movies. When are you going to realize that you’re living in a fantasy? When are you going to realize how stupid you’re being? When are you going to grow up? I mean, you can’t stand that he chose me over you.”
For a moment, Amanda’s expression betrayed shock before she replaced it quickly by her mask of calm. “Screw you, McKinley,” she said, her voice remaining steady but tears forming quickly in the corners of her eyes. “Just…screw you.”
“See, reacting like a child all over again,” I pointed out. “You can’t even come up with a viable argument!”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Amanda screamed. “God, McKinley, you are so damn selfish. You are always so quick to point the faults of everyone else but you can never see them in yourself. People love you and you can’t even show it back. You know, it’s always about you and I’m just sitting in the background, always second best. And who cares if I don’t even know him? You want him and you got him, and you don’t care about stepping on me in the process. And you want to know the sad part? In a month, you’ll be sick of him, dump and you’ll be left without a boyfriend or a best friend.”
I felt sick to my stomach. “Amanda…”
“Don’t bother,” she cut me off. Before I could say anything else, she turned and ran out of the room, downstairs. I wanted to run after her but I knew that would not be wise to cause trouble in the diner. Instead, I sunk down on the couch and sighed, frustrated.
* * * * * *
The first thing I did after Amanda went sprinting out of Luke’s was go upstairs and pick up the pieces of my phone and to toss the magazine into the trash. I wished I could call Jake, to tell him off or ask him over, I wasn’t sure. Unfortunately, I didn’t know his number; it had been saved in my now destroyed phone.
I stayed upstairs for hours, watching trashy TV until Luke had closed the diner and had come upstairs.
“Wanna tell me what happened?” Luke said, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Amanda left in a hurry.”
“Apparently I’m the worst best friend ever,” I said, not taking my eyes off the TV.
“What did you do?” Luke said, his voice lacking any tone of judgment or blame.
I sighed. “I told her the truth.”
Luke didn’t say anything for a while and I wondered if he wanted me to continue. I was about to tell him that I didn’t want to talk when he spoke again. “Well, anyway, there is someone here to see you.” He stepped aside to reveal Jake standing in the doorway. My right hand immediately went to my hair, which I was sure was sticking up in a few directions, while my left hand grabbed a pillow to cover my loose tank top and cut-off shorts.
“Hi,” I managed to say.
“Hi,” Jake said back, looking around the apartment. I was suddenly embarrassed of the apartment and the random things Luke had collected over the years, like the green lava lamp or the Darth Vader helmet or the gigantic medieval sword hanging over the TV. Despite the fact that I had lived there for nearly seventeen years and I had some sort of pride when it came to style, the upstairs apartment remained very much a bachelor pad.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, very aware that Luke was a witness to this conversation and seemed very amused about it.
“You weren’t answering my calls.”
I felt a sort of satisfaction that he had been calling. “Amanda smashed my phone,” I said, in a matter of a fact tone.
“That makes sense then.”
Luke looked back and forth between us and rolled his eyes. “Well then, I’m going into my room now.” He winked at me and then disappeared into his room. A few minutes later, after opening and closing some drawers, the sound of SportsCenter reached my ears and I knew that he could no longer hear us.
“You didn’t have to come over,” I said, tucking my bare feet underneath me.
“I was worried, mostly that you were mad at me,” he said, coming over to sit next to me on the couch. “I take it that Amanda did not take the magazine cover well.”
I sighed again. “You could say that. ‘I stole the love of her life, I betrayed her.’ And I told her she needed to grow up and realize she was acting like a little girl.”
Jake winced. “You were just telling the truth, McKinley. It’s not your fault that she took it so badly.”
“Yeah, she is my best friend, though.”
“I’m worth it,” he said, breezily.
I stared at him, amazed at how sure and uncaring he sounded. “Seriously, Jake?”
“I’m kidding,” he said, quickly. He went on. “Amanda will get over it, you know once she sees awesome we are together,” Jake said, humor in his voice. I rolled my eyes and started flipping through the channels. “Seriously, though, I came to take you out tonight.”
“Jake, I don’t really feel like going out tonight,” I said. This was partly a lie. I was glad that he had come to see me. I just did not want to go out. I did not want to risk being caught on camera again.
&nbs
p; “I think you’ll want to,” he said. He reached into his jacket and then placed something on the table. I let it sit there for a moment before my curiosity got the best of me. I leaned forward and then looked back at Jake, my eyes wide. He raised his eyebrows.
“Tickets to see Ben Wright?” I said, trying to keep my voice level. I felt my heart slam in my chest. I had never seen Ben Wright in person; he was a jazz legend and getting tickets to his shows was nearly impossible. “How did you get these?”
Jake smirked. “Well, I am kind of his son’s best friend.” He reached forward, reaching for the tickets. “But if you want to stay in…”
I snatched the tickets before he even had a chance to grab it. “No, no, I want to go.”
“I had a feeling you might,” Jake said, smiling at me, leaning forwards toward me.
I placed my palms on his chest. “Let me get ready first.” I stood up and walked past him, running my hand gently over his head, feeling how soft his hair was. What the hell did this guy use in his hair?
When I returned from my room, fifteen minutes later, I had shed my relaxing clothes and changed into a red blouse, black jeans, a leather jacket and black boots. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“You look great,” he said, his voice full of meaning.
I smiled at him. “Thank you.”
We walked out to the parking lot and I made a face. “Did you have to bring the Volante?” I had looked up Jake’s car after riding in it the first time. It was an Aston-Martin, brand new and worth almost three hundred thousand dollars. Apparently it could get up to 190 miles per hour, had legit leather seats that heated up for those cold days, full navigation and computer control, plus a ton of other things that I didn’t even understand.
Jake looked alarmed. “Why, don’t you like it?”
I paused, trying to word it carefully. “I mean, sure. If you like being completely ostentatious.”
“Well, I am Jake Kennedy.”
I groaned. “My God. You’d think you’d want to buy a more inconspicuous car. Privacy and all.”
“Well then, let’s take your car,” Jake said, walking towards my car.
“My…car…,” I said, looking over at it. It was a Honda Civic, only a few years old and completely financed and paid for by myself. I loved my car. It was reliable, good on gas and all mine. Next to Jake’s ridiculously expensive car, however, it looked terrible. “Um, no, we can just take your car.”
When we reached the club, we bypassed the huge line wrapping around the building and were taken straight to the table right in the front of the stage. Justin Wright was already sitting there with a girl who looked familiar, though I couldn’t quite place her face.
“Justin, hey. You remember McKinley, right?”
Justin flashed a smile at me, a smile that was like his amazing father’s. “Yeah, sure. The girl who got pissed at us when we took her spot in line.”
I brushed him off, feeling slightly embarrassed. Me and my damn temper. It always got the best of me.
“Leave her alone, Justin,” Jake laughed, pulling out a chair for me. “You don’t want that temper to come out again.”
“She knows I’m kidding,” Justin said, winking at me. “McKinley, this is Catie.”
I waved to her, smiling. Now I knew exactly who she was: Catie Carmichael, the lingerie model. She must have been Justin’s new arm candy. There was no way she was actually here for Ben Wright, who was not popular with the younger crowd.
Sure enough, Catie turned to Justin, her eyes wide. “Are we still going to that party after this? Jessica is going to be there and I promised her we would go there.”
“Yeah, sure, babe,” Justin said, vaguely. He turned to Jake and I. “So are you two together now or what?”
“No,” I said at the same time Jake said, “yes.” He stared at me and I sighed. “Sort of,” I admitted.
Justin laughed, clapping his hand on Jake’s shoulder. “Man, you have got your work cut out for you with this one.”
The lights were starting to dim. “Sh, sh, shh,” I said, waving my hand at them impatiently and staring at the stage.
After the show was over, I immediately stood up. I was full of energy and my head was buzzing after seeing someone so amazing as Ben Wright. I felt extremely bouncy and happy.
“Where are you going?” Jake asked, staying seated and trying to ignore the girls milling around, looking at him curiously.
“Um, home?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at him. “Or somewhere to eat. I’m starving.”
“Well, just wait a moment. There’s no rush.”
I frowned. “Well, I’m hungry. It’s getting late and I work really early tomorrow.”
“You heard the lady, Jake. She wants to eat.”
I spun around and my eyes widened. From behind me, I heard Jake say, with undisguised amusement in his voice, “I figured we could stay so you could meet Ben Wright. But if you would rather go get food…”
“No,” I squeaked. “This is fine.”
“No, really, we can leave, McKinley.”
“Jake,” Ben Wright said, amusement obvious behind his scolding voice, “stop teasing the poor girl. And introduce me.”
Jake stood up and came up next to me. “Ben, this is McKinley Evans. McKinley, this is Ben Wright.”
“I know,” I managed to say, my voice at least two octaves higher than normal.
Ben’s blue eyes crinkled in my direction and I felt my breath catch in my throat as he lifted my hand in his and placed a small kiss on my knuckles. “Are you the girl that has finally managed to drive Jake Kennedy crazy?”
I opened my mouth and closed it a few times.
“Wow, I never thought you would be speechless,” Jake commented, wryly, reaching for my hand.
I glared at him but allowed him to take my hand.
“Oh, don’t worry, he deserves to be driven crazy.”
I laughed. “I’m pretty sure I can handle that.”
“Perfect,” Ben said. He clapped his hands together. “Now, who is hungry?”
* * * * * *
“So, how did you two meet?” Ben asked, indicating to Jake and I with his hand not clutching a wineglass. As soon as we’d arrived at the restaurant, we had been swept off into a separate, private room. One look at Jake and Ben stopped the entire restaurant. Ben was a jazz legend and Jake was a Hollywood hunk. Ben waved away the menus offered to us and ordered wine for the entire table. Admittedly, my experience with wine was pretty limited but I was enjoying the sweet taste of the red wine he’d ordered.
Jake laughed. “McKinley attacked me at Disneyland.”
“I hardly attacked you,” I protested, avoiding Ben’s gaze. Every time he turned those eyes on me, I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle on the floor. I couldn’t believe that I was eating dinner with a man I had worshiped my entire life. “I was merely protesting the inequality between you and I and the privileges you get for being hot.”
“You think I’m hot?” Jake asked, lighting up.
Justin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I think I’m going to side with McKinley on this one. Though she was a bit fiery about it.”
“Well, that’s a redhead for you,” Ben said, taking a sip from his glass. “I knew a fine redhead or two in my day.”
“Dad? Can we maybe not bring up groupies at the dinner table today?” Justin said. I froze, but at the sight of Justin’s lazy smile, relaxed, realizing that he was joking.
Ben laughed. “See, what you kids don’t realize is that there aren’t jazz ‘groupies’.”
“Don’t lie, Ben,” Jake said, taking a bite of a lobster roll appetizer. “You probably had all kinds of girls when you were a young jazz stud.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t lie about that. But they were a lot different from the groupies of all these rock bands out there. The women that were into me were amazing; beautiful and intelligent and wanting to change the world.”
Justin rolled his eyes, leaning in to whisper something in Catie�
�s ear. He had clearly heard these stories before.
“What was it like, though?” I asked, breathless. “Playing with all those amazing people?”
“Well, I felt pretty inadequate next to all those amazing people,” Ben said, sighing.
I felt a blush creep on my cheeks. “Oh, no, I meant…you’re the most…you’re the best of them all.”
Jake, Justin and Ben burst out laughing. “Calm down, he’s just teasing,” Justin reassured me. “He likes to do that to pretty girl he doesn’t know.” Catie stuck her lower lip out at that, looking bored, but Justin didn’t notice. I was sort of addicted to watching the two of them together. I had always thought that I had the uncaring relationship down to an art form but Justin was even better than I was.
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