A small smile starts to spread across my face. Now it’s time to tell him how I feel. “It’s okay, Jake. I actually…”
He interrupts me before I can get out anything else. “Here we are trying to be friends and I come in and try to ruin all that. I’m sorry. I hope we can we still be friends, even though I would understand if you only want to deal with me when it comes to work, now.”
He apologized for the kiss. This might be worse than him forgetting it. And he still wants to just be friends. I am so glad he interrupted me. If I would have told him how I feel, only to be shot down, I might have died of humiliation. He may like me, but not enough to try to be with me. Should I suck it up and be friends, or throw my drink in his face and tell him to suck it?
“Of course we are still friends, Jake!” I say smiling, even though I feel trampled on all over again.
“Oh, good!” he sighs with relief. “I really value our friendship and I would hate to have ruined it because of a drunken mistake.”
Mistake.
“Plus, I never would have been able to give you more than a few nights together anyway. You know I don’t do relationships.”
Stomp. Jump. Crush. Trample. All over my heart.
This is the worst. Apparently, when he said he wanted to try and be good enough to be with me, it was the tequila talking.
“You’re good, Jake! Don’t sweat it!” I toss my hand in the air and shake my head smiling.
We spend the rest of the night talking about the art show. He does most of the talking and I just nod my head, trying to keep the hurt off of my face.
“So, you had a date last night right?” he asks, hesitantly. “Was it as bad as the last one?”
I smile thinking of Nate. A guy who actually wants to be with me. “Actually, he was pretty great. I’m going out with him again on Saturday.” Now that I know how Jake feels about me, there is no reason for me to hold back with Nate.
“Saturday?” he says crestfallen.
“Yep,” I say smiling. I am definitely excited to see Nate again.
“Oh. My band is playing on Saturday and I was hoping you could come. Maybe next time?” He looks at me, hopeful.
“Absolutely!” I say with enthusiasm.
“Cool.”
We look at each other for a minute and I see something in eyes, but I can’t place his feelings.
“We should get back to our rooms,” I say. “It’s getting kind of late and we have an early morning.”
“Yeah, sure,” he says looking down at his hands.
We make our way to the elevator and up to our floor. My door is closer to the elevator than his and when we get to my room, he pauses.
“Hey Rachel?” I look back at his worried face. “We’re good?”
“Of course. Water under the bridge, Jake. We’re still friends.” I smile at him reassuringly.
“Yeah, friends,” he mumbles, giving me a sad smile. “See you in the morning.”
Why are boys so confusing? One minute he seems relieved that he’s still my friend, the next he looks sad about it. At least I know where I stand with Nate.
I go to sleep thinking of Nate, but I dream of Jake.
Chapter 8
My week goes well. I have an easy week in all of my classes. No tests, papers, and little reading. I get to spend lunch everyday with Jenna, Jimmy, and Dan. I have lots of friendly conversations with Jake and it seems to be getting easier to hide my hurt feelings. Yet no matter how hard I try to stop them, every time we look into each other’s eyes the butterflies come alive.
And then there is Nate. We’ve texted back and forth all week. He is just as funny and charming in text as he is in person. Every once and a while he says something that makes my stomach drop and brings the butterflies to life. I’m starting to think that things between us will work out.
It’s Friday night, and Jenna is finally getting the girls night that she wanted. We paint each other’s nails, gossip about our boys, and decide to watch The Notebook.
After the movie is over, Jenna sits up in her bed and looks at me like she has something on her mind.
“What is it Jen?”
“Well, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I’ve been wondering how it went last week with Jake? Things seem a lot less cold between you guys. Did you work everything out?”
“Um, we talked.” I pause. “I told him about the kiss. He apologized and asked if I would still be his friend. So I would say that things went… eh.” I say making a face.
“He’s still sticking with that friends thing?” she asks annoyed.
“I don’t know what you mean by friends thing. I honestly think he just wants to be friends with me. I mean, look at how awkward it was between us after one kiss. We work together. If we got together and things ended badly, it wouldn’t be good for anyone. Plus, it would be a purely physical thing. Like he said, he’s not going to be my boyfriend,” I say sadly. Even though I am trying to move on with Nate, I always seem to come back to Jake.
“I guess. But I still think he wants to be with you. What he said to you that night, I think he meant it,” she pushes.
“Jenna, honestly, I just want to be friends with him. It is much easier this way. And I have a date with Nate tomorrow and I really like him. Please, let’s stop talking about Jake,” I plead with her.
“Easier isn’t always better,” Jenna says, doing the best friend thing, when I really just wish she would drop it.
“Jenna,” I warn.
“Okay, fine. I get it. Jenna is now on Team Nate!” She smiles at me.
“Thank you,” I smile back. “Now your turn to dish. How is it going with you and Will?”
Her smile widens as she goes into all the dirty details that I really never wanted to know. “So remember how I told you about the thing he does with his tongue? Anyways, he put his tongue piercing back in this week and oh my god! It got even better! So, he did a little of that, then he took his finger and…”
At least we stopped talking about my love life.
***
Nate told me that we are going to The Grove for our date. I’ve never been, so I ask Jenna what I should wear. She’s been there almost every night this week to see Will.
Jenna decides to play Barbie with me and dresses me in a pair of tight jeans and a white Henley with three quarter length sleeves. She loans me her black leather jacket, and puts me in my black suede slouch boots. She curls my hair into loose waves and leaves it down and my make-up is minimal and bright. I look pretty good.
“Damn girl! You look bangin’!” she says, very seriously. We look at each other in the mirror and both start laughing.
“You look pretty bangin’ yourself, Jenna!” I say back.
“So you’re sure it’s cool if Nate drives me too. I’ll leave with Will, so you can have the end of the night to yourselves,” she says winking at me.
“It’s fine Jenna. And I’m not going to sleep with him. But I may be down for a little making out, over the shirt action,” I wink back.
Nate gets here at eight o’clock and sends me a text that he is outside waiting. Jenna and I leave my room and even though I try not to, I look and see that Jake’s lights are off. I wonder how the show he is playing tonight is going.
Argh! Stop it! Last Jake thought of the night, Rachel. You’re going out with Nate. Keep your mind and body, on Nate. We’ll see about the heart later.
When I get to the car, Nate comes around to open Jenna’s door and then mine. He’s wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt. He has on a pair of black Converse and he looks absolutely amazing.
Before I get in the car, he gives me a kiss on the cheek. “You look beautiful,” he whispers, and I smile.
“Thank you.”
We get to The Grove around eight thirty and Jenna breaks away from us to go say hi to Will. The bar is pretty full, but not with the young college crowd I’m used to. Most of the people here look to be mid-twenties. Everyone is dressed casually, and the music is at a
level that allows for more conversation than the places by campus. There is a stage at the back of the bar and it looks like some people are setting up.
I look over at Nate and ask, “Is someone playing tonight?”
“Actually,” he smiles, “I wanted to surprise you. It’s my band that’s playing. I wanted you to see me play. I’m really passionate about my music and I wanted to share it with you.” He looks nervous and so I give him a reassuring smile. “It’s ok that I’ll be up there most of the night?”
“I’ll miss you being next to me, but I’m really excited to see you play.” And surprisingly, all of that was the truth. I am really starting to like this guy.
“Cool, we don’t go on for another half hour. So we can sit and have a few drinks and hang out until then. Plus, I wanted to introduce you to the rest of the guys in the band. I mentioned that I was bringing someone, and they really want to meet you. It’s not usual for me to bring someone to watch me play this early into a relationship.” Relationship. He’s opening up to me, and it makes my heart flutter.
“I can’t wait to meet them!” I say smiling up at him.
We grab a table that is big enough to fit the three of us and the rest of his band, and Jenna brings over a few beers. “Apparently, since you’re playing tonight, Will says the owner pays for your drinks. And since we’re ‘with the band’ we get free drinks too. Yay!” she says smiling at us and handing us a few bottles of beer.
“Don’t you have to go help your band set-up all your stuff?” I ask Nate.
“Nah, the guys said they would handle my kit so I could spend more time wooing you,” he says smiling over at me.
“Aw! How sweet! They sound like great guys,” I say smiling and looking over at the stage where his band is setting up. And that’s when my heart stops.
Jake. He’s setting up a drum kit on the stage.
I clear my throat and try to put the smile back on my face. “Is that the rest of your band up there?” Jenna and Nate both look up on stage. Nate smiles, and Jenna whips her head back in my direction with a look of shock on her face. I know, Jenna, I know.
“Yep, that’s them,” he says smiling and waving.
Jenna and I both turn around quickly so that, hopefully, Jake won’t see our faces. I need a minute to process this before he sees me.
Jenna must sense this, because she grabs my hand and says, “Rachel, will you come with me to the bathroom?”
“Sure,” I say looking at her and widening my eyes. I look back over at Nate and smile. “We’ll be back in a minute.”
I go to leave and he stands and wraps his arms around me, giving me a quick peck on the lips. Even though Jake is right up on stage, I can’t deny that there is something there with Nate. I smile at him.
“Hurry back,” he says, sitting back down and smiling.
I follow Jenna to the bathroom, and when we get inside she turns around to look at me. “First of all, you and Nate are super cute together.”
“Thanks,” I say smiling. And for a moment I forget about Jake. That moment ends fairly quickly.
“Second, Jake and Nate are in the same band?! How the hell did we not know this?” she asks.
“It just never came up.”
“What are you going to do?” she asks me.
“Well, nothing. Jake wants to be friends. Nate wants to be more. So, I’ll be friendly with Jake, and more with Nate. It might be awkward at first for me, but I’m sure it will get better as Jake and I get back to normal.”
“But Jake has feelings for you. I’m sure of it,” she says concerned.
“Well, until he’s ready to say something to me about it, I’m with Nate. And if he ever does say something, then I’ll handle it then.” All of this is so much easier said than done.
“Okaaay…” she says, her voice full of skepticism. “You ready to go back out there?”
“Yep,” I say smiling at her. “Wait! Do you think he already knows I’m dating Nate?” I ask as we walk out of the bathroom and towards the table.
“Well, we’re about to find out,” she whispers as we come up to the table, which is now almost full with Jake, Nate, and the two other members of their band.
Jake’s back is to me when I get to the table. Nate stands up and comes over to hold my hand, giving me another sweet kiss. Then he gestures to my seat and holds my hand as I climb up onto the bar height chair. “So, Rachel, these are the other members of Second Story.” He gestures around the group as he introduces me. “That’s Toby, Brian, and Jake. Guys this is Rachel,” he says looking over at me and smiling.
I look at all of them and give a small smile. Apparently, Nate doesn’t know that I already know Jake. “Hey! Nice to meet you guys.”
“Yeah, you too Rachel!” says Toby smiling.
“Glad you came tonight!” says Brian.
“The guy you were talking about is Nate?” Jake asks. He could have said something like, ‘We already know each other, we work together,’ or ‘We’ve met, we actually work together.’ But instead he blurts that out? This is getting awkward. Especially, since based on his facial expression, it looks like he is pissed. What is going on with him?
Everyone looks between me and Jake, confusion written all over everyone’s face. Except Jenna, she is staring at me with wide eyes.
“You two already know each other?” Nate asks me, gesturing between Jake and me.
“Uh, yeah. We work on the same floor at the dorm,” I say to Nate, a fake smile on my face. “I told him a little bit about you.”
“You just said you were dating someone. You didn’t tell me it was Nate.” He seems kind of pissed as he looks between Nate and me.
“Well, I didn’t know you knew him,” I grind out, looking back at Jake. He’s pissing me off by his reaction. Why is he so mad? This feels like a lover’s quarrel. He’s just finding out that two of his friends are dating.
“Wait. This is Rachel?” Nate asks Jake. “I can’t believe I didn’t put that together,” he says more to himself, than anyone else.
The mood is tense. Nate has let go of my hand and is looking down at the table. What is going on? I look up at Jenna and she looks just as confused as me. I widen my eyes, trying to ask for some help.
She gets the hint. “Hey, don’t you guys go on soon?”
Nate shakes his head, bringing himself out of his own thoughts. “Uh, yeah. About ten minutes.” Then he looks at me. “Uh, Rachel, can I talk to you?” he asks quietly.
“Sure,” I say getting up to follow him over to the hallway near the bathrooms.
When we get there, he turns around to face me. He looks sad. “Um, I really like you, Rachel, but I don’t think we should see each other anymore. There’s just… it’s… Jake…” he trails off.
“I really like you too, Nate. If you’re worried about me and Jake, we’re just friends. He’s made it pretty clear to me that there is nothing there. He’ll be fine with us dating. He’s just surprised,” I tell him.
“Are you sure? It seemed pretty tense. I thought there was more between you guys than what he’s told us. It would make sense. He hasn’t been hooking up with girls after the shows, or when we go out. We just figured he was busy between his job and his responsibilities as the AM. But he talks about you all the time and we were giving him a hard time about it. He always insists that you’re just friends, but after the way he just acted…” Nate trails off.
Jake has been talking about me to his friends?
“Well, he was telling the truth. We’re just friends,” I say smiling reassuringly at Nate.
“Okay,” he says with a small smile. He still seems nervous about the whole situation. “You’re sure there’s nothing there?”
“I’m sure,” I say, and I almost believe it myself. “I want to be with you.” I go up on my toes and kiss him. This kiss is a little longer than the ones before. I reach up and push my fingers into his hair, his hands move a little lower on my back. He runs his tongue along my lower lip, and I part them
, allowing entrance. The kiss turns sensual and hungry. He grabs me tighter and I pull his head down to deepen the kiss even further.
That’s when we hear someone clear their throat. We separate and I turn around to meet Jake’s stare. I’m expecting there to be the same anger in his expression that was on his face at the table. But instead, he looks sad and hurt.
He clears his throat again before talking. “We’re up, Nate,” he says quickly, turning away and walking toward the stage.
Nate looks back down at me and smiles. He leans down and gives me one last quick kiss before he follows Jake out of the hallway.
I take a deep breath and head back out to meet Jenna by our table.
She looks at me and shakes her head, throwing her arms up in question. “What the hell was that with you and Jake?”
“I have no idea! Why do you think he was so angry?” I am so confused.
“Jealous?” she says guessing.
“He made it pretty clear. We’re friends. He can’t be mad at me for dating someone else, even if it is his friend. It’s not like we were ever anything more. At least to him,” I finish quietly.
“You’re delusional!” says Jenna.
Any further conversation is cut off by the sound from the stage.
“How’s everybody doing tonight?” Jake says into the microphone.
The crowd starts cheering. They seem to know the band well.
“As most of you guys know, we’re Second Story. Thanks for coming out! Hope you enjoy the show!” he says. He seems to be looking everywhere but at me.
They start off playing Bold as Love by John Mayer. Jenna and I start swaying to the music, a smile on my face while I try to keep my eyes on Nate. He looks really good playing the drums. I can see the muscles in his arms flex as his sticks make contact and he has his eyes on me every time he looks up. But before I know it, my gaze is on Jake. And watching him play the guitar and sing has my stomach in knots.
On The Floor (Second Story) Page 9