by JL Paul
Lance mumbled incoherently about his parents, and it only fueled Jake’s anger.
“I don’t really care who your parents are or how much money they have. I don’t care what you think you will do to me. I am not afraid of anything you think you can throw my way because I can throw it back just as hard if not harder. Do you understand me?”
Lance glared at him before nodding.
“Good. Now you and your sheep will leave Iz alone. No name calling, no threats, no physical harm. Nothing. You and your sheep will avoid her at all costs. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lance nodded again, his eyes wide in terror. Jake loosened his grip only to slam Lance against the wall once more. “That’s wonderful because my manager gets really mad if I have to postpone or cancel a show. And I have no problem whatsoever doing that if Iz needs me to come back here to remind you all of this little talk. And if you think I’m bad, then wait until you have to deal with my manager.”
Jake finally released him and surveyed the room. Ronnie let me loose, and I scurried to Jake’s side. Ronnie wagged a finger at everyone in the room. “That goes for all of you. If word gets back to us that you’re still messing with Iz, we’ll be back.”
“You can’t threaten us this way,” Kimberly said, standing with her hands on her hips.
“I believe we just did,” Nick said, mimicking her movements. She groaned and sank back to the sofa. “And don’t think we won’t find out because word will get back to us.”
“Don’t forget I used to go here,” Seth reminded them. “Leave my sister alone.”
Jake touched my cheek and his eyes softened. “Anything you want to say, angel?”
I shook my head and hid my face in his chest. I was a little embarrassed, a little relieved and a lot proud of my brother and my friends. And my Jake.
“Hey, do you guys want to shoot some pool?” Ronnie asked as he walked over to the table and picked up a stick. I couldn’t help it—nervous laughter spewed from my mouth.
Ronnie gave me a wink. “What? Me and Matty will wipe the table with you and Jake.”
“You’re on,” Jake declared as though he hadn’t just threatened a room full of high schoolers. He handed me a stick and kissed my cheek. “Nick, do you and Seth want winner?”
“Of course,” Nick answered, nodding at Seth.
As Ronnie racked the pool balls, I gazed at my stunned classmates’ shocked faces. I turned to smile proudly at my guys. Have I mentioned lately how much I adore them all?
Chapter Seventeen
I shot out of bed as soon as my alarm sounded Monday morning and hurried through the shower. I dressed in my school issued khaki pants and long-sleeved, blue polo, with the school crest embroidered on the left pocket. Just as I was brushing my teeth, my cell phone rang. I spit out a gob of toothpaste and hurriedly rinsed my mouth.
“Yeah,” I answered, wiping my chin with a hand towel. “I’m coming.”
“You better hurry, angel,” Jake laughed. “Ronnie’s about to die of starvation—his words, not mine.”
“I’m working on it,” I muttered. “Just give me a second, okay?”
“Sure,” Jake said cheerfully. “But you better make it fast. Ronnie’s pretty cranky.”
I closed my eyes as panic filled every crevice in my body. I was going to have to feed them and that meant the cafeteria—I didn’t think Ronnie would consider a candy bar as the perfect breakfast. I glanced at the clock. If I could put them off another half hour, the cafeteria would be mostly empty.
“You still with me, Iz?” Jake asked. I’d all but forgotten he was still on the phone.
“Yeah. I’m almost ready. I’ll meet you at your dorm in a couple minutes.”
“Good. I don’t think you want to be late for breakfast with the Dean.”
Huh?
“Huh?”
“I guess I forgot to tell you in all the excitement.” I wanted to hit him. But not hard - I didn’t want to hurt him. I mean, if I was capable. “Dean Fletcher wants to meet with us so we can discuss this concert.”
“I’m on my way,” I said, enthusiasm completely empty from my voice. I shoved my hair in a ponytail, crammed my shoes on my feet and ran out the door, forgetting that it was January in my panic. I cursed when the cold wind hit me and wrapped my arms around my body but I didn’t have time to run back for my coat.
I made it to the guest dorm building and buzzed their room. As soon as they let me in, I dashed inside and found Ronnie pacing the hall. He sprinted toward me when he spotted me.
“Iz,” he whined. “It’s about time. I’m starved!”
I smiled and patted his arm. “Let’s go feed you then.”
“You’re kidding, right Iz?” Nick asked as he walked out the door. He studied my clothes with a lifted brow. I frowned, checking out my attire for myself. What was I supposed to be kidding about? “You really don’t have to wear little plaid skirts?”
I took a deep breath to restrain the curt comment that threatened to roll off my tongue. “Don’t be a pig, Nick.”
“He can’t help it,” Jake smiled, taking my hand and kissing my cheek. “We’ve been trying for years but no luck.”
“Let’s go,” I urged, anxiety prickling my brain.
Jake grabbed my arm as I started out down the hall. “Where’s your coat?”
“I forgot it in my haste to rescue Ronnie from starvation,” I explained shooting a glance at Ronnie who grimaced. “I’ll get it after breakfast.”
Jake shook his head and removed his leather jacket. He draped it over my shoulders and took my hand. I tried to protest but he wouldn’t listen. It didn’t matter, though—I absolutely loved how he took care of me.
Breakfast wasn’t as horrible as I imagined it would be. Dean Fletcher was an old, balding man who tried to keep up with the times—after all, he was in charge of hundreds of teenagers. He seemed honestly excited to meet Jake and the guys and invited us all to sit down at the long breakfast table in the staff dining area. He positioned himself at the head of the table with me and Jake on his left and the others on his right. The boys ate heartily as they discussed their idea to hold a charity concert at the school toward the end of the year. They weren’t familiar with local charities but thought Isabella could probably come up with an idea or two.
Wait. Excuse me? As if I didn’t have enough on my plate at the moment.
“That’s a lovely idea,” Dean Fletcher agreed. “Why don’t you keep in contact with Miss Ames as the plans progress, and she can report back to me.” He turned his bespectacled eyes upon me. “There are a number of educational charities in the area. I think any one of those would be grateful.”
I nodded and continued to push the food around on my plate.
Jake took my hand under the table. “We may have to come down from time to time—with our agent and sound crew.”
Clever, clever man, I smiled. What he really meant was “We’re using this as an excuse to come down and make sure your students aren’t giving Iz a hard time.” But hey, who was I to argue? If it meant more time with Jake, I was all for it.
We finished breakfast and the meeting adjourned. Dean Fletcher suggested I give the guys a tour of the grounds and the buildings and then take them to the Arts building so they could figure out how to set up. He reminded me sternly that even though I was excused from classes, I was still responsible for my assignments and that I’d need to stop at all my classes and speak to my teachers.
“We’re stopping at your room first, Iz,” Jake informed me. “You need to grab your coat. I don’t think my leather jacket is warm enough.”
“It’s warm enough for you,” I pointed out.
He kissed my cheek. “Yeah but I’m a guy.”
What that had to do with anything, I hadn’t a clue. I just shrugged and ran to my dorm, leaving them outside to wait. I didn’t want them following and wreaking havoc. Plus, I ran out without making my bed, and I was sure my pajamas were still in a heap on the bathroom flo
or.
Jake held my hand as I showed them each building and explained what they were for. When I took them through the gym, Ronnie and Nick snickered at the sophomores running laps in their shorts and t-shirts.
“Iz, do you have a gym uniform like that?” Nick whispered, eyes shining in amusement.
My cheeks pinked. “Not anymore. I think I burned it.”
When we strolled by the pool, I nearly shoved Ronnie in when he asked, disappointedly, why there were no girls lounging around in bikinis. But the lunch dismissal bell rang and Ronnie, forgetting all about bikini-clad girls, grinned, clapping his hands idiotically. “That must mean lunch!”
I bit my lip. I couldn’t avoid the cafeteria this time—unless I could convince them to leave campus. We weren’t technically allowed but I was certain Dean Fletcher would bend the rules just for today.
Jake bumped his shoulder lightly into mine. “Come on, Iz. It won’t be so bad. You have to face them all sooner or later and I’d rather you do it the first time with us.”
I looked at all four worried faces and sighed. It would be much better having them with me, but it would make it all the harder the next day and the next day and the next. They’d become my crutch, and I definitely wasn’t ready to walk without them.
“The cafeteria is this way.”
Nobody paid much attention to us at first but once one or two people figured out who they were, the noise level dropped to a low hum. I kept my head down, my cheeks burning, and led them to the food line. I tried to ignore everyone around me by studying the white floor tiles, but Jake would have none of that.
“Get your chin up, Iz,” he ordered. “They’re no better than you, and you have nothing to hang your head about.”
I gave him a grateful smile and relaxed when he took my hand and Matt draped a casual arm around my shoulders.
Once we filled our trays, Ronnie’s and Matt’s overflowing, I looked for an empty table.
“This way,” Jake ordered and the others followed. I had no choice but to trail behind them. He plopped down next to Annie and Cammy with a huge smile. I stifled a groan and sat next to him. The other guys lined up across from me, eager to dig into their lunch.
“Hey, ladies,” Jake greeted. “Nice to see you both again.”
He proceeded to introduce the others and I desperately wanted to see Cammy’s face but I focused my attention on my tray instead. I knew what Jake was trying to do and I didn’t like it one bit.
“So Jake,” Annie said. “I heard a nasty little rumor that you guys and Seth threatened Lance and Dean last night in the Student Center. Tell me that’s true.”
Jake shrugged. “I wanted to do a lot more but I was afraid Iz would have a heart attack. Those little jerks deserve it, too, for what they’ve put Iz through.”
Matt nodded in agreement, mouth stuffed to capacity.
Annie leaned past Jake to frown at me. “I’ve heard a few rumors but I honestly wasn’t aware anyone was giving her any trouble—except for the twins hassling her a little bit.”
They were speaking as if I wasn’t even there and that grated on my nerves. But I wouldn’t speak up, not now. I didn’t want Annie to reconcile with me only because she felt sorry for all the stuff happening. I just wanted things to be like it used to, even though I was beginning to understand it probably never would.
“We took care of all that yesterday,” Jake said. An arrogant smirk flashed across his face.
“But you girls can let us know if any of Lance’s sheep mess with her again,” Nick said with a mouth full of food.
I heaved a disgusted sigh. “Chew, Nick”.
He opened his mouth wide to give me a better look. Ugh. Thanks. He closed it again and winked. I glared fiercely until he dropped his head in shame.
“Sorry, Iz,” he pouted.
“So what are you guys really doing here?” Annie asked. “You wouldn’t believe the rumors circulating.”
“Any of them any good?” Matt asked.
“Not really. My favorite is that Jake and Bella eloped and you’re all here to move her to their new house in town.”
Ronnie loved it. He laughed so hard tears formed in his eyes.
“Idiots,” he declared. “Don’t they know we’d never move her? We’d hire someone to do that.”
I rolled my eyes and rested my forehead on Jake’s arm. He squeezed my hand under the table, and I took that moment to discreetly scan the cafeteria. Lance and his crowd were blatantly ignoring us while Kimberly, who’d been attached to his hip last night, sat at a table across the room with the twins. Most everyone else, who had mercilessly taunted me for the past couple of weeks, suddenly tried to catch my eye to offer me a smile. All they needed was a little encouragement and they’d come rushing over so they could meet the band. Not that they’d get it from me. Not at all. I’m not usually the type of person who considers herself better than others but at that moment, I was giddy over the power I felt when I’d suddenly become the person to know.
When people began filtering out of the cafeteria, I jumped to my feet and emptied my tray in the trash. I’d hardly touched a thing and Jake noticed.
“I thought you were going to eat?” he asked, his beautiful eyes hard.
“Jake,” I pleaded. “I can’t eat right now. My stomach is nothing but a big ball of nerves.”
He looked at me for a minute and sighed. He rubbed my arms briskly. “Fine, but I’m taking you to dinner tonight. Off campus. And you will eat.”
I stepped closer, wide smile on my face. “Are you taking me to Burger Kastle?”
“Nope,” he grinned. “I’ll take you somewhere nice. It’ll be like a date. Our first date. How’s that sound?”
I blushed at the thought while my heart stirred. “Do we have to take Ronnie, Nick and Matt?”
He laughed and kissed my forehead. “No. We’ll give them a pocket full of quarters and send them to the arcade.”
“Well then I accept.”
He dipped his head and captured my lips with his. He planted a lingering, pulse-pounding kiss on me that drowned out the entire world around me. Cammy finally came out of her stupor.
“I knew it! I knew they would hook up someday,” she exclaimed.
Jake smiled against my lips and pulled away slowly. His eyes remained on me as he spoke. “It took her awhile but she’s so worth the wait.”
We finished the tour with the Arts building, and the guys climbed all over the stage, checked out the seating and inspected the sound system.
“We need to bring our sound guys in here,” Nick said, furrowing his brow in concentration. “But it looks cool. It could work.”
“Hang on,” I said holding up my hands. “Are you really going to do a concert here?”
Jake leaned against the stage and smiled at me. “Of course.”
“You mean, you didn’t make that whole thing up just to come down here and threaten Lance?”
“Nope,” Ronnie said as he jumped off the stage. “Well, it started out that way, but we decided why not? It’ll be fun. Our first charity thing.”
“This is so cool,” I muttered. Jake grabbed my arm and tugged me to his body. I kissed him lightly on the lips, afraid for much more. I still hadn’t recovered from the kiss he’d laid on me in the cafeteria.
“If this tour is over, we need to get back to the Admin building,” Jake said, rubbing my back. “Fletcher said you could take us to town this afternoon, but I want to make sure he’ll let me have you for the evening.”
“When are you guys leaving?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
“The bus is picking us up at six in the morning,” Jake muttered in my hair.
I swallowed back my tears and nodded, afraid to speak for a moment. “Um, well, I’ll take you back to Admin and change my clothes. I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”
As we left the building, Jake squeezed my hand and leaned close to my ear. “Hey, how about a quick bite to eat and then a movie? I…um…didn’t
bring anything appropriate to wear to take you somewhere fancy.”
“Perfect,” I smiled. My heart fluttered frantically, and I couldn’t wait to be all alone with him again.
I caught up with them in the parking lot where they were sitting on my car, Nick drumming on the roof. I tossed Jake the keys and climbed inside. I directed them to the hotel, and after they checked in, I went with Jake to drop his stuff in his room.
His cell rang and I explored his room while he spoke quietly to his manager. There wasn’t much to see as the hotel wasn’t exactly fancy, so I crawled on the bed while I waited for him to finish his call. I sighed and wished I could spend the night curled up in his arms.
“You okay, Iz?” he asked when he ended his call.
“Yeah. I was just trying to figure out a way to stay the night with you. I miss sleeping with you.” My cheeks burned the whole time I spoke, but I didn’t really care.
Jake sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I miss it, too.”
Turning to him, I hurled my body at him, flinging my arms around his neck. I crashed my lips with his and straddled him. He gripped my hips tightly, his lips moving under mine, and somehow managed to flip us so that he was hovering over me. I moved my hands to his shirt and unbuttoned it with my trembling fingers. His chest was beautiful, strong and hard, and I couldn’t keep my hands off of it.
His mouth left mine to trail kisses down my chin and throat. Every inch of skin he touched burned, and I shuddered. I held him tighter and urged his lips back to mine. He complied and kissed me enthusiastically, fingers tangling in my hair. I had to disengage my mouth to gasp for air as did he, and we stared into each other eyes. His breath was as ragged and as uneven as mine and I reached for him again.
But he pulled away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He sat up and ran his hands through his hair. “Nothing, Iz. We just need to stop.”
I scooted next to him, heart still hammering wildly in my chest. “Jake, why do you keep putting me off? Don’t you want me?”
He cupped my cheek and smiled softly. “I’m not putting you off, and I do want you. Very much. But I don’t want it to happen in some cheesy hotel room. I’d rather it happen when we have plenty of time, when we’re totally alone and you can spend the entire night with me.”