by Hannah Ford
There had been something so chemically electric between them, like a force field, and it confused her. Jake Novak had acted like a total arrogant jerk, uncaring, scoffing at the problems he had created in her life. And yet, beneath that, she sensed that he was something else entirely—like he’d been misunderstood by everyone in the world who knew him or knew of him.
Don’t be silly, Raven. Don’t go thinking that you have some super special relationship or understanding of Jake Novak. That’s delusional, it’s insane, and it’s going to lead you nowhere.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling, couldn’t stop replaying those final moments with him and the panic that had overtaken her when she’d realized how easily he could’ve had his way with her if he’d tried even a little.
This circular routine led her to just sit around and eat herself into a sugar coma, and by the time it was late enough for bed, she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to bother getting undressed or washing her face, brushing her teeth, anything.
Maybe I’ll just fall asleep on the couch and wake up tomorrow with a kink in my neck. Who cares?
You’re depressed. That’s what this is.
It didn’t matter. She couldn’t seem to rouse herself to feel anything but lethargy. On television, one Kardashian was yelling at another Kardashian. They sisters all blurred together.
And then she heard the buzzing of her cell phone from its place on the coffee table next to the empty bottle of Diet Coke.
Raven grabbed for it and held it up, seeing a number that was unfamiliar, but it wasn’t blocked. Her mind worked through a dozen different possibilities of who this could be, and none of them were any good.
Yet, for some unexplained reason, she decided to answer. Maybe it was because she’d done nothing since getting home but lie around and eat sugary foods, maybe it was because any voice was better than the loneliness of the TV and the Kardashians screaming stupidities at one another.
Whatever the reason, she picked up and said hello, prepared for anyone except who it actually was.
“Do you know who this is?” he said.
Instantly, she did. Jake Novak had called her.
“How did you get my number?”
He laughed a little. “It’s not really that difficult, Raven. Think about it.”
It was true. She wasn’t listed, but he was Jake Novak and obviously Max Mendez had her number, so the question wasn’t exactly relevant. “Okay, then,” she said, sitting up, suddenly very awake. “Why are you calling me?”
There was a lengthy pause. “I’ve been thinking about what you said to me.”
“Oh.” She swallowed, her heart beating in her throat. “What were you thinking about it?”
“I was thinking that I had a lot to say to you. And then I was kind of curious what you would say back if I told you any of it.”
She couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Jake Novak—THE JAKE NOVAK—had been replaying their conversation from earlier in the day, the same as her. Only he’d probably not done it from a prone position on a shitty couch with empty Oreo boxes and Pringles lying around on the floor nearby. He’d probably been sitting in his limo or dining at some fancy gourmet restaurant.
She took a deep breath. “Maybe you should tell me what you wanted to tell me and find out.”
“Maybe I will.” There was another long pause. “Feel like getting some fresh air?”
“Huh?” She stood up now, pacing nervously.
“I said—do you want to get some fresh air—as in, come out with me for a bit?” He laughed.
“I—Uh….I don’t know…I’m…” she started running in circles, panic stricken, trying to determine how quickly she could be presentable.
“It’s not a big deal, Raven,” he said with amusement. “I’m not talking about buying a home together, I’m just saying I want to take you for a ride and talk for a few minutes.”
“When did you want to meet?”
“Well, I’m sitting outside your apartment right now, so the near future would be great.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Raven ran into her bedroom and hopped onto the futon. Because she was in the basement apartment, her windows were really high up and there were very few of them. Craning her head up, she was able to see the street but couldn’t really tell who was out there.
“You’re outside my apartment right now?” she said, partly hoping he wasn’t, but also desperately wanting him to be telling the truth.
“I’m here,” he said. “But I don’t want to wait around forever, Raven.”
“Where do you want to go? How should I be dressed?”
“Any way you feel comfortable. Meet me outside in five minutes.” And then he hung up.
She stared at her cell phone as if it had just bit her.
Jake Novak is out there, waiting for you. He drove all the way here to Watertown to see you and only you. Out of all the women in the world—literally millions of them—he picked you to call, you to talk to, you to invite out.
But why? What about her had gotten his attention?
None of it seemed real and none of it made any sense. She wished that she could be the type of girl to just take it in stride, to feel that she was his equal, to hold herself confidently and expect nothing but the best.
There wasn’t any time for second-guessing right now, though, and so she stopped worrying and started moving. Five minutes wasn’t very long at all. She ran to the bathroom, stripped down, sprayed perfume, washed her face in less than thirty seconds, pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
Blinking as water still dripped down her cheeks, she looked and saw a girl who was attractive enough without a bunch of makeup or some crazy hairstyle. She might not have been the kind of girl to turn every head when she walked into a room, but she didn’t need bells and whistles to look cute.
As long as I got the Oreo crumbs out of the corners of my mouth, I’m good.
That reminded her about all the junk food she’d been scarfing down all day, and she grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her teeth, rinsed with mouthwash and then ran back to the bedroom, throwing on jeans, a light sweater, and flats.
In the full-length mirror, she thought she looked cute enough, although it wouldn’t have been her first choice if she’d really had time to put herself together.
Maybe it was better not to overthink it though. This wasn’t a date, in any case. Jake had made it clear to her that he had little interest in a relationship, and only wanted to pay her for her “services,” whatever that even meant.
If it wasn’t a date, she needn’t worry about looking all hot and sexy.
As she was leaving the apartment, she once again was struck by the ridiculousness of the situation. Outside, right that very moment, the biggest star in the world was waiting for her, wanting to talk to her.
What would Skylar say?
What would anyone who’d ever known her think?
She didn’t know, all she knew was that this was happening. It was all too real.
And then she was running out of her apartment, up the stairs, and out the door to the street, looking everywhere for the car—maybe the limo—where he should have been.
But she didn’t see any car.
And then she heard an engine throttling loudly, turned her head and saw a man on a motorcycle pulling up to the curb nearby. He was wearing a motorcycle helmet, so he wasn’t identifiable—until he pulled it off.
Jake Novak had ridden a really slick, beautiful motorcycle to her apartment, like he was a character in one of his movies. He was in jeans and a plain white t-shirt with a camouflage jacket hanging open.
He stepped off the bike and put down the kickstand, so it leaned slightly. Then he went to the back of the bike, where a little cargo netting held another helmet. “You in the mood for fresh air or not?” he said, looking up at her and seeing the reservation on her face.
“I’ve never been on one of those,” she said, stepping down onto the sidewalk and slowly coming clo
ser.
“It’s a motorcycle, not a python,” he said. “It won’t hurt you to get close.”
No, but you might hurt me if I get too close to you.
Jake unhooked the helmet from the back seat and handed it to her. She held it—it was smooth and heavier than she expected.
“We won’t be going too fast, will be?”
“What would be too fast?” he asked, staring directly into her eyes.
Raven suddenly thought of the double meaning in the question, and her thoughts began to race, her mind filling with all kinds of images that she knew were inappropriate.
But I want to go too fast with you, she thought. I want to go all the way, and I want to scream at the top of my lungs.
She didn’t say any of this, of course. Instead, she shrugged, afraid to speak and incriminate herself.
“Come on, Raven,” Jake said, tilting his head toward the motorcycle. Then he straddled it and put on his helmet.
Raven hesitated for a moment but finally decided that she wasn’t going to chicken out, so she might as well stop putting off the inevitable.
She quickly walked to the motorcycle and then got on behind him, sliding the helmet down over her head.
“Put your arms around my waist,” Jake called back as he got ready to start the engine.
She did as he told her, getting a thrill as her arms encircled his firm torso, wrapping around and feeling the hardness of his stomach.
Women all over the world would be green with envy if they could see what she was experiencing. Being this close to Jake Novak was like winning the lottery, only bigger. Money was one thing—this was something totally different.
This was sex. This was pure adrenaline, pure sensuality.
His body was otherworldly, the feel of him…her legs spread…she pushed herself closer behind him as he kicked the motorcycle into action, the motor humming and thrumming beneath them.
The bike was like a live growling animal and Jake had tamed it, effortlessly controlling it, making her somehow feel safe despite the power and speed of the machine.
And then they were driving—more like flying—through the streets of Watertown, to some unknown destination.
Raven knew it was crazy, knew that she was being irresponsible yet again, but somehow she felt safe with Jake. There was no explaining it rationally.
As the wind whipped across her body and she watched the scenery whizzing by her at light speed, she had never felt so alive and free and maybe even happy.
But remember what happened last time you trusted a popular boy, someone you thought was so perfect, too good for you even.
Remember what he did to you. He almost ruined you completely.
Jake Novak wasn’t a boy, he was a man. And Raven wasn’t some high school girl anymore with no real world experience. She was a grown woman who could make decisions and choices and right now her choice was to be on this ride with him.
And what woman in her right mind would turn down a chance like this?
Not a single one.
They drove for a long time, but Raven loved every second of it. She was able to smile and laugh with her helmet on, and nobody knew or saw what she was thinking. In fact, with both of them disguised by their helmets, nobody on the street was any the wiser that celebrity superstar Jake Novak was driving wildly through the streets of Boston with a crazy girl in tow.
* * *
When they finally pulled up and parked, they were deep in the heart of Boston, but a street that Raven wasn’t very familiar with.
Jake got off the bike, took off his helmet and locked it in place against the handlebars. “How’d you like it?” he asked her, glancing up briefly.
“It was fun,” she admitted, not even giving him half the truth of just how much she’d enjoyed it. Especially not showing how much she’d liked holding onto him, how she wished she could have done it forever.
She’d felt connected to him in a way that wasn’t reasonable, and Jake would have thought her crazy had she told him even a fraction of the emotions she’d been feeling during the ride.
“Glad you weren’t scared that we took it too fast,” he said, grinning as she handed him her helmet. He secured it onto the backseat and then straightened. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
They began walking down the streets, and it was nighttime, so there weren’t that many people out and about, although there were a few.
But it wasn’t exactly the cleanest, most upscale area. In fact, the street was rather rundown, the buildings looked older, and the people that were out had tired expressions. And then there were younger people on the corners shouting and hollering, making her a little nervous.
Not everywhere in Boston was safe to go at night, and she wondered if Jake Novak knew the city well enough to understand that point.
He did seem to know where he was taking her, though, and soon they were approaching a large building that had a scattering of what looked like homeless men camped around it, hanging out, smoking, talking, a few even seemed to be drinking.
“What is this place?” she said.
“Come on, you’re about to find out.”
When they got closer to the building, some of the people hanging around outside started recognizing Jake. Only they weren’t treating him the way the groupies and fans treated him.
No, there was a very different reaction from these men. They acted, she thought, as if they knew him on a personal level—as if he was their friend, maybe a distant relative.
“Hey, Jake!” someone cried.
“Jake’s here,” another said.
“Yo, my man!” an older guy said, limping over and giving Jake a big bear hug. The older man was bald and his clothes were stained and ripped. Raven noticed that he only had one hand.
“How you doing, Tony B.?” Jake said to him, looking him over.
“Not bad. Not bad.” The older man grinned and waved another person over, and now there was a group of them crowding around, all starting to talk to him at once.
They weren’t asking for autographs, though. They were wanting his attention and Jake was giving it to them, asking them personal questions about their families, about whether or not they’d eaten dinner, if they needed to see a doctor, asked about medications they were on, problems in their lives.
Each person he focused on, it was as if they were the only person who existed to him in that moment, and each person appeared to thrive on that attention.
“You his girlfriend?” Tony B. asked her.
She turned to him. Jake hadn’t heard the question, he was busy talking to another man about an infected cut on his arm. “No, I’m just…a friend,” she said.
“He aint never brought no girl here before,” Tony said.
“He comes here a lot?” Raven asked.
“Sure, when he’s in town. He’s been coming here for awhile, even before he got famous. Of course now everyone gets more excited to see him, but he’s still the same guy as he was then.”
“How do you know him?” Raven said.
“Well I been coming to the center ever since it opened.”
“Center?”
“Yeah, this place over here is the Boston Center for Homeless Veterans,” Tony replied. He gave her a strange look. “You can’t read or something?” He pointed up to the sign above the front door of the building.
“It’s dark,” she laughed.
Tony lit a cigarette. “You smoke?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Good girl. Fucking terrible habit, but the least of my troubles.” He started puffing on the cigarette. “Yeah, Jake’s good people. Gives a lot of money to vets, which I happen to know for a fact. But he don’t publicize that stuff, he don’t do it for the press, you know?”
“Yeah,” she said, nodding, even though she didn’t have a clue.
“He’s just good people. Some nights he come down here after a show and just hands out a little cash, or once he took my friend to a real good specialist do
ctor to have his eyes checked out. Then he paid for the surgery to fix his glaucoma.”
“Wow,” Raven said, shocked at what the older man was telling her. It was as if Jake had hired a bunch of actors to come down here and pretend to be veterans just to impress her, but she knew that wasn’t the case.
This was all too real, and these men had the disfigurements and scars from the battles they’d fought. It wasn’t a pretty scene and not all of the men were in the best mental condition, either.
Some were babbling, a few were very inebriated.
As Jake made the rounds and talked and listened, a few of the men ended up noticing her.
One of them approached her after Tony B. had limped away, muttering about a phone call he needed to make. The man who approached her was probably late twenties, not bad looking either. He had shaggy brown hair and a beard, low-hanging jeans and a t-shirt. His arms were covered with tattoos. “Hey,” the guy said, smiling.
“Hey,” she replied.
“So you’re here with the big rock star, huh?”
“I guess.” She didn’t like looking at his eyes. They were a little too bright, a little too intense. And not in a good way.
“I could be a fucking rock star,” the guy said. “I used to be in a band too, we were really good. I played lead guitar.”
“That’s nice,” she told him.
“Chicks used to fucking stand in line after a show to suck my cock, you know? Chicks follow guys like that around. I know from personal fucking experience.” His eyes were getting more intense as his words began to pick up speed, flowing together rapidly. “My fucking wife would fuck him. She’d probably line right up to suck his dick.”
Raven was getting frightened. There were too many men around, and they were all looking at her, and the man with the intense eyes was starting to talk louder and louder and he walked closer to her while she tried to back away.
“Hey,” he said. “What’s your fucking problem? If you want to suck someone’s dick…”
Suddenly, Jake was by her side, pushing through the veterans and standing between her and the crazy guy. “Calm down, brother,” Jake told him. “Just calm down.”