by J. Bengtsson
“Oh God. I hate reading. One of the worst past times I could think of.”
“Do we not have anything in common at all?” I laughed.
Jake shrugged. “Maybe you should take some risks, Casey.”
“Maybe you should read a book, Jake.”
We both stared at each other for a second before bursting out in laughter.
“So did you go on tour by yourself when you were sixteen?” I asked.
“Yeah. I mean, the label sent a guardian with me but he was pretty useless.”
“Why didn’t your parents go?”
“Because of my younger siblings. They couldn’t just leave and my dad had to work. I think that is why my mom is so overly protective. She had to stop mothering me before she was ready.”
“There is probably some Freudian message in all that,” I grinned.
“Don’t even go there,” Jake gagged.
I laughed then looked out over the railing.
“Wow, that’s a long way down,” I said.
“Are you afraid of heights?” He asked.
“No, not really. Just afraid of falling to my death.”
“Trust me Casey, there are a lot worse ways to die.”
Seeing that those words were coming from a person who had first hand knowledge of such things, I was a bit jarred. I looked at Jake but he didn’t seem to be affected by what he said. It was more like he’d been stating the obvious.
“You know, I read that if you were to drop a penny from the Empire State Building and it hit someone in the head it would crack their skull,” Jake said, still looking over the edge.
“No way is that true,” I replied.
“I read it on the internet Casey, so of course it’s true,” Jake explained with a serious face but he was clearly joking. “Shall we try it?” Jake said as he pretended to drop a penny.
“First of all, we aren’t on the Empire State Building,” I grabbed his hand and laughed. “And secondly…you aren’t taking into consideration terminal velocity and air resistance.”
“Huh?”
“The penny is too light. The wind will kick it around.”
“Huh?” he repeated.
“For your theory to work, your penny would have to be coming down like a rocket. There are too many factors that will stop that from happening, mainly air.”
“Wow Casey…way to take the fun out of that theory,” Jake proclaimed, pretending to be pissed. “I forgot I was dealing with a college student.”
“Oh I’m sorry Jake. Would you rather I dumb it down for you?” I joked.
“God no,” he laughed. “I’m just learning so much from you.”
“Oh yeah, I’m sure,” I giggled. “Everyone loves a smart girl.”
“I think it’s refreshing, to be honest. I like that you’re confident in your smartness. And before you tell me that smartness isn’t a word, I already know that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I grinned. I was really flattered by his words. Most guys were so intimidated by smart girls.
Jake smiled then looked back over the railing. “Man, I gotta say, this wedding is way more fun than I thought it would be.”
“I know. I’m having the best time,” I replied.
“I’ve been so busy with the tour that I haven’t really taken any time for fun.”
“Really? That is surprising.”
“It is?”
“Yeah, I mean…aren’t you people supposed to be wild and crazy?”
“And by ‘you people’?” Jake asked, in amusement. “You’re referring to rock stars in general?”
“Yep.”
Jake smiled. “Well…if you must know, I’m kind of a disgrace to ‘my people.’”
“Oh really, and why is that?”
“I’m not a drug addict.”
“Oh.” I laughed, surprised by his answer. “Are you saying that most rock stars are drug addicts?”
“I’m saying that the vast majority of us are, yes,” Jake nodded.
“Why?”
“Easy access to anything you could ever dream of and the money to make it happen.”
“And you’ve never done drugs?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say never,” Jake responded honestly. “When I was younger I experimented a little with weed but I hated the way it made me feel. Most people get mellow when they smoke pot but not me. I would, like, freak the fuck out. I really hate the feeling of being out of control so I just stopped.”
“It wasn’t hard to stop?”
“No because I wasn’t addicted in the first place. I only did it a handful of times. What about you?”
“I’m a good girl. I’ve never touched drugs,” I admitted.
“That’s good.”
“I mean…my friends were nerds. The only peer pressure we put on each other was getting the highest test grades.”
Jake shook his head laughing. “A whole other world?”
“Yeah. It’s a lot easier when no one you hang out with is cool,” I laughed.
“Yeah. I can imagine it would be. So when did you transform into cool Casey?”
“Well, you know, I think she was in me the whole time,” I laughed. “But my first year in college is probably where I blossomed, I think.”
Jake nodded. “Did you party a lot?”
“Yeah, I went to a lot of parties but I’ve never been much of a drinker. I don’t really like the taste of alcohol. If I drink it has to be one of those foo-foo sugary drinks like a Daiquiri or a Margarita.”
“I hate sugary drinks. I’m not a fan of sugar in general.”
“No way! I LOVE sugar. That’s my downfall. I could eat Mitch and Kate’s whole damn wedding cake if you let me at it,” I joked.
“Jesus. How do you stay so thin?”
“Two words…spin class.”
Jake laughed.
“Do you drink?” I asked him.
“Yeah, but not a lot. I like beer.”
“Yuck. It tastes like urine.”
Jake raised his eyebrows. “When have you ever tasted urine?”
“I haven’t, but I assume that is what urine would taste like.”
Jake grinned, then shook his head, “It doesn’t.”
“Ewe…there is only one way you’d know that,” I squealed.
Jake nodded.
“Oh my God…that’s disgusting…you drank urine?”
“Once.”
“Well I should hope it was only once! Jesus,” I said shaking my head.
Jake laughed. “And it wasn’t on purpose.”
“And again…I should hope it wasn’t on purpose,” I said, still shaking my head in disbelief. “So tell me Jake, how does one accidently drink urine?”
“Well it was while I was on tour a few years ago and we were hanging out after a concert…anyway, I got a call and left and some other guy took my seat. Well one of his friends decided to play a trick on him when he left for the bathroom and replaced his beer bottle with one from the fridge, which the friend had conveniently peed in earlier. Anyway, I came back in, took my seat and picked up the beer thinking it was mine. Some of the guys started screaming for me to stop but it was already too late.”
“Oh no…oh God no,” I squealed, covering my ears. “Don’t even tell me!”
“Oh yes. And I took a giant frickin’ swig too. The minute it hit my palate…oh my God, I just knew! And by that point it was already going down my throat.”
“No you didn’t!?!” I cried. “You swallowed it?”
Jake looked at me with a sheepish grin. “I heaved for hours!”
“So gross…so so gross. What did you do to that guy?”
“I gave him a beat down and fired him,” Jake laughed. “Then I hired him back once I got the taste of urine out of my system.”
I shook my head, smiling. “Guys are so different than girls. If a girl had done that, which she never would! But if she had, God forbid, that would have been the end of the friendship for sure. And guys, they just pat eac
h other on the backs and go, ‘great idea, man.’”
Jake nodded, smiling.
“Whew, I think I could have gone without hearing that little story,” I grinned.
“Yeah, well you told me your poop and puke story yesterday so now we are even.”
“Yeah, true. So tell me something, less gross, that I don’t know about you, Jake McKallister?”
Jake thought about it for a few seconds then his face turned serious. “Okay I can tell you one secret but you have to swear you’ll never ever repeat it.”
Instantly I was extremely interested. Any secret of Jake McKallister’s had to be noteworthy. “I swear.”
“Because if you tell anyone I would be so pissed.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” I promised.
“Okay…oh God…this is so embarrassing…I’m just going to blurt it out…I watch The Bachelor.”
I gasped in mock horror. “The Bachelor…oh Jake, no.”
“Shhh…someone will hear you,” Jake whispered and put his finger to my lips. “I have all the seasons…including the Bachelorette.”
Damn he was just so cute. Trying to keep the smile off my face, I proclaimed, “I’m sorry, Jake. This is just too much for me to comprehend. I think I need to leave now.”
Jake pulled me into his arms unexpectedly. “Don’t go.” He stared down at me with such heat I thought I might melt in his arms.
“I’m not going anywhere…trust me,” I whispered.
Jake smiled at this. “Good.” He whispered back.
“And, you know, it’s not like you’re the only one with a shocking secret. I have one of my own actually.”
“Oh really?” Jake replied as he pulled out of the hug with a smile on his face and looked down at me with interest.
“Well it’s not as scandalous as your Bachelor admission but I feel like I need to be honest with you,” I said with a serious tone in my voice.
“Okay,” Jake responded, sounding a bit worried.
“Do you want to know what my secret is?” I asked him.
“I’m not sure,” Jake replied. “You don’t have a penis or anything, do you?”
“What?” I gaped before bursting out with laughter. “No…not that big of a secret,” I exclaimed, smacking him in the arm as I continued laughing. “How would me having a penis be less shocking than you watching the Bachelor?”
“I don’t know,” Jake laughed. “You got all serious and I got worried.”
“So naturally your first thought was that I was a tranny?” I shot back, laughing.
Jake shrugged as he laughed.
“You’re funny,” I continued giggling.
“Okay so the suspense is killing me…what’s this big secret?”
“Well, now I don’t even want to tell you because you were expecting something grand.”
“No, please,” Jake begged.
“Okay,” I said and looked at him skeptically. “But you can’t make fun of me okay?”
“No promises,” Jake announced. “Just spit it out.”
“I collect banana labels.”
“You collect what?”
“Banana labels.”
“Banana labels?” Jake repeated like he hadn’t understood correctly.
“Yes.”
“Okay hold on. Let me just make sure I’m hearing you right. You collect the little labels that you peel off bananas?” Jake asked, barely controlling his amusement.
“Yes.”
Jake looked at me like I was crazy then burst out laughing.
“You said you wouldn’t laugh at me.”
“No I didn’t. And that…oh my God Casey…that is hysterical. I mean that beats my secret hands down,” he claimed, laughing.
“Shut up,” I replied but I was enjoying his amusement on my behalf.
“And you collect these labels, why?” Jake asked.
“When I was a kid my mom was looking at a banana and she said that it was from Ecuador. I’d never even heard of that country so I researched it. I thought it was the coolest thing that I was eating fruit that came from another country. After that I always checked where the bananas were from. If it was a new place I would learn as much as I could about the country and then I would peel off the label and paste it to a piece of paper with a whole written overview of the country. Pretty soon I had so many I had to put the labels in a binder.”
“You have a binder even?” Jake questioned in a raised voice.
I nodded.
He burst out laughing. “Oh God…Holy crap. That is hilarious! I love it.” Jake said shaking his head. “You’re seriously one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met in my life. I’ll never be able to look at a banana sticker again without thinking of you,” Jake revealed, smiling widely. I laughed with him, enjoying the moment.
“Well we can’t all be as interesting and talented as you are, Jake. The majority of us were only gifted with mediocre skills.”
“Says the girl who knows the square root of every number,” Jake replied.
“Yeah because that is a noteworthy talent,” I laughed. “You, with your beautiful voice and creative mind, moving a room full of strangers to tears and mine, cold and calculating, eliciting a room full of yawns from uninterested onlookers. You’re probably an artist too, aren’t you?”
Jake smiled coyly.
“I knew it!” I laughed. “Do you paint or draw?”
“Both.”
“Of course you do! I’m a terrible artist. Even my stick figures end up with extra appendages.”
Jake grinned, enjoying my joke, “That’s okay. You’re good at other things.”
“Oh really?” I smiled. “Like what? I’m very interested.”
“You’re good at making me laugh.”
“That’s not difficult,” I said rolling my eyes. “You laugh all the time.”
“With people I know, yeah, but not with people I’ve just met.”
“Seriously?”
Jake looked at me in surprise. “You know who I am, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you know that I’m not exactly known for my sense of humor.”
Stunned that Jake would be so blunt, I struggled to find the right words. This guy was so misunderstood. I’d only known him for 24 hours yet I knew enough to know that he was so much more than what was reported in the media.
“You want to know the first thing that I noticed about you at the restaurant last night?” I asked.
“Okay,” Jake replied, looking interested.
“You throw your head back when you laugh.”
“So?”
“So, that is how I can tell if a person has a good sense of humor or not. And you, my friend, have one.”
Jake stared at me.
“What?” I asked.
“What else have you figured out about me, Casey Caldwell?”
“Honestly? Not much. You’re not the easiest person to read.”
Jake nodded.
“Is that intentional?”
He smiled.
“See that’s what I’m talking about!” I laughed. “Are you trying to be ambiguous?”
Jake stared at me a second like he was contemplating whether or not he should answer my question, then his shoulders drooped a bit and he said, “It’s a defense mechanism. Sorry.”
I stared at Jake. His honesty floored me. This guy continuously surprised me. “Don’t apologize,” I answered. “I find your mysterious ways intriguing. Figuring you out is like a puzzle.”
Jake grinned his sexy little smile then he bent down and whispered in my ear, “You want to put a few pieces together?”
His hot breath on my neck sent shivers down my spine. Excitement coursed through me. Was this really happening? Was Jake actually inviting me into his life…the real one…not the life that people had imagined for him?
“Yes please,” I replied, breathlessly.
Then, all of the sudden, Jake’s expression changed completely. He stared at me w
ith a fiery look then leaned in close just inches from my face leaving no doubt what he wanted. The heat between us was smoldering. I eagerly awaited the kiss I was being promised. Jake’s lips lingered just above mine, making me want it even more. But as with everything else about this guy, I never knew exactly what to expect. Jake always seemed to keep me guessing. And this was no different. Most guys would have been halfway down my throat by now but Jake was in no hurry. Instead, he teased me with the promise of something more. The wait was agonizing and thrilling all at once. This boy knew how to seduce a girl. When his lips finally touched mine a bolt of electricity surged through me, travelling straight to my pleasure spot. I actually groaned. No guy had ever elicited that strong a response in me with just a single kiss. Of course this was no ordinary kiss…and no ordinary guy.
Jake’s lips lingered on the same spot, elongating that first contact. I felt weak in the knees. Then he started kissing my upper lip in a slow leisurely fashion before moving on to both. His style was unhurried and seductive and it was making me crazy. I wanted to devour him but he controlled the kiss. I was trembling. Our bodies were pressed into each other. I was lost in him. And then he went in for the kill. Our lips were locked in a passionate kiss. I was taking him in greedily. His hands were on my face. Mine were in his hair. I was tingling all over. It was an incredible kiss, like nothing I’d ever experienced before. When he finally pulled away, my head was spinning and I actually felt a bit faint. We both kind of stood there, stunned by the raw and powerful chemistry between us. I leaned into him for support.
Jake’s gorgeous eyes were all I could see. I stared at him in awe for a minute before throwing myself at him, kissing him passionately again. This time I was in control, which meant, of course, that the kiss was totally out of control. I was animalistic in my approach, although Jake didn’t seem the least bit turned off by my intensity. He matched me action for action. I thought I knew what passion and lust was until I met Jake McKallister. This guy took me to new levels.
Jake left my lips and kissed behind my ear and down my neck. My body was shaking. “Oh God,” I replied, breathlessly.
He worked his way around until he was back at my lips. This time his tongue got in on the action. But he was in no hurry, Jake’s tongue lazily wandered around the entrance making me want to beg him for more. In fact, I wanted him to devour me. This kiss was rocking my world. My legs wobbled. Every nerve in my body tingled as I pushed against him. I felt like I could do him right there, without caring who saw. I was never so careless with my virtue but Jake did something for me that no guy before him had ever done…he made me weak with lust.