“She’s coming here at two. I had a message sent to her this morning and I have arranged for Eric to pick her up to come and see you.” He looks completely unfazed. I on the other hand probably look ridiculous with the faces I am pulling.
“Hold on. How did you know where to find her?”
“Now that is something that I can’t share with you. Top secret I’m afraid.” He winks at me and his playful tone is back, but I am a little freaked out.
“No, seriously, how do you know where she lives?” I need to know that he isn’t some deranged stalker.
“I had a friend escort her home from The Den last night to make sure she got home safely. Actually, I think the friend ended up staying the night with her if the squealing in the background was anything to go by.” Jake looks a little uncomfortable at the thought.
I can’t help but burst out laughing. Jake’s eyes go wide as he watches me giggling hysterically.
“I’m sorry, it’s just your face is such a picture.”
“I’m glad that I amuse you,” he smiles.
Once I have managed to calm down from my laughing fit, I open my mouth to ask him if Lydia knows anything about last night, but before I can do so he cuts me off.
“She doesn’t know anything about what happened.”
How did he know I was going to ask that?
“What are you, a mind reader?”
“No, just good at reading people.” He stares at me intently. I break the gaze and get up from my stool to get myself another coffee. “It’s not anyone else’s place to tell her what happened.”
“Thank you,” I say as I smile at his thoughtfulness for a second before a dark thought suddenly crosses my mind. “Hey, wait a minute. You beat the shit out of Donnie, aren’t you worried that he will report you?” I ask. I start to worry what repercussions Jake may face for helping me.
“Not worried in the slightest. You will not be hearing from him again and neither will I. And if he has any sense then he won’t be bothering Lydia again either,” Jake informs me.
Fuck, did he do something else to him?
Jake sees the look on my face and instantly shuts down my thoughts. “Stop worrying. It’s a guy thing. He just knows not to come near you ever again and that’s all you need to know.”
Once again, he appears completely unfazed.
“Well… Okay then.” I can’t think of any other response. I lean against the worktop and stare into my coffee, trying to look for answers.
Why did Donnie do it? Why didn’t I see it coming?
“Stop worrying,” Jake says. He walks over to me and takes my coffee cup from my hands, places it on the worktop behind me and puts his arms around me. I automatically put my arms around his waist. “And stop over thinking. Everything is going to be fine.” His words bring me comfort, and the feel of his arms enveloping me puts my body at ease.
We stand like that for some time, in silence. I am enjoying the closeness too much to think about how strange it is that we are embracing like we have been lovers for years. It should feel strange, hugging a virtual stranger, but it doesn’t. In the very little time that I have known Jake, I can honestly say that I have never viewed him as a stranger. He almost feels like home to me.
I try to distract from my thoughts of Jake, and I begin to ponder over what may happen when Lydia comes over. What if she doesn’t believe me?
My eyes flick up to the clock on the wall. It’s quarter past nine, I have plenty of time to get ready for Lydia to arrive. I may just take a long, hot bath and wear my comfortable clothes.
Clothes… Shit!
I pull away from Jake as I realise that I have no clothes to wear.
“Um, Jake. I have no clothes to wear… For when Lydia gets here,” I say shyly, pulling my head back to look at him.
“That’s not a problem with me,” he says with a wink. I playfully smack him on the chest and he laughs. “Don’t worry, I have someone collecting your things from Charles’ house as we speak.”
“WHAT?” I shout as I break my hands from around his waist and lean back. His arms drop to his sides, and he looks a little uncomfortable at my outburst.
“Uh, I hope that isn’t a problem. I just thought that you may need your personal items whilst you are here.”
“Jake, I appreciate the gesture but it’s a bit much. I would have made do with these pyjama bottoms and one of your clean T-shirts. Oh my God, Charles is going to flip when he finds out where I am. I really don’t need the grief from him right now.” I am exasperated. What Jake is doing for me is too much. I mean, bringing me back to his and looking after me is one thing, then making sure I see Lydia is another, but getting my stuff from my ex-boyfriend’s house is insane. That’s a lot for some guy, that I hardly know, to do for me.
What reason does he have for doing this? My mind starts to race.
Oh God, what have I gotten myself into by staying here? How does he even know that my stuff is still at Charles’ house?
“I quite like the thought of you in one of my T-shirts,” Jake says, trying to lighten my mood. I roll my eyes and give a little groan. “I just thought that I was helping. I would like you to feel comfortable whilst you are here. I thought having your own things would help do that. Plus, Charles has no reason to know I sent the guys who are collecting your things. For all he knows they could be friends of yours.” Jake looks a little offended and I instantly feel guilty.
“Oh God, Jake, I didn’t mean to sound so ungrateful. It’s just all so overwhelming. The last twenty-four hours have been crazy. My head is all over the place and I don’t know how to process everything.”
“I know. That’s why I wanted to make things easier for you.” He seems so genuine and my gut is telling me to trust and believe him.
“Thank you,” I say, giving him a little smile.
“No problem.” He flashes me his heart stopping grin and my knees feel weak. How does he have this effect over me? After what happened last night though, I am so glad that Jake isn’t trying to make a move on me. He may be hot, but my confidence has been severely shaken.
The doorbell rings, making me jump. Jake leaves the kitchen to go and answer the door. I finish my coffee before following him, and the sight before me is a little more than I expected. There are boxes everywhere. It literally looks like all of my stuff has been brought here.
Shit, I assumed he meant that he was having a few items of clothes collected for me, not my entire life!
“Um, Jake?” He turns around to look at me. “Why is it that every item I appear to own is sitting in boxes, in your hallway?”
“I told you that I was having your stuff collected.”
“Yes, but I thought you meant a few clothes, I didn’t realise you meant everything that I own.” I am gobsmacked.
“Well, this way you have no need to go back to Charles’ to collect your belongings. Except for your car. Charles is adamant that he can’t find the keys. We can go and get it in the next day or two.” Jake doesn’t bat an eyelid at how insane all of this is. He shakes hands with the guys who have delivered my stuff and closes the door as they leave.
“I will take all of this up to the guest room for you,” he says, gesturing to the boxes.
“Whoa, hold on a minute, mister.” Jake gives me a puzzled look. “How long do you think I am staying for?”
“As long as you need to,” he replies. Well fuck me, he’s only gone and moved me in.
“I don’t think that’s appropriate, Jake. We hardly know each other. I am so grateful to you for everything you have done so far, but I can’t live here.” Doesn’t he see how ridiculous this is?
“Look, before you start getting worried, I am happy for you to stay here.” I go to speak, but he raises his finger to stop me as he continues to talk. “I want to help you, Stacey. There is no ulterior motive here. I hope that by now you have realised that I am not some raving lunatic. You may come and go as you please, and you may use the house as you would your own place. I
am out most of the time due to my work commitments, so you may as well take advantage of the situation. I feel like we have a connection, and I would like to pursue that.”
My eyebrows raise, and Jake quickly corrects his wording. “I mean, I feel that we are starting to become friends, and that thought makes me happy.” I feel myself start to soften at his words.
“I don’t let many people into my life, Stacey. I have trusted people before and they have let me down, but when I do sense a connection with someone, I like to explore that connection.”
“But… But… But I don’t have a job, and I wouldn’t be able to contribute to the bills or anything.” Oh my God, am I actually considering this?
“Does it look like that bothers me?”
“Well it bothers me. I don’t want people to think that I am using you for your money.” Yep, looks like I am considering this crazy idea.
“I don’t give a fuck what other people think,” Jake says, and his tone tells me that I should just drop this conversation, but I can’t.
“I don’t know, Jake. It’s all so rushed and sudden. This is a big decision, and like I said before, we hardly know each other. I’m also meant to be staying with Lydia.” Although, depending on how this afternoon goes, I may not be able to stay with her anyway.
“Well, you have the option to stay here if you need to,” Jake responds.
We stand in the hallway, staring at each other. This is just more information to process in my overloaded brain. I don’t have the energy to talk this out right now.
“I’ll think about it.” This is the only answer that I can give right now.
“Okay then. You think about it and I will start to take these boxes to your room,” Jake says. I don’t fail to notice how it has gone from the “guest room” to “your room.” “Oh, and just for the record, it doesn’t feel like we hardly know each other. Not to me anyway.”
With that, Jake starts to move my boxes from the hallway as I look on in disbelief. Living here with Jake Waters would be luxurious, I have no doubt about that, but can I really do that? Could me living here actually work?
My life has gone from zero miles per hour to one hundred in a very short space of time. Mid thought, I pick up one of the smaller boxes and start to take it up the stairs. I am halfway up when Jake startles me, making me drop the box I was holding. I hope there was nothing valuable in there as it could well be broken now.
“What do you think you are doing?” he asks me. I am about to respond, but Jake cuts me off before I can reply. “Don’t even think about lifting anything else up here, the boxes are way too heavy.”
“Jake, I’m perfectly fine to bring some stuff up here.” I roll my eyes at him.
“It’s not up for discussion. If you want to help then I would love another cup of coffee, black with one sugar.”
“Is this what it would be like if I lived here? Will I be allowed to do anything?” I mock.
“Of course you will. But if it involves carrying heavy items then that is my job, not yours. Now, where are we on that cup of coffee?”
I salute Jake as he continues up the stairs, chuckling to himself.
“Coming right up, sir,” I respond playfully before I return to the kitchen.
Maybe I could get used to being looked after like this…
Chapter Twelve
I take a quick shower, so much for a long bath, and spend the next hour looking through my boxes, trying to find what clothes to wear. I opt for some black leggings, pink vest top and my favourite jumper which is off the shoulder and baggy, meaning it is comfy. I dry my hair and style it into a side plait that hangs loosely over my shoulder. I don’t bother applying make-up. I’m not in the mood to be all dolled up right now. My eyes still look a little puffy from last night, but I don’t care about covering it up. I think that seeing Lydia is only going to spark more emotion, so make-up would be a waste of time.
I hear the doorbell ring and I head out of the bedroom and downstairs to see if it is Lydia. Jake has already answered the door and is chatting with a guy who has his arm around Lydia’s shoulders.
So that must be who escorted Lydia home.
He is tall with an athletic build, green eyes and short blond, cropped hair. Lydia looks up and sees me coming down the stairs. As I reach the bottom, she comes over and pulls me into a massive bear hug. I am shaking when she hugs me, but she doesn’t seem to notice.
“So, you dirty stop out, this is where you got to, huh? I wondered where the hell you had disappeared to, until this nice young gentleman came and told me,” she says as she points to the guy talking to Jake.
“Uh, yeah. It’s a long story,” I reply.
“I bet it is, and I want to hear every little detail.” Lydia doesn’t even bother to keep her voice quiet. Jake stops talking to his friend and stares at me as I try to stop myself from crumbling here on the spot. I am struggling to find words.
“Why don’t you ladies go through to the lounge, just on the right, through that door. You can talk more privately in there,” Jake suggests, nodding at the relevant door. I mouth my thanks to him. He smiles back, and my heart does a little flutter. “Come on, Paul, let’s leave them to it and go grab a beer.”
“Cool,” says the guy, who I now know is called Paul. The guys walk off in the direction of the kitchen as Lydia and I head to the lounge. I haven’t seen the lounge yet, so I have no idea what it looks like.
I open the door and look around the room. It is beautiful, but not as big as I expected it to be. The fact that the lounge is small means it gives it a cosy and warm vibe. The colour scheme is lovely, and the floor is covered in a rich cream carpet that is so plush my feet sink into it.
The walls are painted cream but there is a feature wall that is painted in a glorious gold colour. Fresh flowers sit in a vase on the ornate mantelpiece, and a gigantic television literally covers one of the walls opposite the seating area.
The seating area consists of a cream coloured corner sofa and a little coffee table in front of it. Jake really does have great taste when it comes to decorating a house. Each room I have seen so far has been stunning.
“Fucking hell, Stace, you hit the jackpot when you met him,” Lydia says as she strides in and takes a seat on the sofa. “Oh God, this is like bliss on your butt cheeks.” I giggle at her comment and go and sit next to her, taking her hand in mine.
“Stace?” her face looks puzzled. “What’s going on?”
I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. “Lyd, I need to tell you something, and I need you to let me get to the end of this before you say anything.”
“Come on, Stacey, out with it. You’re scaring me.”
“Something happened to me at The Den last night. I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, but…” I take another deep breath before carrying on. Lydia is staring at me with wide eyes. I need to get this over with.
“Donnie tried to assault me.”
Lydia doesn’t move a muscle. She seems to have frozen at my words.
“He was waiting for me outside the toilets when I came out. I started to panic as I thought that something had happened to you, for him to be waiting for me.” I fight back the tears that are threatening to break through my strength.
“After assuring me that you were okay, he grabbed me and led me down the corridor next to the toilets. He shoved me against the wall. I couldn’t move, Lydia, he had me pinned. I tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. He touched me, and I was screaming at him to get off of me, but he wasn’t listening. If it wasn’t for Jake showing up when he did, I think he would have…” my voice breaks, and I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence.
Tears start to sting the backs of my eyes, but I need to keep talking. “I’m so sorry, Lyd. I never thought that I would ever have to tell you anything like this. I know this must be a shock…”
Lydia scoffs and I look at her in surprise.
“Donnie wouldn’t do that to me, what are you talking about?” Lyd
ia removes her hand from mine, stands up and starts to pace the room.
“He did, and I wish to God that he hadn’t. It breaks me to have to tell you this. You are my best friend, Lyd. I need to know that you have understood what I have just told you.” Lydia stops pacing and turns to face me.
“Oh, I understand. I understand perfectly.” There is a tone to her voice that she has never used with me before. “What I don’t understand though is why you didn’t tell me last night? Why didn’t you come straight to me and tell me?” She looks hurt.
“I’m sorry, Lyd. I was a mess. Jake had to physically carry me out of the place and I had no idea that he was bringing me here. I was scared, and he made me feel safe.”
“Oh, I bet he did.” Lydia’s voice is laced with sarcasm.
“It’s not like that, Lydia.” I feel defensive at her insinuation. “Jake has been nothing but kind, and he doesn’t expect anything in return.”
“But I am your best friend. You should have been able to come to me,” Lydia says, raising her voice. I knew this wouldn’t exactly be a happy conversation, but I did expect her to show some concern. I start to feel anger rise within me.
“You are my best friend, but Donnie is the guy that you have been shagging for the last three months. How would I have been able to tell you? He would have made sure that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to.”
“You could have at least tried, but instead you let some guy that you barely know bring you to his place. Is this why Donnie ditched me at The Den? Is this why Jake’s friend took me home?” I can’t answer her, but then I don’t really think I need to. I think the answers to those questions are fairly obvious after what I have just told her.
“I need to get out of here. I can’t be near you right now.” Lydia turns to leave the room and panic surges through me.
“Lyd, please don’t go. We need to talk about this.” I jump up off of the sofa and follow her into the hallway. Lydia doesn’t stop, and she doesn’t turn around. All I can do is watch as she walks out of the front door, slamming it behind her.
I let myself sink to the floor as I watch my best friend walk out of my life. I replay the conversation with Lydia back in my head, and I try to figure out if I could have handled it better. I don’t think there is a right way that I could have told her. There is no way that I could have kept it from her, she needed to know the truth about what happened. Not telling her was never an option.
The Complete Perfect Series Page 8