“Jake, what happened?” He said as he leaned against the truck beside his brother.
“Dr. Paranoia is sending me for a bunch of tests, to rule shit out. What that shit is he didn’t say.” He closed his eyes and took a long pull on his cigarette.
“Well did he say if we should worry or not?”
“No, he seemed more like he was covering his ass than anything else.” Jake flicked his cigarette. “He’s just saving his own hide, raking in the insurance dollars.” He looked at his brother. “How many times did she call?” Knowing, very well that Cara had stopped calling him only to harass Luke.
“Two calls and three texts.” He sighed. “Do you want to call her or should I?” Luke asked.
He crushed his cigarette with the tip of his shoe. “No I will.” He said and reached for his phone. He stopped himself hitting the call button and looked up at Luke. “Let’s just keep all these tests between us, okay? No reason to get Cara nervous over this shit.”
“Are you sure?” He asked slowly, assessing Jake.
“Positive, and when I say let’s keep it between us that means not telling mom and dad either.” He said directly.
“Jake if something’s wrong mom and dad need to know.” Luke said as he dragged his fingers through his hair, frustrated beyond measure.
“Nothing’s wrong.” He hollered and then took a deep breath. They remained silent for a few moments. Jake looked down at his phone, staring at Cara’s name and her beautiful face that stared back at him. He swallowed the lump that was lodged in his throat. The unknown scared the shit out of him. Ironic wasn’t it? He had everything he wanted, things were going right in his life and now impending doom lurked. He looked at his brother, he was perfectly still, and his worried eyes stared at the parked cars. “Do I have your word?”
Luke didn’t take his eyes from the parked cars, and when he answered it was as if he was automated. “You have my word.”
That was good as gold, to Jake. He pressed send and waited for Cara’s voice to change his mood.
Chapter Sixteen
Jake wasn’t one to be a pessimist, it just wasn’t who he was. He was more the glass is half full, kind of guy. So after his shit show of a doctor’s appointment he called Cara, and her voice instantly calmed him. He had told her things went well with the doctor and they were just running some tests that would probably conclude that he had anxiety. It didn’t matter to him, that he had no idea what all those tests were for and what they would conclude, because he wasn’t about to worry himself or his loved ones until he knew exactly what was going on. He did follow through and set up his appointments to have the tests done, but once he did that, he pushed to the back of his head.
Out of sight, out of mind, he went about the rest of his day as planned. He had met Pete at the Riverdale Ink, and was now sporting some new ink after five hours. He would need a few things touched up and shaded, but for the most part it was finished which was great because he didn’t have to hide it from Cara. He stopped off at the drug store and picked up some A & D ointment before heading to her apartment. It was late, but he had texted her to make sure she was still awake and she had insisted he come over. He knocked on her door, and leaned against the door jamb waiting for her to open it.
When she pulled the door open, all his troubles seemed to fade away. She greeted him with a big smile, and he could tell by the excitement shining on her face, that she was about to jump in. The thought made him laugh and he held up a hand to stop her.
“Easy baby, I’m in some pain.” He pushed himself off the doorjamb and pressed his hands to her hips, leaned down and gently offered his mouth to her. She arched her head back and took his lips between hers. It was a meant to be a gentle, hello kiss, but transpired into a heated can’t wait to rip your clothes off kiss. Her tongue slid inside his mouth and tasted him. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging him into her apartment. He kicked the door close with the heel of his shoe, before he cupped her face and continued to kiss her thoroughly.
Not sure who pulled away first, he looked into her eyes and smiled at her. “Hey.” He murmured.
“Hi.” She whispered back. Her tongue ran across her lower lip, savoring the taste of him.
Then her brows furrowed and she looked at him concerned. “Why are you in pain? Did something happen at the doctor’s office?”