Love Realized (The Real Love Series)

chapter FIFTEEN

Before he knew it, their time in the cages had run out. Time sure did fly when having fun, he thought, because he could’ve stayed there all day watching her. Of course, it was even better now than it was when they were in high school. She was packing up the gear the boys brought with them when he heard her phone vibrate on the bench next to him. When he looked down, the screen showed she had a text.

“Hey, Gillian, you have a text,” he said to her.

She looked up from what she was doing and responded, “Can you check it and see who it is?”

He opened the message folder on her phone screen, and saw that the most recent text had come from Allie, which only said ‘call me.’ But the text in the line below hers was the one that grabbed his attention since it read, ‘Just so you know … it isn’t over.’ Jake thought that was a weird statement, especially since it came from a number that wasn’t programmed into her phone. He thought it sounded kind of threatening, but knew that it could sound that way if you didn’t know what exactly was over.

He was still staring at her phone when she placed a baseball bag at his feet and asked, “Who was it?”

“It was Allie, she just said to call her. But what is this other text here that came in late last night?” Mentioning last night reminded him of the guy she went out with, and he briefly wondered if it was possible to have come from him, but hoped not.

“A text from last night?” she questioned as she took her phone from him. He felt a little guilty for glancing at her texts, but for whatever reason, that one bothered him. She shrugged her shoulders as she examined her phone before looking up at him and saying, “I have no clue, it must be a wrong number. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Should I reply to it?”

“No. If you think it’s a wrong number, then just leave it alone.”

“Okay,” she agreed. She turned off her phone screen and shoved it into her pocket before looking at up at him. “The boys are hungry for burgers. They want to go to Brody’s.” The smile on her face was a dead giveaway that it was her that really wanted to go there.

He let out a small laugh and shook his head at her attempt to pin it on the boys. “Is that so?”

“Sure is, and you wouldn’t want to disappoint them, now would you?” she asked, batting her eyes at him and giving him a pleading look. He couldn’t help but notice that it appeared she was flirting with him. His heart accelerated slightly at the excitement of that, and he decided to flirt right back.

“Well that’s true,” he said as he stepped a little closer to her, forcing her to look up at him. “But honestly, it’s you that I don’t want to disappoint, Gillian.” He finished this off by gently sweeping the back of his hand across her cheek. When he saw her shiver at the contact, he had to make sure he didn’t pounce on her then and there. Seeing her physically respond to him was such a rush, it was hard to focus on anything else around them, which is why he didn’t notice how they were standing in front of the entrance to the batting cage, blocking it. The sound of a man clearing his throat caught his attention, forcing his gaze from Gillian’s to that of the random stranger next to them.

The stranger motioned toward the batting cage and said nicely, “Sorry to interrupt, but our cage time has already started. You mind stepping out of the way?”

Gillian jumped out of the way and immediately started apologizing for both of them. “I am so sorry. We were distracted because I was trying to persuade my friend here that we needed to go get burgers. You know how it is when there’s a great burger involved, everything around you seems to pale in comparison. You could’ve been George Clooney, and I wouldn’t have noticed.” The way she smiled at the stranger and fanned herself dramatically as she mentioned George Clooney was cute, and so Gillian.

The man clearly agreed, judging by his answering smile and response, “That’s quite all right, great burgers deserve that kind of attention.”

Then the man paused and gave Gillian an appraising look before adding, “If your friend won’t take you, I’d be willing to.” Jake quickly thought about punching the guy square in the nose, but decided against it. Even though he knew Gillian wouldn’t bite at a line like that, he realized that this was what would happen while Gillian was on the market. This was that guy … the kind of guy that he didn’t want her to have to deal with. He was about to say something to the jackass but Gillian didn’t miss a beat. She slid right up next to Jake, put one arm behind him and the other planted itself on his chest as she stared up into his eyes. A little baffled by it, but loving the contact nonetheless, he wrapped his one arm around her and pulled her closer.

Gillian smiled at him and said, “Oh my friend is always willing to give me what I want. Aren’t you?” The tone of her voice was playful and sexy, and it sucked Jake in. She may have been putting on a little bit of a show for the creep and his crappy pick up line, but he was not going to refuse the benefits of it. Or not take advantage of it.

So he leaned forward and as he gave her a sly grin and said, “You know I'm always willing for you, babe.” And then he kissed her on the lips. Her quick intake of air, and her lips softening to his was exactly what he hoped for. When he pulled back and looked her in the eyes he couldn’t help but smile again and say softly, with emphasis, “Always.”

Creepy guy got the hint and made his way past the two of them, still staring at each other. Although he didn’t want to break the spell weaving around them, he knew they were in public, and so Jake said, “Now how ‘bout we go get you that burger.”

Her stomach answered with a rumble loud enough for both of them to hear. Gillian’s eyes got wide as she clutched her stomach with both hands and laughed, “I think we better!”

He bent over to get the bat bags that were sitting at his feet, when he heard a little voice ask him, “Did you just kiss my mom?”

Crap! He needed to realize this was about more than just him. Looking to see that Gillian and Ryan had already made their way toward the exit, Jake squatted down in front of Dylan and placed his hand on his shoulder before answering, “I did. Is that okay with you, buddy?”

Dylan gave the response a quick thought, and then answered honestly, “It’s weird. You’ve never kissed her like that before. That is how my dad used to kiss her, before he moved out.” He paused to think before Jake saw the light in his eyes as he finished with, “Are you going to move in now? Does that mean Dylan is moving in, too?” His excitement at the thought of that was funny, and Jake gave a little laugh at it.

“No, big guy, that doesn’t mean that Dylan and me are moving in.” The poor kid was clearly disappointed at this bit of information, but Jake pushed on, wanting to get this out there. “What it does mean is that I really like your mom. I like your mom a lot, and I want to spend more time with her. Maybe hold her hand or give her another kiss … would you be okay with that?” Jake wasn’t sure if he was overstepping any boundaries here, feeling that he should include Gillian in this. But he didn’t want to blow it off when Dylan asked, for fear that would give the kid the impression that it wasn’t important, when it was.

Dylan was a calculating kid, usually had an agenda, but always thought stuff through completely. Jake could see the wheels spinning in his head as he processed all of the information. After a few moments, Dylan nodded his head and said, “I'm okay with that, Uncle Jake.” With that, the eight year old turned and made his way to the exit, leaving Jake to follow in his wake. He knew that winning over the eight year old son over was going to be the easy one. Gillian’s older son, Jonathan, was the one he was worried about.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

They arrived at Brody’s for lunch, and Gillian was relieved that they were able to get a table. A definite bonus was they had a great view of one of the screens playing a soccer game. She always loved hanging out at Brody’s—they had the best burgers and fries, not to mention the variety of brews they had on tap; though she usually ordered the chocolate shakes when she was there. She had sent the boys to the bathroom to wash their hands when her favorite waitress, Carrie, came over to take their orders. She ordered for herself and the boys while Jake ordered for himself. She was about to excuse herself to go wash her own hands when she noticed Jake staring at her with a weird expression she didn’t understand. Pausing in her retreat to the ladies room she asked, “What’s that look for?”

He smiled and said, “You know what everyone orders when they come here.”

It was more of a statement than a question, but she nodded her head and replied, “Of course, I know what everyone orders, everywhere we go. I'm weird that way. I would have ordered for you, too, but I make it a point to let the adults handle themselves.”

A big smile spread across Jake’s face as he said, “I don’t think it’s weird at all. It shows how much you pay attention to everyone in your family.” A flush worked its way across her cheeks, and she ducked her head at his compliment. It was so unlike her to react like this, but there was something new going on between them today. It was that school-girl-crush feeling she had the other night when she saw Mike at the game.

The thought of Mike, their date, their kiss, and her saying yes to him calling her again, slapped her across the face—effectively dousing the warm and fuzzies she was just enjoying from Jake’s attention. The flush disappeared, and a feeling of discomfort took its place. Needing a moment, she quickly excused herself and retreated to the bathroom, leaving a worried Jake at the table.

Once safely behind the barrier of the ladies room door, she placed her hands on the counter and stared at herself in the mirror. She felt like she had done something wrong, like she was guilty of something. This was all new territory for her, but for some reason, it seemed wrong to enjoy the attention from Jake, when she similarly enjoyed it from another man just last night. Of course, she knew she was being ridiculous, but her conscience made her feel like she was being dishonest. Why hadn’t she felt this way all day long? Why now? She realized that she hadn’t even given Mike another thought since last night, which was just all sorts of screwed up … wasn’t it? After a very nice evening with one man, all of her attention went to Jake. Her worry, her concern, even a dream or two, were about Jake … not Mike.

Mike was a great guy from what she could tell and last night when he asked if he could call her, she acted quickly and responded yes. But now, she believed that if she were to run into him, and he asked her out, it would probably be no. Trying to form a rational justification as to why she felt her answer would be different if he asked her now, the only answer she could find was sitting out at the table waiting for her. Jake made it different.

She still wasn’t sure what exactly was going on between them at the moment, but she trusted it. She knew it was something worth giving a chance, and spending time with another man who was showing an interest in her, well, that just felt wrong. Nodding in the mirror, as if to acknowledge the conclusion she came to, she washed her hands and made her way back to the table.

The food hadn’t arrived yet and Jake, Dylan, and Ryan were engaged in a conversation, or debate, of who could hold their breath longest underwater. Since these random conversation topics weren’t unusual, she sat down and absorbed it. Jake looked over at her and asked, “You okay? All the color drained from your face before you left the table—I was worried you were sick.”

She melted a little at the concern on his face and in his voice. Knowing for certain that she had come to the correct conclusion to see what was going on between them, she reached over and covered his hand with hers, gave it a little squeeze and said, “I'm fine, nothing to worry about.”

Jake quickly covered her hand with his other one, trapping it between both of his. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am.”

When Dylan and Ryan’s voices got louder, demanding her attention, she turned toward them, but left her hand comfortably between Jake’s, enjoying the feel of his warmth. She peeked over at him for a second and saw that he was still watching her, and he gave her one of those big, satisfied smiles like he had just accomplished something. She wasn’t really sure what that was about, but she answered with one of her own before turning back to the boys.

The food arrived to help put an end to the useless conversation the boys were having, but not before it was determined that the next event on their agenda that day was to go swimming at her place. This was fine with her, and since the weather stayed warm well into October, she could do some reading while lounging poolside. They all finished their meals, and she enjoyed more of the chatter that always seemed to surround Dylan and Ryan.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~

Jake couldn’t help but find complete enjoyment in all that he had done on his day of rest. That’s what Sundays were for, after all—rest and spending time with family. This was what he wanted all the time. How funny that it was that just last night that he managed to lose his temper in front of Allie, punch a wall, storm off, and then go home to drink himself unconscious because he was so distraught. But now, he sat and enjoyed the company of the woman he thought he had again. He was more than glad that things had turned out better than he thought possible last night. He sat back and took it all in.

The waitress, Carrie, came by the table to drop of the bill, and Jake made sure to make a swipe for it when he saw Gillian reach for it. He gave her a look that said, what the hell do you think you’re doing, so she backed off and continued to chat with the waitress. Jake sent the boys to the counter with the credit card to take care of the bill, and once the waitress left, he took the opportunity to tell Gillian about Dylan’s questioning. He was a little worried that she would be upset with him for talking to him that way, but he hoped she was okay with it. After telling her how he asked if he had just kissed his mom, and that it was like the way she and Logan did, she seemed a little shocked.

“Did he really say that? Like me and Logan?” she questioned in a low tone, before she asked, “What did you say to that?”

“Well, before I could respond to that, your little mastermind asked if this meant that Ryan and me would be moving in?” he said with a little amusement. Gillian’s hand flew to her mouth, surprised by her son’s question. Jake could see that she found it amusing, too.

“No he didn’t!” she said. Jake nodded. Then she asked, “And what did you say?”

“I told him no, it didn’t mean that we were moving in,” he paused as he thought about how that was his goal in the future. Reaching over, he grabbed her hand and said, “Then I told him it meant that I liked his mom a lot and that because of that, I might want to hold her hand.” Glancing down at their hands together, he continued, “Or that I might want to kiss her again.” He wanted to lean over and do it then, but knew it wasn’t the place for it; although she looked like she had hoped he would. “Then I asked him if that was okay with him. He thought about it for a minute then said, ‘yeah I’m okay with that Uncle Jake,’ and he walked away from me.”

Gillian let out a deep sigh, and said, “He said he was okay with it? Oh, thank God.” She tensed up as if she realized she said something she didn’t mean to.

He stood up from the table and helped pull her chair back, too. He gave her a smile and said, “Oh, thank God is exactly what I thought, too.” She relaxed at his words, and it was then that he knew that up until that point, she wasn’t certain what was going on, and that his agreement with her reaction put her at ease. Hand in hand, they made their way out of the restaurant and headed toward her house. Jake was more than a little excited at having pool time with Gillian—one of his favorite past times.