Chapter 26
*Jake*
Julie cries the whole way home, it’s the only sound in the truck the entire ride.
When we get home, Kayla has to carry Julie into the house and up to her room.
I go to my room and slam the door shut. It slams so hard, frames in the hallway fall and hit the floor.
I hear Mom at the bottom of the stairs, “What the hell…?”
Minutes pass before my bedroom door opens, something flies in the air and hits me square in the head. I pick it up. It’s Kayla’s phone.
I look up at her. “You better call your best friend and apologize for being an asshole, then you better go see Julie and start making it up to her big time because that little girl is a mess, and you’re the asshole that did that to her.”
She’s fuming. I’ve never seen her this angry, not even when she caught James and Megan. Fuck.
She turns to leave, but I jump up off my bed and run to her, grabbing her arm, forcing her to turn around.
“WHAT?!” she growls out.
“What the fuck is going on?!”
“What the fuck do you think is going on, Jake?”
“You tell me, you were the one playing happy little family with my sister. Having a good old laugh together? What were you doing? Talking about how stupid I was… Stupid Jake, has no idea what you guys are up to!”
“That’s what you think? That we we’re fucking behind your back?”
“That’s what it fucking looks like to me!”
“He’s your best friend, Jake! There’s no wa-"
“So fucking what! Megan was your best friend!”
Her face falls instantly.
Tears immediately pool in her eyes, she’s quick to wipe them away.
“Call Logan,” she says, before turning and walking away from me.
***
*Mikayla*
I ended up having to Facebook message Lucy to pick me up and drive me back to the mall to get Mandy’s car. She didn’t ask questions. I didn’t tell her anything.
When I get back to the house, I hear Jake and Julie in the back yard. When I look through the gate, I see her holding a baseball bat and him pitching balls slowly at her, encouraging her while she laughs.
He’s trying to make up for it.
Good. He should. He’s an asshole.
***
I’m laying in bed when I hear tapping on my window.
I get up and lift it open without saying a word and get back into bed.
Once I’m in bed and under the covers, I feel the bed dip next to me and hear him place something on my nightstand. My phone.
“I called Logan.”
“Good.”
“He didn’t tell me anything though.”
“Good.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“Have you quit being an asshole?”
“Yes.” He tries to get me to flip over so I can look at him. When I do he rests one hand on my leg and moves the hair out of my eyes with the other.
“I’m sorry, Kayla… for what I said about Megan, and the way I acted. I don’t know what got over me. The thought of you and Logan, of anyone else… it just-"
“Jake, stop.” I sit up so I can see him properly. “Logan saw me buying a pregnancy test and-" Jake's eyes bug out for a second before I assure him. “I’m not.” I wave my hands in the air. “I just thought I was. I was late, and I was buying the tests, he saw me, I panicked. He took me to see his dad, he confirmed I wasn’t. I had to pick up Julie from her friends, and he took me to get her because Mandy’s car was still at the mall, Julie's friend lived a street over from his house, so he drove home to pick up his gear before he was going to drop us back off to the car. That’s where you come in and act like an asshole, asshole.”
He’s silent. I continue.
“He was going to meet you at the cages after he dropped us off. He was just there for me, that’s all.” I pause for a minute. “Wait, he didn’t tell you?”
Jake’s shaking his head, taking it all in. “He said it wasn’t his story to tell and if I wanted to know I had to hear it from you.” He blows out a breath, puffing out his cheeks with the force of it. “Fuck, Kayla. I really am an asshole. I was a dick to him and to you. And Julie, shit, I scared the shit out of her. Why didn’t you tell me? Was that what last night was about?”
“Yeah, I didn’t think about it until I was at the pharmacy with Julie, and then I wigged out and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to be sure first. I didn’t know what I was going to do if… you know.”
“So you’re not. For sure? Like 100%?”
“Yeah, Jake.” I nod my head. “I’m sure.”
He breaths out a heavy sigh and we sit in silence for a long time.
“Can I stay with you tonight… please, Kayla?” It’s barely a whisper.
I scoot across the bed and lift the covers. He takes his shirt off and gets in. We face each other. Holding on, not wanting to let go, not even for a second.
We’re looking so intently into each others eyes, trying to see into each others souls.
Talking without speaking.
Feeling without touching.
“Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s just you. It’s only ever been just you. It will always only ever be just you.”
And then he kisses me. A quick kiss on the lips. But it has the passion of a thousand kisses, and holds the power of a thousand promises.
“So much more than a lot,” he says, before we fall asleep, the best way we can, in each others arms.