Chapter 53

“What’s up, Danny? You look a little stressed.” Jake turns his steely face to Hunter. I struggle to get free but realize it’s futile. Jake’s grip is like that of a man on a mission to keep me here. I might as well give in for the time being and see what’s going on with Daniel Forlorn-Looking Hunter. I must admit I am a little nosey, seeing as he looks rather … well, sad.

I wrap my arms around Jake’s neck and curl my legs on his lap. His arms are loose around me, and I turn, glancing at Daniel. Jake is right about him looking stressed, the boy is sitting straighter than a poker-set, and those blue eyes, normally so calm and cheeky, are a little red-rimmed. His usually slightly ruffled hair is too flat and unkempt.

“I need your words of wisdom.” He runs fingers through his hair in agitation, and I notice his shirt is more than a little rumpled. His face isn’t its usual clean-shaven self either, he’s sporting Jake’s designer stubble, and on Hunter, it looks odd. He’s too blonde to pull it off.

“Leila?” Jake asks with his sharp instincts, and I immediately zone all attention on Hunter again. I have learned from watching Jake that only woman issues could make a man go to hell like this.

“She’s dumped me.” He sits back, flopping dejectedly, and slides his feet out wide, sighing heavily, bringing his gaze to the ceiling as though he’s going to find some divine wisdom up there.

“Why?” I ask slowly and deliberately, with a hint of edge in my tone. My body bristles in Jake’s embrace as he slides his hands down to my ass, pulling me closer to get comfy.

I’ll kill him if he’s hurt her again.

“She’s bat shit crazy! That’s why! Jealous as fucking hell, and nothing I said to her helped one bit. We fought over some stupid chick who came up to me in a club two nights ago, and Leila flipped the fuck out.” He sounds exhausted, and all hints of smug Hunter are gone.

“Please tell me you haven’t done anything, Danny?” Jake slides me off his lap onto the couch next to him, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees toward Daniel. It seems I’m no longer a flight risk now that his friend is genuinely in need, but I stay put anyway.

“No. I’m not stupid, Jake. The girl was someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. She tried to get me to dance, and I told her to beat it. Leila just saw red.” He sighs again. “I’m trying so fucking hard, Jake, trying to see her as often as possible, showing her that I’m not dating anyone else. Seeing my shrink every week despite the undying urge to take off at a hundred miles an hour. It doesn’t mean I’m not struggling with all of this relationship shit, but I’m doing it for her.” Daniel slides forward to mirror Jake’s pose, so they’re closer together.

“But what exactly happened?” I pull a fluffy cushion onto my lap and start stroking it as I stare at the poor guy’s tight expression and tortured eyes. I can’t help but feel a little sorry for him. He truly looks miserable, and I know only too well how that can feel.

“She threw her fucking drink at me, told me it was over, and to go fuck the whore; stormed off and went home. She won’t answer my calls.” A hint of anger in his tone seems to spark the same on his face.

“Have you thought about going around there and seeing her? Leila is majorly insecure, Daniel.” I narrow my eyes on him, and he sighs again.

“And say what? No, Leila, I’m not fucking you about or touching other women publicly on a dance floor five feet away from you. She wouldn’t let me near her front door. I know Leila too well. She won’t let me in if she’s not answering calls.” He sits up sharply. “What about some fucking trust? Some fucking benefit of the doubt?” He gets up and then immediately sits down again. “See this shit?” He throws a gesturing hand down the length of him. “She’s got me so messed-up I don’t know if I’m coming or going … Fuck’s sake! Seriously. I’m all over the place. I don’t think I can handle this anymore.” He seems perplexed, slowly unraveling, and I can’t help but wonder if this is how Jake was during our separation.

“What are you saying?” Jake doesn’t look happy at all; his body tenses a little too sexily for my liking. I can’t seem to get my head out of the gutter lately. All this rush of sexual longing has hit hard since getting our back intimacy, and now I can’t seem to switch it off. I wonder if this is a pregnancy thing.

Damn these hormones. I’m so horny for him right now.

“Maybe I’m not able to do this … Maybe Leila and

I are better off not together because I can’t seem to keep

that chick happy.” Daniel looks defeated. He restlessly shifts position three times in a row, then resigns himself to returning to his first position, flopping on the couch with legs apart.

I go to snap at him in anger, but Jake stands, and his sudden motion silences me. I wait for his flash of anger, but nothing comes.

“Fine … Leave it this way then. Finished.” He shrugs and walks toward the kitchen rendering me utterly speechless. He sounds completely normal and, well, sort of accepting.

What the fuck?

I have no idea what he’s playing at, but whatever it is, I don’t like it at all. This isn’t the Jake who loves Leila to death and puts Hunter in his place when he’s being a moron. I’m unhappy about his lack of care for her and start glaring at his back.

“You agree I should give up?” Daniel seems equally shocked at the lack of lecture.

“If you can’t do it, then don’t. Walk away. Let her go back to that Kurt preppy boy asshole and have a happy life with Mr. Squeaky Clean.” Jake’s level, even tone, is giving nothing away. Still, I know the manipulation tells in his sexy body how he’s casually in control, setting out mugs for coffee nonchalantly, unemotional about the topic. Everything is a bit too precise, and because I know him, I see a very calculated famous Carrero maneuver from miles off. I smile internally at the cleverness of my man.

Reverse psychology. Well done Mr. Carrero.

“Just walk away from her? And then what? That guy won’t make her happy …” Daniel can’t do anything but stare and question Jake’s mental state.

“Go back to being a man-whore with parties and whatever else. Just forget about her.” Jake shrugs, holding up a mug and waving it at me, asking if I want one too. I smirk and shake my head adoringly. He is playing Hunter so well.

My devious asshole of a man.

Daniel sits for a moment and stares at his hands quietly.

“I can’t do that.” He says it more to himself than to either of us, sounding sadly defeated, looking up at Jake as he says, “I love her too much.”

“Well, man up, Danny, and stop acting like you weren’t expecting any of this shit from her. Leila is acting out because she’s waiting for you to fuck things up. She’s pushing her damned hardest to make sure you do because she’s expecting it, and sooner will hurt far less than later.” Jake snaps at him, and I know exactly what he is doing. His insight into Leila’s head warms me.

God, I love you.

Daniel contemplates this for a moment as I watch in absolute silence. Jake’s ability to read people and situations has always impressed me. His ability to sometimes understand the female mind must be a rare gift for a guy. I’m sure not many men have his level of understanding. Although at times, he is denser than most, so maybe it’s a sporadic gift.

“Why did I have to fall for the one who drives me so fucking crazy?” Daniel sighs, returning to picking at his thumbnail absently, staring at his hand with a complete utter lost boy look on his handsome face.

Jake gazes at me intensely from the kitchen.

“It’s not love if she can’t get under your skin and make you a whole lot of crazy.” He smiles, winking at me, and I can’t help but smile back, especially when he opens the fridge and starts fixing me a tropical alcohol-free cocktail that I’ve been craving like mad lately.

Now that’s the man I love right there.

“Leila has always got under my skin, but dating her has made it so much worse,” Daniel admits, seemingly confused that finally loving his girl would intensify what she does to him.

“Is the therapy helping?” I nudge in with a lighter, warmer tone, and Daniel turns to me, expression a little young and tired and more than a little bewildered.

“Yes, I guess, and no … Well, it’s bringing up a lot of shit I need to deal with, but Leila’s been with me twice, and when she’s there, I dunno, it doesn’t mess me up as bad.” He shrugs as though just the thought of her brings him some peace, and the sudden flicker of heartache that runs across his face is a giveaway of the fact he’s just realized it as the words come out of his mouth.

“You know she won’t always be this way. She just

doesn’t trust you not to run again.” I soothe, a little more sympathetic at the real pain I’m seeing in his tropical blue eyes.

“The thing is, for the most part, I don’t mind Leila’s kind of crazy. She’s feisty and wild and moody as shit. Man, she’s got a temper and a hell of a right hook. I kinda dig it, though … It’s the silence and not letting me near her when we fight that’s killing me. Not knowing what’s going on in that head of hers and having her freeze me out of her life.” He sighs again and looks tormented.

“She’s hiding,” Jake interjects. “She’s probably just as messed-up as you are right now.” His soft, husky tone as he watches his best friend gives me all sorts of horny thoughts, and I shift to a sitting position crossing my legs. I catch Jake’s smirk and realize he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

Jerk.

Daniel frowns, staring emptily down at his hands; he has a fidgeting tell as Jake has, and he starts picking at his other thumbnail.

“I don’t know how to do this, Jake … but I don’t want to walk away. I’ve spent years trying to run from how I felt about her, but I can’t outrun it anymore. I can’t do it … I need her … But I know her, she won’t see me or talk to me.”

Both men fall silent as they contemplate the best way to deal with Leila, and an idea hits me, a self-serving, killing two birds with one stone kind of idea.

“Sarah and I could take her out. Then casually run into you both. That way, she would have no choice but to see you, and she wouldn’t suspect that I side with you and set her up.” I smile innocently and flutter my lashes Jake’s way with an innocent smile.

Jake frowns at me, and I know what Mr. Protective-father-to-be is thinking. I focus on him intently, seeing that frown deepening, and I don’t think this is going down well at all.

“You could run into us almost as soon as we arrive and mollycoddle the shit out of me, Jake. So don’t worry about my being out on the town in such a delicate condition,” I smirk at him, and he has the nerve to smirk back, only confirming what is running through that beautiful head.

What am I going to do with him?

“It could work. Leila wouldn’t suspect a setup at a club. If Jefferson drops you at the door, we could meet you at the other side.” His intense look boring into me makes me sigh. He’s trying to clarify that I am not allowed out of his sight.

We’ll see.

“You’re only going to get worse the bigger this gets, aren’t you?” I point at my slightly fuller stomach, decidedly less flat these last few days.

“Count on it.” Jake lifts his eyebrows at me as though challenging me on the subject before he turns back to Daniel.

“What do you say? You want to see her this way?” Jake gives up on making coffee and leans on the counter, those glorious biceps straining at the fabric on his arms.

Oh, man. Hot flushes.

“Any way is better than no way, man. I fucking miss her so much already.” Daniel sighs and drops his head into his palms between his knees and scratches his head, then sitting back up, he looks at Jake, then at me with so much pain in his face.

“How soon can we do this? I can’t stand the agony of waiting.”