Chapter 33

We’re sitting with ankles entwined on the huge king-size bed in Jake’s bedroom, our backs against the padded headboard surrounded by a mountain of cushions, watching some action movie playing on his large flat-screen TV. Chinese food tubs are standing all over the bed around us, open and easy to reach for dipping into.

I’m wearing one of his T-shirts after our not-so-clean bubble bath, and he’s in a pair of dark gray sweatpants, his torso naked showcasing his chiseled body and tribal ink perfectly. I have a serious case of ‘my boyfriend’s so hot’ swoons as I watch his muscular arms and shoulders flex and tense as he shovels food into his mouth with the expertise of an avid Chinese food eater. He leans forward with chopsticks full of noodles and pops them in my mouth without waiting to ask if I even want any, his eyes glued to what he’s watching. I’m being obedient and letting him stuff me full of food despite being able to feed myself, amused by Jake’s constant need to tend to me like a mother hen.

Somehow, I like it like this: he looks after me in small ways I would never have guessed him capable of. Feeding me his food seems to be a recurring thing. He feels I’ve never eaten enough and is always trying to cram food in my mouth.

There’s a knock at the bedroom door, which is standing open, and one of his security staff appears, dressed all in black, another nameless person I’ve yet to recognize.

“Mr. Carrero? Daniel Hunter is here to see you,” he states apologetically, averting his eyes as he sees my long, naked legs on top of the sheets and the extremely skimpy shirt covering my body. I’m glad I’d put some underwear on after our bath.

“Send him in,” Jake replies with his mouth full, still not taking his eyes off his movie. He reaches to the end of the bed and yanks up the throw placed neatly there by the housekeeper, pulling it over my bare legs. It makes me smile; he didn’t like that his security guard checked me out. He covers me up while still chewing and watching his godawful film. Jake is a contradiction in many ways, laid-back and confident, yet also a little, green-eyed jealous child who doesn’t like other men looking at me.

The green eyes suit him.

The guard walks away while I make a mental note to learn the names of the almost-invisible staff and make friends with them now that I live here, especially the housekeeper, Nora, who is the master of discretion. I feel ignorant and awkward when I see them in passing. It never bothered me when I was just his PA because they were his staff, and I was staff too. But this is my home now, and I don’t want to be rude.

“All right, bud?” Daniel comes bounding in, pausing momentarily when he sees me but continuing almost flawlessly. “Was going to ask if you fancied a night on the town, but I can see you’re busy with the little woman.” He looks me up and down oddly; I guess he’s trying to figure out why I’m still on the scene. It’s been over a month since the yacht trip he was on with us, and he knows Jake’s attention span for women peaks around four weeks max. I guess he figured Jake would have gotten bored of my company long ago.

“I’m off the booze lately,” Jake says, shrugging, which surprises me. I’d noticed his lack of alcohol on our trip, but he’d never mentioned it was intentional. “And she’s not my little woman; she’s my better half.” He throws Daniel a look that’s hard to translate; they have their own language, these two. It goes hand in hand with the special bromance of Carrero and Hunter.

“Hey, better half.” Daniel salutes me with a smile. He’s an odd one, and our relationship is still in the teething stage.

“Hey.” I smile back genuinely. I never felt at ease with him as Jake’s PA; perhaps I will now that the dynamic has shifted. For Jake’s sake, I want to try to like Hunter and maybe form a mutual friendship now that I’m no longer staff.

Daniel comes to the bed, climbs on the end, and gets comfy before picking up a box. Jake throws him some unopened chopsticks as though granting permission to dig in, and both men sit glued to the movie in silence for a few moments. It’s some loud, all-shooting, all-exploding, macho male thing with a guy who looks a lot like someone who once felt me up in a nightclub in Vegas.

Daniel starts eating, stuffing his mouth, and then points at something on the screen. “That asshole still owes me $1500 for that bet in London,” he mumbles.

“Jesus, Danny, tell me you didn’t actually bed that weird chick with the wonky teeth.” Jake drops his chopsticks into the tub of food he’s holding and grimaces, looking at Daniel as though he’s something disgusting. Daniel’s sex life is clearly something that puts Jake off his food.

“A bet’s a bet, Jakey-boy. I just got really drunk, and then she looked doable.” He shrugs and continues eating.

“I thought you had some standards, maybe low ones, but that chick looked like a man in drag with a shitty wig.” Jake turns to me with a look that says “you had to see her.” He throws a chopstick at Daniel’s head; Daniel ducks too late, and it bounces off the top of his perfect fair skull. He may have a fetish for one-night stands and slutty girls, but he looks like a guy who could get any woman he wants. All blonde and blue-eyed in contrast to Jake’s dark hair and green eyes, as a duo, I’m sure the two of them together must have pulled women for miles.

“I thought Daniel’s standard was porn star. Isn’t that the lowest you can go? A girl who’s paid to let everyone sleep with her while being filmed?” I smirk at Jake with a wicked gleam in my eye.

Daniel frowns up at me.

“Hey! Some of those ladies are the highest paid in the profession, and they’re not prostitutes. I happen to like a girl who can get down and dirty and knows what she’s doing.” He throws the chopstick back at Jake, who bats it away expertly.

“They’re kinda like prostitutes, mate.” Jake smirks.

“Shut up! Totally different. Besides, not so long ago, you weren’t so high and mighty with the standards. Just cos you’re all loved up now doesn’t mean you haven’t ground on a few…”

“I swear, if you finish that sentence, you’ll regret it,” Jake warns. An instant frost chills the atmosphere between them. For a moment, there’s a cold standoff of glares and eyeball communication. Seems Hunter is just as stubborn as Jake.

“I’d say keep your shirt on, but it’s already AWOL,” Daniel says, breaking the tension with a smirk, and Jake throws another chopstick at his head. I wonder if this is how all men behave in the company of their so-called best friends.

“You’re just jealous that my shirt’s off for Emma and not you,” Jake says with a wink back, lifting an arm and tensing a bicep with a sexy wiggle toward Daniel. I can’t help but admire the bulge; I’ve never actually seen him tense a bicep on purpose, and I almost faint with just how toned and muscular he is when he does it.

Is it okay to swoon over your own boyfriend? I think it is, right?

“Put it away, Carrero. I’ve told you a million times, I’m just not into you.” Daniel seems to be fed up with his choice of food and looks through the extra boxes on the bed for something else.

“Says the guy who crashed my Chinese food party to come to stare at a TV with me. Are you worried I won’t love you anymore now I have Ems?” Jake discards his food and stretches out, leaning back into the sea of cushions behind us. Noticing I have long since discarded mine, he hauls me over to nestle in his arm and lays my head on his shoulder. I stretch out alongside him and snuggle against his body.

“Totally heartbroken over here,” Daniel replies flatly without looking up. Finding something he wants, he settles back down to dig in and watch a particularly bloody scene on the screen.

Both men seem zoned in on the violent and bloodthirsty hero hacking bad guys to bits with a large sword.

I’ve never understood action movies and all that bloodlust.

“Don’t worry, Danny, I’ll still keep you as my side chick, give you a snuggle when Emma’s not looking.” He squeezes me, and I quell the urge to laugh at them.

“I’m too much to be your side chick; I’m an all-or-nothing kind of guy when it comes to you,” Daniel replies without looking back. There’s a moment’s pause, and then his body language changes subtly as he changes tone. “Have you heard from Leila lately?” His voice is tense, and I catch Jake frowning at the back of his head rather pointedly for a moment.

“Why would you ask about Leila? I thought you two stayed very clear of each other?” Jake asks, sitting up. I know that look on his face, a dog with a bone sniffing out some little secret. Whatever he’s caught on to has piqued his Rottweiler mode.

“No reason. Just, you know, sometimes I wonder how she is.” Daniel places his food container on the floor and stretches out across the end of the bed, lifting his feet to get comfy.

“Okay, cut the shit. What happened with Leila?” Jake’s domineering, protective tone cuts in, and he picks up the TV remote and pauses the movie. He slides up, leaving me lying on the bed, and leans forward, arms braced on his bent knees.

Looking sheepish, Daniel sits up, hesitates, then blurts out, “I kinda did a shitty thing. Don’t go crazy. I know you’re going to want to go crazy but swear on Emma’s head.”

“Don’t you fucking dare!” Jake jumps to his feet beside the bed and stalks toward him menacingly, male testosterone flying now. “What did you do?”

“Look, maybe we should take this elsewhere. I mean, I know Emma and Leila are kinda close.” Daniel’s stalling, hands up defensively, and Jake looks ready to start going twelve rounds with him.

“All the more reason she should know. Because if Leila needs a shoulder to cry on, then I’m pretty sure she would choose Emma over me. Spit it out.” Jake is mad, and Daniel hesitates, eyes darting to the floor, fidgeting with the chopstick in his hand. He sighs heavily.

“We had sex…and then I kinda bailed out and didn’t call her again.” Daniel at least looks sorry, his complexion losing all color. I tense, and Jake goes stiff, his fighter mode engaging, before he stalks away angrily, pacing around and muttering a string of curse words as he clenches and unclenches fists.

I’m shocked that Leila would even look at Hunter, let alone sleep with him. I’m devastated that he would treat her that way, and the urge to call her hits me monumentally in the stomach. I glare at him with severe hatred.

“What the fuck? I told you to stay away from her. You don’t think you hurting her once was enough? Of all the women to fuck around on, she isn’t one of them.” Jake is yelling, his voice tense, and waving his hands at Daniel. I sit biting my lip, nervous about the unfolding scene, confused that Jake’s implying this isn’t the first time Daniel’s hurt her. I want to punch Daniel in his smarmy face.

“I know, okay? I was a complete shit. I didn’t know how else to deal with it.” Daniel is also pacing in the opposite direction; they keep bypassing each other at the foot of the bed.

“You deal with it by not fucking sleeping with her. Did you learn nothing when you did it the first time around? You ripped her fucking heart out!” Jake is furious; Daniel even seems nervous about his rage. They’re doing some male walk-around dance in a circle now, with a lot of heightened tension. I almost choke on the thought that he and Leila have been together twice in that way. I can’t imagine it at all.

“I know, I know! Okay? Leila’s like goddamn kryptonite for me. I want her, but when I get her, I want to run for the hills, man. You know me. I didn’t go out to intentionally hurt her; it just happened.” Daniel slumps down on the bed, and Jake looks exhausted, his anger drifting away quickly as his friend crumples, forlorn.

“How did it happen? You swore…” The two of them sit down on the end of the bed side by side, and I watch intently, silently sending daggers with my eyes into the back of Daniel’s head.

Asshole!

“I know. We were drunk, partying…you know how it is. And you know how she is, all fun, smiles, and flirty, and then she kissed me. That’s all it took.” Daniel gets up and runs a hand through his hair. “Leila is too good for me. I know that. I can’t help myself, though. I haven’t talked to her since. Jake, maybe you could…”

“Hell, no! Not this time. You do the decent thing, and you talk to her. You man up, and you tell that girl you’re sorry. Stop being the asshole you always make her think you are.” Jake gets up too, and they face each other.

“I don’t know what to say to her.” Daniel looks lost, and they stand silently, mulling it over, staring at one other, Daniel wary and Jake furious.

“Can I just intervene? Daniel, Leila would probably feel a lot better if you just sent her a text and said something like, ‘I’m sorry I’m an asshole.’ She doesn’t hold grudges. She’s not naive, and if it was just a one-night hookup, then show her some respect at least. Treat her like a human, not a cast-off.” I still want to punch him in the throat for hurting my beautiful little friend.

“That’s the issue,” Jake says, turning to me with a look that seems deflated, “Daniel’s been in love with her since forever; he just can’t admit it to himself, so he acts like a prize moron instead.” He throws an accusatory glare back at Hunter.

I almost choke. I never imagined that the man-whore known as Hunter could give a crap about any woman, let alone love one. I was with them on the yacht; he had his porn star, and she was with one of Jake’s twin friends. Neither seemed to care that the other had a date.

“I’m not in love with her; she just makes me crazy.” He retorts, pacing away and then back again as though he’s unsure how to behave.

“Scared. I think that’s the word you’re looking for,” Jake says as he folds his arms across his chest and taps a bare foot, watching Hunter mull around.

“Shut up. It’s not love. I’m not scared. It’s just…it’s…”

“Complicated?” I butt in and sigh with a smile when I see his nod of agreement.

“Told ya.” Jake smiles at me.

“Totally.” I sigh.

“What? What the hell does that mean? You two have some couple-y, inside language now, or what?” Daniel’s almost pouting as Jake and I turn to sigh at him a little sympathetically.

“I think I used the word ‘complicated’ maybe a dozen times to brush off how I felt about Jake,” I point out.

“I think it was more like thirty times for me.” Jake shrugs.

“Fuck’s sake. You two need to back off, okay? Leila is not the girl I’m in love with. Enjoy your Chinese; I’m going to hit the gym and then abuse your shower. I’m staying the night, so keep the noise down.” Daniel goes to storm off, but Jake halts him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Stay here, Bella,” he says to me while looking at Daniel, “I need to have some words with my so-called best friend. I won’t be long.” He leans down and kisses me, his hand smoothing my hair back, before he stalks out with Daniel, closing the door behind him. I exhale heavily, a weird trepidation in my gut.

I wait until everything goes quiet in the sitting room before pulling on more modest clothing. I pick up all the food boxes and arrange them on the tray the security guard brought them in on. I pad out of the room with the tray to the kitchen, lay it on the counter, and get myself a drink. I notice neither of them is in the open-plan space; they have gone to Jake’s game room, his room full of game consoles, boys’ gadgets, and all things I’ve zero interest in. It’s far down the hall on the opposite side of the apartment from Jake’s room.

I ponder what to do about Leila, whether I should call her or wait to speak to Jake first. She’s my friend, but all of this is widely outside my comfort zone and my knowledge of sex, love, and relationships. They all seem to have a history, and I know nothing until Jake returns. If Daniel is in love with her, then Jake needs to talk sense into him. Daniel needs to figure it out before Leila can hear from him. I ache for my friend, having been on the receiving end of heartache for the past few months, and agonize over how she must be feeling. I won’t do anything until Jake tells me more; I need details. I need to know what’s gone on between Daniel and Leila in the past to understand how they got to the here and now.

It’s been a long couple of weeks already. A wave of exhaustion runs over me; lately, I haven’t been getting enough rest, thanks to Jake and his eternal spark and over-potent libido. Maybe I should just hit the sheets early tonight and sleep. No doubt Jake will come back and watch the rest of his movie; he could use an early night too. Despite his appearance of boundless energy, there’s no way he isn’t as tired as I am.

Returning to the bedroom, I change back into his T-shirt and climb into bed, picking up a book from my bedside table, a lighthearted romance Leila gave me that never piqued my interest back then. It’s early yet, but it’s past seven, so going to bed isn’t exactly unheard of, and it’s not long before my over-exhausted mind drifts off mid-sentence.