Jake Undone (11 page)

The room was completely quiet as he broke the stare, looking down at my wrapped finger. He cleared

his throat, his voice was thick, “I’m gonna see what we have in the bathroom for first aid.”

Still in a state of bewilderment, I nodded but said nothing, as he ran down the hall, returning with

gauze, peroxide and bandages. Removing the shirt from my finger, he carefully treated the area with some

peroxide on a cotton ball. I tried to look down at the wound and not at his bare chest as he blew on the cut

before wrapping it in gauze, followed by a bandage to hold it together.

“That should do it for now,” he said before releasing my hand. “You may want to take a look at it

tomorrow. If it looks worse, there is a walk-in down the street. Hopefully, you won’t need stitches.”

I felt like I lost more than blood in this process, like perhaps my ability to speak. “Okay,” I muttered.

The look in Jake’s eyes was sincere. “I am sorry you got hurt trying to do something nice for me.”

Not knowing exactly how to respond, I smiled and said, “I am sorry you had to suck my blood like a

vampire.”

His gaze stayed on mine, and it made me uneasy only because he wasn’t laughing at my joke. “I

wouldn’t do that for just anyone, Nina.”

My lip twitched in response, and I laughed nervously, not really knowing what to make of that

statement. What I did know was that tonight was not helping my vow to get over him one single bit.

“Thanks.”

Jake started clearing out what bananas I had managed to cut. “I’m gonna get a new shirt,” he said. “Why

don’t you change, and we’ll meet Tarah and Ryan downstairs.”

“I don’t know…”

“Come on, we’re supposed to be celebrating your exam, and those bananas are toast. I’ve ate enough

blood for one night.”

I threw a piece of banana at him. “Very funny.”

He was unphased. “What do you say?”

There was no way I could say no. “Okay, I’ll change.”

About ten minutes later, he came out of the bathroom with a fresh coating of cologne. His hair was wet,

and he was wearing a maroon colored long sleeve shirt that hugged his chest and black pants that hugged

his ass. He looked and smelled amazing.

I had put on a black button down shirt, dark colored jeans and the six-inch heels I usually wore

whenever I was feeling inexplicably inadequate. Somehow adding height seemed to give me a false sense of

power when I felt I needed it. I didn’t know why I was nervous about going downstairs with Jake.

Something just felt different tonight between us. Maybe it was the sucking of the blood thing. I dunno.

***

When we entered Eleni’s, the lights were dimmed, and a live Greek band was playing at the corner of

the restaurant. The owner, Telly, immediately rushed toward us and got some extra chairs to add to Tarah

and Ryan’s small table. It was packed for a weeknight.

Our roommates were sipping coffee and eating dessert when Jake and I sat down to join them.

“To what do we owe this honor?” Tarah joked as she gave me a hug.

Jake grabbed my arm and lifted my hand. “Nina got an A on her test and then to celebrate, she chopped

her finger off and got a sudden craving for Greek.”

Ryan grabbed my hand. “What the—”

“It’s partially true. I didn’t chop off my finger, but I nearly did, trying to make Bananas Foster.”

Tarah cringed. “Damn! Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Nurse Jake took care of me.”

Jake joked, “Who’s the nurse now, bitches?”

Tarah looked over at Jake and then to me and said, “You two are so cute together.”

Insert sound of record screeching here.

Jake said nothing, and I stared at her dumbfounded before glaring at her.

Why would she say that?

I could have killed her and immediately changed the subject. “So, what’s good on the dinner menu?”

Before Tarah could respond, a sultry female voice came up from behind us. “Actually, the best thing on

the menu is the moussaka, but Jake will stick to the same thing every time, avgolemono and spanakopita…

right Jake?”

I turned around, and my heart sank when I noticed a very attractive girl with long black hair around my

age wearing a low cut white blouse that left little to the imagination and a black apron wrapped tightly

around her waist.

This might not have bothered me so much if she wasn’t undressing Jake with her eyes. I knew that

look; shit, I owned that look.

“Hey, Des.” Jake nodded.

She batted her eyelashes. “Hi, Jake. Long time no see.”

He just looked at her and didn’t respond. Ryan broke the awkward pause that followed. “Desiree, this is

our new roommate, Nina. She grew up with me.” He turned to me. “Nina, this is Desiree, Telly’s daughter.

“Nice to meet you, Nina,” she said to me while looking straight at Jake.

“Likewise,” I said as my stomach became tied up in knots.

There was an awkward pause, and then “Des” began listing the specials. I heard nothing because I was

obsessing over the realization that Jake was a chick magnet and I was just one in a long line of women who

wanted him. This wasn’t news. It was just the first time I had witnessed it first-hand and out in public.

“So, the usual, Jakey?” She winked. He simply nodded yes, making little eye contact with her.

She looked at me signaling that it was my turn to order. I really had no desire to eat anymore and had

no idea what most of the stuff on the menu even was, so I responded with, “Um…I’ll have the same.”

Desiree looked at Jake suggestively again and went to put in our order. Her ass wiggled as she walked

away, and I felt more insecure by the second. For the record, the heels I was wearing were of absolutely no

help in this situation.

Jake was looking down at a dessert menu, bobbing his head to the song the band was playing. Probably

sensing the tension in the air, Ryan and Tarah just looked at each other.

I couldn’t stand it any longer and chimed in with, “What the hell did I order anyway?”

Everyone started laughing in unison.

“Nina, hope you like egg lemon and rice soup and spinach pie,” Ryan said.

Actually, given my recent loss of appetite, that actually sounded horrible.

“Yum,” I said sarcastically.

Jake then kicked my leg playfully under the table, and I kicked him back. We kept taking turns doing

this, and at one point, he locked my feet in with his so that I couldn’t kick him anymore. It was a strange

way of making contact, but I delighted in it.

My attention then turned to a family who had just been seated at the table across from ours. The little

girl was rocking back and forth and seemed very agitated. I noticed Jake wave at them.

“Hey, Jake,” the girl’s mother called out.

He got up from our table to go over to them and knelt down by the girl’s seat, getting in her face to

garner her attention. “Hey, Marina.”

The girl, who looked about eight or nine, didn’t say anything and started to cry.

“She’s having a bad night,” Marina’s father said.

Jake snapped his fingers and said, “Wait. I have something for her. I almost forgot.” He then ran out of

the restaurant to head upstairs to our apartment.

I turned to Ryan. “What’s up with Jake and the little girl?”

“That’s Telly’s sister Georgette’s daughter, Marina. They’re in here a lot. She has autism, so she doesn’t

really talk.”

“I see,” I said, trying not to stare too much at the beautiful girl with short brown ringlets framing her

face. She was starting to hum loudly, as her mother tried to console her.

Jake walked back into the restaurant holding the collection of pinwheels I had first noticed the night I

snuck into his bedroom. I couldn’t help but smile.

He knelt down next to the girl again and handed the whole bunch to her. “Marina…look. I remembered

you had one of these the last time you were in here, and you really liked it. Every time I pass by someone

selling them now, I have to get one for you,” he said.

Marina took the four pinwheels and lined them up on the table. One by one, she lifted each and blew on

it, laughing hysterically each time it spun around. The joy in her eyes made me forget about my earlier

brooding and put a smile on my face.

“I figured that would put you in a better mood,” he said to her as he stood up.

The girl’s mother beamed at Jake. “Honey, you are so sweet. Thank you. We’ll actually be able to have a

peaceful dinner now.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was my pleasure,” he said, before returning to our table.

Jake didn’t seem to notice the look on my face of complete awe, as it dawned on me that he was really

just as beautiful on the inside as he was gorgeous on the outside. “That was so sweet that you actually

collected those for her. I had noticed them in your room,” I said.

“And you thought I was just a fucking weirdo?”

“Well, you are still a weirdo, but…” I scrunched my nose at him jokingly.

Tarah echoed my earlier sentiment. “Yeah, man…seriously. Look at her. She is totally content now.”

Jake looked over at the little girl as he spoke. “Cedric, my brother-in-law, has a sister who’s autistic.

When I first spotted Marina, her mannerisms reminded me so much of Callie. It was crazy, and I just knew.

It’s like they’re locked inside their bodies, but there is so much in there waiting to come out. You just have

to know which keys to use to unlock it.”

The four of us continued to look over at Marina playing with the pinwheels until Desiree approached

with a tray full of food. As she placed the hot plates onto the table, her eyes were placed firmly on Jake.

God, I may have been obvious in my checking him out at times, but she was flirting relentlessly, and I

immediately hated her for it. It didn’t help that she was absolutely gorgeous. Jake, on the other hand, dug

right into his food and didn’t seem affected by her one way or the other. I suppose he was probably used to

girls throwing themselves at him.

After we finished eating, a group of people in the corner started dancing in a circle to the Greek band’s

music. Desiree came by to clear our plates and glared at me. I wondered if it was because she was jealous.

Jake and I had been joking around flirtatiously all night and she constantly looked in our direction, even

when she was serving other customers.

Bring it on.

I didn’t like the looks of her. Even if my relationship with Jake stayed platonic, I felt protective of him

and certainly didn’t want that cheap hussie to have him.

The four of us lingered until almost closing time and shared an entire platter of baklava. It was late by

the time we went back upstairs to the apartment, so all of us retreated to our rooms.

Exhausted from the day’s events, I went to the bathroom to wash my face but skipped a shower. I

couldn’t wait to bury myself under the covers. As my head hit the pillow, staring back at me on the

nightstand was another origami bat. I chuckled and opened it.

Congratulations again on making the grade.

Imagine the possibilities when you finally get laid.

P.S. Kidding, Nina! Just retesting your ability to take a joke.

P.P.S. Your blood tastes like bananas.

He was certifiably nuts, but he never ceased to make me laugh.

CHAPTER 10

Friday morning, I awoke with the jitters, anxious about my date with Alistair that night. He was

supposed to be picking me up at seven and taking me to a popular Italian restaurant down the street from

the university.

It was bugging me that I was not looking forward to it as much as I had hoped and that I couldn’t stop

thinking about Jake. Thankfully, as usual, my roomie would be headed to Boston for the weekend straight

from work and wouldn’t be a distraction tonight. It wasn’t healthy to be focusing on him so much, and I

was convinced that going out with Alistair was a necessary step in the right direction.

I would have to get through a day of classes, though, before I could concentrate on things like what to

wear and how to do my hair for tonight.

Alistair sat in his normal seat next to me in math and he immediately acknowledged our plans when he

turned to me and whispered with a twinkle in his eye, “I can’t wait to take you out tonight.”

I just nodded, not wanting Professor Hernandez to overhear anything. It’s a good thing I was paying

attention to the lecture, because Hernandez called on me to come up to the dry erase board and work on a

problem about Venn Diagrams. “Ms. Kennedy, shade in the parts of this diagram which correspond to the

named set.”

When I colored in the correct parts of the circles in red, he nodded in agreement. “Very good, Ms.

Kennedy.” Then, he whispered to me with a slight smile. “Most improved student, so far this year, it

seems.”

Maybe he wasn’t such a jerk after all. Feeling a sense of achievement, I couldn’t contain my smile.

Alistair high-fived me when I returned to my seat.

After class, we walked down the hallway to the exit, and Alistair’s blue eyes gleamed as he said, “I’ll

pick you up at seven.” He truly was a handsome guy; maybe tonight, I would feel something stronger for

him in a different setting.

“Yup, sounds good. See you later,” I said.

***

That afternoon, Tarah was making an early dinner in the kitchen when I got home from school, and the

apartment smelled like garlic and onions.

“Hey, girl,” I said as I placed my backpack down on the couch.

“Hey! I am just making some rice and chicken. This gluten-free diet is a bitch. Want some?”