“I’ve known her forever, and I fell in love with her little by little, year after year. My parents were friends with hers, I was always at their house. And then what with everything they went through, when her parents died, Sean became so protective over her…”
“How long has this been going on between you?”
“There’s nothing really going on. We’re just… Er… Sleeping together. Sometimes. In the past. But she’s always said it’s a mistake. And since she’s been with Ethan it hasn’t happened again, I swear. But then he asked her to move in, to marry him…”
“And Mila came running to you?”
Jake smiles. “Yeah.”
“Are you saying she feels the same way about you?”
“I know she does. There are some things you just can’t fake.”
His words take me back to earlier tonight – when I left his house, his fingers intertwined in mine, the heat between us, the shiver that climbs up my back at the thought of seeing him again in just a few hours.
“I love her, Eric. I’ve loved her since… Ever since I’ve known her. I love every little thing about her. I love her manic ways, her energy. I love her moments of craziness. I can’t let her marry someone else.”
“She won’t.”
“What?”
“We sorted things out.”
“We… Who?”
“Me and Sean.”
“And how did you do that?”
I look down at my hands, the lightly bruised knuckles. Jake’s gaze falls on my hands, too.
“No!”
I shrug.
“Did you have a fight?”
“Things happen.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. You beat up your fake boyfriend’s sister’s fiancé?”
“You’re no better.”
“You like him!” he cries, pointing his finger at me.
“Cut it out!”
“You’re obsessed with the professor!”
“Fuck off!”
“I can’t believe this!”
“I’m the one who can’t believe what you’ve done!”
“I haven’t done anything.”
I glare condescendingly at him, and he scoffs.
