Page 10 of Jake Forever


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"Not long."

"What doesthatmean?" I asked. "Minutes? Or hours?"

"Why?" He flashed me a sudden grin. "Were you worried?"

In spite of everything, I almost smiled back. "I might've been a little worried," I admitted.

I hadn't been terribly concerned during the first hour or so. But afterward, when I still hadn't heard from him, I'd been imagining all kinds of disturbing scenarios – everything from Jake getting dragged off to jail, to him getting seriously hurt in all that commotion.

In front of me, Jake said, "Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't think about it." He spread his arms and said, "Look. I'm fine."

Hewasfine, probably too fine for his own good, and definitely too fine for mine. But there was something he wasn't telling me. I just knew it. I don't know how I knew, but I did.

Trying to figure it out, I said, "Did you know that was going to happen? The riot, I mean?"

He gave a small laugh. "A riot, huh?"

"Well, it was."

Jake crossed his arms and leaned sideways against the entryway wall. For the briefest moment, I felt almost silly for worrying in the first place. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with muscle-bound arms and a chiseled chest. He oozed a maddening level of confidence, and from what I'd seen firsthand, none of that confidence was unjustified.

He was fast. He was tough. He never backed down, no matter how crazy things got. And by some weird miracle, he always came out mostly unscathed.

Either he was the luckiest guy on the planet, or he was living some sort of charmed life.

But that couldn't go on forever. Could it?

When he said nothing, I persisted. "So did you? Know that was going to happen, I mean?"

Why was I even asking?

Of course, Jake knew.

That's why he'd brought Trey along to record it. And that's why he'd hired some guy to drag me away if things got too crazy. And that's why right now, somewhere on the internet, his rabid fans were probably already devouring his latest video.

But in front of me, Jake gave a slow shake of his head. "That's what you think? That Iknewa 'riot' was gonna break out? And Istillbrought you?"

"So you're admitting it was a riot?"

He gave me a look. "You ever see a real riot?"

"No," I admitted.

"If you did, you wouldn't be asking."

"You're changing the subject," I said. "Did you know?"

"Let me get this straight." He pushed away from the wall and said, "You think if Iknewthat was gonna happen, I'd have brought you within one mile of that place?"

I saw his point. I'd been with Jake for a few weeks. During that time, I'd learned a few things. For one, he was scarily overprotective. For another, he was stubborn as hell.

I lifted my chin. Well, so was I. And I wasn't going to let this drop so easily. "Then whydidyou bring me?" I asked.

"Is that a complaint?"