Page 68 of Jaked


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Jake grinned. "That," he said, "is Vince Hammond." His voice became sarcastic. "Agent to the stars."

I shook my head. "Movie stars?"

"Nah. Sports stars. You might say he's not my biggest fan."

"Really?" I rolled my eyes. "I had no idea." I lowered my voice. "Did youreallycost him half a million dollars?"

Jake gave it some thought. "Five percent? His cut of ten mil? Yeah. Sounds about right."

"How can you be so casual about it?" I said. "I mean, that's a lot of money."

"Notmymoney," he said.

I bit my lip and gave it some thought.

"Don't worry," Jake said, "the guy can afford it."

"I dunno…" I said.

"Trust me," Jake said, "he had it coming. The guy's a dick."

I couldn’t help but wince. "Still…" And then I remembered something. "By the way, Isawthat video."

"Yeah? Where?"

"At the mall. On some guy's cell phone. Thanks a lot for telling me about it."

"You didn't like the surprise?" he said.

"Oh yeah," I said, "I justlovesurprises like that. Do you know, someone actually asked me if I was your girlfriend?'

"Yeah?" His gaze drifted to my lips. "So what'd you tell 'em?"

Instantly, heat flooded my face. "Nothing. Which waseasy, since I'm apparently the most clueless person on the planet." I gave him an exasperated look. "Seriously Jake, why didn't you tell me?"

"About the fight?" he said. "You were there, remember?"

"You know what I mean," I said. "You're like this big deal or something."

He shrugged. "I'm not so big."

"How can you say that?" I said, thinking of everything – his fans, his penthouse, his car. Or should I saycars, in the plural? "It's changed your whole life."

He moved away to lean against the alcove wall. "Has it?"

"Sure," I said. "You're rich. You're famous." I forced out a laugh. "You've got girls flashing you on the street for God's sake."

"And yet," he said, "A certain girl won't let me buy her a drink."

I looked around. "I bet any girl here would jump at the chance."

"But I didn't askanygirl," he said. "I asked you."

I leaned toward him and lowered my voice. "Is this about acting like I'm 'your girl'?"

"How do you know you're not my girl?" He reached for my hand. "Now come on."

As he guided me through the crowd, his words rang in my ear. Was this all part of some act? Or was he really flirting with me?