How The Cookie Crumbles (42 page)

But how could you feel safe with a guy who had another girlfriend? That was wrong. I pushed away from him awkwardly.

“Thanks for rescuing me… again,” I said, looking down at his bare feet in Nike sandals.

Jake didn’t reply for a moment. Was he remembering the past too? A time not so long ago, when he wanted me. That thought made me feel so empty and, not for the first time, I regretted ever meeting him. Finally, he replied politely, “No worries, Frankie. I’ve got to get to bed now, I’ve got stuff on tomorrow. But call me anytime you need a ride.” He backed away from me and went to his room.

It was all was weird and vaguely unsatisfying, but now that Aspen was on the scene, we shouldn’t even be touching. I went to my room and got ready for bed.

Jake

I was holding Frankie and trying to control the anger that was coming over me. It made me so mad that Frankie, who was so confident and smart, was all scared and shaken; because a couple of assholes who were bigger than her, but didn’t have any brains at all, decided to hassle her. And it was too crappy to think about what might have happened to her. I felt angry and frustrated that I couldn’t do anything about it. I was used to physical stuff, used to getting all my frustrations out on the ice and then leaving my shit there.

The other thing that bothered me was the difference in Frankie. When we got her from that party near Odessa, I was surprised at how she didn’t really seemed to be that scared. She acted like if we hadn’t shown up, she would have found another way out; in fact, I thought she was overconfident. But tonight, she seemed so small and frightened, like all the confidence was drained out of her. I wondered if L.A. was doing it to her. I felt the same way when I first got here, like the city was so fucking huge and nobody cared. Not like being at home, where people were always minding your business, but they looked out for you.

Now, what I really wanted to do was look after her. Take her to bed with me, hold her, and show her that all guys weren’t assholes. I wouldn’t try anything; I’d hold her until she fell asleep, like she held me after my concussion.

Yeah, that wasn’t possible. I was already getting excited, just by feeling her soft body pressed against mine. Maybe she felt that too, because she suddenly pushed me away. I let go and told her good night. As I lay in bed, I couldn’t get to sleep right away. I wasn’t the most imaginative guy in the world, but I kept picturing Frankie in trouble and it really bothered me. Finally, I figured out a way to keep her safe. Then I could get to sleep.

It took me only a couple of days to put my idea into action. I showed Frankie when she got home from work.

“A brand new car? Are you nuts? I can’t accept this from you!” Frankie was completely upset, just like I knew she’d be.

“What? It’s not like I bought you a car. I leased it for three months, no big deal.”

“No big deal? How much did this cost anyway?”

“Not that much. Just get inside, and see what you think,” I wheedled her. After some more grousing, she slid into the front seat of the silver Audi TT Roadster. It was a sweet ride, and one I wouldn’t mind driving myself sometimes since I didn’t have a convertible. The car had a kind of retro look, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was the perfect car for Frankie.

She didn’t say a word, but I could see her running her hands over the upholstery, and then she adjusted the seat and the mirrors. As she put her hands on the wheel, I slid into the passenger seat.

“Let’s take it for a spin,” I told her.

“Jake, no! I told you I can’t accept this from you, and I can’t pay for it either.”

“But Frankie, I signed all the papers… it’s not like I can return it. If you don’t drive it, it’s just going to sit in the driveway.”

She growled at me, and then started it up. At first, Frankie drove really slowly, but the Audi had a powerful 4-cylinder engine and she started to speed up. We cruised along past Santa Monica to where the road turned back into the Pacific Coast Highway.

“This car is amazing!” Frankie yelled over the wind rushing in. “It handles so beautifully.” She turned on the radio and started humming along. She kept driving for a while, then pulled over into an ocean-side turnout and looked at me guiltily. “I’m sorry, did you have to be somewhere?”

“Naw,” I told her. “So, you like it?”

She sighed. “I love it. You’re the devil, Jake Cookson.”

“Frankie, look at it this way… now you can get home earlier and pick up stuff for dinner on the way. More good cookin’ for me.”

“It’s not like you’re suffering now. My dinners have been great.”

“Yeah, but there’s more. In a couple of weeks, we take off on a three-week road trip….”

“So you won’t be around to rescue me when I get in trouble?” she said, her face suddenly tense.

“No, I just wanted to make sure you won’t sneak out in my Mercedes,” I told her, laughing. Frankie smacked my shoulder and started laughing too. She drove home without saying much else, but when we got back to the house, she put a hand on my arm to stop me from getting out.

“Thank you, Jake. Really, thank you so much. It was such a nice thing for you to do, and I’ll admit L.A. is challenging to get around on transit.”

“No big deal, Frankie,” I told her. Truthfully, it wasn’t that much money; these guys did leases for the Kings all the time and gave me a good deal. I was hoping she might want to show me some gratitude, but she said something about dinner and walked up to the house. I watched her ass and sighed.

51. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

“So Jake, I was Googling you last night,” Aspen began. She had dropped in on me this afternoon; we had fucked and then gone to lunch at a place off Manhattan Beach. Right now, we were sitting outside on the glassed-in restaurant patio and relaxing. Until she started talking, that is.

“You know you can’t believe all that crap.” I didn’t even know what she read, but it probably wasn’t good. There was a lot of bullshit out there.

“I read that you’ve dated a few actresses, is that true?”

“Y’know, I never talk about chicks I dated.” Not to other chicks anyway.

“Really, what if they’re not famous? Like, did you date Frankie?”

Not going there. I just shook my head, since I knew anything I said would be held against me.

Aspen smiled and started up on another track. “You must meet a lot of celebrities at games, right?”

“I guess,” I replied. It wasn’t a really big deal, sometimes people wanted to meet players before the game and we did photos. But it wasn’t like we all became good friends or anything, which I think was where Aspen was headed.

“I’d love to meet some of your connected friends,” she said, leaning in close and putting a hand on my thigh.

“Uh, I don’t really have any connected friends.”

“Sure you do. What about that guy on your team, Dick Love?”

I snickered, that sounded like a porn star name. “It’s Nick Love, and how is he connected?”

“His girlfriend is Amanda Gallant, she’s an actress on the CW.”

I shook my head. I guess I had met her but I didn’t really know her well. Amanda was pretty cute and seemed nice. Aspen ran her hand up my thigh and under my shorts.

“It would be nice for me if I could meet a few industry people… if there’s a big team event, I’d really like to go with you, Jakey.” Her hand crept up higher, and she started scratching her fingernails across my balls.

“Shit, Aspen, you’re giving me a hard-on.”

“That’s because you get me all excited all the time. You’d like to make me happy too, right sweetie?”

“Uh sure,” It was hard to concentrate when I was practically getting jerked off in public.

“So you’ll take me to that team party you were talking about before?” She started running her fingers over my growing cock.

“Unnh, yeah, whatever.”

“Okay, let’s go to your car and take care of that,” she grabbed her purse and led the way.

After Aspen blew me in the front seat of the car, we headed back to my place where we had left her car. As we walked up to the door, Frankie pulled up at the same time, and started unloading grocery bags from the trunk. She greeted us cheerfully, “Hi guys, I just got the most amazing Italian bread for dinner. Would you like to stay, Aspen?”

I had already spent the afternoon with Aspen, so I wasn’t too stoked to spend the evening with her, but to my surprise she accepted.

“Thanks, I will stay. But I don’t eat white bread,” she said, looking at the bag in Frankie’s hand.

“More for us,” said Frankie, juggling her purse and shopping bags to unlock the front door.

“Is that a new car, Frankie?” Aspen asked.

“Uhhh,” Frankie blushed and glanced at me. “It’s a leased car, actually. Jake, could you hold this for me?” She passed me a grocery bag, unlocked the door and went inside without actually answering Aspen.

Although Frankie had just walked in the door, it only took her half an hour to throw together a really delicious dinner. She made a spicy pasta dish of fresh veggies and canned Italian tuna. She added a green salad and a carrot salad, and the famous Italian bread. Domer and I hardly said a word because we were busy eating, but Aspen kept talking about a role that she was up for on some cable show.

Meanwhile, Frankie seemed to be getting a little pissed at Aspen who was surgically removing everything from the salad that didn’t meet her standards. There was a little line of cheese and ham bits on the edge of the plate. Frankie kind of prided herself on her cooking, and she took it as an insult if you did anything like add salt or pepper before tasting it.

“There seem to be a lot of things you don’t eat, Aspen. Allergies?” Frankie asked in a cold voice.

“No, I have strict dietary guidelines set out by my personal trainer. Tyrone considers his body to be a temple, and he never eats anything that might defile that temple.”

That seemed to be a direct quote from her personal trainer. I had met Tyrone, and while he was a perfect specimen, I sort of doubted that he used any of his muscles to actually do anything. What’s the point of working out just to look good? Unless you’re a chick, then it makes total sense.

“Actually, I think that’s pronounced dee-file, as in ‘She used dee file in dee manicure.’” Frankie said, her eyes wide and innocent. I snorted and I could see Domer trying not to laugh, but Aspen narrowed her eyes for a moment and flipped her blonde hair.

“Oh Frankie, I was wondering why you’ve never come to see me at the gym. I can give you a pass for a free week of workouts. It’s important to stay in shape, even if you’re not in the business.” She cast a critical look over Frankie’s body, and Frankie flushed. Frankie’s weak spot had to do with her weight, even though she looked fine to me. How do girls know that shit?

“I actually have a gym already, there’s one in the neighbourhood that I go to.” Frankie went to this 24Hour Fitness that was not too far away from our place. She loved it; she said it was huge, and nobody bugged her. I wasn’t sure if this was a slam about how I used to hit on her at Brad’s gym in Kingston. It was weird, if someone told me then that Frankie would be staying at my place but we wouldn’t be getting it on, I would have thought they were nuts.

“But the gym I work at is completely equipped with the latest in technological innovations which can help you to fully realize your best self.” Aspen had a whole memorized spiel when it came to closing a sale, and she was just getting started.

“I said: I have a gym. And I’m certainly not going all the way to Beverly Hills just to sweat on a computerized treadmill.” Frankie got up and started clearing dishes. I saw Aspen watching her carefully. “I’ve got berries and ice cream for dessert,” she called out as she went into the kitchen.

“None for me,” said Aspen. She was against white sugar as well, and once when I was eating an ice cream cone, she told me it was white death.

Unfortunately, not eating anything just gave Aspen more time to talk. She had been trying to get me to attend some seminar she was into.

“You know, Jake, I don’t understand why you won’t go. I credit the Landmark Foundation with a lot of my personal success. All I’m suggesting is that you attend an introductory session.”

“I don’t know, I’m not really into that stuff.” I didn’t really want to go to anything that involved someone lecturing at me. It sounded too much like school.

“Shifting your perceptions is the first step in self-actualization and can lead to enormous success in relationships and work.” Again, it sounded like she was just quoting someone directly.

“Look Aspen,” Frankie interrupted, using the correct name for once, “It’s Jake that should be teaching classes on achievement. I would defy you to find another person in the world who is as successful as he is at only 23. So give it a break.”

I felt shocked and happy that Frankie would say something like that. Usually all she did was insult me. Aspen looked surprised that Frankie had been so harsh to her. She looked at Frankie and then at me, and then looked thoughtful.

“So Frankie, how exactly do you and Jake know each other?” she asked in a soft voice.

“We met in Kingston,” Frankie replied, suddenly finding her spoon very interesting.