Hyde and Seek (35 page)

When he returned wearing track shorts, a t-shirt, and his converse, I sat up. “Where’re you going?”

God, my boyfriend is beautiful.

No, wait. My fiancé.

Don’t squeal. Don’t squeal.

Okay, totally squeal. Just try to disguise it as a cough or something.

“I’m gonna go get your ring.”

“I can wait ‘til tomorrow.”

Jake put his hands in his pockets and shook his head. “You might be able to, but I sure as fuck can’t. I’ve waited long enough.”

I threw the sheet off and hopped out of bed. “I’ll come with and we’ll just crash there.”

“Thought you wanted to sleep here?”

“We did what I wanted to do.” I quickly dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a slouchy, off the shoulder t-shirt, going commando and braless.

Reaching into my closet, Jake pulled a suitcase from my set and tossed it on the bed. “Grab some clothes for the rest of the weekend, yeah?”

“No problemo, Mr. Bossy Pants.”

*******

“Where do you wanna live?” I heard, and felt, Jake ask.

On his back in his bed, I was half on my side and half sprawled over him. My head rested on his shoulder while my leg was bent over his hips. One of his hands sifted my hair through his fingers.

“What do you mean?” I tried to sit up but his grip tightened and kept me tucked close.

“Do you wanna live here or your place?”

“I really hadn’t thought about that.” The reality of the changes that were coming made my stomach flip. I was excited. Thrilled out of my freakin’ mind. But I was nervous, too.

Jake chuckled. “Of course you hadn’t.”

“What’s so funny?” I again attempted, and failed, to push up.

“Most women’s minds go wild plannin’ every detail of this kinda stuff from the first date.”

I opened my mouth to argue when he talked over me.

“I know, you’re not most women.”

Seeing as he made my point for me, I closed my mouth but did it rolling my eyes.

“Don’t gotta decide tonight, but I’d like to get into the same place with you soon, yeah? Packin’ a bag to go back and forth got old long ago. Don’t care if it’s here, your house, or a new place as long as I come home to you every night.”

“A new place?”

“Yeah. That somethin’ you might like?”

It was scary as hell, but the good kind. “Yeah. Someplace that wasn’t mine then ours, or yours then ours. It will just be ours.”

“I like that. Get some sleep, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Within a few minutes, Jake’s breathing evened out. Unable to sleep, I opened my eyes to see my new engagement ring sparkle in the moonlight streaming through the window.

I didn’t know much about jewelry, but I knew it was exceptional. The unique, platinum band was elaborately intertwined and dotted with sparkling diamonds. In the center was a good-sized, round diamond. It was gorgeous and different.

It was perfect.

“I’m gonna be Mrs. Jacoby Hyde,” I whispered to myself as happy tears pooled in my eyes.

“Fuck yeah, you are,” Jake said, startling me with his gruff response. After shifting me to straddle him, he leaned up and cupped the back of my head. His mouth took mine savagely, leaving me panting when he sank back into his pillow. Using his hold on me, he tucked my forehead into his neck. “I love you, Piper.”

“Love you, too.” I kissed his jaw, feeling the stubble on my sensitive, swollen lips.

We lay in comfortable silence for a while until Jake broke it, bizarrely saying, “I’m good at my job.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Though I don’t know why you’re stating the obvious.”

“The kinda work I do is labor intensive and intricate, which means I can charge a shitload. Which I do.”

“Okay…”

“Your place? It’s a home. This is a crash pad. I picked it ‘cause it’s close to work and was available. That’s it. Barely fuckin’ looked at it before I signed the lease. That was seven years ago. Never bothered wastin’ time doin’ shit with it ‘cause it was never gonna be a home.”

“Really?” I’d noticed the first time he brought me here that there was nothing personal. I’d wondered if maybe he’d recently moved in. I couldn’t imagine living in such a sparse place for
seven
years.

“I went out with the guys. Worked on my car and bike. Normally that’d be a seriously fuckin’ expensive habit, but since I get the parts for cost and do the labor myself, it’s not.

I sat up and looked down at him. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m not following.”

“I got more fuckin’ money than I know what to do with, but I still worked seven days a week. I had the kinda fun that meant I spent each night alone in a fuckin’ crash pad. I was livin’, but I wasn’t
alive
. I wasn’t breathin’. I was fuckin’ color-blind, tastin’ nothin’ but sour and bitter.” Even in the dim moonlight, I could see the intensity in his eyes. “You brought me sweetness. Brought me color and brightness. You’ve got me breathin’ deep and doin’ it easy. Lovin’ life. Not just enjoyin’ it. Fuckin’
lovin’
it.”

“Jacoby.” Tears stung my eyes as I pushed his hair away from his face.

Grabbing my wrist, he pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed my palm. “I’m gonna spend the rest of my life takin’ you places. Buyin’ you shit. You tell me I don’t have to but you’re wrong. I
need
to give it to you. ‘Cause I’ve had nothin’ but fuckin’ gray. Nothin’ but a nasty taste in my mouth. Now the rest of my life will be nothin’ but bright and sweet. I could give you the fuckin’ moon and still owe you.”

“Jake, you give me just as much.”

“Thirty-four fuckin’ years of that shit, Piper. So I’m gonna keep buyin’ you sexy as fuck dresses and fuck-me heels. Bracelets that you smile while lookin’ at. A home for us. Yeah?”

“As long as you know you’re the only thing I need. Well, and the home with you. But I’ll help with buying—”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

Unable to work up the fight, I sighed. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Never,” he muttered. “Long day tomorrow. Get some sleep, yeah?”

“Yeah.” I tried to fall to the side, but Jake’s hold on me tightened.

“No. Just stay like this a little longer, yeah?”

“Just for a few minutes, then I need to get comfy.” I closed my eyes, enjoying his hands rubbing my back and playing with my hair.

Another minute or so.

Five, tops.

*******

I woke up the following morning, still sprawled on top of Jake, and said a prayer to the sleep gods that I hadn’t been drooling or snoring.

After a quick shower, I began digging through my bag to find clothes. Realizing I didn’t know what to wear because I didn’t know what we were doing, I called out to Jake to ask.

“Nothin’ fancy. And it’s gonna be fuckin’ hot,” he answered, setting a mug of coffee on the dresser. “Gonna shower. We gotta go soon, yeah?”

I pulled on a pair of dark washed jean shorts and a black tank top. After applying a little eyeliner and mascara, I attempted to tame my wild hair. I was tying my high-tops in the living room when Jake came out of the bedroom.

His hair was still damp and wavy from the shower. He was wearing a gray Red Sox tee with red, three-quarter-length sleeves, a pair of gray basketball shorts, and some sneakers. Pulling his hair into a knot, he threw on a worn and faded Sox hat.

You slept without drooling, Piper. Don’t start now.

“Got somethin’ else for you.” Reaching into the closet, he handed me a white, fitted, Red Sox jersey.

“Baby, I’m sensing a theme with the clothes today.”

“I did some work for a guy and got tickets, so I thought we might catch a Sox game. If you wanted.” Though his voice was indifferent, his eyes were bright as he watched me failing to contain my excitement.

I grinned up at him. “Totally.” I pulled the jersey on, but left it open.

His eyes darkened as he looked me over. “I’m thinkin’ maybe I don’t wanna go now.”

“Too late. Let’s go!” I bounced.

“Sweets, that isn’t makin’ me move any faster. Hell. Want one of my sweaters? A coat? At least throw some damn sweatpants on.”

“It’s gonna be unseasonably hot today so pants aren’t happening. Now, let’s
go
.”

“You’re lucky we’re meetin’ Floyd and Nat there or I seriously doubt we’d be leavin’.”

“Hooray! Now I extra can’t wait. Dad used to take me to games a lot.” I flung the door open and headed towards the driveway. “You coming or what?”

*******

“Never again. Do you hear me, Piper? Never. Again.” Jake stormed through his condo, throwing his hat on the couch as he went.

I trailed after him. “Baby, it really wasn’t that bad.”

He stopped suddenly and turned to face me. “Are you kiddin’ me? You and Nat almost got us kicked out of the game.”

“Did not! The security guards thought we were hilarious.”

“No, the security guards thought you were hot.”

I rolled my eyes. “We weren’t even that bad.”

“Not even one day.” He held up his finger. “Not even one day with my ring on your finger and you were yellin’ your love for another man.”

“To be fair, Anderson is the catcher for the Red Sox, not some random guy.” At Jake’s warning growl, I quickly moved on to my next defense. “And that wasn’t even me yelling the dirty stuff. That was Natalie!”

“Never again. Not goin’ anywhere with the two of you,” Jake muttered as he headed into the kitchen.

Following him, I hopped up onto the island and tried to figure out why he was so exasperated. Since I was pretty tipsy, it was a difficult endeavor to focus on.

*******

When we arrived at the stadium earlier and I showed Dad and Nat my ring, neither of them were surprised. I found out that the reason Jake had called my dad in the first place was to ask for his blessing. Though I’d already told Dad, and more so, Nat, about him, that didn’t mean a phone conversation was going to suffice. Since my surprise birthday celebration was already in the works at that point, they’d decided the party was the perfect opportunity to meet Jake.

After finding our seats, which were so close I could reach over and touch the dugout, I looked at Jake with raised brows. He returned my unspoken question with a wink and smirk.

The work Jake had done wasn’t just for some guy with an extra bunch of bleacher tickets. It was for Jason Pasters, the third baseman.

When he came over before the game to shake our hands and talk with Jake, I barely kept my screams in my head. Nat looked like she was fighting the same battle.

It quickly became obvious that Dad liked Jake. Nat told me that he’d met them for breakfast after their flight landed. According to her, Dad had to work hard to keep a stern face when he was greeted by a guy in scuffed motorcycle boots, well-worn jeans, and a t-shirt, instead of some pretentious yuppie from my mother’s line-up of men. It still wasn’t until Dad saw Jake and me at my party that he’d pulled him aside to give him his blessing.

While we watched the game and Nat filled me in on everything, we drank. A lot. Which led to us declaring our undying love for Teddy Anderson in the bottom of the ninth when he was going up to bat. I loved him because his batting average was rocking and he went by Teddy, not Theodore. Nat said it was because of his fine ass.

Regardless, he hit a double and got the two RBIs they needed to win.

Nat and I might have also heckled a few of the opposing team’s players.

Just a little.

Like hardly noticeable.

Okay, maybe not.

Probably
very
noticeable.

*******

As I silently accepted that maybe Nat and I had gotten a little wild, Jake handed me some pain meds and a tall glass of ice water. “I don’t need those, I’m not even drunk.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Okay, maybe a little. But not really.”

Jake looked up and inhaled deeply. “Piper, take the damn pills.”

“Fine. But I don’t get hangovers, so it’s a total waste of perfectly good medicine. You never know when you might need some and you’ll go for the bottle but it’ll be empty. And you’ll only have yourself to blame ‘cause I really don’t need these.” I stopped talking when Jake’s deep laughter filled the kitchen.

“No. You’re right. You’re not drunk at all. What woulda made me think that?”

“What’s so funny?” I asked, hiccupping in the middle and making his laughter start again.

“You. You’re also fuckin’ cute.”

“Yeah?” I smiled as warmth spread through me.

“Yeah, sweets.” Jake moved between my knees. “Did you have fun?”