7. Jake

7

JAKE

L eta isn't the first woman I've been with, but she's the only woman who's ever been in my bed at home, and I like it a whole fucking lot. Right now she's tucked up next to me beneath the sheets, her curves cozied up against my side, her arm draped across my chest.

"What made you want something like this?" I ask as I brush my thumb over her back.

She shrugs. "I was having one of those weeks where everything felt stressful and difficult and I needed something good. I was also very tired of still being a virgin at twenty-eight."

"Thank god you swiped right on me and not some other asshole."

She laughs. "What made you want to—no. Wait. Don't answer that. Dumb question. You wanted to get laid. Obviously."

"Well…yes. But just so you know, this isn't something I was in the habit of doing."

"No?" She props herself up on her elbow and looks at me with deep amusement. "How long had it been before me?"

"That's classified information."

"That long, huh?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"I'm becoming more and more curious by the second."

"A couple years."

"Wow. I thought you were going to say…like…weeks."

I laugh. "Do I really give off those kind of vibes?"

"You mean, are you a man who absolutely radiates sex?" she says. "Uh, yes ?"

"Well, now you know the truth."

"Indeed I do." She settles her head against my chest. "Tell me more about you. Anything."

I consider what to say. "I have two brothers. They're both married and each has a kid. They also both live out-of-state, so I don't see them much."

"Do you have any family around here?"

"Nope. I'm the only one. One of my cousins was talking about buying property outside of Seattle a few years back, but that didn't end up happening."

"Is it hard, not having any family around?"

"It'd be nice to have them closer. But it's not like I sit around feeling depressed about it. Growing up, I always knew I wanted to leave the small town where we lived and move to a big city. This is where I belong." I give her hip a squeeze. "Your turn."

"Okay." She thinks for a moment, then says, "I'm the youngest of five. I love my family, but I've always kind of been the odd one out. My parents have never admitted this, but I'm pretty sure I was an oops baby. Not that I ever felt unwanted. But it always kind of felt like I was being squeezed into the family. And at school, teachers just saw me as the youngest of my high-achieving siblings. As a result, they had really high expectations for me, and I struggled to meet those expectations."

"Is that why you started the tutoring center? Because you knew what it was like to struggle with school?"

"Yep. Exactly." She pauses. "Thank you again for helping me, Jake. I'm working on something to raise extra funds for the center, and as soon as I have enough, I want you to stop the donations. I'm extremely grateful for them, I just…"

"I understand. You want to do it on your own."

"You should visit sometime, if you feel like it. You know. So you can see what your money is going toward."

"It's not my money. It's the company's."

"You know what I mean. Is that something you would be interested in?"

"Maybe. I'll keep it in mind."

I don't like that she looks disappointed by my answer. But I don't want to make promises that I'm not confident I can keep. Just like how I'm not sure about us changing this from something casual to something more real.

I really like Leta. I think she's gorgeous, smart, and kind. I think it's great that she's doing her own thing and making a difference in others' lives. I thoroughly enjoy the time we spend together, and when I'm not with her, I'm thinking about her.

But to date her…fuck. I don't know. Eventually, it'll either lead to the mess of a breakup or to the expectation of an even more serious commitment.

And if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that marriage isn't for me.

My feelings have nothing to do with Leta. If I was interested in tying the knot, she's the kind of woman I would probably end up with. But I'm not interested. Not with anyone. Marriage and babies and all that stuff—I've never seen the appeal. Even watching my brothers become happily married men hasn't changed things for me. All it's done is confirm that some people are meant for that path, and others, like me, aren't.

It's hard to reconcile my feelings of wanting to keep Leta all to myself and knowing she would probably be better off with a man who can give her more than I can. But right now, it's not something I need to figure out. Right now, all that matters is enjoying the company of the beautiful woman in my bed.

I lean in and kiss Leta's neck, loving the warmth and softness of her skin. When she exhales a gentle moan, I move on top of her, eclipsing her curves.

"What am I going to do with you, gorgeous?" I murmur, slowly shaking my head.

Leta smiles one of her oh-so-sweet smiles. "I can think of a few things."

"You've never ridden the Great Wheel?"

Leta looks astonished as she asks me the question. We're sitting at my kitchen island, eating breakfast together. I don't think either of us expected her to stay over last night—it just happened. It was late, and she was still here, and there was no reason for her to leave.

I'm not going to lie: it was nicer than I expected it to be, waking up with her next to me in bed.

"That can't be that surprising," I say, reaching for my coffee cup. One sip and I'm coughing. "Jesus, Leta. I wouldn't have let you brew the coffee if I knew how strong you were going to make it."

She waves away my complaint. "Nonsense. It's perfect."

"Yeah, maybe if you drown it with creamer like you do," I say, nodding at the caramel-colored brew in her cup.

She playfully slaps my shoulder. "Go water yours down if it's too strong."

"It's okay. I'll suffer through it."

" Anyway ," she says emphatically. "We should go ride it."

"The Ferris wheel?"

"Yes. I think it would be fun." She eats a bite of toast. "Not as a date or anything. Just as friends."

I smile. "Oh, we're friends now, huh?"

"Yes. I've decided that we're officially friends."

"Who fuck."

Leta scoffs. "No need to be so crude about it, sir."

I hide my smile with another sip of coffee. Maybe it doesn't taste so bad after all.

Later that morning, we go down to the pier to ride the Great Wheel. There are a handful of people waiting, and we get in line behind a family of four. The kids are both young, and incapable of standing still. They chase each other around the pier, getting in everyone's way.

Then, for some reason, one of them decides to run up to me and say hi. I stiffen, but say hello back.

"Are you going up there, too?" the little boy asks, pointing at the Ferris wheel.

"Yes."

"If you're afraid of heights, don't look down," he says very seriously.

"Smart," I say.

He stares up at me, as if it's my turn to say something next. When I don't, the kid rejoins his sister. I feel Leta's eyes on me, and then I hear her say with amusement, "Not a fan of kids, huh?"

I shrug. "They're fine."

Leta laughs. "It's okay if you aren't. I won't judge."

"It's not that I don't like them. I don't know how to interact with them."

"Didn't you say your brothers both have kids?" she asks.

"Yep. I'm not any better around them."

"That's okay. Not everyone is naturally that way."

The line starts to move forward as people enter the gondolas. When Leta and I climb into ours, we pick a side to sit on and I casually lay my arm around her shoulder. She settles against me and looks happy as the ride begins.

Three slow revolutions later, I no longer think of the Ferris wheel as a gimmicky tourist attraction. It's nice to see things from a different perspective than usual, and the slow, smooth ride is a surprisingly relaxing, nice experience.

Granted, a large part of that has to do with the person I'm in this gondola with, but still.

As we're making our final descent, I turn Leta's chin toward me and lean in to give her a slow kiss. She melts against me, but when we pull apart, she blinks at me and says, "What was that for?"

I lift an eyebrow. "I need a reason to kiss you?"

"It's just—" She's a little flustered. "That was romantic."

"And that's a problem?"

"I thought we weren't on a date."

"We aren't."

"Maybe you shouldn't kiss me like that, then."

"All right. Noted."

Our gondola eases to a stop, and I get out first so I can offer a hand and help her out. As we walk back up the pier, I say, "So, friend. What are we doing next on our non-date?"

"Good question," she says, smiling. "I think it's your turn to suggest something."

I nod at a small tattoo shop we're about to walk past. "That looks like a good option."

"Matching tats? Sure. Let's do it."

I keep a straight face as I walk up to the door and pull it open. "After you, milady."

Leta's pretty lips are twisted in amusement as she considers how far to take our joking around. She contemplates the artwork on display in the shop's window, looks at me, then takes a step forward.

And she walks right into the shop.

I exhale a low laugh as I follow her in. I don't know what the hell she's doing, but she's taking this too far. I don't have any interest in wasting anyone's time here.

"Be with you in a sec!" a man calls out from the back.

I sidle up next to Leta, who is looking at more tattoo artwork under the glass on the front counter. "Leta, let's get out of here."

She shakes her head. "No. I want to get a tattoo."

"This isn't funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny." Her eyes lift to mine. "I was kidding about getting matching tats. But I actually do want a tattoo. I've always wanted one. Why not do it now?"

It takes me a second to process that she's dead serious. "You really want to get it done here, though? We don't know the first thing about this place."

"All the artwork is beautiful."

"Yeah, but…Leta. Come on. This is a big decision."

"I'm going to get something small." Her lashes drop as she looks down at the example artwork. "Like this little butterfly. Isn't it sweet?"

She's really serious about this, isn't she? I dig my phone out of my pocket. "Fine. But I'm looking up reviews of this place before you go through with it."

While I vet the shop's reputation, Leta cheerfully greets the tattoo artist who emerges from the back and chats with him about what she's looking to get done.

"Jake?"

I look up from my phone and see her looking at me, waiting for an answer.

The reviews of the shop I've found have been overwhelmingly positive. I still don't know if this is a great idea, but if it's something she really wants, I'm not going to stand in her way.

"You're sure?" I ask.

She nods. "I'm sure."

"All right. Go for it."

I'm still feeling protective over her—probably too protective—as we're shown into the back. Leta looks calm as she gets settled in the tattoo chair, but I'm on edge.

I watch as the tattoo artist preps the spot on Leta's arm that she's chosen, then transfers the design and begins to ink it. It's such a small tattoo that it doesn't take more than fifteen minutes to complete. Leta is delighted with how it turns out, and when I lean over to get a closer look, I have to admit that it's a pretty tattoo.

Afterward, as we're walking away from the shop, her new ink covered in a bandage, Leta looks over at me with a smile and says, "Thanks for doing that with me, Jake. It was really nice having you there."

That's when I realize how glad I was to be there with her, too. It was nice to have that experience together. I want us to have more experiences like that.

"You're going to bring me with you when you get your next one, right?" I ask.

"Of course." Her eyes turn teasing. "And maybe you'll join me next time?"

"I don't know about that. I don't think I'm really a tattoo guy."

"Really? I think it'd look good on you. I can totally picture you with a huge, pissed-off looking dragon wrapped around your thigh."

I'm about to laugh, but then I see a blur in the corner of my vision—something rushing toward us on the sidewalk. Instinctively, I grab Leta and pull her out of the way and into my arms. I just barely pull her close as a teenager recklessly flies by us on a scooter, grazing our sides.

"Jesus," I mutter. My heart is pounding, adrenaline pumping through me. "That fucking kid is going to kill someone. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." Leta blows out a breath and gives me a slightly shaky smile. "Nice reflexes."

As I look down at Leta, my arms still wrapped around her, it hits home how much I've come to care about her. We're far beyond just being a casual thing. She's…important to me.

I feel an odd sensation deep in my chest as I realize all of this. It feels like something shifting, or opening up. The feeling is a little terrifying—but not as terrifying as I thought it might be.

"I think we're fooling ourselves, Leta," I murmur, fully taking in the gorgeous woman in my arms. "We're on a date, aren't we?"

She laughs a little, her cheeks flushed. "Yeah. I guess we are."

"Are you cool with that?"

She nods. "Are you?"

"I'm going to be honest. It's a tad frightening. But it's good. I like it. It's what I want."

"Same."

I lean down, brushing my lips over hers. "All right. Looks like we're dating, then."