4. JENSEN
4
“ R eally? You had to go for another— fuck me. ” She stops mid-sentence when the recognition hits.
Her eyes are full of ferocity as they move back up to meet mine, sparked with a new level of fire I haven’t seen before. I might become the second person she slaps in forty-eight hours, but her golden brown eyes keep me rooted to the spot even when I should duck for cover.
“What the actual fuck, Jensen?”
Holding my phone in the air, she takes a step closer with a furious glare, a blonde strand of her hair falling in front of her flawless face. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up when her honey-scented shampoo enters my nose, making it hard for me to concentrate.
Bad timing, Jensen.
“Who took this picture?” she growls, fumbling with the pendant around her neck.
“I don’t know,” I admit, running a hand through my messy hair. “Emily sent it to me Saturday night when I was still at the club. Someone sent it to her, but she won’t tell me who.” I lightly shake my head.
I was up until two in the morning fighting about it, then continued my denial on Sunday. Emily was livid, telling me how she always knew I was screwing around with 'PR girl'.
God knows how she ever got that idea.
She didn’t give in this time, though. Sunday afternoon, she just kept packing, and after she walked out with her bags, I worked on finishing the bottle of scotch for the next two hours before I went into another short coma, exhausted from my own pleas.
Trying to sleep this mess away, I woke up this morning, expecting my girlfriend to be sitting in the kitchen with a scowl on her face. Like she always does. We fight, she’s pissed, sometimes she throws shit at my head, we kiss, we make up, and all is good in the world and all that shit.
But instead, I found Bodi sipping his morning coffee at the bar with a bored look in his eyes. It’s when I realized it’s only a matter of time before my mother will be hanging on the phone, nagging me with her judgment and instructions to fix shit with Emily.
Yay .
“God, if you could just control yourself for once .” Her brown eyes are spitting fire, but this time my self preservation kicks in.
Her accusations piss me off.
“How is this my fault?” I yelp back at her, my rage going through the roof in a split second. My blood starts to boil in my veins like it always does when she pushes my buttons. She likes to point her perfect finger at me every damn chance she gets.
Going head-to-head with me to put me in my place. Normally, I enjoy it more than I should, loving how she never backs down while I always try to push her farther over the edge. Desperate to watch her lose it, even though I know I’m in the wrong.
But this time, it’s different.
This time, she is in the goddamn picture too.
“If you wouldn’t feel the need to flirt every goddamn second of your fucking life, it wouldn’t look like you are kissing me instead of your supermodel girlfriend, asshole .”
“I didn’t take the fucking picture!” I snap, wanting to pull my hair out of my head.
“Who did?”
“I don’t know!”
“I didn’t give someone the chance to take this picture in the first place!” Her sharp voice feels like a knife going through my head, numbing half of my brain.
I grunt, frustrated, pinching the bridge of my nose.
I’ve been testing the boundaries of my relationship for years now, never really crossing the line, but trying to push them aside to keep my girlfriend somewhat interested. Every single time she was pissed, we’d both put in more effort and were solid for a few more weeks. But the one time I step too close to Rae, Emily doesn’t believe me.
It’s fucking ridiculous.
Everyone knows we can’t stand each other.
Glancing at Rae, who is still glaring at me like a fucking warrior, I roll my eyes.
I’ve been fighting with a woman for the last thirty-six hours. My head just can’t handle another one right now. Especially not with Rae Stafford. This girl is too feisty for my current energy level.
My shoulders drop with a sigh. “I’m sorry, okay?”
She gives me a skeptical look, her eyes wary, calling my bullshit like she always does.
But I mean it this time, even though she still pisses me off. Chances are, she will get a shitstorm of media attention toward her as soon as this picture gets into the wrong hands, and I didn’t mean for that to happen.
Because experience says it will happen, eventually.
Rae is used to handling stuff like this, but I know it's totally different when you are the subject of the attention. She always did her best to keep her face out of the tabloids when she was dating shithead Sean, but the times she ended up there anyway killed her inside.
I could see it every time she walked into the locker room with a haunted hint in her eyes.
We stare at each other for a few seconds, neither of us backing down while the tension grows thicker. Time seems to freeze, my heart races, and I ball my hands to fists until I notice her gaze soften a little. An unexpected pang hits my chest, seeing the torn and frustrated look on her face, and I rub my hands down my cheeks as my jaw clenches.
“Great, my last day in LA and I end up on TMZ,” she softly grunts. “Well, thanks for the heads-up.”
Abruptly ending our conversation, she walks past me with a big sigh, way too quickly for my liking.
Wait, what?
A little stunned, I turn my head, enjoying the view of her swaying hips prancing away from me before I realize that isn’t why I’m here.
“Hold up, I need your help.” I catch up with her, and we walk toward her car while Bodi closes the trunk and drops his back against the rear of the Mercedes SUV, looking like he has better things to do.
“I told you, talk to Penelope,” she replies, never slowing down.
“Stop.” I circle her waist to halt her, the same way I did the other night, and another spark goes through my body. I clear my throat, pretending like that didn’t happen, when she looks up at me through her fluttering lashes.
“I need you to release a statement. Emily is pissed. And my family will be too as soon as they see this picture all over the internet.”
Her eyes narrow in confusion before she looks at me with a straight face.
“Isn’t she always when this shit happens? I’m sure she will turn around; she always does.” She casually waves her hand in the air, dismissing the conversation, but when she tries to move past me, I rest my palm on her belly.
“This time it's different. She packed her bags. She says she’s done.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you’ve done this more times than I can count, and now she decides she is done?”
“And I quote: ‘I’ve always known you were into her. You see her four times a week,’” I clarify.
She places her fists at her sides, looking at me like she will bite my head off if I dare to flinch. Tempting, but I still stand frozen.
“That is fucking ridiculous. We bicker all the goddamn time. Why the fuck would she think that?” she scolds.
“I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t really care, but my dad is running for governor. I have to fix it before I taint his perfect reputation.” I shrug, honestly.
She holds my gaze, her face turning grim, before pricking her finger against my chest. “What the fuck have you been telling her?”
Again with the accusations.
“Why the fuck would I tell her anything?” I lift my eyebrows.
Why the fuck would I pretend for her to be interested in me? I have enough pussy to entertain my ego without getting rejected by Little Miss Perfect over here.
Her brown eyes turn dark, eyeing me with more suspicion. But then a frown deepens on her forehead, making it a pain to stay pissed at her. She frustrates me, but fuck, she’s so cute when she’s pissed. Especially when she goes all Nancy Drew on me.
“Fine, give me your phone. I will give her a call,” she finally offers in a breathy tone, holding up her hand.
I rub my neck, averting my face. “Yeah, about that…”
“What?!” she barks, her impatience palpable.
I look back at her and give her my sweetest smile, hoping for once in my life it will work in my favor.
Who the fuck am I kidding?
Most women drop to my feet whenever I give them a small smile and some sweet talk, but with Rae, it hasn’t worked once so far—I’m not expecting it to stick now.
“She changed her number.”
“Fucking hell, Jensen.”
“And her best friend called me a cocksucking piece of shit when I asked for her new number,” I add while I’m at it. Might as well throw it all out there.
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Cocksucking?” She daringly tilts her head, crossing her arms. Good to know she still has some humor.
I grimace at her funny comment, then take a step forward to crowd her space. “You want me to show you how I prefer pussy over cock every single time?”
She blinks, looking up at me through hooded eyes, clearly regretting opening her smart-ass mouth.
“Okay. That’s enough, Jensen.” She pushes me back with her hand pressed against my abs. She ignores my question, but my dick certainly can’t, with her hand so close to his presence. My jaw ticks, disregarding the twitching of my dick while she lets out a deep wheeze, completely unaware of the torture she’s bringing upon me.
“The girl must really be serious this time. Good for her.” She sounds more appreciative than angry. “So what the fuck do you want me to do?”
“I need you to release a statement and tell Emily that there is nothing between you and me. Face-to-face .”
Biting her lips, she stares at me, and I can see the wheels turning in her head, thinking about the situation. Standing in front of her, looking at her perfectly plump lips, makes me itchy to move into old habits and make a flirty comment, but I keep my mouth shut.
For a second, I wonder why I’ve never kissed the girl, just to find out how those luscious lips would feel on mine.
“Fine.” She snaps my focus back to her eyes as she glances at the watch on her wrist. “I need to hit the road in an hour; that way I’ll still be in my hotel before dark. I’ll send an email to TMZ and then I’ll talk to Emily for ten minutes, but after that, you are on your own. Where is she?”
Here’s the tricky part.
Blinking, I give her my smoldering look, figuring it can’t hurt to give it another shot or at least do my best to not get slapped by this blonde force of nature.
“Yeah, about that,” I tell her again, carefully. “She’s in New York.”
Hopeful, I wait for her response, anxiously staring at her blank expression, even though we all know she will lose her shit soon enough. After a few seconds, Rae widens her eyes and drops her jaw incredulously, and I swear I can see the steam come out of her ears like it does in one of those cartoons.
“Jared James Jensen,” she rumbles, her tone ominous and sexy at the same time, as if she’s speaking to my dick directly.
Oh, damn.
No one calls me by my full name other than my parents, and I rarely respond to my first two names. At times, I kinda forget my name is actually Jared James.
But hearing them roll off her lips in such a dominant way?
I want more.
“You better be talking about some nice hipster café uptown or something. You know, where they serve all those different kinds of herbal teas and vegan pies, because there is no way in hell am I going to New York right now, Jensen. Are you crazy?” Her face is hard and tense, her voice full of frustration, already knowing I’m not talking about whatever fucking café that is.
“Specific, really. Do you go there often?” I can’t help a laugh breaking from my chest, but when she gives me a death stare, the curling of my mouth goes back to a firm line.
“Come on, Rae, please.” I fold my hands together, begging. “I have a jet waiting. We can go right now and have you back here by midnight. You can drive home tomorrow.”
Something I can’t detect flashes in her eyes, and I see her muscles go rigid for a brief moment.
“I don’t fly,” she deadpans.
I scrunch my nose, not following. “What do you mean, you don’t fly?”
“I don’t fly.” She shrugs, a serious look on her face.
“Don’t bullshit me. Come on, Rae. We can have this sorted before dinner.”
“I have to be in Jacksonville by Friday. I’m leaving today.”
“I’ll fly you to Jacksonville.” I push further.
“I don’t fly, Jensen ,” she repeats, seething this time, her glare returning to its full glory.
There is a familiarity to it that I enjoy, but there is something else that is situating in my bones the longer I look at her.
Is that…Fear?
“What the fuck? Why?” I blurt. “Are you afraid of flying?”
“No!” she snaps, as her expression turns darker with rage.
“Then, what?!”
“It’s none of your goddamn business!”
My skull feels like a nutshell she’s trying to crack, which is probably the result of my excessive drinking for the last two days. Or the previous female yelling my brain had to endure.
Either way, it’s making it a pain to think straight and stay calm when I just want to toss her over my shoulder and kidnap her to get this over with. I have a feeling she won’t appreciate that, though.
“Fucking hell, come on, Rae.”
Can’t she for once be on my side?
“No, Jensen. I don’t owe you shit, and I’m going home. Today .” She scowls, her voice firm and without any room for discussion. Her sparkling eyes stare at me for a moment before she sighs, her face softening a little.
“But I have no plans for the next few weeks, so if you need me to come to New York, then Sunday will be your first option.”
“Sunday is too late. My mother will be on my back within the hour, demanding me to fix this.” The words leave my lips before I think, and I hear Bodi mutter “ idiot” behind me.
I’m fucking this up.
Blame my hangover.
She blinks, rolling her lips, her eyes shooting daggers once again.
“You have two options, mama’s boy . It’s either ‘thank you, Rae, for giving me some of your time. You are the best ,” she mocks before her voice turns in a roar I didn’t know she could produce, “or you can figure it out your goddamn self!”
Her anger hits me in waves before she storms off to Bodi without waiting for my response.
“Fine, Sunday,” I yell back to her.
“Fine! See you Sunday, asshole .” She stops in front of Bodi and holds up her hand while he rubs the back of his neck, an apologetic smile breaking through his lips.
“Sorry about that.” He nudges his head toward me, completely disregarding me as if I can’t hear him.
Asshole.
“Whatever. I’m used to it by now.” Bodi drops the keys in her hand, and she walks to the driver's seat, never giving me a second glance.
I groan, pissed, as Bodi saunters over to me with a gleeful smile on his face, my feet moving to meet him halfway.
“Well, that was entertaining.”
Ignoring him, I think about how the rest of the day will play out, knowing the paps will be eating this up like cake. With my father running for governor, it will be in every daily paper by tomorrow, and I’ll be expected to fix it. The only option I have is hiding out at home, hoping it will pass in a few days.
Surely my parents will send me their PR team to do damage control and before I know it they’ll have me play dress up for the next few weeks with line rehearsals to make sure I give a perfect answer to anything who asks.
I ain’t fucking doing that.
I need to get the hell out of this city.
I’m not staying in LA.
My attention flies to the black SUV as the engine roars alive, and then it hits me.
I know exactly where to go.
Picking up my pace, I trot past my best friend. The second he sees the determined look on my face, he rolls his eyes, jiggling his head.
“Whatever you’re up to, don’t .”
“Get in,” I roar at him, making my way to the passenger seat of her car.
“Really, Jay, are we really going to do this?”
“Yes.”
“We don’t even have our stuff with us.” He lets his shoulders hang, looking up at the sky.
“You got your laptop. I got a credit card. What more do we need?” I counter.
“She’s going to hate you.”
I groan, pricking my finger into his chest like a growling bear. “I’m not staying in LA. And if I want to avoid my family for a few more days, what better excuse than to be driving across the country? We can think of a way to get me out of this mess without wedding bells ringing in my ear while we’re on the road.”
“Jay, seriously.” Bodi rolls his eyes, making a futile effort to convince me otherwise.
“Do you have anything better to do?”
“That’s not the point,” he mutters in response.
“You said we needed a break. Here it is,” I hiss, opening the door.