Chapter 36 Jakob
JAKOB
“Keep up, would you?” Zane said as we jogged through Delaware Park. “You’re falling behind again.”
“I am not. And I wasn’t falling behind the first time either. Get your facts straight.”
Zane was full of shit. You know how I knew? Aside from his lips moving, I mean. His breathing labored a lot more than mine did. Yeah, we were both athletes and could handle a lot, but I knew I’d pushed my boyfriend pretty hard.
I sprinted ahead of him just to underscore the point.
When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw that I’d advanced a little too far ahead of him.
He did a doubletake and charged forward.
As a frequent jogger, I’d learned to pace myself, which meant I should have had no trouble outlasting Mr. Zane Hirst.
In more ways than one, if you know what I mean.
Zane nearly caught me, though. For a split second, he caught up with me completely before falling behind again. I glanced over my shoulder once more and couldn’t hide the smile that appeared on my face.
Come on, people, I’m human.
Finally, he slowed down, which meant I could soar past him if I really wanted to. Instead, I slowed down, allowing him to catch up. Why not? Big, bad Zane Hirst needed to catch his breath.
“Go ahead and take a break,” I said. “You need it.”
“Fuck you.”
I clicked my tongue against the back of my teeth a couple of times but stopped myself short of wagging my finger at him. Sure, patronizing him would be fun, but I preferred to humiliate him through my superior athletic prowess.
“Didn’t your mother tell you that if you don’t have something nice to say then you shouldn’t say anything?”
“Cram it up your ass.”
I almost had to cover my mouth to dam the laughter.
“I’ve already crammed plenty up my ass for you and I’m still walking, and pretty normally, I might add.”
I saw fire ignite in Zane’s eyes for the first time in a while, probably since I left him hanging at Parkside Candy. I knew he could be a belligerent asshole at times, but I guess I didn’t know when that side of him might resurface.
“That’s cheating, you know.” He put a hand to his chest, and I remained mostly unaffected by our run. Bet you any money that drove him crazy.
“What are you talking about?”
“What you did just now. It was total bullshit.”
“You mean me beating you in this little race just now? I didn’t realize I had little jets on installed on the sides of my shoes. It would be a neat trick, though.”
“Not that, Jakob. Quit being a wiseass.”
“Why? It’s what I’m good at.”
“You made this a race and didn’t tell me and then tried to declare yourself the winner. That’s bullshit in my book.”
“Yeah, well your book is pretty thin. Not very many pages. Besides, I wasn’t trying to make it a real race. You told me to keep up. Not only did I do what you asked but I beat your ass. Now how ‘bout that?”
The fire in his eyes intensified and I tried not to laugh. Come on, it’s seriously hard not to mess with my boyfriend’s mind when he gets like that.
“You didn’t beat my ass and you know it,” he said.
“Yes, I did. I advanced on you right away. When you ran out of steam, I left you in the dust.”
I peered down and saw him squeeze his fists like he’d done in my living room the night he returned home from Boston.
That only underscored the fact that I was one hundred percent right, and my boyfriend couldn’t handle it.
In any case, I felt happy to dick with his mind as much as I liked to dick with his… well, dick.
“I’m just saying that if you wanted a fair contest, you could’ve told me,” he said. “That way, we can do this properly.”
“In other words, you want an argument that benefits you the most, huh?”
“No!” He almost growled. Wait, fuck it, he did growl.
Good thing his face was already red otherwise I would have another symptom of rage to which I could point.
To me, this Zane Hirst had a lot more in common with the guy I’d punched at the Colter Bay Grill than the one with whom I’d enjoyed constant sexual romps.
Something had struck a nerve. At first, I thought I’d done it, but I was sure it had to be about more.
“You’re that sure of it, huh?” I asked.
“Fucking-A I am.”
“In that case, why don’t we have a do-over? It’ll give you the chance to prove me wrong.”
“I’d love that.”
“Then let’s do it.”
Zane assumed the race position, bending one knee, and swinging his hanging arms a little.
I stifled a laugh, shook my head, and joined him.
We didn’t even have the chance to discuss what the winner would receive but something told me it wouldn’t matter.
Bragging rights over me meant more to this jughead than anything.
“Okay,” he said. “You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
“All right. On your mark… get set… go!”
Only Zane sprinted ahead of me before the word go left his mouth completely. So much for a fair contest, huh? Some people are pretty desperate. No matter. I would win this contest one way or another.
I sprang forward, splitting the distance between us almost instantly. He glanced over his shoulder, heaving his chest out, like staying ahead of me even after cheating required all his might. Even better, his eyes widened like he couldn’t believe I’d already caught up with him.
Seconds later, I caught up with my boyfriend but didn’t advance ahead of him. Still, I hadn’t turned on all my jets just yet. Let’s say I wanted to toy with him and felt confident enough in victory that I could afford to get cute.
Then something you wouldn’t believe happened; Zane nearly slammed into a woman carrying a small child.
Seriously. He nearly mowed right over her in her zeal to beat me.
Thank God he slammed on the brakes. Only, I wouldn’t say he slammed on the brakes per se.
He slowed down enough to swerve around her but that also allowed me to sail right past him.
We’d established no finish line for this race because bull-headed Zane had to start before agreeing on ground rules. In fact, he’d started before he was supposed to, and I was about to beat him anyway. With both arms reaching toward the sky, I declared myself the winner.
Zane caught up moments later, his lungs working overtime again. I thought better of taking a victory lap. Beating my boyfriend at anything was enough reward.
“That was bullshit, you know,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“What just happened. There was a fucking obstacle in the middle of the course.”
“We’re not on a course, Zane. We’re in the middle of a public park.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“Of course you don’t.”
“What I’m saying is that if there’s an obstacle in the way, then something should’ve been done about it.”
“What did you want me to do? Stop so we could tell that woman to get the hell off of your little course?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
I paused, waiting—well, hoping to God, really—that he would tell me he’d only been joking. No such luck. My boyfriend was as serious as a shotgun enema.
“Let’s do it again,” he said.
I didn’t respond with, Do what again? because I knew damn well what he meant… and I didn’t want to believe it.
“Come on.” He assumed the position again.
“Zane, stand up straight, and let’s just walk the rest of the way like normal human beings, okay?”
“Fuck that shit. You’re only saying that because I know I totally would’ve beaten you if it weren’t for that stupid obstacle in my way.”
I rolled my eyes. Sorry, but I couldn’t help it. Zane was being stupid even for Zane, which was saying a lot.
“Zane, dude, come on.”
“I’m serious. Get on your marks.”
He pointed to the asphalt like he could command me.
“I’m not going to race you again,” I said.
“Oh no? Scared or something?”
I started laughing. I freely admit that. You would too if you were confronted by someone behaving as stupidly as my boyfriend was at that very moment.
“Zane, I hope you’re not going to—”
“Answer the question, would you?” he said.
“No, I’m not scared, but I’m also not going to give in to your silly little competition.”
“Silly little competition?”
“I’m sorry, your bullshit, pig-headed obsession for desperate, pitiful fools. Happy now?”
He stood frozen like I’d slapped him across the face. Trust me, it was all I could do not to smack him a good one for real. We’d reached an impasse. That was what it came down to. He’d challenged me and I’d shot him down flat, but I wouldn’t roll over for him unless we were in the bedroom.
“What’s the problem?” he asked. “I just want to have a fair race. That woman was totally in the way and screwed up everything. I would’ve beaten you, Jakob. I swear to God I would’ve.”
“You’re getting hung up on some seriously small stuff. You need to let go. And besides, you couldn’t have beaten me on your best day.”
And I walked away. Not that I wanted to act cocky, but I didn’t have a mic to drop. As before, Zane was clearly napping before he hurried to catch up with me. Asleep at the switch again.
“If you’re so sure I couldn’t beat you on my best day, why don’t you run another race and do it right this time.”
“Because I’m sane and rational, Zane. Too bad I can’t say the same for you.”
That shut him up. Thank God. Even better, he kept his big, fat trap closed the rest of the way back to my place.
Once we got there, we showered together and then hit the sack (which required yet another shower).
You would think that I would barely be able to stomach riding his cock, but I must say it was somehow among the best fuck sessions we’d ever had.
A nice distraction really since I knew this wasn’t over. If you don’t understand why I think that, you haven’t learned much about Zane Hirst.