Stay With Me (Willowbrook Lake #3)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Elise

T he early summer sun is warm on my back as I paddle next to Young Jae. It’s our Sunday tradition. I close Perk Up early, and we do something fun outdoors. At this time of year, it’s usually paddle boarding on Willowbrook Lake or going for a hike. In the winter, we go snowshoeing or snowboarding.

A chance to hang out with my best friend is the highlight of every week. Especially since home has been an endless cycle of false promises and bickering. That is when Jake bothers to acknowledge me at all. More often he sits scrolling his phone with the TV on as background noise.

Young Jae splashes at me with his paddle, the cold water hitting my shins. He chuckles at my yelp of surprise. “You seem distracted today, you good?”

Sighing, I nod. “Yeah, it’s nothing new.” He looks unconvinced, so I change the subject. “I’m thinking about expanding the menu at Perk Up to include hot dishes offered at dinnertime. I don’t fully know how to make it work though, unless I hire someone.”

His eyes light up. He’s been telling me to hire some help for years. “That sounds like a great idea. It would increase business to allow you to do those upgrades, and once they’re trained, you would have more free time.”

Free time . Something I lack unless I make the decision to close early. I put in thirteen-to-fourteen-hour days, five days a week, with Sundays being a little shorter at around ten hours. It’s a lot, but I love my café and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. The long days also help keep me busy and distracted from things I’m only just starting to admit to myself. Home isn’t a fun place to be and my relationship with Jake has been lackluster on the best days for a couple of years now. I purposely stay as on the go as possible. Mondays are my only day off because Perk Up is closed on Mondays.

“That’s true. I have been thinking it would be nice to keep more regular hours. Adeline has such a great balance at the shelter, and with Rae shifting into her new career, it will also free up her time. Maybe it’s time I consider the next steps of my business as well.” I’m thinking out loud, off in la-la land. “I could put out an ad at the very least.”

“Do it. You don’t have to hire anyone if you don’t find the right fit. Besides, then you won’t have to put the ‘back in five’ sign up every time you need to use the bathroom.” Young Jae’s smile is brilliant, showing off the dimple in his left cheek. “You’ve built Perk Up into the incredible shop it is. I know it’s hard to allow someone else in, but it’s a good thing. You have worked so hard to get here. I’m proud of you.”

His words mean so much to me, but he’s always encouraged me when it comes to Perk Up, right from when he helped redesign the building for me, drafting the plans for free.

Grinning in return, his expression is all the encouragement I need. If I want Perk Up to grow, I need to consider hiring someone. It’s hard to open my business up to a new person, but if they were the right person, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Before I can say anything, his phone rings.

He answers as soon as he sees the name on the screen. “Hey, man. What’s up?”

As he chats, his voice gets more excited, and I grab my phone to check the time.

Deflating when I realize what time it is, I tuck my phone back into my waterproof pouch as Young Jae ends his call.

“I have something I want to show you. Let’s head in.” His brown eyes are practically twinkling he’s so excited.

Frowning, I apologize. “I’m sorry. I wish I could, but Jake promised we would have a date night tonight. I need to get home.”

His face tightens slightly, but he nods. I know he doesn’t like Jake. Most of my girlfriends don’t either. I quit wishing Jake would make more of an effort with my friends years ago. He never had any interest in getting to know my circle. He keeps to his group and says he’s happy to let me spend time with my friends without him.

“Okay, I guess you’ll find out next week.” His tone is mischievous, taunting.

Pouting, I give him my best sad face. “You’re not going to tell me?”

“Nope. You’re gonna have to wait.” He chuckles at my expression, paddling toward the shore.

Following behind, I wonder if Jake will be ready for our night out. He tends to lose track of time on his phone or crash without setting an alarm. Pondering whether I can be a little late so I can check out what Young Jae wants to show me, I huff out a heavy sigh. I can’t do that. It’s not me to disregard a prior arrangement.

I’m so distracted in my thoughts that by the time my gaze catches Young Jae’s board angling as he adjusts his course, it’s too late to avoid his board.

“Shit! Incoming!” I dig my paddle in to try and slow down as we collide.

My foot slips, and I teeter on my board before tumbling into the water.

Spluttering as I surface, the sound of laughter is the first thing I hear. Scowling playfully, I push my hair out of my face before splashing up at him. “Very funny.”

“It was. Your arms windmilled like a cartoon character.” He drops down to sit on his board, holding mine steady as I crawl out of the water, his body shaking with unrestrained laughter as I sit up, water dripping down my body.

Young Jae’s laughter cuts off as he glances at me before darting his gaze away. Clearing his throat, he gestures at me. “Your shirt is see-through.”

His accent is thicker than normal, making me pause before I glance down and realize that not only is it see-through, but the bra I’m wearing is also transparent.

“Oh my god!” Pulling my shirt away from my body helps, but the busy dock will still get an eye full.

“Here.” Young Jae pulls his shirt over his head, sticking his arm out without looking. The muscles of his back are prominent as he holds his shirt, waiting for me.

Taking it, I pull it over my head. It smells like him. I inhale deeply before I can stop myself. The fabric is warm from his body heat, warming me as the shirt drapes loosely around me. “Thank you. You can turn around again.”

It’s a good thing I’m not prone to blushing because I’m positive I would be scarlet as his gaze locks on mine. The silence pulses between us.

Glancing away, I move to stand, careful so I don’t go plunging into the lake again. “We better go. I need to shower now.”

He looks at his watch, nodding. A muscle in his cheek twitches, but when he looks at me again, his face is relaxed, an easy grin on his lips. “And I need to go pick something up. Something you will love but need to wait to see.”

Shaking my head, I mutter, “Tease.”

We paddle back to the dock without another incident, the weirdness passing as we load our paddleboards.

“Have fun tonight.” Young Jae smiles as he opens his car door. “I will talk to you later.”

“I will.” Waving as he drives away, I wring my hair out before getting into my car and heading to Jake’s house. We’ve been together for over five years, and despite moving into his home three years ago, it’s never quite felt like ours. Maybe it’s because that’s when our issues seemed to start.

Parking next to Jake’s truck, I hop out and glance at the time. Jake promised he would be ready for when I got home, so even with a quick shower we can leave as planned.

Opening the door, I call out, “I’m home.” The words cut off abruptly as I trip on Jake’s shoes, laying in the middle of the floor. Again.

Closing my eyes, I inhale slowly through my nose, holding the breath and then releasing slowly. It’s fine. It’s not a big deal.

I put his shoes away and then mine. It’s an argument we’ve had countless times, but I’m not going to fight with him about it today. It’s date night.

Hanging up my stuff, I wander through the house to the kitchen, stopping dead in my tracks. It looks like a bomb went off when it was spotless this morning. Jake had the day off and I knew he would make himself food, but he didn’t bother to clean up after himself in the slightest. Pressing my lips together, I turn around and head to the living room.

Jake is laying on the couch, scrolling his phone, wearing sweats and a ratty T-shirt. The coffee table has more dishes and wrappers from other food.

“Hey,” I greet him, leaning against the wall. He doesn’t respond, scrolling away. “Jake!”

He finally glances away from his phone, brows pinched. “Oh, hi.” Jake barely glances at me, missing the fact I’m soaked and wearing an oversized T-shirt. His eyes are automatically back to his phone. “You’re home early.”

Planting my hands on my hips, I bite out, “I’m home right on time. We’re supposed to be going out for date night. You told me you’d make reservations.”

Jake sits up, finally turning his attention from his phone to me. “Oh yeah. I forgot. Let’s just go to Cliff’s.”

My chest tightens. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to shower, and I guess clean up the house.”

He stands up, groaning. “I said I’m sorry.”

“Yep. And?”

“Why are you being like this?” Jake rolls his eyes, returning his attention to the stupid device he is constantly attached to.

The anger simmering boils over at that question. “Because you’re constantly disregarding me and anything that’s important to me. You barely look at me. Barely spend time with me. You basically treat me like a live-in maid that you get to have sex with.”

His eyes widen, jaw set as he scowls. “That’s a load of crap.”

“Don’t gaslight me. How many times have I asked you to put your shoes away? How many times have I requested that you do something to help keep this house clean?” Gesturing around me and the mess that wasn’t present when I left for work this morning, I practically growl, “You’ve been home all day and somehow didn’t have time to clean up after yourself. So not only did you forget you promised me you’d be ready for date night, but also left a mess for me to come home to after I stayed up late last night cleaning the house.”

“It will take me ten minutes to get ready. Why are you bitching when you also need to get ready? And I will get around to cleaning.” His voice is exasperated, and it grinds on my last nerve.

“You’ve got to be fucking joking. No, you would leave the mess for me to take care of because I always do.” Gesturing to myself, I pull at the shirt. “And yeah, I need to get ready, but with both of us needing the bathroom, it clogs it up.”

He stands, knocking a chip bag onto the floor, which he ignores. “Wow. You just have impossibly high standards. Are we going to go to Cliff’s or not?”

Jake moves to brush past me, continuing to ignore the chip bag on the floor.

I’ve had enough.

“No. We’re not. I’m done. I can’t keep having these same conversations over and over. It’s senseless when you clearly have a blatant disregard for how I feel.” Crossing my arms, I hold his gaze. “It’s over. I will pack some things for now and come back tomorrow for the rest of my belongings.”

He gapes at me. “Are you serious? Because I forgot date night?”

Scoffing, I press my fingers into my temples before staring at him incredulously. “If that’s what you need to think. I’m not wasting any more of my breath trying to help you understand.”

I turn, head to the bedroom, and pack some things into a bag. Enough to get me through the night. My entire body is calm, accepting. I thought there would be sadness, a question about whether this is the right choice, but nothing comes. Just relief. This has been a long time coming, but I just kept making excuses or feeling sad about the time devoted to a dead-end relationship.

Somewhere along the way I think I grieved this before I even knew it was a done deal.

Glancing around the room, there’s a small bookshelf that holds my books and that’s about it. The rest of the space is missing my personal touch. It doesn’t even feel like I’m saying goodbye to my space, my home. It feels like I’m leaving a hotel room I stayed in for a while.

I walk past Jake, who’s still standing bewildered in the middle of the living room, for the book I’ve been reading before passing him again and going to the door. Without a word, I slide my feet back into my shoes, grab the rest of the things I need from the closet, and head out the door.

Mindlessly I get in my car and drive. I did it. I can’t believe I did it. I’ve been thinking about ending my relationship with Jake for the past year, seriously considering it but struggling to take the leap. I don’t know what finally clicked, but I know that nothing is going to change, and I want a relationship like I see my friends have.

Owen dotes on Adeline, their love story one from the movies. And Cam and Rae, the way they found their way back to each other and managed to work through what felt impossible. Seeing them listen to each other and work on their relationship was the clarity I needed.

If Jake wanted to, he would’ve made the effort.

I didn’t even think about where to go, my body automatically bringing me here.

Parking my car, I stare at Young Jae’s house. The two-story is beautiful. I remember when he was designing this house, updating me as he worked and reworked until it was just right.

My clothes rub against me as I get out of my car. Shivering, I hope Young Jae is home. Even though I have a spare key, I would feel too weird to go inside and have a shower.

Ringing the bell, all the tension leaves my body when he opens the door, hair tousled and looking a little sleepy. His brows crease when he sees my bags and still wet clothes.

“I left Jake. Ended things. I’m just . . . done.” My voice is soft. And it feels weird to say those words without the emotion that usually comes with them. He stripped me of the last ounce of regard I had for our relationship.

Young Jae opens the door wide, stepping to the side. His tone is soft as he says, “Stay with me.”