Chapter Five

Jake

I’ve got to admit I was a little pissed off to find the bed next to me empty. The faint sweet scent of her lavender perfume still hung in the air. I closed my eyes and remembered our night together.

The way her body responded to my caress. That beautiful pink blush that covered her body when she came. The way her eyes lit up when she thought I said something funny. How she could be both coy and aggressive at the same time. The woman was a contradiction wrapped in a mystery.

Where had this woman been all my life?

Grumbling to myself I got out of bed. I had an anatomy lab first thing that morning. Why had she left without saying goodbye? Was I nothing more than a means to an end? Was that it? A sex object to be used and tossed aside?

I’ve got to admit that I wasn’t happy about it. A fact I was going to change as soon as possible.

It took me most of the day to find Kyle. He was buried in the back of the campus coffee shop.

“Where have you been?” I barked before I could stop myself.

He looked up from his textbook as if I’d grown a second head. “Sorry, I didn’t know I was at your beck and call.”

I shook my head as I slipped into the chair across from him. He was right. I was acting like a raw freshman after a girl smiled at him.

“Sadie Elizabeth Winters.”

Kyle frowned at me, obviously wanting more.

“Who is she. Where is she?” I asked as I forced my voice to sound half-way calm.

Again, he frowned and slowly shook his head. “The redhead, from last night at the haunted house? The virgin.”

“What?” I demanded. “How did you know?”

“Jeanie told me. Said she was looking to set up her friend with someone willing to … end her situation. Although, now it seems you’ve already taken care of it.”

My stomach fell. Had that been it? Just a one-time thing. The girl didn’t want to be a virgin anymore and I was the lucky bastard to help out. Was I nothing more than the first opportunity? The thought made my insides turn over. No, it had to mean more than that. At least it had for me.

“Yes, that’s the one,” I told him as I tried to force my racing heart to slow down.

He shrugged his shoulders. “I gave you everything I had yesterday.”

I stopped myself from snapping at him and took a deep breath. “I know. I need you to find out. No way am I going to talk to her at her Sorority house. We wouldn’t get any privacy.”

His eyes grew larger for a second. “You didn’t get her number?”

“No, she left this morning before I could ask.”

He grinned. “So, let me see if I have this correct. A beautiful woman rocks your world. Then the next morning, she leaves. No questions asked. No demands made. And you find this a problem why?”

I sighed heavily. How could I explain it? Kyle would never understand. Hell, I didn’t understand. I just needed to find her. I needed to know that she was alright. That I hadn’t done something to make her upset.

I just needed to talk to her again.

Kyle continued to stare at me, waiting for an explanation.

“Just get me what I need,” I said with a heavy sigh.

He continued to study me for a minute then nodded. “You know, you could probably get it from the registrar. I know for a fact that the lady in the office has a thing for hot baseball studs. She’d give you her first born if you asked nicely.”

“Just do it, Okay?”

He studied me for a moment then nodded. “Sure, I’ll have something for you tomorrow. You could always ask Jeanie. She’d have the information.”

“No, I don’t want Jeanie involved in this.”

He smiled. “Okay, I get it. Sure, tomorrow.”

I sighed, knowing that I was on a path to finding her again made it easier to breathe.

Kyle tipped his head and looked at me strangely. “This is different. She got to you.”

My guts tightened up. No way was I telling Kyle anything. The man lived to talk crap in the locker room.

He saw it in my eyes though. He laughed and sat back. “Well, well, the great Jake Dawson is human after all. So how does it feel being the one left behind? You do realize two dozen girls will relish in your agony.”

I ignored him. No way was I going there. Sure, I’d been known to play fast and loose. But they always knew beforehand. And I never snuck out the next morning. Not without saying goodbye.

“Just get me the information. I’ll meet you here. In fact, I’ll buy you a coffee.”

He smiled, “You must have it pretty bad if you’re willing to spring for an entire coffee.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said before I got up and left. Tomorrow, I could start trying to find her tomorrow.

.o0o.

I swear she was avoiding me. For two days I tried tracking her down. Once, I saw her auburn hair and those perfect hips of hers draped in a plaid skirt. I knew it was her, but before I could catch up to her she disappeared into the library and was lost.

Kyle had given me her schedule and even her phone number somehow. But no, I needed to talk to her in person. In private. I needed to know if she had felt any of the things I felt or was I just an idiot. Had I gone insane? For the first time, I understood the term ‘Lovesick.’

The next day, using Kyle’s information, I placed myself outside her English Lit class. No way could she avoid me. I leaned up against the wall directly across from the door. Arms folded, waiting. As soon as it opened I started scanning the crowd.

There, in the far back. Our eyes met, and I knew she saw me. That spark of energy between us hung in the air. But then, without any acknowledgment, she turned and walked back into the class.

Okay, I thought. Maybe she forgot something. I waited. As the seconds drew out I started making excuses. Maybe she needed to talk with the professor.

Still, I waited, all the while my anger grew. I just wanted to talk.

At last, I couldn’t wait any longer. I opened the glass door and stepped into an empty room.

She’d gone out another way.

My heart fell. I was becoming a stalker I realized. I’d probably scared her off. What should I expect?

Sighing, I turned to leave, my mind reeling from the rejection. I had been but a means to an end. And I would just have to accept it.

Gritting my teeth, I made my way to class, but each step felt as if I was walking away from something important.

All I wanted was to talk to her for a moment. That would tell me what I needed to know. If she didn’t want anything to do with me. Then fine. There were more than a few girls in the area who thought otherwise.

But, obviously, she didn’t want to talk to me. Obviously, I was to be forgotten and tossed aside. I almost laughed at myself. Boy, I sounded pathetic.

“Get over yourself, Jake,” I mumbled to myself. The girl doesn’t want anything to do with you. Tough. That’s life.

A sadness filled me. But, also a determination. I wasn’t letting her go that easily. Sometime, somewhere. No, this was going to take special action.

.o0o.

Sadie

I swear, he was everywhere. I couldn’t turn around without him being in the general vicinity. Each time my stomach would turn flips, back and forth, then churn at high speed.

The man just stood out. Taller, better looking, wide shoulders and narrow hips. The kind of man that drew a woman’s attention.

Believe me. I wasn’t the only one aware of his presence. More than one girl would be checking him out. Some of them weren’t so sly about it either. Another reminder of just how much of a fool I had been. The man must think I was a groupie. A stalker who couldn’t keep her legs shut.

Once I saw him outside my English lit class waiting for someone. My mind froze as I backed out of there. The last thing I wanted was to see him talking to some girl.

Every waking moment and half the night I had this recurring nightmare of bumping into him in the hall. He’d look down at me and slowly shake his head before brushing past me as if I was an afterthought.

When my classes ended I would scurry home, praying I got there without seeing him.

Of course, every time I did see him, my heart would flutter, and I would be reminded of how he made me feel. How his kisses took me to another world. How his arms wrapped around me made this world feel safe and secure. As if nothing could ever go wrong. Not as long as Jake Dawson held me.

Then I would remember that I would never have that feeling again and my soul would plummet to the deepest abyss.

And then, I didn’t see him. It was as if he had disappeared off the face of the earth. I had trained myself to be on the lookout. But now, he was gone. Days went by without Jake anywhere.

Was he okay? Was my first thought. Or had he been so disturbed by my stalking that he had left college? Surprisingly, the thought made me feel even worse. While it was bad enough knowing that I might run into him at any time. The thought of never seeing him again sent a bolt of pure misery straight to my heart.

“Get a grip, Sadie,” I said to myself. He is only a man. There will be others. But deep down, I knew they would never be enough.

When I came into our room I slumped against the door and sighed.

Jeanie looked up from her book and frowned. She had been doing that a lot lately. She would frown at me and slowly shake her head. As if I had a terminal disease or something.

I took a deep breath and pushed myself off away from the door as I tried to figure out what had become of Jake Dawson.