Chapter 31

His voice was soft. "Luna."

"Shhhhh…" I said. "Just five more minutes. Okay?"

"Want me to carry you?" he asked.

"No," I mumbled. "Just hit the snooze button, alright?"

A soft chuckle sounded in my ear. "Snooze button. Got it."

Awareness hit me like a sack of potatoes, and I bolted up in my seat. Oh crap. I wasn't in bed. I was in the back of Jake's car. I glanced outside. We were idling outside Jake's building.

How long had I slept? Had I snored? Drooled? I reached a hand up to my chin. It was dry. Thank goodness. "So, I guess I fell asleep, huh?" As if I didn't know.

"Yeah, but I could still carry you."

I gave him a dubious look. "What? Over your shoulder?"

He grinned over at me. "If that's what you want."

"I'll walk. Thanks."

"My loss," he said, pushing open the car door. He held it open while I got out on legs that still felt way too wobbly, just like my thoughts. The elevator ride was short and silent. Either Jake was giving me time to wake up, or he had nothing to say. That was good, because my thoughts were far too jumbled to discuss anything of any importance.

Once inside his penthouse, I stood, feeling foolish, while he flicked on some lights. It wasn't even midnight, on a Saturday no less. The night was still young. I was dressed up. So was he. Was he sorry that I'd pulled him away from all the action?

"Are you sure you don't want to go back?" I asked.

Across the room, he turned to face me. "To the museum?" He raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

"Not particularly."

"Good."

"Are you positive?" I gave a weak little laugh. "I mean, you could hang out with Bianca."

His voice was hard. "Or Rango."

"Don't you mean 'Dingo'?" I muttered.

Jake leaned against the far wall and gave me a penetrating look. "What the hell did you see in that guy?"

"Rango?"

"Rango. Dongo. Whatever," Jake said. "He's a dick. Why would you go out with him?"

"You're one to talk," I said. "Tonight, you were way more dicky than he was."

"Is that so?"

"To Rango," I clarified. "Not to me." I shook my head. "I still can't believe he didn't take a swing at you."

"He would have," Jake said, "if someone hadn't dragged me off."

I did a mental eye-roll. Sure, like Jake could be dragged anywhere he didn't want to go. And yet, he did have a point. He had let me drag him away. Why was that?

"So I interfered with your plans?" I said. "Is that what you're saying?"

"Pretty much."

"Well maybe," I said, "I'd have been more helpful if you had told me what was going on."

"Why?" he said. "So you could spend half the night looking over your shoulder? Now answer the question. What'd you see in that guy?"

I didn't want to discuss it. I stalled. "Maybe you're not the only one with questions around here," I told him.

"Fair enough." He crossed his arms. "Answer mine, and I'll answer one of yours."

"Anything?" I said.

"Anything."

"Deal," I said.

I knew exactly what I was going to ask him, too, and it wasn't going to be a simple yes or no thing. This was going to be a full essay question, something that required multiple pages. I smiled. And footnotes. Jake had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Sucker.

"What are you smiling about?" he said.

"Nothing." Just that in a few short minutes, he'd be telling me everything he'd been doing since I'd seen him last.

"I'm waiting," Jake said. "About Rango?"

"Oh alright," I said. "Fine. I'll go first."

I made my way to the nearest sofa and sank onto it. Jake pushed away from the wall and claimed the love seat opposite me. He stretched out his long legs and made a forwarding motion with his hand.

"Okay," I said. "I guess he was fun. At first." I cleared my throat. "And hot."

"Hot." Jake gave me a dubious look. "Rango?"

"Well, I don't think that anymore," I said. "Now that I know he's a jackass."

"That's one word for him."

I rolled my eyes. "I know, he's a dick. I got that." I leaned forward. "Now, it's my turn, right?"

"No."

I sank backwards. "Why not?"

"Because you need to hear something."

"What?"

"Guys like that? They're not for you."

"Guys like what?"

"Guys who come on strong and have more flash than brains. Guys who think that just because they're somebody, they can treat nice girls like shit." His voice hardened. "Guys who'd make a girl like you afraid and get their rocks off doing it."

"Get real," I said. "I wasn't afraid of Rango."

"Yeah?" he said. "Is that why you were living in some shithole with some low-life skank?"

My jaw dropped. Well, that was rich. Before I could stop myself, words I never planned on saying flew out of my mouth. "You mean the lowlife you fucked last night?"