Chapter 45

I heard a sharp intake of breath. It was my own. I flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. So Jake had slept with his dad's girlfriend? That was disturbing on too many levels to count.

No. That couldn’t be true. This morning, Bishop must've been talking about someone else.

On the phone, I heard Selena's voice. "Luna? Are you there?"

"Yeah."

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing."

I was still trying to add things up. Selena had met Bishop when she was how old? Eighteen. I did the math. If Selena was talking about the same Debbie, Jake would have been how old at the time? Twenty-one. Definitely old enough to know better.

Wasn't there anyone he wouldn’t sleep with?

I returned my attention to Selena. "Hey, can I ask you something else?" I said. "Has Jake ever hit on you?"

She laughed. "Me? No. Never. In fact, I hardly know him. Why would you even ask such a thing?"

"Just curious." I closed my eyes, hoping to block out my own ugly thoughts. It didn't help. "Hey, I need to go," I said. "Can I give you a call in a few days?"

"Oh, alright," she muttered. "But if I don't hear from you soon, I'm tracking you down. I mean it."

I had to smile. If I knew my sister, she'd do it too.

After we hung up, I didn't move. Somewhere outside the guest room door, Bianca was still raging. I wrapped a pillow around my head, trying to muffle the noise. It only reminded me that two nights ago, I'd done practically the same thing with a different pillow in a different place, when Maddie and Jake had been screwing like porn stars in the adjacent bedroom.

Jake had made Maddie scream too. Of course, Maddie's screams had sounded a whole lot happier than Bianca's.

The recollection didn't make me feel better, especially when Bianca's screeching picked up volume. Just when I thought I'd go absolutely insane, I heard a door slam so hard, I swear, the bed shook. And then abruptly, the screeching ended.

I flung aside the pillow and sat up. I listened. I heard nothing. Was she gone? Or had they killed each other?

Soon, I heard a knock on the guest room door, followed by Jake's voice. "Luna? You in there?"

Where exactly did he think I was? Hiding out in some closet again?

Not this time. Embarrassment aside, I'd learned that lesson the hard way. There were some things a girl was definitely better off not knowing.

I pushed myself off the bed and stood. I took a deep breath and made myself smile. "Yup, come on in."

Jake pushed through the door and stopped short at the sight of me. "Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yup. I'm good. How about you?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "You want the truth?" he said. "Or the same bull you're giving me?"

"Actually," I admitted, "I'm not sure how to answer that. Maybe you should go first."

"Alright." He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the far wall. "I'm mad as hell."

"At who?" I asked. "Bianca?"

"And me." He made a hard sound. "And fuckin' Vince Hammond."

I squinted over at him. "Vince? That sports agent? Why him?"

Jake's expression darkened. "Who do you think put Bianca up to that?"

"I don't know," I said. "I just figured maybe you and Bianca had that kind of relationship."

"Yeah? What kind is that?"

"I don't know. Volatile." I swallowed. "Break up. Make up. That sort of thing."

"Well, we don't," he said.

"Oh."

"That scene today?" he said. "That was new."

"And you're blaming Vince?"

"I know how he works." Jake pushed away from the wall and strode toward me. He stopped just outside arm's reach. "You don't."

I looked up at him. "What do I have to do with anything?"

"Tell me," Jake said. "When he stopped by, was he Mister Charming?"

"What?" I said. "He was nice, if that's what you're asking."

"Nice? Let me tell you something. That fucker? He's not nice." Jake glanced away. "Any more than I am."

"Oh for crying out loud," I said, "that's not even fair."

His gaze returned to mine. "Yeah? Why not?"

"Because," I said, "you can't lump both of you together like that. When he stopped by, he was nice. And actually, I think you're nice too."

At this, Jake laughed, a hard sound that rang hollow in the quiet room. "Luna," he said. "I'm not nice. And the sooner you get that, the better off you'll be."

I wanted to argue. But something made me stop. Nice guys didn't have sex with their dad's girlfriends. They didn't start fights and film them for money. They didn't cost people millions of dollars and laugh it off like it was nothing.

And they didn't break up with one girl while another girl waited in the bedroom. What the hell was wrong with him? More to the point, what the hell was wrong with me?

I was still staring at him. I didn't know what to say. So I said nothing.

Jake's gaze softened. "Forget all that," he said, closing the distance between us. "Forget Bianca. Forget Vince. Forget my damn brother." He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I wanted to fight it. But I couldn't. I leaned into him, soaking up the feel of him.

He spoke into my hair. "There's something I should've said right off."

"What's that?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I would've told her to get the hell out. I should have. Wanna know why I didn't?"

I nodded against him.

"I didn't want her coming back." His voice softened. "Not now. Not with you here."

Did that mean he wanted her to come back later? When I was long-gone?

"Baby, what is it?" he said.

I said nothing. If I were smart, I'd push away. I'd call my sister and be gone before dark. Instead, I burrowed deeper into his embrace. I didn't want to move. Not now. Not ever.

But that was my own stupidity talking. I recalled what those two guys in the mall had told me. Jake didn't do the girlfriend thing. In a way, that was funny, right? Because apparently, he did do somebody's girlfriend. His dad's, in fact.

On second thought, that wasn't funny at all.

Damn it. Why couldn't I stop thinking about it?

I heard Jake's voice low in my ear. "Luna?"

Lost in my own thoughts, I was only half listening. "What?"

"If you've got something to say, just say it."

"Okay," I said, letting that dreaded question tumble from my lips. "Who's Debbie?"