Chapter 49

The woman leaned over our table. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help but notice…"  She turned to Jake. "You're that Jake person. Aren't you? You know, the guy who does all those fight videos?"

"It depends," he said with a grin that somehow managed to look boyish. "You're not looking for a fight, are you?" He held up both hands. "Because I don't want any trouble."

She practically giggled. "You are so bad," she told him. She turned toward me. "Isn't he?"

Reaching for my wine glass, I gave a long, dramatic sigh. "You have no idea."

Turning back to Jake, she lowered her voice. "Well, the thing is," she said, glancing around, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm glad you kicked some Chainsaw ass."

Sputtering, I almost choked on my wine. At the choking sound, the woman's gaze swiveled back to me. "Well, I am," she said, "and I’m not sorry for it either." Her eyes narrowed to mere slits. "Did you see what that fucker did last Saturday? Shameful – that's what it was."

She turned back to Jake and said, "Next time, kick his ass harder."

"Yes ma'am," Jake said.

Somewhere behind me, I heard a female voice call out, "Grandma!"

I turned in my seat and spotted an attractive girl about my own age. She was giving the older woman an exasperated look. When the girl saw me looking at her, she winced. "Sorry," she said as she approached our table. "She's real, uh, sociable."

"What Chloe means to say," the woman said, "is that I call 'em like I see 'em." She gave Chloe the steely-eye. "Someone's gotta do it. Damn politicians won't. Fuckers are all liars and crooks, if you ask me."

Across from me, Jake was nodding. "Can't argue with that," he said.

For the first time, Chloe's gaze landed on Jake. She froze. "You're Jake," she said.

The girl's grandma poked her in the side. "I know," the older woman said. "I was just telling him that." She lowered her voice. "But I think he already knew."

I glanced at Jake. He was giving the girl an odd look, like he thought he might know her from someplace. I wanted to groan. This was never good. I already knew way too many of Jake's former flings. Then again, she didn't look like a fling. Maybe she was fan?

Chloe was still giving Jake that perplexed look. "Did you get our invitation?" she asked.

Jake leaned back in his chair. "So you are that Chloe," he said. "Yeah, I got it."

"Well, you'd better come," she said. "It wouldn't be the same without you."

The older woman looked from Jake to Chloe. "What the hell are you talking about?" she said.

Chloe reached for the woman's elbow. "I'll tell you at the table." Before hustling the woman away, Chloe turned back and said, "Nice meeting you both."

I watched them go and then turned to Jake. "So you know her?"

Jake shook his head. "Nope."

"But she sent you an invitation?" I said. "To what?"

"Her wedding."

"Oh stop it," I said. "Why would she send you a wedding invitation?" I felt the color drain from my face. "Oh my God," I said. "Is this one of those weird stalkery things, where she thinks she's marrying you?"

At this, Jake burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," I said.

"No. It's not," He said. "But trust me. She's not a stalker. I've met her fiancé. That's all."

"Oh. Well, that's nice." I hesitated. "Isn't it?"

"Yeah," he said. "It's nice." And then, as if eager to change the subject, he said, "Hey, you know why everyone's mad at the Chainsaw?"

I shook my head. "No. Why?"

"Get this," Jake said. "Last Saturday, the guy 'accidentally' spikes a football into the stands, hits this ten-year-old kid who's wearing the opposing team's jersey."

"That's terrible," I said. "On purpose?"

"No." Jake's voice grew sarcastic. "Not on purpose. The ball slipped, that's all."

"Was the kid hurt?"

"Nah," Jake said. "It knocked him over though. Chainsaw thought it was fucking hilarious."

"What an asshole," I said.

Jake's eyebrows lifted. "Yeah?"

"Oh come on," I said. "He is."

"You see me arguing?" Jake said. "Everyone hates him. Even the fans."

"Is that why you picked a fight with him?" I asked.

"Nah, he picked the fight with me. Remember?"

"You mean the one I saw?"

"Eh, the one before that."

I didn't bother to hide my skepticism. "By any chance," I said, "did you happen to, oh, I don't know, provoke him in any way?"

Jake grinned. "There might've been some provoking."

"I knew it."

"Hey," Jake said. "I'm good at two things –pissing people off and fighting. Why not put it to use, right?"

The logic made sense in a Jake sort of way. But I couldn’t quite agree with all of what he had said. "You're not good at only two things," I told him.

"Is that so?"

I nodded. "In fact, there's a third thing you're particularly good at." Across the table, I crooked my finger for him to come closer. When he did, I added, "but I'm not saying you couldn't use a little more practice. Like soon."

A slow smile spread across Jake's face. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "Definitely."