Page 71 of Promise Not To Fall

2½ parts Hendrick’s® Gin

¾ part fresh lime juice

¾ part coconut water

½ part Coco Lopez® cream of coconut

¾ part grenadine

Combine gin, lime juice, coconut water, and cream of coconut in a mixing glass

Shake until blended and strain over fresh ice

Top with grenadine

If desired, garnish with two pineapple fronds and a cherry formed to look like a bird with feathers.

Jake wastes no time in getting me back to his house, which is only four blocks up and around the corner. Nobody appears to be there as I take a closer look at the small structure. Tucked away in a tiny neighborhood of twenty homes, just minutes from the port and nightlife, it doesn’t exactly seem like the sort of place Jake would live in.

When I think about Jake, I think of that bar and him living right on the beach in some surfer hut. Not a rundown house in the city.

We shuffle inside, his hand still on mine, until we get to the door and he finally lets go. I feel the loss immediately. Reaching for a towel on the kitchen counter, he wets it and then presses it to his face, watching me, and it makes me nervous. I have no idea what to make of everything that just happened, so I remain quiet, waiting for him to speak first. My body is running on pure adrenaline, and it’s taking all I have to stop myself from shaking.

Sitting down on a dark brown couch, he looks up at me, drops the bloody rag on the floor, and then drags his shaking hands through hair, yanking at the ends. “Why couldn’t you fucking listen to me? I told you not to go alone to Nassau.” He shakes his head, the look he gives me silences my thoughts, making me think maybe I shouldn’t have come here. “That fucking guy you were with is a drug lord. He robbed me at gunpoint two years ago! Goddamn it!”

He’s still angry and has every right to be.

My mouth opens, wanting to say something, but I can’t. I’m all out of words. My eyes scan his face, bloody and red, his left eye swelling. I want to go to him, to take care of his wounds, but I doubt he’d welcome my help.

I watch him for a few seconds and then say, “I wasn’t alone.”

His tone is sharp, no-nonsense. “So you went withhim?” He stares at me incredulously, his eyes bloodshot and bleary, his lips pressing into a frown, blood caked to them. “You went with Liam, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” I sigh, my body shaking with the pent-up release of my breath. “Clearly, I makegreatchoices.”

His eyes are so cold. “For someone who’s in control of everything in her life, yeah, you do.”

Some fucking vacation. I don’t need this shit. “Fuck you,” I yell, feeling the need to let my own anger for this situation be known.

He shrugs, pursing his lips and cocking an eyebrow at me. “Did you fuck him?”

Swallowing, I push back the swell of anxiety. I didn’t sleep with Liam, but why should I have to justify this to Jake?

“Forget it,” he says, his expression unreadable.

He says nothing for a moment. I know what’s coming. The asshole side. The side every man displays from time to time. Jake’s good at this side. He’s the motherfucking quarterback, remember? His eyes sweep down my body and then, as I expect, they find mine again, and he smiles. “I wanna say something to you.”

“Just leave me alone.” I stand, intending to walk back to my hotel. I don’t care what kind of trouble I encounter now.

He sighs and stands. “I wish I could.” He steps forward, his voice low and husky. “Believe me, I fucking wish I could. You make me crazy. I’ve known you a week and yet you make me totally fucking insane!”

“Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear, Jake.”

“I’m telling you the truth.” His voice fades, mumbling the last few words. His bloody hands are restless, and he shoves them in the pockets of his shorts. “Goddamn it, this is bullshit!” His anger gets the best of him, and he walks out to the backyard, the sliding glass door slamming behind him.

I follow, the smothering humidity attacking me the moment I step outside.

Jake leans against the side of the stucco house, his hand cupping around the flame as he lights a cigarette. He only smokes when he’s nervous. I know that because he told me.

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