Page 155 of Jake Forever
Chapter 55
I rushed forward and fell into his arms. "You're back."
When his arms closed tight around me, I sighed against his chest, lost in the feel of his hard body against mine.
I heard his voice, low in my ear. "Yeah. I couldn’t wait." He gave a low chuckle. "But you wouldn’t believe the flights."
I pulled back to gaze up at him. "That bad, huh?"
"You don't wanna know." He smiled. "I left Vegas ten hours ago."
I blinked. "You did?" Non-stop it was a four-hour flight. Based on what he'd just said, I could only imagine the layovers. I smiled up at him. "But you didn't tell me."
"You ever hear of a surprise?"
"But what about Lawton?" I asked. "Was he bummed you left early?"
"Nah."
"Are you sure?"
"Hey, his 'bride' showed up to surprisehim. Trust me, he's not wasting time missing me."
The way it sounded, there was a lot of surprising stuff going on. And, as Jake would soon find out, I had a few surprises of my own.
But for now, I leaned forward again and molded my body against his. His chest was rock-solid, and his arms were firm and strong around my back. With him so close, I felt like I could stand there forever, just soaking up the feel of him.
And who knows? Maybe I would've, except for the sound of the elevator dinging, followed by another sound, a whole lot less cheerful.
It was Steve muttering, "What the hell isthat?"
I pulled away and whirled toward the sound of his voice. He was standing with Anthony, just inside the condo doors. Both of them were staring, looking equally disturbed.
Alright, I'd been a reasonably good sport about the whole elevator trauma. But seriously, couldn't they just give it a rest already?
I glared over at them. "Oh for God's sake. What? You've never seen two people hug before?"
"That's not it," Steve said, pointing past me, toward the elevator. I turned and saw what he saw – a burly man in a bunny suit, holding a stack of three pizza boxes.
The man trudged forward and stopped short when he saw us looking. In a glum monotone, he said, "I lost a bet."
I had to ask. "With who?"
"My brother." He sighed. "Don't ask."
I snuck a quick glance at Steve and Anthony. I couldsorelate. And the way it looked, they could, too.
Trying not to laugh at the guy's misery, I pulled away from Jake and reached into the pocket of my jeans, retrieving the bills that I'd tucked in there earlier. Looking at the amount, I hesitated, wondering if I should add a few extra dollars to what was already a generous tip.
Before I could make any such move, Jake reached into his own pocket, and peeled off a hundred. He strode forward and handed it to the man, saying, "Here. Keep the change."
The man brightened considerably. "No kidding?"
"Hey, you earned it," Jake said, taking the pizzas and heading into the condo, with Steve and Anthony trailing after him.
Jake set the boxes on the kitchen counter, only to see Steve snatch the top two boxes and begin heading toward the condo door, while Anthony reached into the fridge and snagged a full six-pack of beer, before turning to follow after Steve.
Confused, I called after them. "Hey, where are you going?"
