Page 60 of Tuned To Break
“Like hell it is,” Jake snaps, but he’s laughing. The bastard is enjoying this.
“Kinky Batman,” Robert teases, testing it out slowly. “Bit of a ring to it.”
“I hate all of you,” Jake mutters, slipping his arm around my shoulders like he’s claiming me in full view.
“So wait,” Rhys says, looking between us. “You two met at a masquerade party?”
“And had a mysterious masked encounter months before she started at Doc’s,” Ella adds helpfully.
“And now you work together,” Yasmin chimes in.
“And are clearly sleeping together,” Arden finishes, smirking.
“We are not—” I start, flustered.
“Actually, we are,” Jake says casually.
The entire table turns to stare. I whip around to glare at him. “Jake!”
“What? It’s obvious. Might as well stop pretending.”
“But workplace?—”
“—Relationships are fine,” Arden interrupts smoothly, “so long as they don’t affect performance. From what I’ve seen, yours hasn’t. If anything, it’s improved.”
“Are you two officially together then?” Emily asks, eyes sparkling.
Jake looks at me. In the middle of all the noise, the clinking glasses, the hum of conversation, he goes soft. Serious.
“Are we, Stella?”
It hits me like a punch to the chest—the look in his eyes. There’s no teasing now. No smirk. Just honesty. And hope.
And in that moment, I forget every professional line, every self-imposed rule, every excuse I’ve used to keep him at arm’s length. Preventing us from being more than what we already are.
“Yes,” I say quietly, but certain. “We are.”
The table erupts in cheers. Someone bangs the table. Megan claps.
Jake leans in and kisses me before I can second-guess myself—warm, unhurried, tasting like beer and Jake.
“Get a room!” José calls.
“Seriously, you two are disgustingly cute,” Megan groans.
When we break apart, Jake keeps his arm around me, fingers brushing bare skin beneath my sleeve like a quiet reminder:I’m here. Still yours.
“So, Kinky Batman,” Chase says, raising a brow, “how does it feel to be officially off the market?”
Jake doesn’t hesitate. “Like the luckiest bastard in New Hope.”
He presses a kiss to the top of my head, and I grin like a teenager at a school formal.
“And Stella,” Ella props her chin on her hand. “How does it feel to be dating Batman’s kinky cousin?”
I glance around at this table full of idiots I’ve somehow come to love—this weird, loud, beautiful family I didn’t even know I was missing. And Jake, beside me, who’s become something more than I ever expected.
“Pretty fucking amazing,” I admit.
