Page 49 of The Love Rematch
Until now.
Jake settles in his window seat, same as the night before, wondering when he officially became a stalker. Because that’s what he is, sitting there in the dark with his gaze on the small house lit up across the garden and his mind on the girl hiding somewhere inside.
His phone buzzes. Jake looks down, and immediately starts choking as he reads the name across the screen.
Samantha Peters.
Why the hell is she texting him?
He slides open the screen and pulls up the message. A snort barrels up his throat. It’s a single GIF of Robert De Niro in a top hat with the wordsI’m watching youflashing across the bottom. He knows the movie immediately—Meet the Parents. He knows the message, too.
I’m watching you, Focker.
Only he’s pretty sure Sam meant for him to use a different F word. She’s a pain in the ass, but damn him if it doesn’t make him smile. They were friends, once upon a time, before he broke her sister’s heart and she had to deal with the fallout. He knows exactly how to respond.
Jake returns fire with a GIF of Puss in Boots fromShrekdoing his innocent cat eyes.
His phone buzzes almost immediately. This time he actually laughs out loud when he opens it. It’s Chris Tucker fromRush Hourin the famous scene where he incorrectly assumes Jackie Chan can’t speak English, and screams,Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?
Sam’s meaning is a little different, but still clear. Jake sends back a GIF of Harrison Ford as Han Solo saying,Aye, aye, Captain.
Her next response wipes the grin from his lips.
No GIF.
No teasing.
No camaraderie.
Just five words.
You’re going to hurt her.
It’s like taking a steak knife right to the heart. His gaze drifts back to the guesthouse, now dark with the late hour. He stands and closes all his curtains. Then he turns his phone off and lies in bed. All night her words churn in his head. All night he tries to craft a response.
I don’t want to hurt her.
That was true seven years ago and look what happened.
Nothing’s going on.
His heart just combusts every time he sees her.
I’ve moved on.
Yeah fucking right.
She doesn’t want me anyway.
True. But he can’t admit it out loud, and especially not to Sam. That would make it real. Instead, he leaves her text unanswered and wishes that will wipe the conversation from his mind, but it doesn’t.
Her words follow him all day, while he attempts to play the guys off each other and expose Ethan for the jerk he really is while Emily is off on her dates. They follow him all night, while he hides in the dark using every ounce of self-control he possesses to leave the curtains closed and his eyes on the shadows in his own room. He hears them every time he lays eyes on Emily during the puzzle-piece ceremony—talking to, flirting with, and kissing other men.
You’re going to hurt her.
Let her go.
You’re going to hurt her.
