Page 48 of Waiting to Lose
Madi laughed and Jake relaxed into the sound. “I’m going to be better, knowing you’re okay.”
Madi nodded as the tears began to flow. She hated that she was an emotional basket case. It must be hormones. Her period was due in two days.
“Please don’t cry. Everything is going to be fine.” Jake gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Peter Markum is under surveillance, and I know for a fact that he’s no match for Rob, even if he did manage to get that close, which is not going to happen. He’s going to fuck up again, and I’m going to put him away for good this time.”
Madi nodded as Jake kissed the tears from her eyes.
“I’m just emotional. It’s an emotional day,” she said.
“I like emotional Madi, as well as feisty Madi, and as much as I hate to admit it… I’m quite fond of pain-in-the-ass, stubborn Madi as well.”
Madi smiled at him before Jake’s phone alarm sounded, reminding him it was time to start getting ready to go to the airport. Madi frowned as he reached over her to turn it off. She kissed his arm and he glanced lovingly into her eyes.
“We good?”
“We good,” she replied. He kissed her and pulled himself off the bed.
“I guess I need another shower,” she said as she stretched her arms above her head.
“No, I think you should take me with you on the plane so you can remember every minute of our sticky love.”
Madi laughed as she walked toward the shower. “I will remember our sticky love, even with a quick shower. You don’t have me dripping downyourleg.”
Jake smiled as she closed the door behind her.
After her shower, she met a fully dressed Jake in the hall. He had brought her bag to the door and she noticed his own there as well.
“There’s one more thing I need you to do.” He pulled out a piece of paper and handed her a pen. “This is a request for a restraining order. You need to sign it. It says that Peter Markum is not allowed to come within fifty feet of you.”
Madi signed the paper and Jake folded it and placed it in his bag. “When you get to Chicago, Rob will take you to the local police department and find out if you have to file one there as well, just in case.”
Madi nodded.
“I made the stupid mistake of not getting one for myself. If I had, we could have had him arrested for being at Trey’s party. If it makes you feel any better, I’m getting one as well.” There was a knock at the door.
Jake opened the door to greet Rob. He grabbed Madi’s bag and led them to the waiting limo in the parking garage. Rob’s men had made sure the place was secure and free of press before he came to get them. The airport would be another story altogether.
As Madi sat on the plane, she took purposeful breaths in attempt to compose herself. For the first time, she seriously considered not finishing school in Chicago and just moving to L.A. to be closer to Jake. She played a game of catch in her head, tossing a ball between pros and cons. As she inhaled deeply, she remembered that, although Jake was a large part of her, she needed a part for herself as well. She needed a life apart from him and she needed goals of her own. She loved that he wanted to take care of her, but she wanted to be able to take care of herself. She’d complete her classes in Chicago. If he still wanted her by then, she’d consider moving to L.A. Madi caught herself. It was this lingering feeling, but she didn’t know why. There was no reason for her to doubt anything about him or his feelings for her. He’d never given her a reason to believe he wasn’t completely devoted. She’d just promised him hours before that she had complete conviction. Madi shook her head as she glanced out the window, thankful to be in the seat next to it. She closed her eyes, imagining Jake doing the same on his way across the globe.
Madi thought of Rob, and she twisted in what little room she had in her seat and elongated her neck to see behind her. He wasn’t hard to miss. His large frame lingered out into the aisle, three rows back. He turned his head to the side and nodded in her direction. The plane had only been in the air for an hour, but she already dreaded explaining Rob’s presence and Jake’s lie to Kendra, who was already suspicious of Jake to begin with.
Madi quickly turned back into her seat as the man next to her moaned in disapproval of her movement. Jake had wanted to switch her to first class, but Madi wouldn’t let him. As the man next to her grunted his irritation, she started to regret that decision. Jake had asked her in frustration, “Why won’t you let me take care of you when I can? Do you always have to be so stubborn?”
Madi smiled before she remembered saying goodbye to him in the limo outside the airport. He’d turned to face her and pressed her hands to his mouth.
“Tell me you know how much I love you. Tell me I’ve been able to fill you with enough positive thoughts to keep any doubts from surfacing for the next few weeks.”
“I do and you have.”
“Tell me that you’re going to listen to Rob and not give him any crap.”
Madi sighed. “I’ll listen to him, but I can’t promise the no crap part.”
Jake’s lips curled into a smile. “That’s my girl.”
Madi frowned as Jake pursed his lips, glancing out the window before his eyes seared into hers. “I have to go.”
“I know,” she replied as her eyes darted to the black floor, focusing on a white piece of lint.
