Page 20 of Jake

Jake hadn’t realized how many had stopped to watch until they finished the game. He grabbed his towel and wiped his face roughly, getting the sweat out of his eyes, before looking around. There was easily fifteen people.

The women weren’t discreet; they were taking photos and Jake just groaned before pulling his shirt back over his head that he had tossed to the side at some point.

“This is ridiculous,” he said as Cade walked over.

“Not a fan of it either. We should have played inside at the gym.” Cade looked less thrilled than he was.

“Apparently.”

“Going to throw Luke at them and make a run for it.”

Luke wouldn’t even mind. He was already trying to make it look like he wasn’t posing as he stretched near the bench.

“Dude, knock it off,” Jake told him.

“Can’t help it if they like what they see.” The kid had no shame.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, they were checking out all of us, and some have left now that the game is over.” Owen pointed at the lessening crowd.

“I don’t need all of them. One will do, two would be better.” He slipped his white shirt on finally and then headed toward the few women still lingering. “Don’t wait up.”

“He annoys me,” Ryker told them.

“He annoys us all,” Cade commiserated.

“He’s young. He’ll outgrow it,” Evan assured them, though he looked worried as he said it.

“I don’t know why he tries so hard to be the playboy. Honestly, it’s embarrassing,” Ryker said.

They all laughed. For some reason, Luke looked up to Ryker of all people, and Ryker always acted like he hated him but was there for him and answered questions whenever Luke was actually paying attention.

Jake picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’m out, guys.”

He walked back to his apartment. It wasn’t far, only a ten-minute walk, and he needed the time to clear his head.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t understand her hesitation. They had hit it off, he thought. At least when texting.

Sure, the date had started awkwardly, but how could it not have in the pitch black? Of course he was going to respect her desire to wait, but he’d really like to know the real reason why.

Deciding it was worth a shot, he pulled out his phone to see if they were even still connected on the app. They were, so he sent her a message after deleting it and changing it ten times.

J: Hey, how’s your weekend starting?

She replied while he was in the shower, and then he had made himself some lunch without checking his phone. He didn’t see it until almost an hour had passed.

L: Mine is going okay, yours?

J: Shoot, sorry, I set my phone down and lost track of time.

L: I wish I could do that. I feel like I always have my phone. I need to disconnect at some point.

J: I hope not right now.

L: LOL. No, not right now.

J: That’s a relief. What are your plans this weekend? Anything fun?

L: Sadly no, just hanging out with my roommate and watching some movies. How about you?

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