Page 9 of Jake

“They’re not to look at you or I’ll fucking take their eyes out.”

“Isn’t that a bit over the top?”

“Maybe, but I’ve gone a fucking lifetime without you and I’m not going to give anyone else a chance to enjoy looking at my precious Lea.”

“I think you’ve lost it.”

“I’ve lost six years that I need to make up for.”

The drive to the airport is fraught with silent tension. He doesn’t utter a word as his knuckles whiten and flex around the steering wheel. I shouldn’t have said what I did when we left, but I didn’t think he’d be too upset. “You were going to start dating someone new?”

“Well, it’s not like I had anyone in mind. I saw the pictures online and decided I needed to forget you.”

“I never had any intention of doing anything with anyone ever, Lea. You have been in my heart since the day we met. I don’t want to hear about another man.”

“Chill. I haven’t even considered anyone, even though you never thought once to write to me. You know damn well where I lived, and it’s obvious that you knew how to track me with my car or phone since you found me here, so you could have contacted me in six fucking years, and yet you felt the need to abandon me like I could do without your love and support. Just because you knew you were coming back doesn’t mean I did.” He slows down, pulling to the side of the road, and then brings the car to a stop. I see a vehicle behind us do the same, knowing it’s his security.

He reaches over and unbuckles my seatbelt with a quickness I hadn’t expected, lifting me up and into his lap like nothing. “Listen, I’ve missed the fuck out of you. I wanted to see you, but you see how I am. Those weren’t just words back there. I meant it about kidnapping you, Lea. Do you think I could have handled the temptation of some contact?”

He rolls my hips over his length, and I know he’s right. I’ve missed him and I wanted him to come home, but the trouble with that meant I would have fallen into his arms, giving him everything he wanted including babies with no consideration of the future and being pregnant as a minor and my father killing him.

“Let’s get somewhere where it’s safe and I can hold you properly. Okay?”

“Yes.” He sets me down back in my seat and I wipe my tears from my eyes.

“I love you, Lea. I swear it on everything, and nothing will change that. Buckle up, baby. Protect my little one in there.”

“I don’t think it’s going to happen that fast.”

“Honey, I’m sure I’ve been waiting for a long time for it. I’m willing it to happen.”

“Drive, crazy man.” He gets back on the road after making sure it’s all clear and then we drive in a little more of a relaxed atmosphere. It feels good to be this close to him after so long, like nothing has changed between us, but so much has. Everything has.

He’s changed.

Gone is the thin, slender, sixteen-year-old with a hint of facial hair, a little bit of muscle and an average depth to his voice. Now, the man before me has aged in the best of ways, his baby-faced features have chiseled out, his body thickened, expanded, and he’s even grown another couple inches in height, towering over my five-foot-four so effortlessly. His hands, although softer than I remember, are meatier, manly, filled with strength to handle me whichever way he pleases, and his voice. Oh goodness… I can’t forget his voice. It’s gone down an entire register, a whole octave, and sends jolts of lust racing through my bones.

He turns his head slightly when he sees me staring. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Nothing, just looking at you. I haven’t seen you in so long, and you look so different.”

“In a bad way?”

“No. Not at all. I thought you were handsome when we were kids, but now it’s no wonder women throw themselves at you.”

“I don’t want anyone else, and you’ve only gotten hotter over the years, growing up into a beautiful woman, fully developing in every single way. It’s no wonder your father and brothers watched you like fucking nuts.”

“Yeah. My dad said to take my time and finish school before I start dating because ‘any boy would be going up against the devil for your heart, and he was going to scare every boy away.’ So I never bothered.” Jake smiles. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. He just knew damn well I was watching, and that I was the devil ready to take on any boy.”

“You were watching me?”

“At a distance.”

“I couldn’t actually be near you. It wasn’t safe because I’m motherfucking nuts when it comes to you.”

“So from now on, I’m in danger?”

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