Only two restaurants in town were open this early in the morning, but again, luckier people might do well to bet the farm on fifty fifty odds.

Me? Sometimes I couldn't help but believe I was born under a cursed star.

Jake picked  Sonic, so less than eight hours since my last visit, I sat and watched in abject horror as the same waitress delivered my food. If looks could kill, Tammy would've struck me dead on the spot.

Jake whistled softly. "What'd you do to that lady? She looks like she wants to destroy you."

Appetite gone, I stared at the tray in front of me and considered my options. Play it dumb? Make up a stupid excuse?

Oh, what the hell. "She's judging me for being skanky."

Jake shoved a French Toast Stick into his mouth, his eyes glued to my face. "Story time."

It had felt good in the car when he'd opened up to me about his dad, so I told him about Peyton and Alice, about being abandoned, and about what Tammy had witnessed earlier. It felt even better to get that off my chest so I took it a step further and told him about how it made me feel: conflicted, burdensome, codependent, inadequate, jerked around and pushed away.

He ate his breakfast and listened quietly, never taking his eyes off my face, focusing as though what I had to say was everything that mattered in his world.

When I finished, I felt loads lighter. He was still staring intently so I smiled what I thought to be a benevolent and heartwarming smile. Because that's what my heart was - warmed. We were bonding. This was good. So good.

Jake swallowed. "So basically he apologized about his friend visiting and then he fingered you on the table?"

I made a face. "He didn't finger me, you asshole."

Forget everything. Jake was still a massive jerk.

He grinned and set his hand down on my thigh. Now, I don't know that thigh touching is ever appropriate between acquaintances, but even if it was, this was still way too high.

"Okay, so he touched you." His hand crept up even further. "Here?"

I slapped it away. "None of your business."

"No, it's an important detail."

"Really?"

He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Layla, everyone knows you can tell what a guy's thinking by where and how he touches you." With that, he put his hand back on my thigh. "Here?"

He's making this up.

But what if he wasn't? "Other way," I said, showing him my hand and flipping it palm side up. "And higher."

He slid his hand beneath my thigh and went higher. My skin erupted in goosebumps and I clenched my jaw to keep myself from squirming.

Wait, how high was I going to let him go?

He raised an eyebrow.

"Higher," I said.

He inched a little bit higher, making my heart beat out of control. I was pretty close to hyper ventilating when he stopped and bit down so hard on his lower lip that it blanched. Seconds later, his shoulders shook. "I can't do it," he said, erupting into a gut-busting laughter. "You're so fucking gullible it feels wrong, I think I'd rather steal candy from a baby."

Furious, I shoved his hand off of me. God, he was so horrid. "You oughta be ashamed of yourself, Jake Waites, I don't even know why I bother wasting my breath talking to you."

"I don't oughta nothin'," he drawled. "You sound just like my mother sometimes. Or at least what I think I remember about her." He looked away and scratched his nose.

At his words, my foolish heart softened again.

You still miss her don't you?

He turned his attention back to me. "Anyway. The answer is, he wants to fuck you. But you already know that. As to why he hasn't yet, when you're so obviously willing, I have no clue. He's a complicated guy - hard to know what's going on in his head sometimes."

I chewed on my straw and looked at him from beneath my eyelashes. "Do you know him well?"

Jake shrugged. "Used to."

"Do you... dislike him?"

"No, he's a good guy," he said, looking me directly in the eyes.

"So why does everyone make you guys out to be mortal enemies?"

"Do they?"

Well, Beth did. "Some people do."

He shrugged. "I dunno. How am I supposed to know why other people think the things they do?"

"And why was it so awkward between the two of you earlier today? No wait, was that yesterday?" God, I was so exhausted I was having trouble keeping time straight.

"Was it?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you serious?"

"Anyway, this isn't about Peyton and Jake. It's about Peyton and Layla."

Oh, so you're gonna hedge, are you? I chewed on the straw some more and watched him carefully to try and decipher his mood, but God damn, these guys were good at hiding their thoughts. Or maybe I was really bad at reading people.

"Look," he said. "You're always gonna be hung up on the guy. You want to know what I think? You should just fuck him and get it out of your system. If it works out, great. If it doesn't, then you can turn around and fuck me." He grinned.

That's the plan, bro. Except it's looking like you might have to go first.

Dropping my gaze, I punched in all the little buttons on the lid of my cup. I wasn't going to be hypocritical and resent him for saying the things I was thinking of doing anyway, but his nonchalance bothered me. It meant that he cared nothing about me, only about getting in my pants. And that was hurtful.

"You're a pig," I mumbled.

"It's just sex, Layla, not the end all and be all of your existence. It feels good, so you do it, no big deal."

"Whatever. Maybe I don't want to devote my whole life to trying to stick my dick into anything that moves."

His agitation was unexpected and sudden. "Two things. One, you don't have a dick. Two, just because I've slept around, it doesn't mean I'm not good for... other things."

As soon as he said the second part, he looked deeply regretful and distinctly uncomfortable.

Wait, what? Back the truck up.

But before I could ask him to clarify, Tammy reappeared with a Strawberry Banana Split Sundae. After setting it down on the table, she shot me another filthy look and opened her mouth as if she meant to tell me off.

"Thanks, it's my my sister's favorite. Her boyfriend just dumped her, you know how that goes," said Jake.

Tammy looked confused for a second, then blinked it off. "Well then," she said gruffly, "I'm glad Sam made an exception and whipped this up for y'all. Next time though, the dessert menu isn't served until eleven am."

"I'll make a note of it," said Jake, grinning up at her.

I swear, Tammy blushed before she smiled and walked away. As soon as she did, Jake dug into the cake. I wanted some too, but it didn't seem appropriate to ask him to share, what with me having insulted him just seconds ago.

"I'm not your sister."

"Obviously. But her watching us from over there was making you antsy as fuck. Now, you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Something was vaguely wrong with that logic, but I was too tired to care.

"Did you want some?" he asked.

"No."

"Liar," he said, pushing the bowl over to me. "You're drooling."

I picked up the fork.

He pulled his lighter out of his pocket and fiddled with it while I stared at his profile.

I mean, that face though. That jawline. Those hands. The way his triceps bunched and unbunched with his movements.

Hnnnnnngh.

Physically, he was so damned perfect I was thisclose to throwing all caution to the wind, tackling him to the ground and having my way with him.

But then what?

Would he be all Wham Bam, Thank You Ma'am? A friends with benefits situation at best? Was I okay with that? Yes? No? Maybe so?

But wait, what about that line about him being good for other things? Did he mean relationships? And if he did, was he speaking in abstract terms or did it pertain to me specifically?

Should I bring it back up?

I chewed on my lip.

No way, too risky. How mortifying it would be if I was way off base.

But I needed to lock something down right now. Otherwise, we'd fall into an uncomfortable limbo - too close to be strangers, not close enough to be friends. We would say our awkward hellos and goodbyes when we ran into each other until we eventually drifted apart and became strangers again. That much, I could see. And maybe I didn't know exactly what I wanted with him but I knew what I didn't want. That.

"We should be friends, Jake." Yes, it was a cop out, but I had no game and it was the best I could come up with. Besides, judging by my "friendship" with Peyton, my definition of "friends" was screwed up and encompassed a wide open range of possibilities filled with nothing but blurred boundaries and half opened doors.

"That again? I already told you why we can't be. And I know the feeling's mutual, what with you sitting there eye-fucking me for the last five minutes. It's doomed from the start. Why bother?"

My first reaction was to deny it, but like he said, why bother?

I tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear and pushed forward. "I would like it though, if you would be my friend."

He put his lighter on the tabletop and spun it, using his index finger to keep it going whenever it slowed down. "Why?"

"Because I don't have a lot of friends, and I like talking to you."

"Lone-ly Lay-la," he said, his gaze focused on the lighter. He continued to spin it for a while before he spoke again. "I can try, but that's about as good an answer as I can give you."

I smiled sweetly. "Trying's good enough for me."

"Maybe it's better this way anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not into the whole virgin thing."

He's baiting you. Ignore him.

I tried to, I really did. "What virgin thing?"

"It's tedious as fuck. Begging and pleading for every inch of leeway. Dealing with all the second-guessing, insecurities, and neurosis. Sitting around, hard as hell, pretending to care about whatever movie you're watching when all I'm trying to do is figure out the best way to get your hand on my dick without scaring you off, and hoping that maybe, just maybe I'll get lucky and you'll let me dry hump you for a while." He placed two fingers on his temple and made a popping noise with his mouth, mock shooting himself in the head. "Not for me."

I glared at him.

"Besides, when and if we got there, the sex will be terrible, and of course, I'll be blamed for it. Then, it's back to square one, and I'll have to work to convince you that it's only bad the first time, when really, it's gonna suck until you figure your shit out. Then of course, there's the very real possibility that you're gonna morph into a Stage 5 Clinger."

Possibility? I can pretty much guarantee it.

"Finally, I don't like getting blood on my dick. It freaks me out."

I scowled. "You know, you don't always have to say everything you're thinking out loud."

He shrugged.

"You really spent a lot of time thinking this through didn't you?"

And he'd been trying to talk himself out of it. Why? Because of me or because of Peyton?

Either way, the knowledge that he'd been thinking about me satisfied my smug little heart. "You talk up a mean game, but maybe you're the one who wouldn't know what to do with me even if you did manage to get me naked."

"Wouldn't you like to find out."

I would. Desperately. "Anyway," I said primly. "It's settled then, we'll be friends."

He sent the lighter spinning again. "Whatever, it's no skin off my back."

We trailed off into a companionable silence after that, watching the sun rise in the distance and the traffic pick up on the main road.

"What time do you have to be at work?" I asked.

"I have to check the schedule." He reached for his pocket. "Shit, I forgot my phone."

I handed him mine, then unwrapped my burrito and heaped on the salsa.

So we were going to be friends. Not exactly the outcome I was hoping for, but I guess this was what happened when you aimed after firing the gun. Oh well, it was still better than life without Jake. Plus, relationships are always changing. I could work with this. Semi-pleased with the outcome, I took a big bite.

Jake laughed. Doubled over and guffawed, going as far as rolling his feet.

I scowled. My mouth was full, but I talked anyway. "What now?"

"What the fuck, Layla. If you think this is going to be the solution to your little problem here, you've got another thing coming." He flipped the phone over so the screen was facing me.

The threesome screen.

The food turned into ash in my mouth. I didn't even care about being disgusting, I spat it back out onto the wrapper.

"I have to say, I haven't given much thought to two guys and a girl before. We'd have to iron out some very specific details regarding who goes where and when, but you could probably sweet talk me into it. You're going to have a harder time convincing Bishop though, I can tell you that right now."

I sat in silence, my face a replica of Dirty Harry's thousand yard stare.

There came a point in a girl's life when she simply had no choice but to give up. This was such a moment.

Calmer than a cow on morphine, I retrieved my phone from his hand, dumped my trash, and walked away.

Behind me, Jake Waites continued to laugh his head off.

It was gonna be a long ass walk back to the ranch, but there was no way I was getting back in that truck with Jake. No way in hell I was ever getting within a mile of him.

Oh. My. God. My humiliation had no bounds. This was so mortifying that my mind couldn't even wrap itself around the scope of it.

I was trudging along the side of the road, still contemplating the enormity of my disgrace, when Jake's truck appeared to my left. He drove alongside me and spoke to me through the passenger window.

"Aw, c'mon Layla. It's completely normal to have sexual fantasies. Get in the car and I'll tell you all about mine. Since we're friends now, we can talk about that stuff."

Ignoring him, I kept walking.

"Alright, alright. No more teasing. Get in the car, I won't mention it again."

"I'm not getting in the car with you Jake. Just go."

"Fine I'll walk. You drive my car back."

He hopped out and walked away, leaving the car running in the middle of the road.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, chasing after him.

Leave it. He's bluffing.

The car behind us honked three times before swerving around the truck and shouting obscenities before zooming off. In the distance, another car was making its way in our direction. Jake was moving further and further away.

Cursing, I turned back and got behind the wheel. I pulled over to let the car pass, then went after Jake, slowing to a stop when I approached him. "Get in the car Jake."

He shoved his hands in his pocket, hunched his shoulders defensively, and stared straight ahead as he kept walking. "I told you lady, I'm not interested in whatever sexual perversions you're trying to butter me up for."

"You're not funny. Get in the car."

He picked up the pace.

I followed him, keeping my eyes on the rear view mirror. Two more cars were cresting the hill. "Jacob Waites, you get your butt in this car right this second."

He grinned and hopped into the passenger seat.

"Why are you getting in-"

Another honk. Cursing softly, I shifted the gears and drove.

"It's so sexy when girls know how to drive a stick."

I kept my steeley eyes glued to the road, my knuckles white against the steering wheel.

"Don't be embarrassed, this could happen to anyone."

"I changed my mind. I don't want to be friends with you anymore. I don't ever want to see or talk to you again until the day I die."

Life without Jake Waites sounded like heaven to me.

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