Aftermath

Jake’s POV

I barely slept.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the pool, Marcus’s face, the look in his eyes right before Devon and Emma came back.

The memory sat calmly in my chest, making it impossible to settle.

Around three in the morning, I’d given up pretending sleep was coming and spent the next hours staring at the ceiling.

By six, I was officially miserable and somehow happy which made absolutely no sense or did it?

I rolled out of bed and dragged a hand through my hair.

For a moment, I considered staying in my room in order to hide and avoid Marcus and to avoid whatever awkwardness came after crossing the line neither of us could uncross.

Then I laughed under my breath. “Yeah. Right.”

As if I could stay away from him. I pulled on a t-shirt and headed downstairs.

The smell of coffee greeted me immediately.

Marcus.

Well there’s a saying that you'd know how great a day would go from the first person you see.. When I stepped into the kitchen, I stopped.

The coffee pot was full, a mug sat abandoned beside the sink but the room was empty.

That was strange. Yesterday Marcus had practically lived in this kitchen now he was nowhere to be seen.

I poured myself coffee anyway and the silence felt wrong like something was missing or someone.

The sliding door suddenly opened.

Marcus walked in carrying a towel and a pair of sunglasses.

My stomach immediately tightened he also froze when he saw me.. Just for a second.

Then his expression smoothed into something neutral.. Something distant.

“Hey.. Morning.”

I hated how normal he sounded. “Good Morning.”

His gaze flicked over me briefly then away almost immediately and that little rejection of his stung more than it should have.

He moved toward the counter, grabbed his keys, grabbed his phone but he didn't come closer, he didn’t smile, he didn’t even really look at me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Going for a drive.”

“A drive?”

“Need supplies.”

“Oh.”

The silence stretched in a very awkward way and it was nothing like yesterday.

Then he finally looked at me and there was something guarded in his eyes now.

“You should eat breakfast.” He calmly said before he walked out.

And just like that the front door closed and a second later, I heard his truck start then he was gone.

“What the hell was that?”

My frustration boiled immediately.

Yesterday he couldn’t keep his hands off me and now he couldn’t get away fast enough, whatever he just did shouldn’t have bothered me.. Except it did.

A lot.

By the time Devon finally woke up, I was already annoyed.

He wandered into the kitchen scratching his stomach.

“Why do you look like someone kicked your puppy?”

“I don’t.”

“You do.”

“I really don’t.”

Devon squinted at me. “Mmmgh.. You absolutely do.”

I flipped him off and he grinned. “Better.”

Emma appeared a few minutes later wearing one of Devon’s oversized hoodies.

“Morning.”

“Morning,” I muttered.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at my face then back at Devon.

Great.! Now she was looking at me too.

We ate breakfast on the patio.. At least Devon ate.

I mostly pushed food around my plate.

Marcus still hadn’t come back which only irritated me more.

Around noon, his truck finally rolled into the driveway and my attention snapped toward the sound instantly.

Unfortunately, Emma noticed and her eyes followed mine then they drifted toward Marcus.

A tiny crease appeared between her brows as though she wanted to say something but she didn’t.

Marcus carried several grocery bags into the house. He didn’t look at me.

Not once.. Not when he passed the patio.. Not when Devon shouted a greeting.. Not even when our shoulders almost brushed in the doorway.

Nothing.

It was like yesterday had never happened it was like I’d imagined the whole thing.. Except I hadn’t and that made this worse.

“Okay.”

Devon tossed his napkin onto the table. “We’re doing volleyball.”

“No.”

“That’s not a suggestion.”

“It should be.”

“Get up.”

Emma laughed. “You two are basically an old married couple.”

“Don’t insult me like that,” Devon said.

“Wow.”

“I’m kidding.”

“You’re really not.”

Their bickering continued as we headed toward the beach section beyond the property.

For the next hour, I tried focusing on the game, tried being normal, tried pretending Marcus wasn’t standing fifty feet away talking on his phone.

Every time I accidentally looked toward him, he was already looking somewhere else. It was like he was actively avoiding me.

And I couldn’t understand why? Eventually I got sick of it.

During a water break, I walked over and Marcus ended his call as I approached.

His shoulders visibly tensed and that annoyed me even more.

“We need to talk.”

His jaw tightened. “Not now.”

“When?”

“Later.”

“You keep saying later.”

“Jake.”

“Don’t you dare Jake me.”

His eyes flashed and for the first time all day, he looked directly at me and the intensity hit me like a punch.

“There are people ten feet away,” he said quietly.

I glanced back. Devon and Emma were arguing over whether a ball landed out of bounds but neither of them was paying attention.

“They aren’t looking.”

“They could.”

I opened my mouth and Marcus cut me off. “Later.”

The single word carried enough weight to stop me.. For now.

I turned and walked away but frustration burned hotter than ever because how dare he..

That evening everyone gathered in the living room.

A movie played on the television although nobody was really watching because it was some action thing Devon had picked.

Marcus sat in an armchair across the room.

Jake from yesterday would have been thrilled just being near him but current Jake wanted to throw a pillow at his head because every time our eyes met, he looked away.

Every.. Single.. Time!

By nine o’clock, I was ready to scream.

Emma suddenly shifted beside me. “You okay?”

I blinked. “What?”

“You seem a bit weird today.”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

She studied my face a bit. “You look upset.”

“I’m not.”

“You barely ate.”

I shrugged. “Not really hungry.”

“Jake.”

I looked at her and she lowered her voice. “Did something happen?”

My pulse stumbled because ne terrifying second, I thought she knew, that somehow she’d figured everything out, that this was it.. The beginning of the end.

“What do you mean?”

“You just seem off.”

She glanced toward Marcus then towards Devon.. Only briefly.

But I noticed and apparently she noticed my noticing because her eyes immediately narrowed.

“I’m fine,” I said.

Emma’s expression shifted it wasn’t really suspicion but curiosity.

“Okay.”

She didn’t sound convinced thankfully, Devon chose that moment to throw popcorn at her.

“Stop interrogating people.”

“I’m not interrogating anybody.”

“You absolutely are.”

Emma threw popcorn back and their argument escalated immediately and , I found myself looking across the room.

Marcus was already looking at me.

For one brief moment, neither of us looked away then Emma laughed loudly at something Devon said.

He looked away first and a tiny little knot tightened in my chest.

This wasn’t sustainable.

I couldn’t spend an entire week pretending nothing had happened, pretending he hadn’t changed everything, pretending I didn’t want him every time he entered a room and judging by the tension in hus shoulders whenever our eyes met.. 

He wasn’t doing much better.

The problem was that wanting each other had been easy and now came the hard part.

Living with it and somehow surviving seven more days without getting caught.

Because right now I was horny and he was the only one who could calm my nerves..