Jake Understood

by Penelope Ward

  “What’s his problem?” Nina asked.

  “He doesn’t like you hanging out with me.”

  “Screw him. I don’t care what he thinks. He doesn’t know you like I do.”

  You don’t know me like you think you do, baby.

  My jaw tightened. “He’s said stuff to you about me?”

  She put her plate down and hesitated. “He just thinks you’re not good for me and has no real basis for it. He’s judging you by your looks.” She nudged my shirt and chills ran down the length of my body. “I happen to like your looks, and what’s inside even more.”

  I slid away from her, my heart pounding because I was this close to telling her everything. My voice lowered to a whisper. “Did you ever wonder whether Ryan could be right?”

  “No,” she said defensively. “I may not know everything about you, but I know how you make me feel. Whatever happens…I’m just really glad I met you, Jake.”

  I feel it too, Nina.

  Her statement had an ominous undertone. Whatever happens. I’d known for a while that she suspected I was hiding something. The difference now was that our relationship was at a level where it would be impossible to go much longer without telling her. I still needed to figure out when and how.

  She repositioned her head on my shoulder. Being close to her like that for a prolonged amount of time was taking its toll on me. At one point, I leaned in closer and breathed in the clean scent of her hair. Then, she turned her face toward me. Our mouths were just inches apart, but I knew if I kissed her like I craved, I wouldn’t be able to stop, so I turned my head away. Getting physical with Nina was not an option right now.

  When the mood became too tense for our tired minds to handle, out of nowhere she asked, “Have you ever ice skated?”

  “That’s a random question.”

  “I’ve always wanted to go to Rockefeller Center around Christmas time, like I’ve always seen in the movies. I don’t want to go alone, and I know the subway ride and crowds are gonna make me anxious. Would you go with me?”

  Was she kidding?

  “I’ve never been on ice skates in my life. I’m positive I’d fall flat on my ass within seconds.”

  “I’m pretty good, actually. There was a rink near my house growing up, and I’d go there a lot. I could teach you.”

  “I’d fall on you and crush you.”

  “No, you wouldn’t.”

  “Nina, you know I’d do anything for you…but that…I just don’t think…”

  “I’ll tell you what...I have two more exams before the end of the semester. These are the hardest ones. You know that. So, the chances are slim that I’ll get A’s. If I don’t, then you know the deal. I have to let you take me on an excursion. If I do, you let me take you ice skating. Come on, it’s only fair.”

  She was right. Those last two exams were going to be killer. The odds were in my favor.

  I rubbed my chin and reluctantly said, “Okay, deal.”

  ***

  “Put these on.”

  Nina returned from the skate rental booth and handed me my size twelves.

  I still couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into this. She had received an A minus on her most recent exam. When she first broke the news, I tried to get out of the ice skating by arguing that technically an A minus wasn’t an A, but the look of sheer disappointment on her face eventually caused me to cave.

  So, the following Tuesday, we found ourselves at the rink at Rockefeller Center. It wasn’t as crowded as it might have been on a weekend, so that was a plus. Pretending to be sick, I left work early that day so that Nina and I could venture into the city for my Ice Capades debut.

  The weather was clear, cold and sunny. It was an otherwise perfect day except for the fact that I was about to make a complete fool out of myself in front of the girl of my dreams.

  Standing up on the skates made me feel about ten feet tall. Nina took my hand as I struggled to balance myself.

  “Now, what you have to do first is get used to the feel of the blades on the ice. Gently move your feet back and forth like this.” Nina skated in front of me and demonstrated the move. “Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth.”

  I mimicked the movements, but my eyes apparently decided that watching her beautiful ass cheeks move back and forth was a lot more fun than paying attention to the foot technique. Nina was wearing fleece leggings that clung to her body, and holy hell it was hot. Needless to say, I ended up falling on my own ass as a result.

  Two kids barely older than toddler age whizzed by me and laughed.

  Great.

  To make matters worse, now Nina was helping me up. “You need to dig into the ice, Jake. As soon as you lose that grip, you’ll fall.”

  “I know. I just got a little distracted.”

  By your fucking beautiful ass.

  Gradually, I got my act together, and we practiced the back and forth technique for several minutes until I was able to move on the ice.

  “Now, the next thing I’m going to show you is a basic movement called a swizzle.”

  “A whatchamacallit?”

  She giggled. “A swizzle. Watch.” Nina’s legs opened and closed in slow, gliding motions. “You push your skates apart and let them slowly come back together. Just like this.”

  If I thought the other stuff earlier was making me crazy, seeing her legs open and close like this made my imagination run wild.

  She continued to demonstrate as my eyes stayed transfixed on her body. “Open and close. Open and glide back together, see? That’s called a swizzle.”

  Swizzle.

  Me like swizzle.

  That was the last thought I had before a heavyset man plowed right into me, knocking me on my ass again.

  “Oh my God. Jake!” Nina yelled as she spun around.

  “Sorry, man. You alright?” the guy asked as he reached out his hand and helped me up.

  I needed to get the hell out of these ice skates before I completely lost every bit of coolness I’d ever built up in Nina’s eyes.

  “Yeah…yeah, I’m fine,” I said.

  “Did you not see him coming toward you?”

  “I was focusing on your swizzle.”

  Is that what they’re calling it now?

  “Okay, take my hand. You need to practice. We’ll skate together. You’re gonna come forward in a swizzle, and I’m gonna move backwards. Hold onto me.” I started moving my feet in the way she’d demonstrated. “That’s right,” she said. “Apart and together. Apart and together.”

  We were moving slowly across the ice. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, my holding onto you like this.”

  “You’re doing fine.”

  Miraculously, I’d finally found a rhythm that worked for me. I was going so slowly that it was nearly impossible to fall. Nina looked gorgeous as she looked up into my eyes while we held hands. She was wearing white earmuffs atop her golden hair that fell in messy waves over her matching white coat. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold air. She reminded me of a sexy ice princess.

  She repeated, “You’re doing so good.”

  At one point, she gave me a sweet smile that was so agonizingly beautiful, it made me lose focus and forget to dig into the ice again. I fell, but this time, she went down along with me. As Nina fell back, I landed on top of her.

  “Nina! Shit. Are you okay?”

  She closed her eyes and for a split second, it seemed like she was crying which caused me to panic. It quickly became apparent that she was actually laughing hysterically. It was just the kind of all-consuming laugh where no sound came out.

  My arms were on each side of her. “It’s not really funny. I could have crushed you.”

  She was still laughing. “Well, you didn’t. I’m still in one piece.”

  Her tits were plastered against my chest, and I had to fight my body’s reaction; I could feel myself getting hard. But truthfully, I didn’t really want to get off of her. It seemed my body much preferred getting of
f on her instead.

  Our faces were close when I said, “I’d get up, but I’m not sure how to without falling on my ass again.”

  She began to laugh even harder at my admission, and now, I was laughing at myself. I could feel her sweet breath on my face. Was I sick for wanting to just stay on the ground with her and never get up?

  “You know what? That’s good. You needed to fall. Because if you don’t fall, you’ll never learn how to pick yourself up.”

  I rolled off of her and sat on the ice.

  She got up and kneeled. “Alright, do what I do. Put one foot out in front of you, okay?” I did as she said. “Now transfer all of your weight to your left foot and dig into the ice with your right. Got it?”

  I managed to carefully get myself up. We started skating alongside each other when I somehow gained unwanted momentum, slamming into a barrier.

  She was laughing as she skated toward me. “That reminds me. I need to teach you how to stop!”

  “You think this is funny, huh?”

  I teasingly took her earmuffs off her head and put them on mine.

  “Hey, lay off my muff!” Her face turned red even though her innuendo was clearly intentional.

  God, I loved dirty Nina.

  I couldn’t help myself. “I prefer to keep your muff closer to my face.” Her cheeks turned even redder. “Don’t dish it if you can’t take it, Kennedy.”

  She conveniently changed the subject. “I need to seriously teach you how to stop.”

  “Running my mouth?”

  “No…stopping on the ice.” She pointed her toes together. “Do this then push your heels out. That’s how you stop.” She skated around me, starting and stopping several times. I copied the motion, eventually becoming accustomed to it.

  She took my hand, and we skated slowly side by side for several minutes. This time, I’d really gotten the hang of it. So caught up in the moment with Nina, I’d barely noticed that the sun had set. The Christmas lights around us looked suddenly magnificent in the darkness.

  “It’s getting cold. We should probably get going,” she said.

  I wasn’t ready for our date to end. It wasn’t an official date, but it somehow felt like the first real date I’d ever been on.

  After we returned our skates, I tugged on her coat. “Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”

  “Okay. That sounds good.”

  We walked to a café around the corner and found a cozy booth that overlooked the giant Christmas tree on the plaza. I watched her as she looked out the window and sipped her drink. Spending this afternoon with her had been one of the best experiences in recent memory for me. All I could think about was how badly I was feeling the need to open up to her. I wanted to share myself with her in any way I could. In that moment, I decided that if she didn’t get an A on her next exam, I was going to nix the helicopter idea. It needed to be something bigger and better. We’d go on a plane ride instead, and I’d take her away to Chicago, show her where I grew up. I hadn’t been back since I was a teenager, and I wanted to share that experience with her.

  “Nina, I love that you’re getting A’s, but is it wrong that I really hope your last grade sucks?”

  “Why is that?”

  “There’s some place I really want to take you.”

  A worried look washed across her face. “Now, I’m scared.”

  “Don’t be scared. It’ll be amazing.”

  Inherently, it felt like the end of my hiding the truth was near. It was going to happen after Christmas, which meant that this time of ignorant bliss with Nina would be over soon.

  I must have gotten lost in my mind.

  “You always do that when you’re deep in thought.”

  “What?”

  “Grind your tongue ring against your teeth.”

  “Does it annoy you?”

  “No, not at all.”

  I wished she’d kept it at that.

  Instead, she added, “I think it’s sexy.”

  Her words went straight to my dick, triggering a sweet ache of pleasure and pain. My eyes seared into hers as I nodded slowly. So many possible responses flooded my brain, but I opted not to say anything at all. She couldn’t begin to imagine what I wanted to do to her with my tongue.

  I crushed the paper cup out of frustration. “We should go.”

  ***

  That night, I was sitting in bed when Nina texted me from her room.

  How’s my Brian Boitano?

  Wait. Who was that? I had to think and then remembered he was an Olympic figure skater.

  Jake: More like Brian Boita-NO. No, no, no! Never do that again. ;-)

  Nina: You were actually pretty good for your first time.

  Jake: Yeah…Big Goons on Ice. Don’t order me a leotard. Pretty sure it was my first and last time.

  Nina: Damn it! I was gonna teach you the Bunny hop jump and half lutz next time.

  Jake: Don’t you mean half KLUTZ?

  Nina: LOL. You make me laugh. Thanks again for coming with me.

  You make me so fucking happy.

  Jake: You’re welcome.

  Later that night, Nina walked down the hall to take her evening shower. I held the paper bat in my hand, waiting to sneak it into her room.

  What I almost wrote:

  I’d go again fo shizzle,

  Just to watch you swizzle.

  What I wished I could have written:

  I want there to be a million next times.

  What I never could have written:

  You know what?

  I’d give my left nut,

  To have my way

  With that beautiful butt.

  What I actually wrote:

  Mr. Bat says to hang up my skates…

  Because I’m the worst fucking skater in the United States.

  CHAPTER 13

  Past

  Our very last study session before Nina’s final exam rolled around. There would no longer be an official excuse to spend time alone with her on a consistent basis, and it was seriously bumming me out.

  Clutching her books in one hand and a plate of muffins in the other, Nina appeared at the doorway. She looked incredibly sexy in a short wool skirt and leather boots.

  “I made some banana muffins for our last time.”

  “Ah! I thought I smelled something baking in the kitchen. Trying to butter up the teacher?” I grabbed one and took a bite. “Mmm…fucking good.”

  “It doesn’t take much, apparently.”

  I shook my head with a grin. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Thanks a lot, by the way.”

  My mouth was full. “For what?”

  She handed me the entire plate and sat on the bed. As usual, I stayed at my desk and propped up my feet.

  “You know what!” she said.

  “Actually, I don’t.”

  “Really? Baby Got Back? Ring a bell?”

  Oh, snap. I’d actually forgotten about that.

  Heh heh.

  A few days ago, I programmed a ring tone that played Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot into Nina’s phone.

  “You didn’t get a single phone call for three days? How are you only realizing it now?”

  “You text me all the time, but the only person who really calls my cell is my dad. He rang me in the middle of class. Everyone thinks I’m a freak now.”

  “A freak who likes big asses.”

  “According to you, yes. Thank you.”

  “Hey.” I winked. “It takes one to know one.”

  Even though she was trying to pretend my prank made her mad, she couldn’t contain her laughter. One of the things I loved about Nina was that she really got my strange humor even when it was at her own expense. She took everything I threw at her in stride.

  I grabbed another muffin and opened up my laptop. “We’re sprinting to the finish now, Kennedy. You ready?”

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “I think we need to make this a late one, work overtime. What do
you say?”

  She handed me some worksheets. “Can we start with probability again? That’s the easiest for me. It’ll get me warmed up.”

  As always, I looked over the sample she gave me and changed the variables to names of things Nina could relate to.

  “In a group of 200 people, 36 have donkey asses, 52 have asses that are flat as a pancake, and 126 have average-sized butts. Out of all the people, half have muffin tops. If one of these 200 people is to be chosen at random, what is the probability that the person has a donkey ass and a muffin top?”

  “How fitting,” she said.

  About an hour later, we were deep into solving an equation for a different word problem when Ryan walked in.

  “This box came for you, Jake.” He clumsily threw the package on the bed, and it fell on the ground. Then, before walking out, he gave Nina a look that I didn’t appreciate.

  “Well, isn’t he especially charming tonight,” she said.

  Picking up the box off the floor, I realized it contained some art supplies I’d ordered. “He’s fucking miserable. I don’t know how your brother ever got along with him.”

  “They didn’t always get along.”

  “I thought you said they were best friends.”

  “Toward the end of Jimmy’s life, they were the closest they’d ever been. Ryan was by Jimmy’s side when he died, actually.” She took a deep breath to compose her thoughts. “Since childhood, our families were close. He and Jimmy had their ups and downs over the years. There were times, though, when my brother and he weren’t even on speaking terms.”

  “Really…well, I can’t say that surprises me, considering what an asshole he can be sometimes. What did he do to make Jimmy stop speaking to him?”

  Nina pursed her lips and seemed reluctant to answer. Then, she finally said, “Ryan dated his sister.”

  At first, it didn’t register.