by J. Bengtsson
But, of course, the brother who surprised and charmed me the most was Jake. I saw no signs of the insecure, despondent and broken young man that he was made out to be in the press. Instead, he had a relaxed smile, a quick wit and an easy-going personality. If Jake had emotional issues related to the kidnapping, he sure didn’t show it. He was the epitome of a cool, confident and charming guy. At some point during the conversation, I completely forgot who Jake was. It didn’t feel like I was chatting up a famous rock star. He was just a normal guy…one I really enjoyed talking to.
It was after one in the morning when we made the collective decision that it was now time for bed. We all walked to the elevator. As we were waiting for it to arrive, I turned to the McKallister boys and said, “Well, guys, thanks for letting me crash your party. That was really fun.”
All the guys agreed with me.
The doors opened and, just as I was about to step in, Jake grabbed my arm gently and said, “Let’s take the next one. I’ll walk you back to your room.”
I was floored by his offer but tried to play it off like I got invitations like this all the time from gorgeous, famous rock stars.
“Yeah, sure. That would be nice,” I replied casually. Inside I was dying of happiness. I could not have been more flattered. Jake seemed to like being around me. Why? I had no idea…but I wasn’t complaining.
The brothers said goodbye as the elevator door shut and then Jake and I were standing there alone.
“Well that was fun. Thanks for inviting me, Jake McKallister.”
“You know my middle name is Ryan if you want to throw that in too,” Jake offered.
“Nope, I’m good,” I announced, smiling up at him and batted my eyes.
Jake laughed then said. “You’re a cool girl, Casey Caldwell.”
“Me?” I laughed out loud.
“Yes you,” Jake responded.
“I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“Nope…pretty sure I don’t.”
I stared up at Jake skeptically. “You don’t meet a lot of normal girls do you Jake?”
“No. Not really,” he admitted, shrugging.
“That’s what I figured. Most of the normal girls you meet are probably screaming in your face or having to be physically extracted from you.”
Jake laughed. “Pretty much, yeah.”
“Speaking of being physically extracted from you, did you know that you were originally paired up with Sarah for the wedding?”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah I think Mitch was worried that the two of you would be banging each other through the wedding ceremony so they decided to pair us together instead,” I said.
Jake’s eyes got wide with surprise.
“Apparently they consider me to be rather harmless. I’m not sure if I should be offended. I mean I know I’m no Sarah but I don’t think I’m a third world country either,” I argued.
Jake scoffed.
“What?” I asked, slightly offended that he didn’t correct my musings.
“Mitch got it all wrong.”
“What? The banging part or the third world part?”
“The part about you being harmless,” Jake said matter-a-factly.
I could not have been more shocked by his statement. What did that mean? Did he think we would be a better match than him and Sarah? What was going on in that famous head of his?
“You think I’m dangerous?” I questioned with surprise in my voice.
Jake smiled. I stared at him for a few seconds before smiling back. What the hell was going on here? And stop staring at me with those amazing eyes. I couldn’t think straight.
Without even thinking I said exactly what was on my mind, “Damn I can’t get over your eyes. They’re like a light greenish grey but there are very subtle flecks of amber, yellow and blue around the pupils, like peacock eyes. So pretty.”
Jake looked at me a second and I swear, he might actually have blushed a little bit, before saying, “Thanks.”
“I guess you hear that a lot, don’t you?”
“That I have peacock eyes?” Jake laughed. “No. That is a first.”
“No I meant you must hear that you have pretty eyes all the time,” I giggled.
“Um…not as often as I hear that they are a weird color.”
“Not weird…unique,” I smiled in admiration.
Jake shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I do.”
“I never really liked my eyes,” Jake admitted.
“Seriously? I would kill for that color.”
Jake shook his head. “They draw too much attention.”
“That’s the point.”
“Not when it’s negative attention,” Jake shrugged.
“How can having awesome eyes give you negative attention?” I asked, not buying his argument.
Jake didn’t respond immediately, almost like he was deciding what to tell me. “One time, when I was a kid, this woman, who I’d never met before, came up to me at the mall and told me that I had evil eyes.”
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
Jake nodded.
“Oh my God, what a bitch.”
Jake laughed. “I know. Who says that to a kid, right?”
“How old were you?”
“Probably ten or eleven.”
“Please tell me you punched her in the vagina,” I blurted out, rather crudely.
Jake eyes widened in surprise at my vulgar comment and I immediately regretted my choice of words. But Jake just shook his head in amusement as he choked out a laugh. “No, I didn’t punch her in the vagina. I don’t hit girls. Geez, Casey.”
“What did you do, then?”
“Then? As if there could not possibly be another viable option to vagina punching,” Jake laughed. “Anyway…I gave her my best crazy look and responded in an eerie voice, ‘and now I’ve cursed you.’ You should have seen the look on her face. She was praying as she ran away.”
I laughed out loud. “That is hysterical. I love it.”
“I was a little shit back then.”
“You were!” I grinned. “But she deserved it.”
Jake shrugged as he smiled at me. “Oh and remind me not to mess with you. You went straight for vagina punching. I didn’t even know that was a thing.”
“Oh yeah...it’s a thing,” I giggled.
“How many have you punched in your lifetime?” Jake joked.
I started calculating in my head.
“Seriously? You have to count?” Jake laughed.
“I’m just playing with you. I’ve never punched anyone in the vagina but if some bitch says that to you again, I will protect your honor.”
“Wow, I feel so special,” Jake smiled.
I looked up at him in all his glory. He was irresistibly attractive. At that moment, I could not imagine ever meeting anyone as good-looking or as intriguing as Jake McKallister.
“You’re easy to talk to,” I stated. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Jake replied, his expression changing.
“I didn’t mean that disrespectfully,” I backtracked.
“I didn’t take it that way.”
Jake smiled down at me. I was melting inside but I couldn’t let him see how those damn, gorgeous eyes affected me. I wanted to reach out and touch him but I refrained. I heard some hushed whispering and looked over to see a couple of women staring and pointing excitedly at Jake.
“Oh shit…let’s go,” Jake whispered. He pushed the elevator button multiple times, as if he was willing it to come quickly. As luck would have it, the door miraculously opened. We stepped in and Jake quickly pushed the close door button.
“What floor?”
“Four.” The doors closed just as the women came in view. Jake looked immensely relieved, as the elevator started moving.
“We just dodged a bullet there,” Jake stated.
“Yeah, they looked pretty needy,” I replied.
<
br /> Jake laughed. “Needy…that’s funny.”
“So you have some pretty freakin’ awesome brothers. And your dad is a riot. It must be interesting at your family dinners.”
“You have no idea,” Jake laughed.
“Your dad’s story was…” I started to say but was interrupted.
“Embarrassing! I know.”
“No. I was going to say cute.”
“He had a little too much to drink I think,” Jake laughed.
“I don’t know…I thought it was pretty funny. In fact, I was thinking I might just call you ‘oops’ from now on.”
Jake balked. “You better not.”
“Oh, you don’t like that, huh?” I teased. “Then I’m definitely going to call you that. Oops McKallister…it kind of has a ring to it, don’t you think?”
“Okay, I see where this is going. Two can play this game…from now on I’ll call you “poops’ Caldwell.”
I laughed out loud. “Poops? That’s pretty funny actually. Okay yeah that’s good. That will be our Hollywood couple name…oops/poops.”
Jake laughed, “Or poops…oops?”
We laughed together. The elevator door opened on four and we got out.
“You know,” I finally said, “I think we should just stick with Jacey.”
“Wait a minute! Since when did we get a Hollywood couple name?” Jake laughed. “I’ve known you for about six hours.”
“Oh…um…oh geez…this is awkward…I just thought…uh…,” I jokingly stammered. “Is it too early? Oh man, that’s just embarrassing.”
Jake laughed as he shook his head in amusement. I smiled up at him. I noticed for the first time a faded inch long, raised scar on his jaw line and then another faded one on his cheek. I wondered how those came to be but I would never dare ask him. We started walking again. I hadn’t realized we’d stopped. Somehow we had made it down the hall on my floor and stopped in front of my door. It felt like I was floating…like an out of body experience.
“This is my room,” I said with clear disappointment in my voice. God, how I wanted to take another lap around. We stood there for a couple seconds then Jake nudged me good-naturedly. I nudged him back. We both smiled. I wondered what Jake was thinking. Did he walk me to my room in hopes of getting something? I realized that I would be pretty powerless under his charms if it came to that.
“Well, it’s been fun, Casey.”
He gave me a quick hug. I could feel his muscles under the fabric of his shirt and it made me tingle in all the right places. I wanted to hold onto him and not let him go. How big of a slut would that make me if I invited him in?
Instead of acting on instinct, I used my brain. “It has. Thanks for walking me to my room,” I said.
“Yeah, no problem,” Jake replied then hesitated like he wanted to say something else but thought against it. “Well…I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, tomorrow.” I said.
Jake started walking away, then turned and said, “Oh and, by the way, I think our Hollywood couple name should be Cake.”
I laughed out loud. “Cake?!? Oh my God, Jake…I LOVE it! Short and sweet.”
“Yep, short and sweet,” Jake agreed. He continued on his way. “See you Casey.”
“See you, Jake McKallister,” I called after him. Jake turned back toward me, rolled his eyes and smiled. I watched his really, extraordinarily nice butt walk away before going inside my room and shutting the door. I flung myself onto the bed and mouthed ‘Oh My God’ over and over again as I pounded my fists into the mattress. I silently cheered my good fortune. Jake was a perfect gentleman, making me like him even more.
Chapter Four
Jake
What the hell was happening? The last thing I needed in the middle of a tour was a girl, even one as amazing as Casey. I had to stop acting like some horny middle-schooler. I was not myself with Casey. She brought someone out in me that I didn’t recognize. Chatty, flirty…shit, I was ‘this’ close to inviting myself into her room. Not to have sex, but to keep on talking to her. Me? Talking? It certainly wasn’t what I was known for. Usually the less I knew about a girl the better. Made it easier to get her out of my bed afterward. Yeah, it was a douche-bag way of thinking but what can I say? I’d had a fucked up life…emotional attachments had never been my strong suit. But damn, this girl was different than anyone I’d ever met before…I had to get it under control before I did something stupid and crazy…like fall for her.
I maneuvered my way back to my room, avoiding the women who were riding the elevator looking for me. What made it more difficult was that the elevators were see- through glass so I was actually having to duck and hide. I took the stairs and waited until the coast was clear before darting down the hallway to the room I was sharing with Kyle.
As I burst through the door, Kyle looked up at me in surprise, “That was quick. She’s probably not real impressed with your stamina.”
“Shut up,” I shot back, breathing heavily as I sunk down on the sofa next to Keith. “I’m not interested in your annoying commentary right now.”
“Geez…testy.”
“Leave him alone, Kyle,” Keith said then turned to me. “Why are you panting?”
“Why are you here?” I countered. Keith had his own room that he was sharing with his girlfriend, who would be here tomorrow.
“I wasn’t tired. And I wanted a drink. Why are you panting?”
“Dodging fans,” I replied.
“Oh great,” Kyle huffed, rolling his eyes. “Did they follow you here?”
“I don’t know, probably.”
“They better not start knocking.”
“I hope they keep you up all night, asshole,” I derided. I was in a foul mood. The whole thing with Casey had me questioning myself and I didn’t like it one bit.
“Fuck you!” Kyle exclaimed.
“No, fuck you! I can’t believe you did that to me?” I spat at Kyle.
“What? Call over a girl that you’re clearly crushing on? So sorry. Shoot me.”
“I’m not crushing on her. I met her six hours ago. And asking her if she has a boyfriend? Dammit Kyle. Obviously she knew we had been talking about her.”
“So? Now she knows you’re interested.”
“I’m not interested!” I protested loudly.
“Uh-huh,” Kyle said knowingly. He knew me better than any other human on the planet and sometimes I hated the power he had over me.
“Fuck you! I don’t need you playing matchmaker. I can get a girl all on my own.”
“Not with that attitude you can’t,” Kyle joked under his breath.
I glared at him. “I swear to God, Kyle, I’m about to punch you.”
“Okay, okay,” Keith intervened. “Would the two of you shut up for like two seconds? Jesus Christ. You’re giving me a headache.”
Keith took a swig from his beer.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, momentarily forgetting my hate for Kyle.
“In the cooler. Help yourself.”
I got up and grabbed a beer. Leave it to Keith to bring a cooler full of beer to a wedding. First the Jack Daniels and now this? It was the most I’d had to drink in a long time but tonight I really felt like I needed something to take the edge off. My head was spinning.
I’d nearly finished off my first beer when Keith stated, “It’s too bad you aren’t interested in her. Casey is a cool girl.”
I didn’t respond.
“I was surprised that you even invited her to sit with us,” Keith pressed.
“It was not like I had much choice after Kyle’s little stunt,” I said through gritted teeth and glared at my younger brother.
“Hey I just called her over, you’re the one who extended the invite,” Kyle grinned smugly.
That pissed me off. “Well if you hadn’t called her over than I never would have invited her to sit down.”
“Tomatoes…tomaatoes,” he replied in an accent.
“Shut the hell up
Kyle!”
“What are you so defensive for? Sounds to me like you’re trying to convince yourself that you don’t like her when, by inviting her to sit with us, you clearly do.”
“Was that such a problem for you guys? Jesus!”
“No. It wasn’t a problem at all, Jake. Casey is really fun to hang out with,” Keith said trying to defuse the argument between Kyle and me. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant you don’t usually bring girls home to meet the fam. I mean how long did you date Krista? Three/four months? I met her once backstage at a concert and you didn’t even introduce us,” Keith revealed, laughing.
I frowned but didn’t refute his claim. He was right. I’d never been real captivated with any girl I’d dated or slept with. Introducing her to my family seemed a moot point since I knew she wouldn’t be around long enough for it to matter.
Keith shrugged. “Yeah well anyway, I liked her. You should try dating a nice normal girl like her sometime.”
“As opposed to what?” I asked.
“Your groupie sluts.”
I got up and grabbed another beer. I popped the cap, took a swig and sat back down before responding, “I like my groupie sluts.”
“Yeah well I hate to break this to you but those limber ladies aren’t marriage material, my man,” Keith laughed.
“Who says I want to get married?”
“I’m not saying now…I’m saying that someday you will want to grow up and have a big boy relationship. And all I’m saying is it should be with a girl like Casey.”
“If you like her so much why don’t you date her?”
“Can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because she likes you dummy,” Keith rolled his eyes.
“No she doesn’t,” I argued.
Keith looked at me like I was a crazy person then laughed, “You’re an idiot.”
I gave him a dirty look.
“Seriously?” He said.
“What?” I asked, feeling annoyed.
“Oh come on Jake. You guys have chemistry. You know it. She knows it. The fucking goldfish in the lobby pond know it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I just…I don’t want to give her the wrong impression.”
