Chapter 54

Winnie “Hello, Winnie! Nice to see you!” Rebel holds up her glass for me with a big cheer. She has switched places with Logan to sit on my left side when I walk up to the table.

Alice, however, isn’t sitting down. She stands up from her seat and gets this sparkly look on her face before coming to hug me. “Winnie!”

“Hi!” I hug her back. “How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

Before I can answer, Nathan speaks. “Here she comes, my biggest rival in love: Winnie. I swear there is a romance going on here…” he sighs but hides a smile.

“Happy to see you too, big guy,” I tell him and pat his shoulder. “Have you gotten thinner?”

He snorts. “Shut up! I’m working out harder than ever!”

I grin. “It shows—I’m just teasing!”

People around the table snicker, including Logan. I feel welcomed sitting by the large table the Plaza Hotel has assembled for us.

“Oh, and since you wondered, I’m feeling pretty okay,” I inform Alice and beam at her. “Mark won’t be joining us, though. He needed to take care of something urgent.”

“We saw,” Alice sits down beside me, grimacing. “But you’re fine, right? We kind of assumed it was a friendly date anyway.”

“Oh, it was,” my eyes flicker to Jake, whose cold expression turns less icy after hearing me confirm I’m not into Mark.

Interesting…

“I It hits me then that Jake was probably mad because I told him, “I don’t date nice guys, and then I went here with Mark. He must have been so confused, thinking I was a hypocrite.

“Well, you’re finally here, so can we move on with the celebrations?” Kelly, who I’ve never met before, says in a rather bitchy tone. “I would like for us to order some drinks.”

Alice blinks in surprise, seemingly confused by the other woman’s attitude, before she finds words. “Uh, of course?”

“Excellent!” Kelly claps her hands, and Alice looks at me questioningly. I shrug at her-I don’t know why Kelly dislikes me. Unless Jake told her about me or something?

Either way, I shake away all negative energy and jealousy and focus on my friends. I’m here to have fun.

***

A few hours later, we aren’t at the hotel anymore, but getting drunk at a bar. The hockey guys I don’t know well aren’t with us. It’s Nathan, Alice, Logan, Rebel, Kelly, Jake, and me—the single girl who feels awkward not cuddling with anyone.

Alice is drunk out of her mind. She is finally not pregnant and got a babysitter, so she is cuddling with Nathan. He has called a cab already, and her legs are dangling down from his lap.

As for Rebel and Logan, they are doing shots. by the bar. And Kelly? She is drunk, clinging to Jake’s forearm and talking shit about me.

She seems to have this idea that I can’t hear her. Jake is currently busy ignoring her. He called a cab for her. That, my friend, is perfect for me.

As soon as Kelly is gone, I will confess my feelings. Mark said Jake and Kelly weren’t exclusive or serious, and I will take his word for it. So I wait. I order shots with Rebel and Logan, laugh, and have fun, and once Jake is alone, Rebel smirks at me.

“Go get him,” she pushes the small of my back. While drinking, I told her of my plans, and now even Logan is cheering me on. “Tell him how you feel. It’s not wrong-the guy needs to know he has options.”

I swallow thickly. “Okay, here goes…

I leave Logan and Rebel by the bar and set the course for the corner of the bar. Jake is talking to some girl, and my heart pounds faster and faster. Can I do this? Yes. Yes, I can! Even though it’s scary…

Jake has this presence now. It feels like my blood is boiling when he is in the same room or paying me attention. I’m already dizzy, and when he looks up and tilts his head, smiling, I almost bail. My stomach does this unwelcome flip, and by some miracle, I steer forward.

“Hi…” I feel so awkward standing in front of him. The girl scowls at me and opens her mouth.

“Um, who are you?”

I arch an eyebrow at her, but Jake beats me to it by saying, “Winnie, my best friend!

There you are!”

Before I know it, I’m squeezed into a hug and lifted up from the ground while the girl stares at us. I’m shocked. The girl is shocked. And once I place my hands on Jake’s shoulders and wrap my legs around him like a monkey, she storms away.

I can’t help but laugh. “What did you do that for, you dork?!”

Jake leans in closer, voice all soft. “She was rude to you, so I made sure to put her in place.”

The thudding in my chest speeds up. I’m speechless. I didn’t expect Jake to do that for me, and he makes a smug face as I stare at him. Eyebrows lifted, and a huge grin. “Your heart is beating really fast.”

I don’t say anything. I’m embarrassed. It’s as if my brain just now realizes that we are practically hugging.

My hands are on Jake’s broad shoulders, eyes locked onto his face. I don’t know what to say or where to go, and his amusement grows.

“You have this look on your face.”

I don’t have to ask him what kind of look.

I’m blushing and still gazing into his blue eyes, more nervous than ever. I should be confessing, but it’s not exactly easy.

“You’re very talkative today,” he teases while walking toward the door. We both know that I can walk by myself, yet no one is trying to correct this intimacy between us.

I like having him hug me and take a deep breath—I better just blurt it out, even if it’s embarrassing!

“I was wrong!” I throw out the words the second we are outside the bar. Jake’s mouth opens, but I quickly muffle it with my hand. That makes him pause in his steps, and I nervously laugh. “Just listen, okay? I can’t have you talking, or I won’t dare to say this.”

He freezes but then nods his understanding. I can also feel his lips curving into a smile underneath my palm. It tickles.

“Good,” I remove my hand from his lips. But it only makes it worse-now I can see his smile, and I groan in frustration. “Stop smiling at me like that!”

He snorts. “What? What have I done?”

“Nothing, you’re just…” I sigh. “Can I just kiss you?”

He pulls his lips into his mouth as if trying his hardest not to smile. “No, you will have to say it.”

“Okay,” I inhale and exhale dramatically. Jake, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I do now. I want you, and you’re a bastard for making me say it out loud. My cheeks are burning. My heart is pounding, and I’m so nervous that I might fall dead to the ground.”

“Why are you nervous?”

“Because… well… you’re with Kelly…”

The gentle look in his eyes kind of makes me want to scream. Especially since it’s obvious he knows I’m jealous. “Well, I got options now, don’t I? Maybe I don’t want to date Kelly at all.”

“But that’s-”

He silences me with a kiss, and that’s the end of this discussion.