“Hi honey,” she said, “nice to see you.”
She couldn’t have sounded more fake, more uncomfortable, more lost.
Jake turned to Charles and extended his hand.
“Hello, my name is Jacob MacCormack,” Jake said. “And this,” he pointed at Annika, “this is my ex, who was in my bed this very morning.”
Charles blanched and practically spat at Annika.
“So this is the famous Jake,” he said. “You said you two were finished. Why the fuck were you in his bed this morning?”
Charles leaned over the table and yanked Annika to her feet.
“Why don’t you fucking explain that to me,” he said in a bellow.
“Not that I care overly much,” Jake said, “but can you let go of her?”
Charles pivoted back to Jake, fury colored his face.
“Why don’t you fuck off asshole,” he said. His words flew out in a rage.
More words were about to spill out but Jake reared back and hammered a right cross directly into his chin.
It landed with a sickening crunch.
The impact snapped his head around and his eyes rolled up in his head. He crashed down into the chair behind him.
He would have somersaulted over the back but the wall caught him with a resounding thump on the head.
Annika watched his body go limp with such concern in her eyes. She turned to Jake. All fire and venom.
“Jacob, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” she said. “Charles is a work colleague.”
Jake looked at her with frozen blue eyes.
“Looked like he is a helluva lot more than that,” Jake said. “We’re over. We’ve been over. What you do with your life from this point is your business. But no asshole is going to talk to me like that.”
Annika looked at me and snarled.
“Jacob,” she said. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“Fuck off, Annika,” he said. “Come on, Julia.”
I grabbed a handful of her fries and waved goodbye. I didn’t hate her. I was pretty happy with her actually. She didn’t love Jake anyway. That was clear.
Certainly not like I loved him.
Jake tugged me through the crowd and back out onto the cobblestone street. We walked back down to Rue du Temple and met Antonio waiting on the corner.
“Jake,” I said.
“Not now, Julia,” he said. “Not right now.”
We skipped dinner and went straight back to the hotel. Jake was a dark mix of anger and disgust. We walked into our hotel room, down the lush cream carpeted entry hall. Before I could say a word, say anything, he patted my cheek.
“Order room service,” he said. “Whatever you want. Let’s talk in the morning.”
Not what I wanted to hear. I could comfort him. If he would just let me. I’d do whatever he needed.
But he wanted to send me to my room. Like I was the bad girl. Like I was his baby sister he could boss around.
Totally not fair.
Sometimes you swallow your frustration though, because spitting it out wouldn’t be a smart move. The glint in Jake’s eyes hinted at a fury I didn’t want to test.
“I love you, Jake,” I said and retreated to my room.
Just before I walked through the door, I heard a whisper.
“You too,” he said.
I order a cheese sandwich and fries and then flopped down on my bed. Stared out at the Eiffel Tower. Remembered the magic of my very first time. My body felt like it had known his body my entire life.
That was our connection. Despite all the confusing circumstances surrounding it, that was the core.
I knew him.
I knew what his cum tasted like. I knew the feel of his balls slapping against my mound as he buried himself in me. I knew the sting of his huge cock stretching my walls. I imagined the bliss of his hot seed flooding into my silky glove.
Room service showed up and I inhaled the sandwich and fries. My belly finally stopped grumbling and I fell back into bed. My body was more tired than I realized.
The Louvre adventure took a bigger toll than I thought. I floated in a dreamy daze, my thoughts coming and going like waves on the beach. A thought crashed to
Marguerite Henry, Bonnie Shields