25.

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Cal-

Jake-




I'm barely aware of my surroundings as we all stumble out of the venue. My ears are ringing, my head is light and I feel giddy.

Jake wraps a warm arm around me and pulls me to his side. He plants a kiss on my temple. I soak in this moment. We're outside, in public, and he's kissing me. I want more of this. I need more of this.

"That was incredible!" Ellie bursts, reaching for me and shaking my arm.

"They sounded exactly the same as they do on the radio!" Jake exclaims with an incredulous head shake. It's nice to see him so excited and happy. Seeing his face lit up like it is now is like breathing a breath of fresh air.

"Let's go get drinks and play some pool," Haze says over his shoulder.

"They're under eighteen," she points out.

"I know the security," he waves off her comment.

At first, I think she is going to protest but she shrugs. "Okay. Are you boys keen for that?"

"Hell yeah," we both say in unison.

Despite people flooding the streets around us, Haze propels forward and does a front flip, right in the centre of the path. Ellie lets out a loud whistle of support.

Jake scoffs. "You call that a flip?"

He jets in front, shoving Haze playfully out of the way, before doing a series of twists and flips in the air, making the concrete beneath us seem like a trampoline. Their adrenaline oozes into me and I follow their lead, doing a series of jumps and flips off the ground, street poles, gates and Haze even jumped on someone's car. The alarm shrieks into the night and we all take off running. The wind is in our hair and laughter spilling from our mouths.

"Okay, my turn," Ellie intervenes, neatly trotting down the middle of the group, before doing a series of neat cartwheels, front-hand-springs and finishing with a polished round-off.

"You've bene practising that," I tease her. "You weren't that good last year."

She grins at me. "I've joined a gymnastics class once a week."

"Oh, that's cool."

"And what other class, Ellie?" Haze interjects with a wild grin so much like his brother's that my heart skips a beat. I remind myself that he's Ellie's boyfriend and Jake's brother. I really shouldn't find him as hot as I do. "What do you do on a Thursday night?"

"Haze!" she exclaims, heat flooding to her cheeks.

"What is it?" I ask suspiciously.

She covers her face with her hands and keeps walking.

"She's joined a pole dancing class," Haze snickers.

"That's hot," Jake says at the same time I say, "Woah, really?"

We exchange a look. I get confused with Jake. He says things like that which have me wondering whether he is bi, but he seems so disinterested in literally any other human being but me. Except for the occasional hook up with skank. I mean Jacinta.

"It's for fitness," she justifies.

"I've seen some hella' mad pole dancing videos man. You do have to be fit to do that shit," Jake nods at her. "Kudos to you."

"She's really good at it," Haze smirks.

"Oh, ew," I screw my face in disgust.

She lightly punches his shoulder. "I've gotten so much muscle development from it. I even have abs now!"

I pull her small frame into my side. "That's good that you've found some fun things to do here. Nice to see you making a life for yourself."

She beams at me. "Thanks, Cal."

"What do you do?" Haze asks Jake. "Other than stalk Callum and beat up anyone that shows interest in him."

I can't help it. I let out a snort of laughter. Even Ellie covers her own giggle with a cough. She doesn't do a very good job of hiding it.

Jake's cheeks darken. "Fuck off."

"Seriously, do you actually do anything other than hang out with Callum?" he questions.

"I play footy, you know that."

"Are you still surfing?" he probes.

"Yeah, when Callum does," he shrugs, before frowning. "Shit. My life literally does revolve around you, Cal."

I let out a laugh. "You need a hobby. Or a dog."

"I've got my dog right here," he jokes, patting me on the top of the head.

"Piss off," I retort, sending a punch into his shoulder.

"Don't even joke about fighting guys, you two are hopeless," Ellie pipes up, waving her hands around, as if that would actually stop us.

"Or you could get a job," Haze points out.

"But then I'd have less time to annoy Callum and he'll be sad."

I roll my eyes at that. It's at that point we reach the bar Haze has been leading us to. It's a basic looking pub with a band playing inside and people littering around the outside area at tables, rounds of drinks in front of them, puffs of smoking lingering in the air.

The guy Haze knows at the security door is a long, lanky guy with the blackest skin I think I've ever seen. He has long dreads that trail down past his shoulders and on of his front teeth cased in gold.

"Sup' man," he greets Haze and I grin at the thick Jamaican accent.

Haze does a quick introduction but we are ushered through basically straight away as the line behind us is increasing. The line is long at the bar, there's people dancing in the space in front of the band and almost every table is taken, but there's one dingy pool table off in the far corner that is available. We make a beeline for it.

Jake swaggers up to the bar and buys the next round. You can tell he feels bad ass as he walks back, not being carded. I roll my eyes and take the drink from him.

"Thanks babe," I whisper to him.

He gives me an adorable smile as he sits beside me, resting his hand on my knee. I can't stop smiling.

Haze breaks, him and Ellie teaming together, Jake and I on the other. I go next, lining up one of the smalls. It swiftly rolls into the pocket. I move on to the next one and sink the next two. Haze lets out a low whistle.

"We got ourselves a bit of a pool shark here, hey?" he says, rubbing the chalk against the end of his cue.

I grin back. Grant has a pool table; we've been playing for years. When it's Jake's turn to go, I totally check him out as he takes his shot. I wonder if there will ever be a point in my life that my entire body isn't acutely aware of everything he does. Or whether every fibre of my body isn't longing for his touch.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I stare down at the screen in surprise.

Rhett: Are you having a good weekend? X

I blink at it, not sure how to react. He seemed annoyed last time we spoke and I figured I wouldn't hear from him much anymore. I mull it over in my mind as we continue to play. When I duck into the bathroom, I decide to reply.

Callum: The concert was amazing. Really great catching up with my sister. How's yours?

I purposely don't put the 'x' on the end because even though it personally means nothing to me. I feel almost... guilty having replied when things are going so great with Jake. After a few more back and forth texts with Rhett, I leave his last one on read and call it a night. I don't want to complicate things further.

We stay until past midnight, playing pool, singing to the band and watching Haze make a series of bets that he actually ends up winning. We stay so late that the pub actually asks us to leave so they can close down for the night.

Jake holds my hand the entire walk back to Haze's house and my smile never leaves my face.

We're all pretty wiped out when we get back. Everyone showers and mumbles their goodnights, before departing into their rooms. I yank my shirt off and toss it onto the floor. The material has hardly made contact with the carpet before Jake is behind me, his hot breath on my neck.

The hairs on my body stand in response. Slowly, he traces a finger down my side, his lips pressing to the side of my neck.

"I had a great night," he whispers.

I turn in his arms. Jake is only a couple inches taller than me but enough that I have to look up. Slightly.

"Me too."

His warm hands envelope my face as he kisses me. Our chests connect and the skin on skin feels amazing. He pushes me back so that I'm lying onto the mattress. This kiss is steamy and passionate and almost overwhelming.

When his hand begins to sink lower, I break away, trying to catch my breath.

"We can't," I splutter. "Not here."

"Why not?"

I half-groan, half-moan. "J."

"Don't call me that if you want me to stop," he whispers huskily.

I'm desperately trying to cling on to my self-control "We can't."

"I want to," he insists. "I'm ready."

"J," I say, pressing my hand to his chest. "We've been through a lot this week. I don't want to rush this."

He groans, pulling back.

"We will," I assure him. "I want to. So badly. But not here, not now."

He sits back and runs his hand through his messy hair. "Okay. Fair call."

"You were incredible tonight," I say, touching his hand.

He smiles and leans in to kiss me, when my phone begins to ring. When I see Rhett across the screen, I feel my stomach drop. Jake's eyes narrow into slits as he glares at it.

"Why is he calling you?"

I shrug. "Not sure. He texted me a few times tonight, asking me how this weekend was going."

"With me?"

"No, the weekend in general."

"Thought he was annoyed at you," he says quietly.

"He was," I reply and clear my throat. "He is."

We watch my phone ring out. There's an awkward tension in the air now. I've barely released a breath before it rings again. Jake's hand whips out, answering it. My eyes widen as he clicks speaker and holds it out, a furious look on his face.

"Cal?" Rhett's voice greets me and I know just from that one word that he's drunk. "Cal, it's me. Sorry if I woke you."

"You didn't," I say.

"I want to apologise for how I acted last night. I've felt terrible about it."

Jake makes a gag face and I shove at his chest.

"It's fine."

"You're not talking very much," he states. "Is he with you?"

"Yeah, he is," Jake snaps.

Rhett goes silent on the other end. I place my hand over my mouth and close my eyes.

"Oh," he eventually says.

"Hey Rhett? Don't call my boyfriend at two in the morning," he bursts out angrily. "Otherwise my fist isn't going into your stomach next time. It'll be between your fucking eyes."

He hangs up and throws my phone to the ground. My mouth is swinging open as I gape at Jake.

"Jake!" I exclaim.

"What? He has to know."

"I'm not your boyfriend!"

"Really?" he replies, arching an eyebrow. "You sure look like you are."

"You haven't asked me to be your boyfriend, therefore, I'm not your boyfriend," I huff and feel a little petty as I do.

He rolls his eyes so hard I'm surprised they didn't disappear into the back of his head.

"You're such a princess."

"Bite me."

"Thought you'd never ask," he growls, before pinning me onto my back and nipping at my jaw.

I let out a laugh, squirming underneath him. He presses his weight down onto me, effectively stopping my attempts of getting away.

"Callum," he murmurs, taking my bottom lip between his teeth and sucking ever-so-gently. I curl my toes at the feel of it. He releases it, but doesn't move back, his breath mingling as one with mine. "Will you be my boyfriend?"


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