Read A Little Less than Famous Online
Authors: Sara E. Santana
He laughed. “That’s good to know, considering what I do for a living.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you ever heard of playing hard to get?”
“I thought that was for girls.”
“It works for boys too.”
“Well, I usually don’t have to play any games. Girls usually just…well, come.”
“Lovely choice of word, Jake, and it must be nice.”
I wrapped my arms a little tighter around me. The weather had seemed to get the memo that it was fall and there was a slight bite in the air.
“Are you cold?” Jake asked, taking his hands out of his pockets, looking concerned.
“No, I’m okay,” I said, eyeing him warily.
Jake smirked and reached out for me and pulled me into his arms.
I scowled, even though admittedly, I was warmer. “I could’ve just gone inside and gotten a blanket,” I grumbled.
“Yeah, but a blanket doesn’t hug you like this,” Jake pointed out. He pulled me tighter against him and his cheek was resting on my head. My heart was banging hard in my chest. We stayed like that for a while; Jake seemed content to staying silent. Then suddenly, he pulled away.
“I really like you, McKinley,” he said, sounding so sure of
himself
.
“Jake,” I said, hesitating. I wasn’t sure what to say to him. I did like him; he was someone new and he was exciting. But getting involved with him was different than getting involved with boys like Gabriel. It was an unknown territory and I didn’t like it. I liked being in control. I liked being able to see the end because, inevitably, there was always an end. “Jake, I just don’t think…”
I didn’t get a chance to finish. Jake grabb
ed me and started kissing me. T
his time, I was responding and enthusiastically.
How could I keep myself playing the game when I was being kissed like this?
I was grabbing at him, pulling him closer. H
e pulled back and looked at me, his hands lost in my hair.
“God, don’t stop,” I said, pushing him in the shoulder impatiently and then dragging his face to mine.
“Jesus,” Jake breathed, in between kisses. He lifted me off the ground and set me on the trunk. I started to protest-I should not be sitting on the 290,000 dollar car-but he just silenced me with more kisses. His hands were fumbling at the zipper on my jacket and his was alread
y on the ground. In less than five
minutes, I’
d gotten more turned on than the
six months
I spent
with Gabriel. I could not wait to tell Amanda.
Shit. Amanda. I yanked myself back though I didn’t go far, his grip on me was so strong. “Wait, wait a second.”
Jake looked down at me, breathing hard. He was standing between my legs and his hands were on my waist. “What? Too much?”
I bit my lip and then smiled. “Okay, I like the direction this is going in. I’m not going to lie. But I’m not sure how I feel about this.”
Jake brushed a strand of hair away from my face with a finger and I flinched away from him. This was too affectionate for me. “What do you mean, this?”
“Jake,” I said. I paused, trying to think of a way to explain it to him. “Look, you don’t want to get involved with me.”
“But I do want to get involved with you. I like you. You’re great.”
I winced. “I’m not. I’m really not.”
“Look, McKinley, I’m not trying to sound like a dick but my every movement is followed, especially my dating life. I don’t just date anyone. I’ve dated two people and I only date someone if I think it’s going to be worth it.”
I pulled away and covered my face with my hands. “No, no, no, do not say things like that. No talk like that. I do not do emotions.”
“McKinley.” He took my hands off my face. “Come on.”
I looked up at him and found myself weakening. “I don’t make promi
ses…I can’t make any promises,” I said, firmly.
“Okay,” Jake said, allowing himself a small victory smile.
“It won’t end well,” I warned him.
He chose to ignore this. “So can I come inside?”
“Definitely not,” I said, shaking my head. “ I do still live with my dad, you know.”
Jake made a face. He looked past me at his car. “Well, maybe…”
“No way,” I interrupted. “Not in a car that costs more than I make in ten years.” Jake raised his eyebrows at me. “What? I Googled it. A little much, don’t you think?”
He ignored me again. “What
do you think about your car?” H
e glanced over at
my black 2010
Honda Civic that was probably only worth a small percentage of his.
“I think that it is time for you to go home,” I said, patting him on the shoulders, lightly with my palms. “And I really need to get off this car before I dent it with my butt.” I hopped off the car.
“Can I call you tomorrow?” Jake asked, stepping back.
I stood on tiptop and kissed him lightly, very fast. “Sure.” I smiled at him and started walking back to the diner. “Oh, and Jake? Lets keep this our little secret, yes?”
He raised his eyebrow but shrugged. It occurred to me that maybe he was used to having secret flings with random
girls.
“Agreed
.”
I nodded. “Good night.”
The next morning, after a night’s sleep had given me time to get over the way I felt in Jake’s presence, I felt enormously guilty. I was hiding something huge from my best
friend;
something that I knew would hurt her badly. So I did the only that I knew to get rid of a boy.
I ignored him.
The best way to get rid of someone was to just ignore them. Stop texting them, ignore their phone calls, delete them on Facebook, stop following them on Twitter.
That is, until I discovered the magazine cover.
I was waiting in line, buying tomatoes because we were out at the diner. I wasn’t really paying attention at first. I’d gotten two texts simultaneously, from Amanda and Jake. I sighed, clearing them both and shoving my phone back in my back pocket. That’s when I noticed the magazine cover.
I knew it was
me
right off the bat. It was a picture of the first kiss Jake and I had shared in that gas station. It was an extremely blurry picture, probably taken from a cell phone, but I could tell it was me. To someone who didn’t know me, you couldn’t tell. Or at least, I hoped. I grabbed the magazine and felt my heart slam in my chest.
Jake Kennedy’s New Girl: Who is this Mystery Girl?
I quickly put the magazine back on the rack, paid for the tomatoes quickly and booked it out of the store.
As soon as I got back to the diner, I practically threw the tomatoes at Luke. “Is Amanda here?” I asked.
“Yeah, she’s upstairs watching TV. I asked her if she could come downstairs and help, I’d pay her for the afternoon. She said she didn’t want to get dirty.” Luke rolled his eyes as he dumped the tomatoes into the prep sink.
I rolled my eyes and glanced down at the diner. “You need help now?”
He shook his head. “Nah, go upstairs.”
I nodded, taking two steps at a time as I walked up. As I suspected, Amanda was planted on the couch, watching something on
E!
and flipping through their newly delivered gossip magazines of the week. I paused, took a deep breath and tried to act natural. My phone buzzed and I saw that it was Jake.
Hey are you busy or something?
I typed quick response.
Look at the new US Weekly that came out today.
I looked up. “What’s up girl?”
Amanda didn’t look up, just shrugged. “Not much. Hiding from Luke.”
I shook my head. “You know, it would not have killed you to help out while I was gone.”
Amanda turned to look at me, no amusement on her face. “Sorry, not really in the mood to put on a smile and work on my day off.”
I walked over and sat next to her on the couch. “Okay, what’s wrong?”
She passed the open magazine. I kept my face as clear as I could, taking in the small article. There was only one more picture, an even blurrier picture of me getting into Jake’s car. “Who is she?” I asked, after a moment.
“I have no idea,” Amanda said, making a face and taking back the magazine. “They don’t know who she is, the stupid bitch.”
I looked at her, my eyebrow raised. “Wow, really, Amanda?” I glanced at my phone.
Shit. At least they don’t know who you are. Does Amanda know?
I sighed and tapped out a quick response.
No. She saw the cover, didn’t recognize me.
Amanda sniffled, rubbing her nose. “I know it’s stupid but…but I gave him my number! I had my chance right there! And he just rejected me and it feels terrible.”
“Amanda, you need to stop caring about Jake Kennedy,” I said, firmly. I felt my phone vibrate in my lap and I made the decision to ignore it. “You are a beautiful girl and guys love you. What do you need Jake Kennedy for?”
“I’m being silly, aren’t I?” she asked, offering me a watery smile.
“No sillier than normal,” I said, smiling back at her. I took the magazine away from her and tossed it on the coffee table. “Let’s forget about all this, okay?”
Amanda nodded, sniffling some more. “Do you have tissue?”
“Yeah, in my room.”
As soon as she left the room, I picked up the magazine and skimmed the article. Amanda was right in that they had no idea it was me-though I felt it was a near miracle that Amanda
, my own best friend,
didn’t know it was me. The article called me an “every day girl”, which felt like a kind of stab when they mentioned Andrea Tremaine as his ex. They did have the decency to call me pretty. I shook my head and put the magazine back on the table.
“McKinley.”
“What?” I turned around to see her holding a small white envelope. “What’s going on?”
She looked calm but I could feel a chill emitting from her from across the room. “Why didn’t you tell me that Jake had sent you those flowers?”
I felt my heart sink. “What are you talking about?”
She threw the card in my lap, which I now recognized as the card from the flowers Jake had sent me. “I threw this away.”
“Yeah, w
ell I dug it out of the trash. I’m nosy and I wanted to see what Gabriel had said. I didn’t expect it to be Jake.”
“Amanda…”
She reached over and grabbed the magazine and stared at it for a moment. “I can’t believe that I didn’t notice that this was you. Its
so
obvious that its you.”
My phone chose that exact moment to ring, belting out my favorite Ben Wright song. I glanced down though I already knew who it was.
“Answer it,” Amanda said, in that hard calm that I knew so well. Amanda lost her temper but, unlike me, this did not spell trouble. You knew you were in trouble when her anger was calm and silent, to the point.
“No,” I answered, just as calmly.
“Answer it, McKinley.”
“No, Amanda.”