I laughed. “We’ve got plans tomorrow.”
“Are you talking about Becca?” Ronny asked.
“Yup.”
“You’re such an ass.”
“What? You had your chance.”
That got everyone’s attention.
“Yeah, I took her out for coffee. God knows what kind of date you got her to agree to.”
I shrugged and decided to keep the details to myself.
My phone rang, and I was pleasantly surprised to find Becca on the other end of the line. I didn’t like discovering that Jake was at her place, but I did like that she’d called for my help. I really liked that.
“I’ve got to go,” I announced after we hung up.
“You’re going to see Becca, aren’t you?” Ronny asked.
“Yeah,” I said very aware that they’d all be drawing a different conclusion. I cared about her reputation, but I cared more about spreading the word that she was unavailable.
“Don’t fuck up this time.” Tom took a swig of beer.
“I won’t.”
“This time?” Ronny asked. I shot Tom a look to keep him quiet. He nodded. I was good.
I headed out and was over at Becca’s in two minutes.
“Thanks for coming.” She smiled at me when she opened the door. Of course, that was only after I told her it was me. Life in a big city had seriously messed with her sense of safety. I wished I could change that.
“Of course. So, have you tried to wake him up?”
“I did, but he just fell back asleep.”
“Do you want to try again, or should I?”
“I’m guessing your method is less kind than mine, but then again, his behavior warrants it.”
“His behavior?”
My question was lost when she bent down to where he snored on the couch. “Jake, Jake, it’s time to wake up.” She shook him.
He opened his eyes, mumbled “come here, Becca,” and proceeded to try to pull her onto his lap. I say try because he didn’t get far.
“Okay, your method.” She took a few steps back to let me in.
I shook him harder. “Jake, wake the hell up. I’m not carrying you home.”
“Whatever.”
Damn, this was hard. I assumed Becca wanted him out because she didn’t want to sleep in the same room with him, which I agreed with wholeheartedly, even if he was passed out.
“I’m guessing you called me because you don’t feel comfortable with him here.” I was forming a plan, and I needed to know where she stood.
“It’s really not a big deal. The biggest worry I had isn’t an issue anymore anyway…” She trailed off.
“What issue was that?”
“What you’d think when you came to pick me up and found him here.”
She cared about my opinion of her. That was good. Very good.
“I wouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.” That was a complete lie, but there was no reason to admit what my real reaction would have been.
“But you would have cared, right?” She bit her lip. This nervous habit of hers was dangerous. It just made me want to kiss her.
“Yes, I would have cared. I don’t like that he’s here at all. I’m glad you called.”
She seemed pleased with my response.
I was ready to suggest she come home with me—that would’ve solved all of our problems— when she threw a wrench in that plan.
“But I still don’t want his parents seeing him leave tomorrow. They’d probably throw me out if they thought I was sleeping with their son.”
I had to laugh. “What would the Mathews care if you and Jake were involved? The problem is that they’d never let you leave.”
“Well, I’d rather not deal with the issue at all. Do you think you can help?”
“Yeah, can I get a glass of water?”
She smiled, figuring out where I was going. “Hold on.”
She returned with a large glass. I poured the water over his head, regretful that I had gotten her couch a little wet. “Wake up.”
It did the trick. “What the hell?”
“Get up. You’re going home.”
“What the hell are you doing here? Oh, but at least you’re not in uniform this time. That means I’m not actually in trouble.”
“This time?” Becca asked. “This has happened before?”
“Long story, Becca.”
“All right. So, Gavin is going to take you home. I hope you aren’t too hung over tomorrow.”
“She meant we’re taking you home.”
“I did?”
“I said I’d help, not that I’d do it.” I smiled at her. Clearly, I was more than capable of getting Jake home, but I definitely wasn’t ready to say goodnight to Becca yet.
“Fine. All right, let’s go, Jake.”
Thankfully, he sobered up enough that he could walk on his own, but there was no way he could drive. I helped him into the back seat, and we headed over to his house.
I unceremoniously dumped him out on his bed while Becca looked on with a slight smile. “You could have been a little gentler.”
“And he could have drunk a little less.” I sounded more judgmental than I meant to. Really, I didn’t care, but I still didn’t know what had gone down before she called me.
We walked out to the car, and this time I moved fast enough to get her door. I stayed there while she buckled and decided to get my question answered. “What did you mean when you mentioned Jake’s earlier behavior?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” She looked away.
“But I am worrying about it.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“If it weren’t a big deal, you’d tell me and you’d look at me.”
She turned toward me. “He was just making drunken suggestions.”
“What exactly is a drunken suggestion?” I had a pretty good idea, but I wanted to hear it from her.
“He uh, suggested we see if we ‘worked.’” She made quotes with her hands.
“Son of a bitch.”
“He was drunk, and he didn’t push it.”
“But it still upset you.” It was plain on her face.
“Yeah.”
I closed her door and walked around and got in. “Are you tired, or do you want to hang out?”
“It’s got to be after eleven, what’s there to do at this hour?”
“I don’t know. Want to just come over?”