I could barely focus as I drove to Jake’s house. I was the equivalent of a drunk frat boy because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the taste of his lips on mine and it made me uneasy. I hated feeling that way. I briefly wondered if I was doing the right thing by going to Jake but I didn’t know where else to go. I knew I would have to give my father an explanation but for the time being, I didn’t want to think about it.Jake’s house was massive. It was roughly the size of my dad’s with a massive electronically operated gate, two floors and a large and open space around it. The garage itself was a completely different building and when I parked, I noticed a pool behind it. Jake was waiting for me when I walked out of the garage and from the look on his face, I could tell that he was concerned.Once I was within arm’s reach, he pulled me closer to him. “Are you alright?” I nodded. “Are you going to spend the night or do you plan on going home?”“I want to stay,” my voice was
When Jake came to bed a few minutes later, he didn’t make a move to touch me. He just crawled in behind me and pulled me flush against his chest. He murmured a few words in another language and placed a kiss on my temple. He spoke too softly for me to even try identifying what language he spoke in.I fell asleep faster than I would have if I were alone and I didn’t wake up until the next morning when sunlight was streaming in through the window. I realized that sometime during the night, the covers had been thrown off my body but I was still warm because I was completely wrapped up in Jake’s arms. His legs were tangled in mine and his hand was laying against my bare hip because the shirt had risen up to my waist.He had fallen asleep in his boxers and I could feel the outline of his dick pressing into my ass. It took everything in me not to rock against it. Instead, I carefully detangled myself from him. He was still fast asleep which I found shocking. I always assumed that he was a v
“Jake,” I began but he held out a hand to stop me. It was like he was barely holding onto his sanity. I realized that his eyes were still trained on my spread thighs and I slowly pulled my fingers out. He threw his head back and muttered a curse under his breath.He slowly stood to his feet and I watched as he closed the distance between us and took my fingers into his mouth. He licked them clean and just like that, I was wet again. My orgasm was nowhere close to enough and I wanted him. I opened my mouth to speak but he shot me a dark look that had the words dying in my throat.“So let me get this straight,” he began after he released my fingers with a pop. “I was busy with work and you decided to be a brat because of it.”“You ignored me. You barely even looked at me,” I was well aware that I sounded like a child but I didn’t care. He was rude and I was simply returning the favor.“You don’t get to be a fucking brat when you want to, Hayley,” he muttered before pulling back to look
Jake couldn’t take me home because we couldn’t risk my father looking through the cameras and seeing Jake drop me off. He was angry about that because he didn’t want me driving alone but I assured him that everything was fine. I was thankful he didn’t drop me off because Alana was there waiting when I arrived. She raised a brow when she saw me walking in with different clothes.“Do I want to know?” she asked and I shook my head. “I hope the guy is treating you right, whoever he is.”“He is,” I assured her and she raised a brow waiting. I knew immediately what she wanted and I sighed. “I can’t tell you anything about him right now. You just have to trust me on this one.”She huffed under her breath.“Any man who makes you his dirty secret is not worth it. Is he married or something?” my face contorted into a grimace. “What did you expect me to think when you said you couldn’t tell me about him?”“He isn’t married or in a relationship. I don’t even know if we are in a relationship. I do
Jake couldn’t respond and that was the exact moment that I knew he had done something. I was so annoyed that I couldn’t stop myself from hanging up the phone. He tried to call back but I ignored his calls and finally switched off my phone when they became too frequent. I knew he wouldn’t risk coming to the office especially since my father wasn’t around so I had a few hours to figure out what exactly I wanted to do.By the end of the workday, I was more furious than before I started. A part of me was happy that Jake had come to my defense but I was annoyed that he did it even after I asked him not to. Yes, Charles was an asshole but I worked with him and Jake had unknowingly caused more problems for me.I got home fully prepared to just strip and lie naked in bed but I was taken aback when I saw Jake standing in my living room. His hair was messy as if he ran his hands through it one too many times and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. He looked worried and when he saw me, he
Jake never returned and I was left worrying all night. I was unable to fall asleep because I couldn’t help but worry that something terrible had happened to my dad. I ended up cleaning because I couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the house the next day. I knew I would hear it from Greg and the others about missing work but for once, I was leveraging my status and Michael Davis’ daughter.Alara came early in the morning at her usual time but I asked her to go back home. She was confused but I promised that I would explain it all later. I didn’t want anyone in the house, I just wanted to sit and wait for my dad in silence.My dad returned sometime around noon. He looked like he had been through hell. The bags under his eyes were dark and I knew he hadn’t been sleeping properly over the last few days. When he saw me, he sighed deeply and just collapsed into the chair. I rushed over to his side but he waved me off to assure me that he was fine.“I’m not going to let
I was at work religiously the next day and I tried to ignore the weird looks and whispers that I got as I walked in with my dad. When I first started working, I always made sure to stay as far away from him as I could, I didn’t want people to think that I had gotten to where I was because of him. I was grateful for the opportunities that his name gave me but I was also smart enough to know that part of what brought me so far was my own brain.Dad walked me over to my office door but stopped me from going in. “Is there a reason that they are all staring at you like you kicked their puppy?”I just shrugged because I didn’t really feel like talking about the issues I was having with Charles. My father was nothing short of overprotective and the last thing I wanted was for him to go ahead and fire Charles or start up something even worse with HR. It was something he could do and unlike Jake, he didn’t take no for an answer where I was concerned.“I’m sure it is nothing, don’t worry about
The next Friday rolled around quicker than I would have liked and the thought of being locked in the same place with my co-workers for another night was exhausting. The only good thing was that this time, we were asked to dress casual. The bad news was that we were not told anything about where we were going. We were simply given directions and a time.I arrived five minutes before six and found that there were only two other people there. The person in charge of the event was one of the nicer workers. I had never spoken to him before but he never gave me shit for being my father’s daughter. If I was being honest, I didn’t even know his name.When I arrived, he just gave me a blue tag and asked me to stand in one corner. The only other people there were Jenna and another paralegal but they had different colored tags. It wasn’t until six thirty that everyone else arrived and I soon realized that we were being split up into three groups. I cursed when I realized that both Charles and Gr
HAYLEY’S P.O.VJake and I had settled in a comforting routine and I had to admit that it was wonderful getting to wake up next to him every morning.He was the perfect partner even though we both had no idea what we were doing. A few night, I had woken up to find him reading a pregnancy book but I never commented on it. He doted on me, making sure I ate and rested all the time. It was cute and I secretly loved it but there was the elephant in the room.We were yet to do an ultrasound.It wasn’t due to lack of time. If it were up to Jake, we would have done it the minute he found out but I just couldn’t. I knew I was pregnant, I knew nothing would change that and yet, I didn’t want it to be real just yet. For the past week, I shut down every discussion surrounding the doctor’s appointment and avoided it as much as possible.It was Friday and I was already dreading the idea of being forced to interact with people I didn’t like and couldn’t stand. I was tired of the team building exercis
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe moment I woke up, I knew I wasn’t alone.I was always able to tell when someone was watching me, even from a young age. The hair on my neck stood on edge and I just felt this sensation all over me. Dad always told me it was normal but some people found it weird. They said it was some kind of sixth spider sense or some shit like that.To an extent, I agreed, because not only was I able to tell when I was being watched, I was able to tell who was doing the watching. Each person felt different: with Jake, his gaze was always heated, it felt like someone was trying to brand my skin with their eyes. With my father, it was softer, more loving but that didn’t make it any less intense.“Hey dad,” I whispered as I sat up slowly.I looked around the dark room and found him seated in the couch facing the bed and I had never been so grateful for Jake dressing me before now. It would have been very uncomfortable if I was still naked in bed.Dad didn’t respond, he just stared at
JAKE’S P.O.VI blinked once then twice, staring at Hayley in front of me and wondering if I had misheard.“You what?”I wasn’t proud of my response but I was convinced that I had misheard. Hayley was nowhere near ready to have a child, she had all but said so herself, she wanted to live first, she wanted to grow first.She must have mistook my words for something else because her eyes grew dark and she stepped back from me. “You don’t have to be involved.”“Excuse me?”“If you don’t want this baby then I am more than capable of doing it on my own. I have my grandfather and my-”“Stop.”She either didn’t hear me or didn’t care. “I have the money and this will fulfill my grandmother’s inheritance clause. I have more than enough to take care of my child.”“Our,” I corrected and that was what caught her attention.“What?”“Our child,” I repeated stepping closer to her. “If you had let me finish earlier, you would have known that I want this baby.”“But you-”“I was surprised and I didn’t
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI wanted to take the test as soon as possible but I couldn’t.I had to wait until the morning because I needed accurate results.It felt like torture to just wait. I hid the tests in my bag but it was an ever present worry at the back of my mind. I could barely go a minute without thinking about it to the point that even Jake realized that something was bothering me.“Are you alright?” he asked and I nodded slowly. “You don’t look okay.”I just shrugged and turned away from him. He sighed and made his way over to me. He was still in his outfit from work but he had ditched the tie and the jacket. I was slacking off on my work terribly, I knew that for a fact and it was my day to plan the team building exercise tomorrow. I still had no idea what to do.“Hayley,” he crouched down in front of me, both hands on my thighs as he stroked my knee gently. “Talk to me, baby. Did something happen to Kate?”“No, Kate is fine. She’s having fun in school. She’s good, this isn’t about
HAYLEY’S P.O.VShe looked around in a panic, as if to ensure no one was watching outside before shutting the door behind her.“So,” I implored. “Who is he?”“He’s older, like Jake’s age.”I hummed. “Where did you meet him?”“At a club,” that had my brows rising. The club was not the ideal place to meet a guy. She must have seen the look on my face because she quickly added, “he’s not a typical club goer.”“I’m not judging.”“I know,” she ran her hands through her hair. “I know I should stop seeing her and I want to but,” she sighed deeply. “I know it is pathetic.”“There is nothing pathetic about being in love with someone.”“I’m not in love with him. I don’t think I am. He’s fun and nice but I don’t think he wants anything serious.”“Do you?”She went silent and turned away. “Can I get cleaned for a second then I’ll be back out.”I waved her off. I knew that pushing for an answer wouldn’t yield any positive results so I watched her leave instead. I sat cross legged on her couch waiti
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe smell of breakfast was what woke me but it was the light streaming through the windows that had me sitting up in a flash- I was late.“Relax,” I felt a hand on my shoulders as Jake gently guided me back into the bed. “You don’t have to rush anywhere.”“But I’m late-”“Your dad gave you the day off, rest, Hayley, you’re not a machine, you are not a robot, you need a break once in a while.”I wanted to protest but he just shot me a look that clearly told me he wasn’t taking no for an answer no matter what so I reluctantly found myself resting against the pillows. It was only once I was back in bed that I took the opportunity to look at Jake.He was shirtless showing off his toned chest, he had a tray of food in his hands that he placed in my lap. It smelled delicious and my stomach rumbled, reminding me that I didn’t have a chance to eat last night.I mumbled a thank you under my breath before shoving a forkful into my mouth while Jake excused himself from the room. I
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI stared at her for a moment.If anything, I was actually proud of the fact that she came all this way to ask that her mother’s charges be dropped. It was a ballsy thing to do, especially for a fourteen year old and that was the only thing that kept me listening to her.“You don’t understand how these things work,” dad began but she shot him a bored look.“I’m fourteen, I know how things work. I heard what she did, I know she assaulted someone but I don’t know who.”“Don’t you want to know?” I asked and she groaned.“Look, I’m not going to defend her because I know what she did was wrong. It’s clear you didn’t want to see her, I saw how you reacted at the funeral. I know my mother and she can be a bit much sometimes but she has issues, okay? I found out she went off her meds-”“What meds?” she fell silent immediately. “Look, Kayla, if you want me to help you then I need to know why.”“I can’t tell you her business. All I will say is that she is a good mother. She has ne
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI registered the slap before I even knew what was happening. I was on my feet in an instant and rushed over to the door.I couldn’t think of anyone that would dare hit Jake and yet, Andrea stood there. She looked furious, her chest rising and falling rapidly as if she had thrown everything she had into that hit. I glanced over at Jake and a gasp left my lips. His cheek was red and angry but he didn’t seem upset, he looked more shocked than anything.“Did you get all your anger out?” he asked and she lifted her hand again but he stopped her with his words. “I would choose my next actions wisely. If you hit me again, you will go to jail for assault and I will make sure you stay there for as long as possible.”She was smart enough to drop her hand but the anger didn’t leave her face. If anything, it got even worse.“You little bastard,” she spat. “You’re the one poisoning my daughter’s mind. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You are closer to my age than to hers. You’re a fu
JAKE’S P.O.VThe last thing I wanted to do was talk to Marie again after everything.As soon as I got the news that the child wasn’t mine, I blocked her number and didn’t bother to seek her out again. I had no intentions of ever talking to her again, she was a part of my past and I intended to leave her there but I should have known that she wouldn’t be willing to step down so easily. Marie had never been the kind of person to accept defeat.With a sigh, I dialed her number. It didn’t take long before she picked up, her nasally voice filling the room.“I was wondering when you would call,” she drawled. I could hear her nails tapping against something and could almost see the smirk on her face. “Have you gotten tired of her yet? Is that why you are coming back to me? I knew that sooner or later, you would tire of her problems.”“Why don’t we cut the bullshit for a second,” I hissed and she clicked her tongue.“That’s no way to treat the woman that you spent most of your life with, Jake