HAYLEY’S P.O.VJake didn’t bring up the topic of us again. He just focused on making dinner and we ate in silence with Katherine who was more focused on her phone than on Jake and I. It didn’t feel tense or awkward though, it just felt normal. It was vastly different from dinner with my dad which usually involved a movie but that didn’t make it any less special.I didn’t want dinner to end because I knew it would result in me having to go home. I wanted to spend the night but even I knew that this wasn’t the right time. With everything going on, we were probably going to have lots of eyes on us and the last thing I wanted to do was lead the police right to Jake’s doorstep. They didn’t know about us being together and that was how I wanted to leave it.Jake drove me home and the ride was quiet. As soon as I got into the car, I connected my phone to it and played Taylor Swift softly. The corner of his lips quirked up and I could see him mouthing some of the lyrics out of the corner of m
JAKE’S P.O.VI hadn’t seen Marie in a very long time. The last time I saw her was the year before I met Hayley for the first time which was just another rude reminder of just how large our age gap was. She looked as she always did, stuck up, pissed off and like she had a stick up her fucking ass.She had a designer bag in her hands that I knew she probably couldn’t afford, a large fur jacket that she must have been boiling inside because it was fucking hot and large glasses that covered her entire face. She took them off revealing those poisonous green eyes that I had become accustomed to and her lips curled up into a small smirk.“Did you really think you could keep me out?” she mused, her hands crossed over her chest. “How do I look, Jake? You were never good at giving compliments unless I asked.”“I always gave you compliments, you just didn’t care for them unless there was a deposit slip attached to it,” I deadpanned. “What do you want Marie? It has been years. Get out of my offic
HAYLEY’S P.O.VThe last thing I expected to hear today was dad telling me that he was going to personally take me to Jake’s house. It was out of character and it was weird but the more I asked, the more evasive he became until he finally told me to ask Jake when we arrived.I was even more confused when he had a driver take us. My father had a driver on retainer but he almost never used him unless he was going somewhere important. I didn’t realize he considered Jake’s house important like that but I remained silent the entire car ride.We were ushered into the house like he was trying to watch out for someone and that only left me feeling more annoyed and confused. The moment the door shut behind me, I turned to face Jake who was waiting for us.“One of you better tell me what the fuck is going on here,” I snapped but neither of them said a word. “You just brought me in here like you were trying to hide my existence or something. Why the hell did this happen?”“Hayley-” Jake began but
HAYLEY’S P.O.VI was having the most amazing dream. I couldn’t tell what it was about but I could feel it. I could feel the wisps of hair tickling the insides of my thighs, I could feel the firm hands on my hips and I could smell Jake’s cologne everywhere.It was the kind of dream that you never wanted to wake up from.I felt the warmth of his tongue sliding into my slit and I writhed in bed trying to get more of it. I could almost hear the filthy sounds that his mouth made against my skin as that familiar pressure built up in the base of my stomach. I felt as his finger curled inside of me and I exploded against his mouth, his name slipping from my lips as I did.I felt him tongue fuck me through my orgasm but I felt the rumble of his chuckle that I realized it was not a dream. I felt him climb onto me, careful to keep his body weight off me as he pressed a small kiss to my lips.“I know you’re awake,” he mused as his tongue slipped into my mouth.I let him, tasting myself on his lip
HAYLEY’S P.O.VWhen Jake told me he had an ex, I assumed a lot of things.I assumed an ex-girlfriend or an ex fling, I even assumed an ex-fiancé for a while but I thought that if he had married the woman then surely, he would have told me. It didn’t make any sense for him to address her like that to me unless she was unimportant but clearly I was wrong and I hated being wrong more than anything.I held out a hand to Marie who was glaring at me with daggers in her eyes. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Marie, although I don’t know what you mean about fucking Jake.”“Save the pretense, I saw him drive you to work. What were you doing in his house if you weren’t fucking him?”“I don’t think it is my place to share the details of his private life but you are more than welcome to ask him yourself.”I made to leave but she grabbed my arm in a tight grip. For someone so small, her grip was harsh and slightly painful, but I kept my face perfectly impassive as I stared at her.“If you do not let
HAYLEY’S P.O.VOur clothes were off before I even realized what was happening. This had little to do with savoring the moment and more to do with simply feeling him against me.He loved me.I tried to reconcile myself to the fact that it was true but it still felt like a fiction of my imagination. There was like and there was love; Jake wasn’t a child who minced words, if he said he loved me then he meant it.“I can almost hear the screws in your head because of how hard you’re thinking,” he teased, backing me up until my knees hit the back of the bed.“You just said that you loved me.”“And I’ll say it every fucking day if you need me to, stop thinking so hard,” he lay me gently on the bed, wasting no time in covering my body with his and kissing me again. “I meant it, Hayley, I love you.”My chest expanded to the point where it was almost painful. His words almost seemed to swell on my inside. I could listen to them every day and not be tired, it was my new favorite phrase and it wa
HAYLEY’S P.O.V“Tell me something,” Jake’s voice rang out through the room.I was draped over his chest, trailing my finger over his skin. I stilled long enough to acknowledge him before going back to the tracing. I woke up around half an hour ago but couldn’t bring myself to get out of bed. In true Jake fashion, he was up long before me and for once, he agreed with me that it was best for us to spend the morning in bed.“How pissed were you yesterday about Marie?” I looked up at him with a look that had grown men pissing their pants.“Are you really talking about your ex-wife while we are both naked in your bed? Is that your definition of pillow talk.”“Believe me, I want to talk about her as much as you want to hear about her but I realize that I wasn’t listening to you yesterday and I never got to know how you felt. A lot happened yesterday and I just-”“If this is you giving me the chance to take back what I said then I’m not going to,” I leaned on my elbows so I could look at him
JAKE’S P.O.VThe first sign that something was amiss should have been the silence.My house was almost always silent except for when Kate and Hayley were together. The house would reverberate with their laughter and gossip but it was silent and I didn’t realize it at first because I was more focused on what I was going to do about Marie. She was a thorn in my side and I needed her to leave before she made Hayley more uncomfortable.After freshening up, I made my way down the steps only to hear a familiar voice. “You can sit down, you don’t have to stand.”I didn’t mind having Carmine around but honestly, I should have known she would come after I told her about Marie but I would have preferred to have more time to talk to Hayley about her. With everything happening, the last thing she would want is another woman she doesn’t know walking into my house.I walked into the kitchen to find Carmine seated on the counter. Hayley was still in my clothes and judging from the state of the kitch
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