First Crush (Dark Falkon #1) (9 page)

They continued walking the streets and soon they were almost outside Ivy's place.

“Well then maybe you just need to chill, but honestly Jake, I don't know how much longer you can pull this off. The two of you live together, you've seen each other naked. You've got all these hormones and feelings running through your body. You're a guy, and I don't mean this disrespectfully, but you think with your dick and not your head.”

Jake stopped walking and looked at Ivy, “I'm sorry, but it's true,” she said, seeing the shock in his eyes.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Just a little,” Ivy said.

“Well, here we are,” Ivy reached into her handbag and grabbed her keys. “Thanks for walking me home.”

“It's ok. Thanks for the talk, and thanks for not letting things get weird between us, you know, after everything that happened.”

“Things were never weird, Jake. I guess I was just shocked more than anything, and I'll admit, a little disappointed. I guess I never really knew how much she meant to you, but I kind of get it. Look, just think about what I said. You and Sienna have been through too much to let something like this get between you. Just tell her how you feel.” She leaned forward and kissed Jake on the cheek; “I'll see you later.”

She opened the door, and with one final wave, she walked inside. Jake continued walking home, slowly. He couldn't get what Ivy had just said out of his head. Maybe she was right, maybe he was thinking with his dick and not his head, and maybe that was half the problem. Pulling out his phone, he looked at the screen as he searched for Sienna's number.

We need to talk, are you home?
He text.

He gulped, suddenly regretting what he had just done, hoping that Sienna was out and he wouldn't have to go through with it.

Just got home, about to have a shower and dinner. I'll wait up for you.

Jake swallowed hard, he continued his walk as he slowly approached their street. His head was full and his stomach was empty, and that was never a good combination because it always made him nervous.

He had no choice, he had to go through with it. One way or another, Sienna was going to find out how Jake felt, tonight. Suddenly, he felt very sick in the pit of his stomach.

Jake’s heart sank as he opened the door, Sienna was sitting on the sofa in her nightie watching TV. She turned and looked at him as he placed his bag down beside the sofa.

“Hey!”

“Hi,” Jake replied.

“How was practice?”

“Yeah, it was good actually. I think we might be ready to finally record the album soon.”

“That’s great news. You must all be relieved. I guess that means you won’t be coming home as late anymore?” Sienna asked.

“Not for a couple of months, no,” Jake replied as he sat down on the armchair next to her. His palms started to sweat and he started to feel very hot all of a sudden. He adjusted himself in the chair, Sienna turned and looked at him. She could see the sweat on his brow; “Are you alright?”

“Yeah! Sorry, it’s just really warm in here, that’s all.”

“Well, I can turn the air conditioning on if you want.”

“No it’s fine seriously, I’ll be okay in a minute.”

He swallowed and there was complete silence for a few seconds. Although, to Jake, it felt like an eternity as he sat there with his eyes wandering all over the room. Sienna turned off the television and sipped her coffee, she turned her full attention to Jake.

“So, you wanted to speak to me?”

He was kind of hoping that she had forgotten, but now it looked like he had to go through with it.

“Yeah! Um…Sienna, you see…well I don’t exactly know the right way to tell you this.”

Sienna continued to stare at Jake, at this point, she didn’t know whether to be intrigued or concerned.

“You’ve known me long enough, Jake. Just tell me like it is, I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

He took a deep breath, stood up and began pacing the room.

“Look, about what happened the other night-”

“You mean, when you were a complete and total, prick?” Sienna interrupted.

“Yes! I’m really sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I do,” Sienna replied.

“Huh?”

She stood up off the sofa and walked into the kitchen, washing out her mug.

“It’s Ivy.”

“What’s Ivy?” Jake asked, confused.

“Ivy! I think deep down you might have feelings for her. When you saw Jesse and I the other night, those feelings just came to the surface. You reacted like that because you were jealous of what we have and you want that too and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, at all. I just think you need to stop kidding yourself and tell Ivy exactly how you feel.”

Jake couldn’t help but laugh slightly. Even though Sienna was completely off course, he was kind of glad, relieved even, that she had no idea how he felt about her.

“Jake?”

“Huh? Sorry, what?”

“Ivy! Why don’t you tell her how you feel about her?”

“There’s nothing to tell, we’ve been over this already. Ivy and I have had a talk and she knows where things stand between us.”

“Do you?” Sienna asked, taking a bite of the carrot that she had taken out of the fridge.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh come on, Jake. Look at the signs. If that was Ivy with another guy, you probably would have decked him the first chance you got.” She walked around and stood in front of him, the two of them just staring at one another.

“Look why don’t you take her out, go to dinner or something, a movie, anything. Just the two of you. I know she’d appreciate your company”

“But I already told you, Sienna, there’s nothing between Ivy and I, we’re just friends.”

“Then there shouldn’t be a problem with ‘friends’ going to the movies together, should there?”

“You’re not going to drop this are you?”

“Nope!”

“If I agree to go to the movies with her as ‘friends’, will you be happy?”

“No, but it’s a start.”

“Ok, FINE!”

Sienna clapped her hands in excitement, she leaned forward and hugged Jake, “Oh and you’re forgiven, just promise me you’ll at least
try
to have good time.”

Jake was silent.

“Jake!!”

“Ok, Ok. I promise.”

Sienna kissed him on the cheek and turned towards her room.

“Goodnight,” she said, shutting the door behind her.

“Night,” Jake whispered, as he picked up his bag and headed to his own room.

Throwing the bag on the floor, he pulled off his top and pants. He lay on the floor on his stomach and began his one armed push-ups.

After finishing his exercises, he grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom. He stared at his reflection in the mirror for ages, not saying a word as he watched the sweat pour from his face.

“You fucking pussy!” he finally said.

The weekend arrived much quicker than Jake would have liked. Although he had promised Sienna that he would take Ivy to the movies, he knew that nothing would ever come of it. He finished getting ready and walked out into the living room.

“You look great,” Sienna admired the casual brown jacket, white Tee and jeans he was wearing.

“Thanks!”

“What time are you picking up Ivy?”

“Oh, she's meeting me there actually,” he grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

“You two have fun,” Sienna called, as Jake closed the door behind him.

The cinema was crowded, there were people everywhere and the queue to the box office provided lengthy delays.

Jake looked around for Ivy, but he couldn't find her anywhere amongst the crowd.

“I'm at the box office, where are you?” he text. As he pressed send, he looked up and saw Ivy walking towards him.

“Oh, hey! I just sent you a text,” sure enough, Ivy's phone beeped as she leaned in and kissed

Jake on the cheek.

“Sorry, have you been waiting long?”

“No I just got here, actually.”

“So, how are you?” Ivy asked.

“Yeah, I'm good. You?”

“Not too bad, I must admit, I was a little surprised when Sienna text me and told me that you'd agreed to come out with me on a Saturday night. I thought you might be at band practice or something.”

Jake looked at her, even though he wasn't attracted to her, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she actually looked standing before him. Her hair was in a neat pony tail, she wore a long black dress, leather boots and a denim jacket. He could also smell her perfume.

“Mariah Carey?”

“What?” Ivy looked confused.

“Your perfume, its Mariah Carey, isn't it?”

Ivy smiled, “Wow, Jake! A man who knows his fragrances, I'm impressed.”

“Have you forgotten that I live with a woman? Sienna's constantly spraying a new fragrance every day. You kind of get immune to it after a while.”

Ivy threw him a smile. The two of them looked at their watches and then at the growing ticket box queue.

“That line isn't getting any smaller,” Ivy said.

“No, it isn't.”

Standing in line, the two of them looked at the board and tried to decide what to watch.

“What are you in the mood for?” Jake asked.

“I don't really know, I know there's the new Ryan Reynolds action movie, and there's also that new chick flick as well.”

“A chick who likes action films, Ivy, you never cease to amaze me.”

In the end they both decided to go for the Ryan Reynolds movie, it was the only thing they could both mutually agree on.

The cinema was full of people, and all the good seats towards the back were taken. The only seats available were towards the front, so they sat down and made themselves comfortable.

The lighting in the cinema dimmed, and the screen lit up.

“So, you don't have band practice tonight?”

“No actually. The band and I are finally ready to start recording the album, soon.”

“That's great news, you all must feel relieved?” She said, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“Yeah a little, it'll mean no late practices for a couple of months which is great.”

As they spoke, a familiar tune filled the cinema. Way Back Home was playing, Jake looked up at the screen and saw the advertisement for Dark Falkon's upcoming concert on April fifteen.

“They have been promoting the shit out of this concert for months now. Honestly, I don't know what you and Sienna see in them.”

“Jake, you're a guy-”

“I know, I just wouldn't get it. But I do. I get it. But seriously, what does Sienna see in Lukas Dark?

I mean, what does he have that I don't have?”

“Oh, Jake! For one thing, he's got the fame and not to mention, money. And I have to admit, he is kind of hot.”

“Pfft. He does nothing for me.”

“Well, I would hope not, because then we would have a serious problem.”

There was a bit of silence from the two of them as they sat there and watched the rest of the trailers.

“Ivy, I know we've been over this, but you know that we are just friends, right? I mean, I only agreed to go on this date because Sienna put me up to it. I know that sounds horrible, but-”

“Jake! Relax. I know. It doesn't make you an asshole, believe me, that's not what I'm thinking at all. I know how Sienna can be when she's determined about something. She never gives up, it's not in her nature.”

“Yep! I hear you, she can be fucking stubborn at times.”

The lights went out and there was pure darkness for a couple of seconds. There was complete silence all round, and the screen lit up as the feature started.

“I was actually quite surprised. That wasn't a bad movie,” Ivy said.

Jake didn't react, he sat in the chair and remained silent.