Operation: Endgame (9 page)

Cassie stumbled over Julie’s legs as she staggered into the kitchen. The memories of the night before assailed her. Damn, that cocoa had been potent. Cassie could have sworn she was stone-cold sober by the time they all settled down for the night, but the pounding in her head was telling her differently. She rubbed at her temples to alleviate some of the throbbing going on there. Luckily, the aroma of strong coffee lured her into the kitchen, until the sight which greeted her caused her to stumble again.

The sight of Jake’s very naked, very defined, very gorgeous, very luscious chest drew her up short. He was wearing sleep pants low on his hips. She felt a shiver of awareness flare through her body. Right above the waistband of those pants was the ridged lines of his very defined 8-pack, topped off by his muscular pecs, shoulders, and biceps. Cassie’s eyes followed the line of hair which led enticingly from his chest into the waistband of the pants and her mouth was suddenly dry.

“Ahem,” Jake interrupted her perusal. Cassie’s eyes flew to his humor-filled eyes and she realized she was basically standing there with her mouth hanging open at the sight of him.

She was busted for gawking at his gorgeous body. Cassie felt her cheeks flood with embarrassment, and decided the best tact may be to pretend she hadn’t been drooling over him. “Do I smell coffee?” Her voice sounded scratchy, but that could be attributed to her over-indulgence last night rather than lust at the sight of his gorgeous half-dressed body.

Jake grinned at her and nodded towards the coffee maker. “It just finished brewing and you’ll like it. I brought my special brew from Germany.”

Cassie sighed in expected ecstasy. Nothing compared to the German coffee Jake could get on base. He and Colton always brought her a couple of bags whenever they came home.

Jake gave her a chance to inhale her first few sips, before attempting conversation. Cassie was never a good conversationalist until she had a little bit of time to get awake and mainline some coffee. After a few more sips, Jake jumped in, “So roomie, what are the plans today?”

Cassie looked at him seriously. “Do you honestly plan to move in here Jake?” At his nod of affirmation, she continued. “I’m really not sure that’s such a good idea. Seriously, think about this. Things have been beyond awkward between the two of us.” Cassie had always been direct, but Jake wasn’t ready to talk about the issue yet, or quite honestly, ever.

“Cassie regardless of anything else, you’re still my best friend and if you think I’m going to stand aside while you could be in danger, then you don’t know me at all. This isn’t even up for debate. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, except wherever you go. Get used to it. Everything else will work out. We’re too good of friends for there to be any other option.”

Cassie reached across the counter to grasp his hand. “I’ve missed you, Jake.”

He squeezed her hand. “Me too, Cass. So again, what’s the plan for today, because I have an idea if you don’t have anything else going on.” He grinned like the little boy he’d been when they first met.

She grinned, but it turned into more of a grimace as she reached into the cabinet for some aspirin. “First, I have to do something about this headache, and then we can do whatever you have in that mind of yours.” She gestured towards the slumbering beauties still lying in a mass of blankets on the living room floor. “But we also still have house guests too.”

“No problem. We have all day. How about for now I whip up some breakfast? It will help absorb the alcohol in your systems.”

“Thanks Jake. That sounds great.”

Jake created a scrumptious breakfast of homemade waffles complete with a strawberry drizzle and whip cream on top. After everyone had eaten way more than was healthy, Penelope and Julie headed out and Jake headed to the shower, while Cassie worked on the dishes.

She thought about the sudden turn of events over the last twenty-four hours. Yesterday at this time, she wasn’t even sure if she could still count Jake among her friends and now he was living with her. Yes, it was because of bad circumstances, but the fact he was here infused Cassie with a feeling of peace and security. She had no idea what he planned for today, but she was thankful they were doing something together as friends, without any residual awkwardness from the events in May. She hoped it continued that way.

At that thought, Jake walked out of the bedroom. He was fully dressed, but his hair was still wet from his shower. “I need to go take my shower before we head out, but I forgot to ask, how many days are you home for? Do I get to enjoy having you as a roomie for longer than the weekend?”

Jake gave her a slow, lazy smile and drawled. “Darling, you have me for the whole month. My leave doesn’t end until January 3
^rd
.”

Cassie couldn’t help the smile which spread from ear to ear and suddenly she threw herself into his arms. “Yes, that’s the absolute best Christmas present you could ever get me. A whole month?” Jake nodded. “Yes!”

Jake continued to hold her in a light hug, simply enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. “So go get that cute little ass washed,” he patted her on her butt, “because there’s something noticeably absent from your house. Darling, today we’re getting this house decked out for Christmas.”

Cassie’s joy was complete and overwhelming. She kissed him on the cheek and took off down the hall, singing, “Deck the halls with boughs of holly…fa, la, la, la, la….”

After a quick run to the tree lot, Jake and Cassie came home with a gorgeous blue spruce taking up most of the bed space in the back of his truck.

Cassie’s house was a little bungalow that had been built in the Park Terrace neighborhood of Lubbock during the 1950’s. Colton, Chris, and Cassie had all come here to live with their grandfather when their parents died suddenly in a plane crash. At the time, Colton was ten and the twins were six. It had been a shock for all of them, including their single grandfather. Their grandfather from their mother’s side of the family had been their only living relative willing to take in all three kids. He filled their lives with all the love he could and they quickly learned to love their modified lives in this quaint little house. He’d died when Cassie and Chris were in college and had left the three of them the house. Because Cassie was the only one still living in Lubbock, she had taken over ownership of it and had spent years renovating it to the serene beauty it was now. In the back, was a detached garage she used for storage, Jake and she headed there now to retrieve her Christmas decorations.

As they headed through the doorway, Jake was taken up short by the object that was placed front and center in the garage…Chris’ truck. That truck had been his baby. It was a black GMC 2500 4WD. Chris had spent hours customizing and accessorizing it and Jake had been right there with him for much of the work. The shock of seeing it and the memories it invoked was like a blow to his gut. God, he missed Chris. That thought was followed quickly by an onslaught of guilt over the many ways he had failed Chris starting with the crash. This was never going to get any easier, this missing Chris, and the emotions were swamping him.

He glanced over at Cassie, but she had never even looked at the truck and didn’t seem to notice his reaction to the shock of seeing it here. She was rooting through the boxes in the corner of the garage. Why did she still have Chris’ truck? Why hadn’t she sold it?

Cassie had her own vehicles that she treated like her babies. She drove a fully restored 1979 Toyota FJ Cruiser. It was red with a khaki soft top. Chris and Jake had done tons of work on her vehicle too and she loved it. It suited her personality, along with the yellow BMW GS motorcycle that she rode when she needed to let go. Jake could see the GS over in the opposite corner of the garage and he knew the FJ was in her carport. Why was she storing Chris’ truck, that honestly she should have sold by now, in here while subjecting her FJ to the harsh West Texas elements? He needed to confront her about it, but right now she was caught up in the excitement of decorating and he didn’t want to ruin her good humor. He went over to give her a hand with the boxes.

As Jake opened what felt like the fiftieth box full of Christmas décor, he wondered if he’d really thought through this plan to decorate with her. He’d assumed decorating would entail getting a tree and decorating it, an hour tops, right? So completely wrong. Already he’d spent a good hour finding the boxes with her and moving them into the house, but one glance at Cassie’s smiling face, made the sacrifice worth it.

Christmas music played over her stereo system with the holiday sounds of Bing Crosby and Doris Day. They built a fire while they worked and the entire feel was cozy and comforting. They finally got to the point of the actual decorating and he watched Cassie as she lovingly unwrapped the fragile glass ornaments that had been her grandmother’s. She loved this season so much; he couldn’t believe she’d even considered not decorating for it. That alone said a great deal about the state of her mind these days. He knew he was to blame for a lot of that fact, but he was determined that by the time he headed back to Arizona, all would once again be calm in her life. She deserved that.

As they worked, he watched her move around. Her long legs were encased in fitted jeans which were worn in all the right places and hugged the gentle flare of her hips. As she reached up into the tree, her oatmeal colored sweater lifted and showed off her fit physique. It clung to her full breasts and slender waistline in all the right places. It was a sweater for God’s sake, but as he watched her move, she may as well have worn lingerie. His cock was at full attention. She was tall and slender but she still had the curves that showed her absolute femininity.

He groaned inwardly. Her long auburn hair was loose today and as she moved about the room, it shimmered with the reflection from the fire with flecks of gold, orange, and red. Her makeup was practically translucent. He could see the sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose and her lips glimmered with the sheen of her lip gloss allowing their natural red to shine through.

Looking at those lips he had once kissed with passion, he felt a twisting in his gut. He clenched his fists. He hadn’t had sex with anyone else since he’d been with Cassie in May. He had opportunities, but just couldn’t find the interest. Looking at her now though, he felt every single one of those weeks of abstinence and the need clawed at his gut…the need for her. He would love to sink into her lips once again, to nestle into her soft body, but he couldn’t allow that to happen ever again. The one time had almost ruined their friendship. He wasn’t going to take that risk again. Besides, he’d promised Chris he never would. He wasn’t going to break that promise again.

He thought back to that day with Chris. It was Chris and Cassie’s senior year in high school and Cassie’s idiot of a boyfriend dumped her a week before the prom and shattered her heart. Watching her cry had broken his.

Ten Years Ago

Chris tossed the basketball towards the net. “She can’t miss the prom. It’s our senior year. I can’t believe that jerk dumped her like this.”

Jake could hear the frustration and anger in Chris’ voice and it echoed his own feelings completely. The three of them were so close…an affront to one, was an affront to all. “So how do we fix this, besides killing Will which would mean you’d never graduate?” Although that idea most definitely had merit. He may just have to make a late-night visit to see Will.

While he’d been thinking about the retribution he could deliver on Cassie’s behalf, he lost track of the conversation.

“…
call Jeremy.”

Jake looked up in question, “What?”

“
Pay attention.” Chris tossed the ball hard at Jake’s chest. “I said I’ll set Cassie up with Jeremy. He wasn’t planning on going to the prom, but he owes me for getting him through calculus this year.”

“
Wait, Jeremy?” He hesitated in his dribbling. “This isn’t the same Jeremy who was with you at that party last weekend is it?”

Chris nodded.

“
Nuh uh, no way. Didn’t you see him in the corner with the blonde? He was all over her. No way can you set Cassie up with an octopus like that.” The idea of another guy touching Cassie like that made Jake feel sick.

“
Damn.” Chris stopped moving on the court and ran his hand through his hair. “No, I didn’t see that. So who do we set her up with? Almost everyone is already going.”

“
I’ll take her.” Jake tried to ignore the zing that slammed through his system at the idea of going on a date with Cassie.

Chris eyed him suspiciously. “What do you mean, you’ll take her? You’re twenty. You’re in college and you hang out with gorgeous babes every weekend. Why would you want to go to a high school dance when you could be at a college party getting laid?”

Jake rolled his eyes. “This is for Cassie. Like you said, it’s your senior year. She needs to have a good memory and we have fun together.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but the more he thought about it, the more he really wanted to be a part of her special night. There was only one senior prom and he wanted Cassie to have that memory with him.