I’d spent the better part of the last two weeks scrambling for an idea that would work to keep Jake from leaving, or at least considering coming to New York, if he was insistent on not staying in Haven for whatever reason. I’d thought maybe the lure of us having another few months together would buy me the time I needed to make him see that maybe we could make this thing work long-term. But I was a realist, and I knew Jake would be a tough nut to crack. And without even really understanding what it was Jake was running from, I was sorely outmatched when it came to that particular argument.
I’d tried a few times to get him to open up about his family and the events that had led to him walking away from his life as a doctor but hadn’t been successful. The only hint I’d gotten that it continued to hurt him deeply was when I’d inadvertently walked up behind him one morning while he’d been working on his laptop at the kitchen table. He’d been scrolling through a Facebook profile showing several pictures of an older couple. The man had looked a lot like Jake. When Boo had alerted Jake to my presence by jumping up from her spot on the couch to come greet me, Jake had quickly closed the laptop and then dashed at his eyes, though I’d only seen the move from behind. When he’d turned to greet me, he’d been all smiles.
Fake smiles.
I hadn’t had the guts to ask him about the pictures.
While I finished putting up the decals on the clinic wall, I tried to remind myself that I still had some time to figure things out with Jake. But I found that my anger wouldn’t just die a simple death like I wanted it to. My hands shook as I tried to place the last couple of decals, but when I couldn’t get them in exactly the spot I wanted, I gave up and dropped them on the table.
“Fuck this,” I muttered. I might not have any kind of say in this relationship living past the expiration date Jake had set, but hell if I was going to spend the next two months pretending it was less than it was.
I stomped over the barrier closing off the play area and stormed down the hall to the small office Jake and Doc Sharma used to do paperwork. I practically threw the door open. Jake was in the process of putting his coat on.
“Hey, I was just coming up to get you for—”
I cut him off with a hard kiss that had him hitting the wall behind him. He let out a little whoosh of air as I practically assaulted him and then he was wrapping his arms around me. I forced myself to release him and stepped back.
“Were you really going to do it?” I snapped.
“Do what?” Jake asked, clearly confused.
“Let Russ ask me out? Allow me to accept?”
“Oz, I—”
“Well, fuck that shit, Jake… Jake… fuck, I don’t even know your goddamned last name!” I barked.
“It’s Prescott,” he supplied, his expression softening just a little.
“Fine. Then fuck that shit, Jake Prescott!” I muttered, trying to recover some of my earlier fire, but my voice ended up cracking as my emotions took over. “You said we had until we both left town. But if that includes us fucking other guys, then you can forget it. Because you’re mine, Jake. Until the moment I get in my car and drive out of Haven for the last time, you’re fucking mine, and if you even think about touching another guy—”
This time I was the one with an armful of angry man. Jake’s mouth slammed down on mine. I nearly forgot what we’d been talking about by the time he pulled back just a little. “No,” he bit out. “No one’s coming between us, Oz. Russ can go fuck himself, and I’m going to tell him that as soon as I see him again,” he growled.
The relief washing over me made my knees weak. “So just us,” I said. “We’re exclusive.”
“Yeah,” Jake murmured, then he kissed me again. I was pushing his coat off when he grabbed my wrists. “Date first, remember?”
Part of me wanted to say fuck the date, but I really wanted the chance to see him in a new environment. One outside of Haven.
I pulled in a deep breath to try and quell my raging desire. “You said I get to pick the spot, right?” I asked.
Jake was watching me hungrily. I wasn’t surprised when his hands began roaming up and down my back. I had a feeling he was regretting his insistence on following through on the date first. “Yeah, your choice.”
“We’re going to Denver,” I said with a big grin. “And we’re going to find a place to go dancing.”