Chapter 263

  My breath catches in my throat at the last one, a mix of heartbreak and something else, a tingle of something I can’t even pinpoint. I should be angry with the way he’s text me but strangely I’m not. He should be groveling at my feet for my forgiveness.

  This is the Jake I need to see. The one who ignores all and comes pounding after me regardless. The Jake who came after me to Chicago despite me saying no. The Jake who always pursues me because he can’t help being the dominant one.

  Do I want Jake to show up and break down my door just to see me? Prove to me he will fight for me? Maybe I do. Maybe it’s partly what I need from him, that instinctual way he cuts through everything, to come for me regardless of protest.

  I shake the thought aside and open my email app, logging into my personal account quickly, before I can linger on my confusing thoughts, there are two.

  Jake Carrero has sent you an iTunes song.

  Jake Carrero has sent you Beyoncé–Halo.