SEVENTEEN.

The day was bright, just as everyone had expected. Jake in the company of all members of THE RATTLESNAKES were in the gang house awaiting the arrival of their arc enemies.

5:00pm

Chance, Power, and Donald arrived at the gang house. The Rattlesnakes gave them a rousing welcome, which made them smile in relief.

Tori was present too but, as usual, she was at the other end of the hall communing with the AirPods in her ears.

The moment she saw Power, she hid beneath the chair with her heart inside her mouth.

"Is this one of your pranks?" Power asked when Jake locked the door with the remote he had in his hand.

"I don't understand you" Jake replied, raising his brow

"What's up your sleeves now?"

"A lot"

"I told you guys, Jake's a sly fox" Donald snapped, cocking his gun in readiness for action.

Tori was peeping at the scene before her when power caught her eyes, making her to bury her face in her sweaty palms.

"Oh I see, your girlfriend survived right?" he smirked nodding towards her direction.

"Yea but you won't survive" Jake smirked. He turned to Jenny then said, "Release them"

Taking quick strides to the room adjacent to the one they were, Jenny opened the door and two huge German Shepard just like Vin ran out.

They were called Foden and Jack. With a look of expectation on their faces, they walked up towards Jake.

His guests seems scared when he kept speaking with his beasts while nodding at them at intervals.

"Eat up buddies" Jake coaxed. Making his last statement audible for all. Jack and Foden didn't need to be coaxed again before they pounced on the trio.

The trio were yelling in anguish as the dogs feasted on their flesh. The sight was enough to make Tori puke several times.

Meanwhile, as the trio kept gasping for breath the others looked on. Now they knew why Jake asked them to starve Foden and Jack.

Satisfied with what the animals had done, he walked towards Tori, who was shivering with fear.

"Let's go" she didn't think twice before stretching her hands towards him. All she wanted was to escape the scene that was eventually going to haunt her on the long run.

"Can't be wasting my bullets all the time" he said before leaving the gang house.

A few days after the incident, Tori recovered and was back into the real world.

Bored and tired at the same time, she curled up on her bed, staring into space when Jake walked in. he hovered over her for a few minutes, yet he got no response.

Picking the spare pillow on the bed, he threw it on her face, causing her to sit up with a start.

"What was that for?" she groaned

"Just wanted to be certain you're alive. C'mon, I've been standing here for over five minutes now" he smirked, flopping beside her on the bed.

"So, what do you want?" she asked, adjusting the tank top which was revealing her nipples.

He placed his head on her thigh, then placed her hand on his face. He wanted her to caress him. She got the message, then began to caress him.

"Damn! Your cheek is smooth" she cooed running her little fingers on it.

"Hmm…"

They shared a brief silence before Jake broke it. He opened his eyes at once, locking eyes with the brown eyes looking down on him.

"It's nine months since you started living with us" he started

"I didn't keep count" she chuckled while playing with his earring and caress his cheeks at the same time.

"That's not it. You got a future, okay, so I want you to go to college in a few months. How about that?" he sat up, watching the expression on her face.

Her lips broke into a smile at first before a chuckle then laughter. He was wondering what was going on when she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you so much. My dream is finally coming true" she grinned pulling away.

"Damn, you almost squashed me" he groaned pretending to be hurt whereas he wasn't.

"I'm so sorry. You don't know how happy I'm right now"

Taking her hands, he gave it a soft squeeze. "Glad you're happy"

"Yea" her hair fell on her face while Jake offered to tuck behind her ears.

"You're beautiful" he cooed, making her to blush

" Yea. Thanks" she mumbled turning away. He pulled himself closer to her, placing his hand on her thigh, he began to run his fingers on it.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked

Instead of giving a reply, she pushed his hair above his eyes, so she could see his blue and hazel eyes.

Slowly, she placed her lips on his then began trailing her tongue on it. She didn't need to ask for an entrance because Jake opened his mouth, welcoming her into his warm haven.

They kissed for a while before pulling away to catch their breath, after that they smashed lips again.

Soon he was trailing his tongue on her neck, causing her to moan in pleasure. She felt her panties already wet from the mind-blowing kiss she was getting from her Casanova boss.

"Fuck" she groaned in pleasure when his fingers slipped under her tank top giving her breast a soft squeeze.

Suddenly, he stood up, causing her to look at him in alarm. "What…" she started, but he cut her short.

"It's not you" he said

"But…"

"Tori no! You deserve someone chaste, not me. I shouldn't be the one to break your hymen" he mumbled.

"But…" he tried to stop her from talking, but she wasn't going to let him.

"Stop it already, Jake. I'm not complaining. I love you, Jake. I want to be yours… I know this sounds crazy but trust me when I say I love you" she cringed tugging her hair.

"But I don't love you. Moreover, I got a girlfriend" he said before storming out of her room.

"What just happened?" she asked herself several times before she flopped on her bed, then began to cry.

When Jake left her room, he hurried to the gym. He took his tee shirt off then wrapped his hands hurriedly.

When he was done, he began to punch the bag with his eyes tightly shut as memories of what happened moments ago clouded his brain.

He didn't love her, that was true, and he was going to make sure he doesn't fall for her.

He wasn't going to let anyone hurt her just because of him, so he was going to do everything possible to shut his heart against her.

With one last powerful punch, the bag fell from the hook with a thud which shook the whole house.