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I turned e Lowe, a hot, s, and htover the top of his riave a s

Lowe told us that he was neverIn response,for hi open enough with hiht was supposed to be a step forward for us--a big step foronto a relationship

I’d been feeling nervous but okay about it Until Lowe and his freaking song

As if he’d guessed where my mind had wandered, Jake rested his chin on my shoulder He wrapped his arainst his chest "Where are you right now?" he asked, his lips tickling htly so his lips touched et to you?"

I jerked, staring into his gorgeous face in surprise

Jake s "I pay attention"

"You’re a know-it-all"

His white teeth flashed "Only when it coive ityou’re an expert on rip loosen "Hopefully one day you’ll let e For the last few days, since we’d started a physical relationship, the uneasiness that existed beneath the surface had only increased It wasn’t borne of not wanting one another Far fro out on an e to be patient, which wasn’t his strong suit

All in all, it had created a sense of fragility between us

I relaxed against his hold, brushing ers over his knuckles

"Beck, show us your pecs!" a pretty brunette at the next table shouted over the irl Claudia shot her way

Beck was Jake’s best friend He was also now one of Claudia’s best friends As lead guitarist, Beck stood at the front of the stage with Lowe He was absurdly attractive, tall and blond, with lethal gray eyes and an evenyou’d expect from a rock band, with his sleeve tattoos on one arm, lazy-ass sense of style, and a omen He oozed sex and charisma more than anyone I’d ever met in my life, but I knew there washe played up I knew this because I’d seen how different he was around Claudia He wanted to be devoted to her in a way he wouldn’t even ad the brunette at the next table

Catching the look, Claudia downed her drink and turned away from the band Rowena, our Scottish friend e suspected was sleeping with the bassist, Denver, brushed her bright purple hair out of her eyes to exchange a worried glance with me

Claudia was erratic around Beck

I knew she was attracted to hiroup with the possible exception of Beck, that Claudia was in love However, one minute she pretended to be fine about his manwhorish ways, and the next she looked like she wanted to find a corner to cry in

I nudged her arreen eyes Did I irl I’d ever irls to boot? Did I lanced back at the stage, glowered (which, in all honesty, I preferred to the sad puppy-dog look), and turned to ?" Jake leaned into ain

"It’s either that or I kill your best friend"

Jake looked over at Beck and gave a slight shake of his head "He needs to pull his head out of his ass"

"Yup Before then, though, I’ to head back to the aparth Ti tonight A telling-Mo…"

Jake’s eyebrows rose "Did I hear that right over the ht bristle prickle"Youa little nervous right now I ht back out"

In answer, I felt the soft press of Jake’s ainst mine My lashes fluttered closed and led as he drew back

"I’ot another kiss, but instead of drawing back afterward, Jake pulledchest, reat, and the strength in his arms as they held me to him made me feel safe

In that moment all my worries disappeared I felt the traitorous compulsion to open my o?" Claudia’s loud question stoppedreluctantly out of Jake’s hold, I said, "Wish me luck"

"You don’t need it" He brushedthis for ed with e it for us" I stood and shoved my laptop and notes into lanced down to see hi up at me, unable to hide the uncertainty in his eyes "You’ll call me afterward?"

"If it’s not too late" I bent down and pressed a quick kiss to his oodbye to Rowena as Claudia h the busy roooodbye to the guys, I got a chin nod fro Claudia leave, a little furroeen his brows

She hadn’t bothered to say goodbye to him and at this point, I didn’t blame her

Outside the bar, Claudia wrapped her ar wildly behind her She had a renoring my own nerves over the conversation I was about to have with h hers

She smiled absentmindedly at me as alked toward the apartment

"So," I said, "last weekend you and Beck sees are between you, and you were nervously excited about taking him with us to Barcelona to meet your father"

Claudia’s parents ealthy, self-indulgent, neglectful socialites frohter Over Christmas break, Claudia found out why her dad was particularly indifferent Turns out he wasn’t her real father Her real father was a British artist called Dustin Tweedie In an effort to make some kind of amends, Claud’s mom had tracked hi to pay for Claudia to fly out there this spring to meet him--with Jake, Beck, and rip "I was But that was last weekend"

"What happened between then and now?"

"I wrote an eer burned hotly in ainst e no idea what it felt like to be the recipient of not one, not two, but three indifferent parents, I really didn’t knohat to say "It’s only been two days"

Two of our neighbors called out to us and aved back As soon as they were gone, Claudia shrugged "Does itout there and interrupting his life" Her laugh sounded hollow I hated it She wasn’twhatever that thing is that ate "That’s not true"