A Good Guy & A Bad Boy

Ch. 9

It was Friday afternoon, and Jake was going through Nick's closet. Nick soon entered from the fire escape, seeing what Jake was doing.

"Raiding my closet for Troy's beach house party?" he asked.

"You do have a better wardrobe than I do at Becky's house," Jake responded. "I'm trying to make a good impression."

"To Troy? It's obvious he likes you."

"He's just a friend. And I'm trying to reduce the risk of causing trouble with Trina. She's already thinks we're dating, which is kinda true; let's keep the Trina drama to a minimum."

"I really don't care if Trina get mad. I never dated her, and I won't. You mean more to me than her."

"Thanks, Nick," Jake wrapper his arms around Nick, who returned the hug. "Now let me get dressed for this party."

Soon, Erica and Nick accompanied Jake to Troy's family beach house. Erica was wearing a yellow bathing suit, Nick was wearing a blue tank top with black shorts, and Jake was wearing a red pair of shorts. Troy, wearing white shorts, approached Jake and his friends as they entered the house.

"Jakey, you made it!" he said.

"Yeah," Jake replied.

"I got your present as promised. Here."

Troy pulled out a small black box and passed it to Jake; the box had a bitten apple on the lid. Jake opened the box and gasped in shock and excitement.

"You got me an iPhone?!" he asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, you like it?" Troy responded.

"Like it?! I love it! Thank you!"

Jake gave Troy a big hug, wrapping his arms around Troy's soft yet rugged exterior. Nick took the iPhone and examined it.

"QB, who's gonna pay for the bill each month?" he asked. "Jake can't pay it."

"I'm paying the phone bill," Troy answered. "I had the phone in my name. And with my allowance being high, I can afford paying two phone bills."

"Thanks, Troy," Jake replied.

Nick looked at Troy with fire in his eyes. His lips were curled back in a snarl. Erica took notice of this and became concerned.

"Nick, let's hit the beach for a bit," she said. "Like now!"

Erica grabbed Nick by his arm and dragged him outside to the beach; Jake took his new phone from Nick and slipped it in his pocket.

"What was that about, Goldilocks?" Nick asked.

"I had to get you outta there before you blew a fuse," Erica explained. "I can tell you're mad that Troy is being... extra nice to Jake."

"Nice? Looks more like flirting to me. And I'm not mad... I'm furious! I know he know that Jake's mine. He's doing this to spite me."

"Before we assume he's flirting with Jake, we need to know all the facts... and we can't do that with an angry Nick."

"I'll try to calm down... for now, at least."

Suddenly, Trina, Sophie, and Andre walked in, staying together as they head to the beach.

"And there they go," Nick said salty.

"Well, at least we know we can trust one of them," Erica replied.

Jake walker out the house, meeting up with his friends. Nick grinned and held Jake's hand.

"Having fun?" he asked.

"After everything that happened lately, I needed this release," Jake responded.