Jake pulled up in front of Jessica's mother's house, his tyres crunching on the gravel road.
There was snow on the ground; a surprise flurry started falling last night, and now a light dusting covers the place in a soft white blanket.
The house was large, but it had a cottage-style feel to it. You can see it has had improvements and extensions added. They looked odd and out of place compared to the main, bulky building. The front door opened, and a woman who looked so eerily like Jess came running out.
She had brown hair that was clipped high on her head in a bun, and her eyes were the same shade of green as Jessica's. Jake had seen her once at the funeral, but still, the resemblance was shocking.
Jessica opened the car door and ran to her mother; they met in a tight hug.
Jake's lips turned upward; it was warming to witness such love.
He got out of the car and grabbed their bags, trying to make himself useful as nervousness started tickling his belly.
"You look thin; have you been eating?" Her mother fretted, patting her daughter's arms as she pulled back from the embrace.
"Yes, mam." She groaned but smiled as she said it.
"Hmm..." She examined her quizzically.
"Mam, this is Jake." Jessica introduced him, and they both turned to face him as he walked to them. He slung the bags over his shoulder as he shook her hand.
"Yes, yes! I met him briefly before." Jake and Jessica's eyes met briefly, both remembering the incident at the funeral. "Thank you for looking after my baby; she's told me you've been a great friend to her."
"No need to thank me," Jake said shyly.
"Come on inside, the pair of you! I've got to check the turkey before Auntie Jean burns it."
"It wouldn't be Christmas without her burned cooking." Jess laughed and took her bag from Jake.
Inside, in the warmth, the house was in a riot. Kids ran around screaming, adults were in mid-conversation, and laughter filled the air. Christmas music was playing in the background.
It felt so homely.
Jake could picture Jess growing up here; it looked like the perfect place for a child to get up to many adventures with the big house and land that stretched on for miles. How many tree swings did she make? How many bear tea parties did she throw in the woods? Jake wanted to know it all.
"Merry Christmas, everyone!" Jess shouted as she entered the room.
The kids ran at her while they screeched, like a high-pitched battle cry. They knocked her back a few steps as they all swarmed her, enveloping her in a big hug. She laughed and patted their heads. "Auntie Jess!" They all shouted in unison.
She turned to Jake and said, "I'm known as Auntie here. No cousins allowed."
He nodded, amusement shining in his eyes as she struggled against them.
"Who's this?" One of the little girls asked. She had brown hair and a small face with a pinched nose.
"This is Jake, my friend." Jess introduced.
"Uncle Jake." She declared as she hugged him.
"No, no... Not Uncle Jake, just Jake." She said, giving Jake an apologetic half smile.
"Uncle Jake." She said it more firmly, glancing up at his face from where she clung to his leg.
"You can call me whatever you want." He said as he kneeled down to her level.
"So, I can call you a big, smelly monster if I want to?" One of the little boys joked.
He nodded. "Sure. I've been called worse."
The kids found this hilarious and started running around shouting 'big smelly monster' at the top of their lungs.
A woman came out of the kitchen who looked similar to Jessica's mother. The genes in this family were strong.
"Pack it in!" She shouted, her voice booming through the house.
They listened, but instead started quietly giggling to themselves.
She smiled politely at Jake. "They're little devils. Sorry about them." She said and drew him into a hug.
Jess looked embarrassed. "Auntie Jean, don't squeeze him."
She squeezed him.
He held his breath, knowing he wouldn't be able to take in any new air for a while. Good job; he had good lungs from singing.
"Oooh, well, well, well, I can see why you've been keeping him a secret, Jessica; he is one handsome young man." She cooed and poked his face.
Jessica went bright red. "I haven't been keeping him a secret, Auntie." She defended herself as Jean continued to examine Jake.
"Thanks?" Jake mumbled; his cheeks were surly glowing.
She gave him a cheeky wink.
Jess grabbed Jake's hand and pulled him away from Jean. "Honestly! And you guys wonder why I never bring friends home." She shouted so everyone could hear. They all groaned in response. "Let's escape while we can!" She whispered to Jake, and she dragged him up the stairs.
Upstairs was just as cosy as downstairs, with plush grey carpets and family photos covering the walls. Jess was the main focus in most of them; in some of them, she was young, with pigtails and a missing front tooth. Or she was a teenager with a moody glare, refusing to smile for the camera out of defiance.
"You tell anyone about these photos, Jake, and I may have to kill you." She warned him as she pulled him into a small bedroom.
Jessica's room.
It was so her that he was taken aback for a moment. Band posters stuck to the walls, almost covering the walls entirely, which were painted a mixture of red and black. The bed was a four-poster double with twinkly lights hanging down. The room still smelled like her. Cherry's.
"This is my old room; sorry, you'll have to sleep on the blow-up bed downstairs. But you can leave your things here and use my bathroom." She gestured to the ensuite.
He touched some of the twinkly lights, imagining her falling asleep and looking up at the stars as she grew up.
"Childish, I know." She commented.
He shook his head and said, "I like it."
He walked around, snooping. And she let him. Her book shelf was full of typical teenage romance novels but also a huge collection of Darren Shan novels. So she did like horror after all.
He touched a folder with a large Pokémon logo on it, and when he opened it, the shiny Pokémon cards dazzled his eyes. "Wow." He breathed.
She nodded proudly, "Some of my finest work." She declared, he could only nod in agreement.
He flicked through the seemingly endless pages full of cards. Some are rare, some are common, but all are beautifully preserved in their protective sleeves.
"I didn't know you were a Pokémon fan." He said.
"Wasn't every child born in the 1990s and 2000s?"
He laughed and put the folder away.
While admiring her posters, he pointed to a Noise poster on her wall, and she grinned. "I still can't believe you're working with them. I'm so jealous."
He examined the poster. Crazy, wacky hair styles, bright clothes, and a spiral background. Very early 2000s. They looked a lot younger there than they do now. "You've had plenty of sneak peeks."
"It's not enough! It'll never be enough!" She laughed. Then her smile faltered slightly. "Sorry about my family; I told you they're wild."
He shook his head and said, "Don't apologize. They seem great, very welcoming."
"That's one word for it. You've yet to meet Uncle Joe..." She rolled her eyes.
"You're all very close."
She nodded. "Yeah. I call my mam every night and speak to the rest every few days or so. It's weird living away from them."
"I bet you miss them."
She nodded slowly. "I do. But I love my life in Bristol. I was thinking about moving home after Adam died... But something kept me there."
"Well, it's a good job you stayed. The bakery is really taking off." She blushed. "That's all I see on Facebook; everyone is raving about how good it is."
"Nice little ego boost, thanks." She joked.
"I'm being serious, Jess." He said his eyes glistened with what looked like pride.
She smiled at him and looked away. Embarrassed at his praise. "Well, I've made a Christmas cake for tonight."
"I hate raisins."
"Yes, yes, I know." She groaned with an eye roll. "So I made something else for you."
"You shouldn't have gone through the extra trouble."
"It's no trouble; I like doing it."
"What is it?"
She tapped the tip of her nose with her finger a few times and said, "You'll have to wait and see."
He pulled a face. "What was that?"
"What was what?"
"The nose thing?"
"Haven't you seen that before?" She scrunched her nose now that it was getting so much attention. She was so adorable that it made him want to run his hands down his face in frustration.
"No." He replied and looked away.
"Oh." She shrugged. "It just means, mind your business."
"I think you're making things up now." He told her and crossed his arms over his chest, a teasing tone in his voice.
"I'm not!"
"Hmm."
"It's a thing! All my family do it."
"Hmm." He hummed again.
"Oh, shut up!" She laughed and started unpacking some of her things.
He didn't bother unpacking; instead, he just grabbed a towel from his bag and his so bad it's good Christmas jumper. "Do you mind if I have a quick shower? I didn't get a chance this morning, and I want to be fresh for dinner."
"Of course, I'll show you how the shower works. It's got a mind of its own." She laughed as she led the way.
***
Jessica started curling her hair. She had touched up her makeup a little; not much extra was needed. Before leaving Bristol, she had applied her signature Christmas look, red and green eyeshadow. If it was any other day, she would look insane. But on Christmas day, it all made sense. She applied just a little more lip gloss and a dab of powder. She finished the curl, running her hand through them to loosen them a little.
Dinner was at two, and they didn't have long to get ready.
Christmas dinner was her favourite part of the day. She loved sitting around the table with everyone she loved most in the world. Last year had been hard without Adam. But she tried to remember this year that Christmas was a time to feel grateful for the people you had and to remember the people you had lost. It wasn't a time to feel bitter and resentful; it was a time to find peace.
As she pulled the bobble from her hair, letting down the last section of hair to curl, the bobble flung across the room with a sharp ping and landed by the bathroom door.
She exhaled with a light groan before going to retrieve it.
Crouching down, she noticed the door was slightly ajar. Her eyes peered inside the crack as though they had a mind of their own. The room was steamy, with heat radiating out of the small crack. Behind the steam was the shower, and inside it stood Jake.
His back was to her. His shoulders were broad and firm. Muscles rolled down his back, defined and chiselled, glinting in the light as the water ran down him. The contours of his back tensed as he moved, forcing Jess to lick her lips with anticipation.
She should turn away. This was wrong. She knew it was wrong. Not only was it completely unethical to stare at him in the shower while he wasn't aware he was being watched, it was also wrong because it was Jake.
But she couldn't turn away; she couldn't close her eyes. All she could do was look with her mouth slightly ajar.
He looked like a Greek god. Tall, powerful, and unearthly.
Jess swallowed; she was suddenly so thirsty.
She had seen his back and chest before, but there was something so captivating about seeing it now. Wet and forbidden as he showered. She found her mind wondering how it would feel to touch him, to run her hands down his back with her nails digging in, to feel his muscles strain in her grip as she worked him.
Her eyes travelled south, and she noticed his firm butt. So perky, so hard, so perfect. Damn. He definitely didn't skip those squats at the gym.
Jessica's heartbeat thumped in her throat, tapping against her skin like a twitch.
He lifted his hands to his hair, washing it as his biceps tensed, soap running down his neck and spine. Jessica's belly fluttered as warm liquid travelled down and down. She squeezed her thighs together.
"Wow." She sighed and leaned against the door slightly.
It squeaked.
He glanced in her direction towards the sound, and she flung herself back hard. She hit the wooden floor of her bedroom with a loud thud.
"Are you okay?" Jake shouted from inside.
Her mind was fighting itself. Did he see her? No, of course he didn't. But what if he did?
"Yeah, I just tripped!" She shouted back and sat up, rubbing her elbow, which she had wacked on the floor in the fall. It throbbed.
The shower turned off, and within a few seconds, the door opened.
He stood in front of her, his towel wrapped tight but low around his hips, as he looked down at her with a sceptical frown.
She looked up at him, her neck moving achingly slowly as her eyes took in his wet abs, solid and firm on his stomach. His glorious, glistening pecs. She had to stop herself from biting her lip. He had hair on his chest, which she was surprised at. She'd thought he would have shaved it off, like many men did. But she found she liked it. There was a small patch on his chest, a thin line leading down and down...
Would it be okay if she just reached forward and pulled that towel free to see what hidden secrets he had in there? Was that within the friend zone?
He reached a hand out to her, and she took it, letting him pull her up. Getting on a different eye level than Jake's dick was definitely a good thing.
"Are you okay?" He inquired as he examined her elbow.
She pulled herself away, his touch burning her skin. "I'm fine, just fine..."
He frowned even deeper at her as she parted her hair again, going back to the curlers to distract herself from her sinful thoughts.
He shook his head, a bewildered look on his face, and went back into the bathroom to dry off and change.
She exhaled long and hard. Everywhere felt alight with tiny tingles of electricity.
Her clitorus ached, begging her brain to make her follow him to the bathroom. And all she did was look at him! Can you imagine if she had actually touched him? She felt giddy at the thought. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt desire like that, and her body was in shock at it.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she gave herself a stern look. "No more of that." She told herself as she continued to curl her hair, her knees trembling slightly.
***
Jake is 🥵
So I am very much imagining Jacob Elordi as Jake! Who do you see as Jake?
Thanks for reading!
Next chapter will be out soon
Shunice x