Chapter 32 || Do You Have Any Queens?
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* * Nicole's POV * *
"Hey slow pokes what taking so long?" I hear Dan shout from the car.
I grunt as I fall off my bed and do my last minute check around my room and in my closet.
"You forgot these!" Alice shouts as she stuffs more things into my suitcase.... this is what happens when you pack the night before.
"Anything you think I need just shove it in there!" I quickly say.
I rush out of the closet to see a laughing Alice.
"What?"
"Nothing."
I raise an eyebrow.
"Your stressing Nicole. You are fine." She calms me down, "Besides anything you forgot you can borrow from me"
I exhale, "Thank you"
"No problem" She pats my back, "I need to put my suitcase in the car. See you in five." and she rushes out of my room.
I take two deep breaths and begin to attempt to close my suitcase but of course, it is filled to the bring and won't shut.
"Ughhhh" I groan loudly.
"Need a little help?" Jake asks as he leans against the door frame with his arms cross.
I say in frustration, "Yes, please! I can't get this stupid thing to shut."
He chuckles and walks into my room while flexing his arms in the process...
"You may want to close your mouth, you may catch a fly or two." He chuckles with an evil grin.
He planned that most definitely planned that!
"The only fly in here is you. So quit bugging me before I swat you away!" I retaliate.
He gives a hurt look, then grins, "Welp if you don't want my help... have fun getting your suitcase shut on your own" and he turns and walks away.
"Wait!" I grab his arm, "Please help me! I'm sorry!"
He turns his head and flashes that ever loving smile of his, "What was that Princess?"
I let go and roll my eyes, "You heard me. I am not repeating myself or..."
He completely turns around so that he is facing me. A serious look plastered onto his face. He takes a step forward pinning me against the wall. His face directly in front of mine, his eyes sparkling demonically as his breath fans my face and his hand wraps around my waist. His touch sent a million little shivers throughout my body.
My heart was racing like I had just finished running the Boston marathon. My legs felt like jelly and that they would collapse at any given moment, the only reason I wasn't sliding down the wall was because Jake was holding me up.
He brings his face forward brushing his nose against my cheek. I wanted to tell him to stop but my body wouldn't let me. He brushed his lips against my ear and whispered: "Or what?"
I couldn't move. I was paralyzed. Jake had robbed all my senses.
His face rubbed against the side of mine as he pulled his head back in front of mine, his forehead resting on mine.
I felt a deep blush rise into my cheeks.
He looked into my eyes for a solid moment and kept them locked on me.
We both stood in silence.
His serious face all of a sudden turns into a grin, "Didn't think so." He takes a giant step back, turns around, zips up my suitcase and begins walking out leaving me completely stunned and in awe.
Just as Jake reaches my door he turns his head around, he chuckles as he blows me a little kiss followed by a wink and exits my room while shutting my door.
What
Just
Happened?
Slowly my senses began to come back. I blinked in what felt like ages.
My whole body was shaking and my heart was racing. My hands were clammy and I couldn't focus.
What was that?
"Hey girlie you ready....." Alice voice slowly fades, "Okay what happened? You look like you just saw a ghost."
I couldn't say anything but, "I... just.... whaaa.... he... I..." slowly I began sliding down the wall.
Alice rush's to my side, "Easy girl easy! What happened?"
She sits me on the bed and laughs at how flustered I look. She pauses looks out the door then back at, "This has something to do with Jake doesn't it? Right before I walked in he walked out with a huge a$$ smile and a red face."
I blink and stare at her, "His face was red?"
She grins and slyly says, "Yessss... Yes he was."
I felt my face redden even more.
"What happpened?" She asks in a teasing tone.
"Nothing" I say and shoot up from my bed grabbing my suit case in the process, "Let's go."
She shakes her head, "You can't dodge this topic forever! I will never forget!""
"In time Alice. In time."
She laughs and gets up.
We both walk out to the van with our suitcases trailing behind us.
"Took you long enough" Dan shouts as he sees us exiting the house.
"Hey!" Alice says as we near the car.
Asher takes the suitcases from us and neatly places them in the car. My eyes subconsciously look around for a certain someone but he was no where to be found. I was both upset and relieved of that.
As soon as I let out a sigh of relief two arms wrapped behind me and in a cocky voice the owner of the arms said, "Did you miss me?"
I felt a small blush creep onto my face because deep down I did. Even though it was less than ten minutes since I saw him last.
"You wish" I said as I untangle out of his grasp and turn to face Jake.
"As a matter of a fact I do" He snakes his arms around me again.
I never knew that my face could get so red this many times in one day.
"I call sitting next to Nicole!" Dylan slides over and puts his arm over my shoulders and pulls me away from Jake.
Jake grunts aggressively as I am pulled away.
I look at Jake and he is steaming. I could tell he wanted to punch Dylan... Maybe I should play along, clearly Dylan is just taunting Jake cause he cracking up right now.
"You don't mind do you Jake?" I ask with a sarcastic tone.
I see him twitch.
Dylan falls on the ground laughing and I laugh with him.
"Not funny!" Jake shouts as him.
"Yes... Yes it was" Dylan cracks.
Jake rolls his eyes in frustration.
"Awe is little Jakey upset?" I say with a pouty lip.
Jake scoffs, "ha ha ha" clearly unamused.
"Man I was just joking" Dylan says as he pats his back and Jake's face turns a little red.
He looked absolutely adorable when he is embarrassed.
I walk up to him, "I'm sorry. The opportunity presented itself so I had to take it."
He rolls his eyes with a smile, "Shut up."
"You wish"
"Once again... I do"
I roll my eyes and lightly shove him.
"I see someone is more comfortable around me" He winks and pinches my cheek.
"FYI Dylan. You do that again I will punch you!" Jake shouts.
"Like you could hurt me!" He spits.
"Why you little...." Jake charges at Dylan and the two of them begin rough housing.
I watch as the two of them take swings at each other and run around like 5 year olds.
"He really does care for you" I hear from behind me.
I turn around to find Asher standing next to me, "What?"
"He does. I have never seen him like this with anyone and I have known him for ages. He is so protective over you."
I felt another blush coming on.
"I don't know what you did to him but you changed him for the better." Asher says before he walks away.
"Wait!" I says and he turns around, "You think so?"
He chuckles and shakes his head, "I know so" and walks away.
I felt a smile form at my mouth that I couldn't help.
"What are you smiling at?" Jake says out of nowhere causing me to jump a mile.
"N-Nothing!" I shriek.
He chuckles, "Welp then let's go. Asher and Dylan are in the middle and we get the back. Dan is driving and Alice demands shotgun."
"Just remember there are others in the car!" Dylan shouts at us as he enters the van.
"Pfft, this is Nicole we are talking about" Jake shouts throwing his hands in the air.
Dylan sticks his head out of the van, "I was talking about you. Not Nicole."
Jake rolls his eyes and Dylan sticks out his tongue.
Jake shouts, "You should be more worried about Dan and Alice!"
"I'm driving" Dan shouts, "I can't do anything"
"But Alice can" Jake mysteriously says as Alice gives us a sheepish look before rolling up the window and says "No promises."
Jake and I shake our heads simultaneously before Jake puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me to the van.
"Here," He says before getting behind me, wrapping his hands around my waist, and lifting me into the van so I didn't have to do any work.
"Thanks," I say as I climb into the back.
Jake hops in, shuts the door, and sits right next to me.
"Seat belts!" I chime with a smile.
The boys groan causing my smile to fade away. I subconsciously put my head down trying to disappear.
"Shut the f**k up and do what she says" Jake yells as he buckles up, "She is saving your f**king lives now say thank you."
Everyone buckles and like little kids they say "Thank you, Nicole. Sorry for being rude."
I smiled again.
I looked at Jake who was glaring straight ahead at them with his arms crossed. I place my hand on his arm and I feel him tense at first then relax. He turns to me with a smile.
"Thank you," I say.
He winks, "Anything for you Princess"
Dan starts up the van and just like that we are off.
I was not looking forward to this four hours drive ahead of us so I set out a little sigh.
"Hey, you okay?" I hear Jake ask.
"Yeah I'm just not looking forward to this to this drive"
"It's not that bad! Really! And besides, it's all worth it. When you get there you will have the time of your life! There are so many restaurants around where we will stay! The food there is so good! And yes, there is a Friendly's. Oh, they also have bowling, mini golf, and so many other things! The ocean is beautiful however I don't recommend going swimming because the water will be freezing but I do recommend going in once and then never go in again." Jake said in one giant enthusiastic breath, "And plus you get to spend the entire time with me." He sends me a wink and rubs my head.
The truth was I was actually excited about spending the entire time with him but I couldn't let him know that so I said, "Joy" in a sarcastic tone while rolling my eyes.
"If anyone gets car sick, I put bags under everyone's seat!" Dan shouts from the drivers seat, "And don't hesitate to ask to pull over to rest stop! Odds are someone else wants to stop too."
"Will you shut up and drive" Dylan spits back.
Silence.
"Hey nothing for me Jake?" Dan questions.
Jake blinks, "Oh sorry buddy I wasn't listening."
Dan glares through the rear view mirror at Jake while Dylan is cracking up.
Everyone begins their own little conversations shortly after and I stare out the window looking at the beautiful scenery pass by as the van moves.
"You think this is pretty wait till you see where we are staying" Jake whispers in my ear.
I turn to him, "Oh really? Tell me more." And he does.
He goes on to tell me about how the house is absolutely amazing. He tells me there is a movie theatre, indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub, and basically anything you can think of. He tells me how I am going to love it there.
"How can Dan afford this house?" I ask in awe.
Jake chuckles, "He can't. It's his parent's but they never go up so it's 'Dans' place."
"Wow. They must be super rich." I say with my eyes wide open.
"You have no idea" Jake snorts.
"Jealous are we?" I tease.
"Please. I am only jealous of the money not Dan." Jake denies.
"Mmhmm" I says raising an eyebrow.
"What would you do if you had a lot of money?" He changes the topic.
I blink a few times before saying, "Hmm..."
I begin thinking. If I had a lot of money what would I do with it? I though for what seems like forever and still couldn't think of what to use the money for.
"I don't know."
"Really? You don't know?!" He says in disbelief.
I think harder, "I think I would do one of two things. Either donate to a foundation for abused pets or adopt one of their dogs if not two."
Jake stares at me in silence for a while.
"Jake?" I begin to question after what seemed like several minutes of him zoning out.
He blinks, "Wow. You really are perfect."
All of a sudden I can feel my face start blushing super hard.
Jake widens his eyes and shakes his head, "Did not mean to say that out loud but... hey you are perfect"
"Jake I am not-"
He places his hand over you mouth, "Don't you dare finish that sentence."
"You need to start thinking highly of yourself" He continues, "It hurts me to see you get yourself down so much. I want you to think of yourself as I think of you..... If that made any sense.... It sounded better in my head." He pauses and looks me in the eye, "Got it?"
I nod and he slowly releases his hand.
"Jake? Why do you think so highly of me." I ask.
"I'm going to let you figure that out for yourself." Jake says patting my head and messing up my hair even more than it already was.
I looked down and nodded.
We began talking for a while about who knows what. We first started talking about how I am going to love Maine. Then we started talking about how Dan was going to crash the van because he keeps looking at Alice. Dylan actually yelled at them and said, "You look at her one more time I am moving in the front." Which got Dan to stop looking at Alice. Then we somehow managed to find cards and began playing go fish.
"Do you have any threes?" Jake asks in concentration.
"Go fish." I smirk and he rolls his eyes as he picks up a card.
"AHAAA! A THREE!" He shouts as he picks up a three from the deck.
"Lucky ducky." I say as he puts his match down.
"Do you have any queens" I ask.
"The only queen I have is you" He says smoothly.
I begin to melt, "Smooth Jake. Smooth."
He blows me a kiss.
"How long have you been waiting to say that?" I ask with a laugh.
He shrugs, "Ehhh the first card."
I begin dying of laughter and so does Jake.
"No really do you have any queens?" I ask getting all serious again.
He rolls his eyes, "Maybe I do. Maybe I don't."
"Well your supposed to tell me!" I say placing my hands on my hips.
"Yes, I have a queen." He says sheepishly as he hands me his queen.
"Ouch. You lied to me." I say placing my match down.
Jake eyes widen, "What? I did not!"
"You said I was your only queen but yet you had one in your hand" I tease.
He glares at me, "Shut up."
"You shut up"
Jake raises his eyebrows, "Oo so want to play it that way huh" and before I can say anything else Jake threw his cards at me and began tickling me to death.
"Jake!" I say through tears.
He continues tickling, "How do you like that!"
"Stop!!" I gasp.
He doesn't stop.
"I-I can't breathe" I say through laughs.
"Never!" He shouts and I laugh even harder.
"I'm going to pee!" I barely get out.
"Oh well" Jake shrugs.
He continues tickling me and I continue to laugh. My sides were hurting for all the laughing I was doing.
He finally stops and helps me to sit up. Tears were falling Down my cheeks.
"Why?" I all I can say as I catch my breath.
"Why not" He shrugs as he laughs at me.
I glare at him and he only laughs.
"Alright guys we are stopping, my legs hurt" Dan shouts as he begins pulling into a rest stop.
Thank goodness, I actually really needed to use a bathroom.
Dan parks the van and we all trickle out. As soon as I get out Alice grabs my arm and we walk to the bathroom.
"Have fun back there?" She asks as soon as we are away from the boys and in the girls room.
"What do you mean?"
She scoffs, "I heard you laughing."
I shake my head, "Jake was tickling me."
"Still, did you have fun?" She asks again.
I shrug, "I guess I did."
She squealed, "I'm so happy!"
I roll my eyes and we each go into a stall.
I finish before Alice so I wash my hands and quickly look in the mirror. I smiled at myself. For the first time in a while I felt confident with myself.
I skipped out of the girls room thinking one of the boys will be done but when I get out no one is there. I shrug and sit on a near by bench.
I begin humming and looking at the pretty flowers.
However, my moment was ruined when I hear "What's a pretty girl like you doing all by yourself."
I look up to see an older man in a brown leather jacket.
"For your information I am not alone." I say annoyingly.
He looks around with smirk, "I don't see anyone."
"That's because they are all in the bathroom and will be done any second."
"Is that so? Where are you and your 'friends' going?"
This man was seriously starting to annoy me.
"We are going to a boxing tournament up in Maine." I say aggressively.
"OH really? Who's the fighter."
I smirk, "Me"
He cocky smile disappears, "Well uh I need to go. H-Have fun. G-Good luck." And he runs away into his car and drives off.
I begin laughing my head off.
"What's so funny?" I hear shortly after.
I look up to see a very confused Jake.
I was laughing so hard I couldn't get words out.
"Look I knew you were crazy but not this crazy" He laughs.
He sits down next to me and when I stop laughing I tell him what just happened.
At first he laughs with me and then when he finishes laughing he just stares at me and smiles an ear to ear smile.
I stop laughing and see Jake's smile, "What are you smiling at?"
"Nothing"
"No really? What are you smiling at?" I ask again.
"You" he says swiftly.
I felt a blush creep into my cheeks.
Jake was looking at me with kind eyes and I looked back. He rested his hand on mine and scooted closer.
My heart rate spiked and I felt Jake's breath fan my face.
"C'mon slow pokes. The van is leaving!" Dan shouts with a smirk.
I turn my head and see Alice hit and scold him.
I laugh and when I turn around to look at Jake he looked flustered. He didn't notice I was looking at him but he really did look flustered.
I look back at the van before Jake catches me staring.
I feel his hand place on my shoulder, "Ready?"
I turn with a smile, "Yup!" And Jake's smile reappears.
He helps me up from the bench and slides his hand around my waist and leads me to the car. When we are at the van he again swiftly lifts me up and into it.
Once everyone was in the car and buckled Dan cheers, "Half way there guys!"
Wow had it really been two hours already? Huh, time flies when you are having fun.
Dan begins to drive and everyone starts talking again.
However, all that laughing took a lot out of me and I felt my eyes become heavy. I rested my head on Jake's shoulder who proceeded to rub my arm. My eyes come to a close as Jake rubs me.
Right Before I fell asleep I felt Jake place a soft kiss on my forehead.
• • •
A/N
Awe how cute :)
This shoutout goes to v33val thanks you for all the votes and the lovely comments!!
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Alyssa Rose