Tangled Love

CHAPTER 54

"Get a room, it's disgusting."

My head snaps to the right where Tobias is stood, his nose scrunched up in disgust. Jake takes a few steps back and I feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment even though Tobias barely saw anything.

It was a harmless kiss.

Jake turns towards Tobias, his eyebrows raised in annoyance.

"What's your problem man?" Jake asks, his voice low. The tension between these two is so obvious. I glance between them as they both stare each other down, their eyes cold and emotionless.

I wonder what happened between them?

"My problem is that you're blocking the hallway with your PDA," Tobias mumbles in anger. Jake's body tenses and he takes a step forward.

"So what? Are you jealous?" Jake spits back harshly. Tobias chuckles at Jake and I swallow the lump in my throat, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm not jealous J. You know I can have whoever I want." Tobias' eyes glint with humour, mocking Jake. Everything happens so fast and before I know it, Jake has pounced on Tobias, his fists colliding with Tobias' face. Tobias is knocked back before regaining his balance and lunges for Jake. I hear the force of Tobias' punch against Jake's cheek and I scream, finally snapping out of shock.

Jake's head snaps towards me and I back up, fear in my eyes.

Jake stands to his feet quickly, dodging another punch from Tobias when Ivory runs down the stairs, eyes wide with terror.

"Tobias!" She screeches and Tobias immediately stops, backing away from Jake, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Jake glares angrily at Tobias and wipes away the blood from his lip with the back of his hand.

"Stay away from me and definitely stay away from Emily." Jake turns towards me, taking my hand in his. He pulls me towards the kitchen, slamming the door shut so that we're be alone. I don't realise my hands are shaking until Jake pulls me into his lap, wrapping my hands in his.

"I shouldn't have done that in front of you."

I reach for his hand and stroke over his knuckles which were are red from fighting. His hand is comically large compared to mine.

"You have tiny hands."

"I don't have tiny hands, they look tiny compared to your massive caveman hands."

Jake gasps, mocking hurt and I grin at him. His lip is still bleeding and I reach up sadly, wiping away the blood with my thumb.

"I hate it when you fight." I mumble. Jake sighs in response, his eyes drifting to my lap instead of looking at me.

"Tobias pushes my buttons like no-one else."

I nod, knowing Tobias is a trigger for Jake's anger. I reach up and stroke his cheek gently, the warmth of my hand pressing against his skin. Jake remains silent as he studies my face and I begin to feel nervous under his fixed stare. His eyes glaze over and he seems to be deep in thought.

"You're beautiful," he whispers and I suck in a breath at his words. He places both his hands around my face tenderly and leans forward, eyes fluttering shut. His kiss is soft and gentle, almost as if he's expressing his feelings using his lips.

I feel my heart falling for Jake, despite the protests from my mind.

Love.

Love to me has always meant ending up hurt. Every person I've loved in my life has left me alone, abandoned and in pain. I think about my feelings for Jake, questioning whether I should ignore them in hopes that they'll disappear.

Will Jake hurt me eventually and leave me?

As soon as I pull back and look up into a swirl of blues as magical as the ocean, I already know my answer. It's too late.