Instead he sighed and opened the message. (Because he was a fucking glutton for punishment. Obviously.)
It's not just sex to me, Jake.
I'm sorry.
Please call me.
Well, fuck.
That was unexpected.
The ache in his chest lessened instantly, though the throbbing in his brain was like a goddamned freight train. Stupid whiskey. He decided he was better off just going to sleep right now; he'd talk to her tomorrow.
Then they could hopefully figure this shit out.
Chapter 18
Alisha woke up the next morning and was temporarily confused by her surroundings. She wasn't at home; that much she deduced immediately. After rubbing her eyes and blinking the sleep away, she realized she was in Maggie's guest room; the same room that she'd occupied for a while after her apartment building caught fire. The same fire that brought Big into her life.
She grabbed her phone and felt a twinge of pain deep in her chest when she saw that he hadn't responded to her text. As she sat up and rubbed her hands over her face, she had no recollection of even getting into bed. Granted it had been an emotional rollercoaster the night before, but the last thing she remembered was Maggie bringing her some tea and tossing some pajamas at her while she worried (and cried) over whether she'd messed things up irrevocably.
All she knew right now was that she needed to talk to Jake and attempt to fix this mess they were in (because of her stupid mouth). She had some time to spare before rehearsals, so she decided she'd grab breakfast on the way to his apartment to bring as a small peace offering.
After pulling on the spare outfit she kept at Maggie's place (just in case), she pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail and cleared the smudges from last night's makeup before hurrying out of the room.
Maggie and James were making breakfast when she heard Alisha turning the locks on the front door. "Hold it!" she barked, stepping out of the kitchen.
Alisha stopped and whirled to face her friend. She felt an enormous amount of guilt over the secret she'd kept from her for so long; and she knew she hadn't deserved the comfort her friend gave her the night before. But that's why Maggie was her best friend—she was amazing and forgiving. "Hi," Alisha said sheepishly.
"Where are you going?" Maggie asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"Jake's," Alisha answered, slipping her coat over her shoulders.
Maggie arched a perfectly shaped brow. "Did he call?"
Alisha's face fell into a frown. "No," she muttered. "But I'm going over there to apologize."
The blonde nodded and toyed with the tie on her robe. In all honesty, she was still upset over everyone keeping the truth from her, but it wouldn't do any good to hold on to that. She loved her friend and wanted her to be happy. If Big made her happy, then who was she to judge? "Good luck," she said finally, lifting her eyes to look at her friend, offering a tiny smile.
A grateful smile washed over Alisha's face; she walked over and threw her arms around Maggie. "Thanks, Maggie. I will make this up to you somehow."
"I know," Maggie sighed dramatically, earning a giggle from her friend. "Hey, Keller," she called into the kitchen.
James poked his head out and smiled at the two. "Yeah?"
"Is your friend going to be an idiot or is he going to do the right thing and forgive my friend?" Maggie asked him.
He scratched his face and looked between the two, uncomfortable at having been put on the spot. "I, uh, well…" he trailed off, noticing the way Alisha's face fell when he did so; Maggie scowled at him. "Look, you're…you know…hot, and he doesn't really stay mad for long. I'm sure if you just go over…well, everything will…you know…blow over." Casting his eyes to Maggie, his lips twitched at her approving nod.
The girls exchanged amused looks before Alisha smiled at him. "Thanks, James. Okay, I'm going to go," she announced, heading for the door.
"Call me," Maggie yelled after her.
She took the stairs two at a time, being careful with the cups of hot coffee in her hands. Tucked under her arm was a bag of fresh bagels and cream cheese from a bakery down the street she knew he liked.
The entire trip to his apartment she practiced her speech (in a thousand different ways) and she hoped that he had cooled off enough from the night before to at least hear her out. Uncertainty over which version of the speech she was going to give niggled in her brain and stressed her out as she rounded the final flight of stairs to his floor. You can do this, Alisha, she assured herself. All she had to do was tell him the truth. And that truth was that she had real feelings for him and she wanted to see where this thing (relationship…she needed to get used to that word) between them could go.
Simple enough.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled slowly through her mouth a few times in a vain attempt to calm the nerves raging manically in her stomach. With one last you can do it in her head, she lifted a fisted hand and knocked.
The incessant knocking on the door woke a sleeping Sarah Biggerman and that annoyed the shit out of her. Didn't whoever was on the other side of that door realize that she was in the middle of an emotional crisis and had come to New York to escape? That 7:45am was way too fucking early to show up at someone's apartment unannounced and disturb her? (so what if it wasn't her apartment) She snuggled back into the couch and pulled the blanket up over her head, deciding to let her brother deal with the disturbance. Hearing the water running in the shower and another
