Her Fear Of Falling Again

Chapter 5

"Hey Cassie, I've been looking all over for you. Are you avoiding me or something?" Jake asks. Panting and trying to catch his breath. They were both at a park near their hotel where Cassie had decided to take a run and clear her head. Exercising was Cassie's go-to, to combat stress. She had her headphones in and wasn't aware that Jake had called out to her until she noticed his presence next to her and pulled out her headphones.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She ask in between breaths as she kept her same running speed. Jake kept the same speed as her, running side by side. "I run here all the time and I was lucky to catch you here." He says. "Lucky? We work on the same set." She points out. "True, but it's been almost impossible to catch you. It's like you're avoiding me or something." He says.

Jake was right. Cassie was avoiding him. Since Becca had that little chat with Cassie, Cassie had decided to keep her distance from Jake. His piercing blue eyes and his suave were too much for her. "I don't know what you're talking about." she lied as she up her pace and began running away from him. But with Jake's long legs, he was able to catch up to her in no time.

"Okay stop." He says, pulling her hands trying to stop her from running any further. Cassie loses her balance a little but gains it back quickly. With her hands on her waist she stands there trying to regain a steady breath, and so does Jake. "I like you." He blurts in a huff, while still trying to catch his breath. These were the last words Cassie wanted to hear from him, especially when she's working on getting rid of this attraction she has toward him. "And I want to take you out to dinner." He gets straight to the point, catching Cassie completely off guard. She didn't think he was going to ask her out. She was not prepared for this. She takes a moment to compose herself not sure what to tell him. "Yea. I don't think so." She says as she turns around to pick up her run again.

"Wow, wow. Wait!" Jake says, getting in front of her and blocking her path. "What do you mean you don't think so? As in you don't want to go out with me?" Jake asks, in complete disbelief. "Yes, it means I don't want to go out with you. Is that a problem?" She asks innocently. "Heh, I see what you're doing here. You're gonna make me work for it aren't you." He says as he looks at her and shakes his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry, do you think I'm playing hard to get or something?" She asks. This was not the response she was expecting from him. She thought he would be annoyed and walk away, but it looked like this was exciting him or something. Cassie was confused. But she was right, Jake was turned on by what he thought was Cassie playing hard to get. He liked that he had to work for it. "It's fine, I like it." He said. Cassie didn't have time to think of a response cause Jake continued with "Here's what's going to happen. I'll race you to the end of the pole, and if I win, you go out with me and if you win, I won't ask you again." Cassie didn't have the chance to respond or decline the race invitation because immediately after saying that, Jake picked up his feet and started bolting.

"No. Wait. I didn't agree to this." Screamed Cassie as she continued running. She didn't know why she was entertaining his stupid race by competing but she couldn't afford to just stand there, she wanted a fair fight. Unfortunately, Jake and his extra-long legs beat her to it as she kept running toward the finish line, she could see him standing at the end leaning on the pole with a smug smile. "Great. So I'll pick you up at 8 tomorrow night." He says as soon as she reaches the end. And just like that, Cassie was sucked in again. It was starting to seem impossible for her to stay away from him.

It was now Friday night. Jake had taken Cassie to a simple yet classy Italian outdoor dining place at Malibu. After dinner, he had invited Cassie to crash a random outdoor beach party some teenagers were having on the beach. Cassie was uncomfortable with the idea but she couldn't fight him on it for long. Teenagers were drinking and playing music and talking. This was the kind of parties Cassie use to go to back when she was in high school. You can't grow up in LA and not go to beach parties.

Jake, grabs Cassie's hand pulling her into him. He placed both her arms around his shoulders and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. Cassie sucks in a breath, taking in his warm musky scent as she lays her head on his chest swaying to the music. Jake kissed the top of her head breathing in her coconut shampoo scent. "I love the way you smell", he says. Cassie looks up into his blue eyes which were now a little darker due to the darkness of the evening that surrounded them. "Well, I love the way you smell too." She says smiling shyly. "You do?" Jake asks tucking a strand of curl behind her ear. "weirdly, it gives me a sense of comfort." She says softly, causing Jake to smile and pull her close to him. She knew she was not supposed to be giving in to him cause he was supposed to be a player according to Becca, but everything Jake has done up until now does seem genuine. He has not indicated to her at least once, that he wanted to get in her pants. To her, that was enough to believe that maybe he does like her and is genuine about it.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Jake asks, breaking Cassie out of her thoughts. She pulls her head away from his chest looking up at him. "I think I really like you too." She says. Jake took that as an invite and leans in to kiss her. Cassie instantly felt butterflies in her stomach as she opened her lips to grant him entry. Their kiss was passionate and sweet and it was from that day one, they were inseparable. They spent every free time they had on set together and Jake was consistent even once the shoot had wrapped and they were on the road promoting the movie in different cities and countries, sometimes Cassie would get to go with him, and sometimes she won't as they would only require the main cast. Despite that, Jake was consistent and played the boyfriend role so well. He had even openly announced his love for Cassie, in interviews and they went to the movie premiere as a couple. It was official, Jake and Cassie were an item and Cassie couldn't have been happier.