Love The One You're With

Chapter 30-Yet

"What are you two talking about?" Jake asked as he surprised me by putting his hands on my waist from behind. I giggled as he leaned in and kissed my cheek gently.

"Definitely not you," Ronnie lied, shooting me a quick wink as she laughed. I leaned back into him, closing my eyes and enjoying the closeness until Ronnie groaned. "Gahh get a room!" she teased before walking away in a dramatic huff.

"That's not a bad idea!" Jake joked loud enough for Ronnie to hear in the living room. "I have one upstairs if you're interested," he whispered before kissing a line down my jaw causing my cheeks to burn. I nodded slightly, careful not to look too enthusiastic. His eyes widened, but he quickly led me through the hallway and up the stairs. We walked past more family photos, and I couldn't help but smile as I looked through them.

"Wow, so you've just always been cute, huh?" I asked with a smirk while pointing at a few pictures of the twins holding baby Sam. Jake blushed and shook his head.

"You probably can't even tell us apart...even our parents had trouble at that age," he joked, but I could tell he was used to being compared to Josh all the time and that it bothered him.

"This is you," I pointed to the one smiling wide and looking straight at the camera. Truly, they looked identical, but I knew in my bones that this one was Jake. His face lit up as he smiled back at me. I reached out and hooked my hand on the back of his neck, pulling him in to a kiss.

"I love you," he whispered breathlessly as we parted. I mumbled it back as he pulled me into a bedroom with a wooden door that said "Captain's Quarters: Keep out!" I wanted to laugh, but I did my best to contain it. We sat on the edge of his bed, on top of a solid black bedspread, facing each other and making out like we were still in high school.

"Jake," I managed between fervent kisses, "wait." He immediately pulled away, catching his breath as he nervously waited for me to continue. His lips were already red and plump from kisses, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Ronnie had told me... I knew better than to sell her out that fast, but I wanted to talk to Jake about it. "Tell me about the band," I said with a sigh.

He cocked his head to the side in confusion, but a smile played at the corner of his mouth before he began to speak. "The band? Right now?" He asked as his smile widened and I nodded in response.

"Please?" I stuck out my lower lip and gave him my best puppy eyes. I put my hand on his knee and scooted closer, waiting for more.

"I started playing guitar...well I guess I've just kind of always played guitar, and in high school I got this idea of putting a band together..." he scanned my features as he spoke, no doubt waiting on me to get bored, but I smiled and nodded as I listened intently. "So I started to invite over people from band, specifically drummers, and we'd jam in the garage. Soon enough I was trying to sing and play guitar, until Josh came out with this belting voice that soared over the chaos," he smiled as he remembered. "We couldn't have been more than 16 or so... Then Mom kind of made us let Sam join, but I'll be damned if he wasn't a natural at the bass or the keys..or honestly anything he tried to play," he added as he raked his fingers through his hair. "We started playing a few gigs around town, but something was missing. We were fighting a lot because I was pushing too hard and not everyone was as dedicated as me...the drummer ended up bailing, so Sam called Daniel and had him fill in. It was..magical. We all played off each other's energy, and sounded amazing! We started playing more and more gigs in bars and a few school events, so Josh and I didn't go to college right away. We spent time networking and trying to make it big..." his smile dropped as he broke eye contact. "It wasn't working, so I finally just faced the facts, and enrolled in college when Sam did."

"Just because it hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't," I reassured him. He hadn't mentioned his ex, and I didn't want to pry. "You are the most talented guitar player I've ever seen, and you're cute, and sexy," I booped his nose and he smiled. "And if the world isn't ready for you, that's fine because I'm not ready to share anyways," I smirked as I finished complimenting him.