Take The Chance (A Limitless Novel) [Book 1]

Thirty-Three

I studied our hands for the rest of the drive, the way they felt with our fingers intertwined, our hands fit together like they were made for each other. Which sounded stupid and corny, but my hand felt so perfect in his that I couldn't stop the cliché thought. I ran my fingers along his long fingers, across his short nails with long nail beds. His hands were perfect, just like every other part of him. I wondered how one person could be so god damn beautiful, it should have been a crime against nature, and I wondered how I'd been so lucky to be chosen by him. I must have done something great in my past life, something selfless and for the greater good. Whatever it was, I thanked past Matilda because she'd definitely done a solid for me.

We pulled up to the house and Jake put the car in park, before he used his hand in mine to pull me close. He pressed another soft kiss to my lips, turning my brain to mush and my breathing turning erratic. He pressed his forehead to mine, a contagious smile breaking out across his face and making me smile as well.

We both turned to get out of the car, both of us excited to get inside and pick up from where we had left things the night before.

We walked up to the front door, hand in hand with Jake swinging our hands back and forth in a playful mood. Neither of us made any attempt to talk, probably because we had done enough talking for now. I didn't want to ruin the moment by talking, and the silence between the two of us was comfortable. Like we didn't need words to fill the empty space between us.

Jake stopped at the front door, pulling me into another kiss that was more forceful and heated. A creak on the porch, like someone shifting his or her weight from one leg to the other, made both of us stop. I turned around, Jake's hands still on my hips, finding Hanley standing next to the porch swing. She gave us an awkward smile, holding her handbag in front of herself and her hands tightening around the armband of her bag.

"Hanley," Jake said, sounding surprised and slightly annoyed at the same time. I covered his hand on my hip with my own hand, trying to calm him down slightly.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said, sounding unapologetic. She looked down at her bag, digging around for something in it and pulling out a white envelope. "I came to give you these, they are house keys," she added, explaining what was in the envelop.

Jake took his hand off my hip and accepted the envelope, his jaw clenched and he had a hard look on his face. I squeezed his other hand that was still on my hip, trying to remind him that I was here.

"You two didn't take long," Hanley noted, looking between the two of us with a fake smile on her face.

"Hanley –" Jake warned.

"I know Jackson, we were never really together. I just always thought..." her voice travelled off, the empty air between us holding the answer to what she had thought. She thought that they would eventually make it all happen – for real – and now there was no chance for that. Because of me. "Anyway, I'm off. My new movie begins filming tomorrow," Hanley announced, moving past the two of us and down the porch steps.

"Bye Hanley," I smiled, trying to keep the peace between us. I didn't know if I was ever going to see her again, but I didn't need her ruining anything for Jake in their world. The famous world.

"Good luck trying to look after him," Hanley waved, not even turning around as she talked. Instead she continued towards her car, completely unaffected by everything that had happened. "God knows you need it," Hanley laughed, before she jumped in her car that was waiting out the front of the house on the street.

I felt Jake's fingers dig into my hipbone, obviously Hanley was getting to him and I wasn't going to let her. I turned around and ran my hands through his hair before interconnecting them behind his neck, forcing him to look at me.