Chapter 5: Break Even

1K 32 13
                                    

We ate our pizza in the living room in silence, and I didn’t dare look up at him since I was still annoyed with him for laughing at me. I honestly didn’t see what was so funny.

“Are you mad at me?” Jake asked after a while.

“I’m not mad, but I can’t say I like you that much at the moment either,” I said, staring at my almost empty glass.

“How about I make it up to you?”

I looked up to see a wicked grin was on his face. “How?”

“Well, I promised you I would show you what I thought was funny about guitar players.”

I sighed. “Fine, show me.”

He got up and left the room. My jaw dropped. He popped back in, “I’ll be right back, I just need to get something.”

I clamped my mouth shut and began to pick up our dirty plates and cups, putting them away in the kitchen sink. By the time I got back to the living room, Jake was there.

 “Are you serious?” I asked, feeling utterly mortified.

In his hands was a beautiful, sleek brown guitar, the open case on the floor by the couch next to his foot. He grinned up at me. “See why I thought it was funny?”

“That is so not funny!”

He rolled his eyes. “What’s one of your favorite songs?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Break Even,” I said, still feeling embarassed.

“By the Script?” he asked, his grin spreading wider across his face.

“Yeah, you know it?” I asked, feeling surprised now.

His only response was to start playing his guitar, I caught the familiar tune of Break Even.

“Do you sing too?” I asked in awe.

He nodded, looking serious and concentrated. “I’m still alive, but I’m barely breathing. Just prayed to a God that I don’t believe in. ’Cause I got time while she got freedom, ‘cause when a heart breaks no, it don’t break even.”

A smile spread slowly across my face. He was good, no, he was better than good. He was amazing. Better than the real singer. His voice was soft and husky, and he pitched it a bit higher than his usual voice, and I was suddenly in heaven.

“Her best days will be some of my worst. She fin’lly met a man that’s gonna put her first. While I’m wide awake, she’s no trouble sleeping. ‘Cause when a heart breaks no, it don’t break even, even, no.”

He looked up and flashed me a smile, before going into the chorus and closing his eyes. The expression on his face-the happiness there-it wasn't a look I'd seen before. It looked like everything was right in the world.

“What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you? And what am I supposed to say when I’m all choked up and you’re okay? I’m falling to pieces, yeah, I’m falling to pieces.”

He suddenly stopped and I couldn't help my disappointment.  “Why did you stop?” 

“I don’t know,” he replied quietly, looking down at his guitar. Silence stretched on for a few moments before he looked back up at me again, smirking a little. “Did you think I was sexy?”

“I’ll admit, it was kind of sexy,” I said, looking away but unable to stop my grin.

“That’s all I could ever hope for in life,” he said, grinning back at me.

Bad Luck with LoveWhere stories live. Discover now