Free Popping the Cherry by Aurelia B. Rowl

and that way she could keep an eye on you, make sure you’re OK.’
    ‘Thanks, I think,’ I said, forcing a smile when I actually wanted to hug him, but that took too much movement. ‘If she goes all mother hen on me, I’m holding you to blame, you know that, right?’
    Jake hit me with a smirk, a definite glint in his eye. ‘Hey, I’m not making any promises. You know Gemma …’
    ‘Oh God …’ I said, feeling better by the second.
    ‘Come on, let’s get out of here and leave these nice people to close up and go home. My van’s just out front.’
    ‘Yeah, good idea.’
    He raised his chin and projected his voice over my shoulder. ‘We’ll be off now,’ he called out, loud enough to make my ears throb.
    The lady immediately bustled through the door, reminding me of my mum again.
    ‘I’m really sorry to put you to so much trouble,’ I said, my face warming as a blush crept into my cheeks.
    ‘Nonsense,’ she said, wafting a hand at me. ‘Our youngest daughter is not so much older than you. We were happy to help.’
    I wanted to ask who her daughter was, but now didn’t seem like the right time to ask. ‘Thank you,’ I said instead. ‘Oh, and I’ll be phoning the police as soon as I get back.’
    The lady smiled approvingly. ‘Good girl.’ Definitely a mum-tone, it wasn’t the slightest bit patronising the way she said it. ‘Let me get the door for you,’ she said, already on her way and making the bell do its tinkly thing again.
    Jake took it as his cue to spring into action. He helped me back up to standing, then looped one arm around my shoulders for support. ‘Ready?’
    Am I?
    Butterflies took flight in my gut. The big bad world was waiting for me out there. No time like the present I suppose.
    ‘Ready,’ I bluffed, satisfied to hear my voice sounding far more confident than I was feeling. I still didn’t know
how
I was going to walk out of there, as in physically, without all the mental crap on top. Especially with no shoes on. The next thing I knew, Jake had hooked his other arm behind my knees and lifted me into the air so I lay cradled in his arms. He was strong, I had to hand it to him. He’d made it look easy too.
    After some careful manoeuvring through the narrow doorway, we were back outside. I instantly slipped into red-alert mode, turning my head left and right to scan the area the best I could. Nothing. No cars parked up nearby, and the road was deserted, with only a single set of tail lights somewhere off in the distance. My brain tricked me into seeing things in the shadows that weren’t really there, turning me into a nervous wreck by the time we got to Jake’s van, parked exactly where he’d said it would be. If it hadn’t been for Jake and his steadying hold, I think I’d have turned around and run straight back to the takeaway.
    ‘Damn,’ Jake muttered, under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear and strained enough for me to tense in his arms. I think I might have whimpered too. ‘Sorry,’ he said, shooting me a sheepish look. ‘I’m just annoyed with myself. I forgot to take my keys out of my pocket to give to you to hold, so I’m going to have to put you down.’
    ‘Oh …’
    ‘Actually, scratch that, just hang onto my neck. It won’t take more than a second, OK?’
    ‘OK.’ I said, trying to get a good grip so I didn’t plummet to the ground, which looked quite a long way away from up at Jake’s chest height.
    To help me out, he leaned me up against the side of the van, the chill coming off the cold metal making me shiver, as he fished in his jacket pocket. Orange lights flashed, reflecting off the shop windows as the doors unlocked with a mechanical whirring sound, closely followed by a clunk as Jake yanked on the handle to open the passenger door as wide as it would go.
    He put his arm back around my shoulders and adjusted me so that I was in line with the seat, then gently lowered me into it. I looked over his shoulder towards the