Free Popping the Cherry by Aurelia B. Rowl Page A

takeaway and saw the lady standing in the doorway, with my shoes in her hands, and she had been joined by the chef man, too.
    ‘Can you come back soon, let us know how you are getting on?’ she asked.
    ‘Yes, I will,’ I said, touched by the kindness of these two complete strangers, making a mental note to get them a card or something. Jake sprang back up to his full height and reached for the door. ‘Bye,’ I called out before the door completely closed. ‘And thanks again.’
    Jake dashed around to the driver’s side, collecting my shoes along the way, but it was never going to be quick enough. I was on my own and it scared me. Blood rushed through my ears as my heart rate sped up, my throat tightening with each ragged breath. Ridiculous as it sounds, panic had started to build in my chest the moment he had become cut off from me, as if he was the source of my bravery, and it didn’t matter one bit that I could still see him through the glass.
    Gemma would have come and got me if she’d been home, and she’d have done her best, but it would have been like the blind leading the blind. Plus, she’s even smaller than I, inheriting her mum’s delicate stature rather than her dad’s brawn, and now Jake’s too, I guess. He used to look a bit weedy when I first started hanging out with Gemma but he’d filled out loads in the last few years.
    To be honest, Gemma and I would probably still be stuck in the takeaway, and there’s no way I’d have felt as safe out in the open if it weren’t for Jake. A gust of wind swirled inside the van as he opened the driver’s door to get in. He turned his head to look at me but I couldn’t let him see me in the state I’d got into, so I looked away and reached for the seatbelt.
    ‘Hey, let me do that.’ His hand closed over the top of mine to stop me, then drew it back onto my lap, pausing there for a moment before letting go to grab my seatbelt.
    As he reached across me, I caught a trace of his scent, something I’d never really registered before. Crazy when you consider I’d been practically draped over him since the minute he’d shown up, so I put it down to sharing the close confines of the van. I doubt I could put into words how grateful I was that he had been the one to answer my call.
    ‘Thanks, Jake,’ I murmured as his deft fingers clipped me in. After everything he’d done for me tonight, how could I not class him as a friend? ‘And I don’t just mean for helping me with the seatbelt.’
    ‘No problem, Lena,’ he said, drawing away from me to see to his own seatbelt, yet his scent lingered around me; part body wash and part deodorant as if he’d not long showered, and part musky odour that I now knew was unmistakably Jake. ‘I’d say “any time” but I’m hoping you don’t make a habit of needing to be rescued.’
    He turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life, his hand accidentally brushing my knee as he reached for the gearstick. With one final wave to the Indian couple, he reversed onto the road and pulled away, leaving the takeaway behind as we made our way back to his place. Neither of us seemed to know what to say, so we travelled in relative silence, listening to the radio. I sighed with relief when I saw a little purple Corsa on the driveway.
    Gemma had got home OK.
    Speak of the devil, she came flying out of the front door before we’d even parked up. She wrenched the van door open the moment Jake cut the engine.
    ‘What the hell, Lena? What’s going on?’ If it was possible to sound relieved, ticked off and happy at the same time, then Gemma was a total pro. ‘I got back from Ben’s and found a cryptic note from Jake telling me he’d gone to fetch you.’
    ‘Go easy on her, Gemma,’ Jake said, unclipping both of our seatbelts. ‘Lena’s had a rough night.’
    ‘So why did she call you, not me?’
    They continued their conversation as if I weren’t there, which suited me just fine. The journey had taken a lot