Free Dirty Work: A Bad Boy Romance by Sophie Brooks

you didn’t want to try anymore.”  
    “But I did want to try. I just felt like I wasn’t getting through to you.”  
    “I guess you weren’t. I—I guess I thought that if I pretended everything was okay, it would be. I guess I wasn’t ready to deal with it.”
    He was silent for a long while. I watched as he took a swig of beer, then set it down. I wanted to say something else, but I knew the expression on his face. He was thinking about what he wanted to say. I waited anxiously, refusing to rush him. This was what I’d hoped for. He was thinking about us. He was talking about us.  
    “After you kicked me out, I spent a lot of time being pissed at you,” he said. “I guess I can see now how that was just another way to avoid thinking about the problems we’d had living together. But I missed you, and eventually I did see that you had a point. Once I got past being hurt that you didn’t want me anymore, I saw that maybe we did have some things that needed fixing.”
      I felt so relieved that he’d finally understood this that I nearly burst into tears. But I knew I needed to stay strong and finish speaking my mind. “I never stopped wanting you, Jake. I never stopped loving you. For a long time, I thought that was enough.”  
    Leaning back in his chair, he seemed lost in contemplation. “Sometimes it felt like we were little kids playing house. Sure, our games were a lot more fun than kids’ games, but that’s what it felt like. And I admit, I was usually in favor of trying to fast forward right past the less fun parts of being a part of a couple.”  
    He was silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. “And I was still trying to do that. With our kinky home-repair payment plan. I thought that if I got you into bed, then we’d be able to pick up where we left off without having to talk about it. Without having to actually fix anything. But when you didn’t call me on Saturday, when I thought you didn’t trust me, I guess it finally dawned on me that the physical part isn’t enough. Not by a long shot.”  
    I was fighting not to get my hopes up. The last thing I needed was to have them dashed again. I took a sip of my soda, not truly tasting it, but my dry throat welcomed the moisture. “Do you want to fix things? To try again?”
      “Yes,” he said simply.  
    Still, I squashed my budding hopes down deep inside of me. “But what about Stacie?”  
    “What about her? We were never a couple.” When he said that, it was like a weight lifted from my shoulders. So much tension left all at once that I nearly missed what he said next. “We just went out a few times with Mike and Lisa and Alison and Drew. It’s not a lot of fun to be the fifth wheel in a group like that.”  
    “I get that. That’s pretty much why I’ve been avoiding them lately. But when they all showed up to help on Saturday, I realized I’d been an idiot.”  
    “Yeah, you have been,” Jake said, and for the first time this evening, a hint of a smile crossed his face. “You didn’t recognize the true friends you had in those guys. And you didn’t recognize what you had in me.”  
    “And what’s that?” I breathed.  
    “A future,” he said. “I know I probably did come off as only looking for a good time. But I was trying to make a life here with you. All the work I did around this place … I was trying to get it ready. For us. For our future life together. For any kids that might come along in that future.”  
    I drew in a surprised breath. “Kids?”  
    “Yeah, kids. See, sometimes, when two people love each other, they get married and have kids. Or so I’ve heard that’s how it works.”  
    Could this actually be Jake, my Jake, talking about marriage? Part of my mind was reeling, but the other part was so happy that I felt I might float out of my chair and up to the ceiling. But the slightly smug grin on his face anchored me and helped me know what to say. “I don’t recall anyone ever