| "Okay. We're dropping this subject then. NOW." Ike smiled. "Let's walk.." he opened his door, hopped out and was opening Jade's door for her before she knew it. "Thanks." she took his hand when he offered it to help her out of the car, and held her breath. His large hands were so soft and warm, and she could feel the callouses on his fingertips from playing his guitar. She quickly let go of his hand and walked beside him, as they strolled around the lake, and Ike told her stories about family outings to this place when they were young. Some of them were very funny, and when Ike told them, his gestures and impersonations of Tay and Zac, his parents, and his other younger siblings were so good that she was laughing to the point of tears. He loved the sound of her laughter, the sparkle in her eyes as she listened to his recollections intently and the sun shone down on her curly, pale gold ringlets. The fact that she kept asking for more stories, more of his impersonations, and that she laughed easily at even his corniest jokes, served to boost his ego to an all time high. He wished he could have her, she made him feel like he was the best, and only man in the world. |
| Jade was having the nicest afternoon she'd had in a long time, and she didn't want it to end. She also couldn't help feeling guilty for enjoying Isaac's company so much, he WAS Josh's cousin, and she couldn't go there. They'd both be hurt and she didn't want to ruin the friendship she had with Ike, or the friendship between Ike and Josh. They were all basically family. She knew she needed to keep things mellow for Jameson's sake, because somewhere deep inside her, she knew that Tay and Jamie would never be apart, at least not for long, and Ike being his brother, well there'd be no way to avoid having to see him. For the hundreth time that day, she wished she'd met Ike first. "Jade? Whats' wrong? You starting to feel sick again?" Ike asked concerned when she hadn't registered the fact that hye'd just told her the punchline of the joke he was telling. "No.." she said quickly, "no...I was just thinking that I' starving again, and then I really need to get back to Jamie's and help pack all the equipment in the van...gig nights get stressful till they're actually playing." she smiled up at him. "Tell me about it." he grinned knowingly. "Well come on then, I can always eat." he chuckled. "We grab something fast and I'll take you back to Jamie's. Zac was gonna bring my car there anyway." he unfolded himself from the position he was sitting in on the soft grass then offered her a hand up. When she took it and tried to stand, her heel caught in a gopher hole and she stumbled, right into Ike's arms. "Whoa.." he exclaimed and wrapped his arms around her waist to steady her. "What happened?" he asked, unwilling to relinquish her small soft body back to her. "Are you okay?" he asked again when she only looked up into his eyes. "Yeah.." she finally managed. "My heel caught..." she gripped his forearm, and tried to stop the spinning in her head. She was hard pressed to keep her breathing normal, being wrapped in his arms like this. She wanted to stay there. "I'm okay now...really.." she said softly and brushed a curl out of her eyes. "I guess these are not the shoes to wear for a day at the park, huh?" she giggled, putting herself and Ike back at ease. "Guess not...either that or you're weak from hunger." he teased, letting go of her slowly. "But then again, I saw what you ate for breakfast." he gave her a wicked smile. "That was NOT nice, buster.." she giggled and gave him a tap on the arm. "Oh...I'm scared.." he teased, then took her elbow and steered her toward the car. "Come on you roughneck, let's go eat, before you waste away to nothing." he joked and she laughed with him. Lunch was a quick fast food meal in Taylor's car as they drove back to Jamie's apartment. Jade was busy taking care of the wrappers as Ike parked out front of Jamie's apartment. She stuffed everything into one of the bags and took the last two drinks of her soda, then looked up at Ike, who was staring at her. "What?" she asked, chewing on the end of her straw. He chuckled, thinking that she looked so cute, smiling with that straw between her teeth. "Nothing.." he grinned. "are you sure you don't wanna sit in tonight for Angel...you'd be really great.." he started, then stopped when he saw the look on her face. "What?" he asked, stunned. "NO WAY." she stated firmly. "They do just fine with me running the sound board. They don't need me and I am NOT that good. I can't even face anyone but Jameson when I play anyway." she finished softly. "Sorry.." he stammered, "I just..when I saw you play...you're good Jade..and you can SING..way better than Angel does.." he continued, trying to put her at ease again, desperately NOT wanting to ruin the wonderful day they'd spent together. He kept on babbling and Jade stared for a moment, then had to smile. "Isaac..." she tried to interrupt his out loud thought process, "Issac...IKE.." she said forcefully and placed her hands on either one of his cheeks, making him look at her. "It's okay.." she chuckled. "You just caught me off guard, is all. I don't play in front of anyone but Jame. I can't, okay?" she smiled into his eyes and his face broke into a wide, sheepish grin. "Okay.." he said, his voice muffled because she had his cheeks smushed together like Zoe did sometimes. Jade giggled again and then before either of them could stop it, he was kissing her. Deeply, passionately, and Jade was responding. Her hands flew to his head, raking through his soft curls as she opened her mouth and let him in farther. He pulled her closer and cupped the back of her neck, under her soft pale gold locks and tilted her head, so he could taste her sweet lips better. "Mmm.." she moaned softly, and the sound of her own voice almost brought her back to reality, but he plunged his tongue in deeper and tightened his grip in her hair making her swoon again. "Mmm.." he moaned back, into her mouth as she raked her fingers over his back and clutched at him through his thin shirt, opening her mouth even wider and stroking his tongue with hers. She was dizzy, and her blood raced loudly through her body. No kiss she'd ever shared with any guy had made her feel like this before, she felt as if she were drowning. Josh never kissed her like this. And with that thought she was jolted rudely back into the present. "Ike.." she manged as he went to kiss her again. "We can't..we can't.." she murnured and suddenly he was in the NOW also. "Oh my god. Jade. I'm...I'm sorry.." he stammered, knowing in his heart he was NOT sorry for kissing her, just sorry that the situation was what it was. "It's okay, Ike. Really.." she said and pulled back, trying to get control of herself. "Jade, it's not." he said and rested his forehead on the steering wheel. "It really is, Issac. I loved spending the day with you today. It was the most fun I've had with anyone but Jamie in a long time. The timing pretty much bites." she sighed heavily and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin there. "We can't do this to Josh, no matter what kind of jerk he's being. We're better than that, aren't we?" she looked up at him questioningly. "Yeah..at least YOU are.." he answered and squeezed his eyes shut tight, his head still on the steering wheel. "Ike.." she said softly and laid her hand on his shoulder. "YOU are, okay. I'm sorry too. I DO like you and I can't imagine not being able to speak to you..." |