Chapter 517

• “Jake. I need to get out.” I wake with a start, my head spinning and nausea coming at me as soon as my sleep-addled brain comes around. It’s close, and I’m going to hurl badly.
• “We’re here, baby. Hold on, let me help you.” Jake jumps out and comes around the car, pulling me out fast. Just as my stomach throws up the bottle of water, I drank mid-journey all over the gravel driveway of his mother’s house. Jake jumps back, making sure his trainers don’t take a direct hit but keeps me in the crook of his arm.
• “I swear that time you were aiming.” His mouth comes to my forehead, and he holds me against him as the retching subsides. He sweeps back my hair instinctively.