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I waited for him to finish. When he didn't, I asked, "And?"
"And that scares the shit out of me."
I looked up, touched his chin. "Scares? I thought you wanted it?"
"I shouldn't be concerned about someone offering me fame and fortune on a silver platter?"
What he said caught up to me. "He tried to sign you already!' I swatted at his arm, "Didn't he?" Jake shrugged, as if the answer was obvious. "Did you turn him down?"
"No, but I haven't agreed. I need to know more: what he's about, what he can offer us. I'd be stupid to take him at his word."
"So he's pushing?"
"Hard." He took a hand from my hair and set it on the back of his neck, rubbing the stress. "I'm not comfortable with the contract. The way some of its' worded. And it's fucking huge, Angel. Pages and pages of legal bullshit. How am I supposed to understand what I'm signing? I told Pierce, I want to keep doing what I'm doing-I have to maintain our sound. I can't sign something that will make me change. I can't have a team of people putting their stamp on my music to dissect and sell. I have to do it my own way and they want me to sign it all away."
I thought for a second. "So Max and Andrew . . . ?"
"He talked to them before me. I'm the hold-out."
"Wow." I thought over what that meant. He was living with two anxious, persistent, musicians who wanted exactly what Jake wanted. "He talked to them. Before you? And he knows you write the songs?"
"Of course."
"Jake, there has gotta be other labels sniffing around."
"I haven't heard anything."
"Well, there is a reason he's pressuring you. You're smart to wait. You need someone who understands contract law to make sure you're protected. How much does it cost to get someone to explain something like that?"
He sighed, setting his forehead on mine. "If it's this much weight just being approached . . ." Tucking me into his chest, he breathed in my hair. "You're the only one who gets it."
I looked into his eyes and felt the words bubble up from the truest part of me. "I love you, Jake. I want what's best for you. And I'm so happy that you asked me to go with you." My hands stretched around his back.
"Are you kidding?" His hazel eyes smoldered like coals over his black t-shirt. "I can't believe I had to ask."
"What?"
His lips stretched a little, like he was trying to hold back a laugh. "Naturally, I assumed you were coming. I mean, why the hell would I go without you? But you never said anything and you started getting more headaches and acting weird. I wondered if it was because I didn't come right out and say what I thought was obvious. Then, when you came by my job, I figured better to be safe than sorry."
He dropped his hands, his forehead crinkled. "You were surprised, I could tell. Angel, why didn't you know?" My lips trembled as he cupped my face. "Because you should know by now, baby."
"Know what?"
"That I'd never leave you behind."
He said it so matter-of-factly, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Hearing those words, watching them form on his lips, it was like being born again-they made everything new. I wasn't being left behind. Jake considered my part in his life such a permanent thing, that my leaving with him was never in question. The two torturous words he fumbled were quieted and the threat of that guitar playing girl seemed ridiculous. His assumptions, the feelings that put them there in the first place, were the only thing that mattered.
My chest expanded, filling with a sensational high.
"I told you from the get-go." He moved closer, touching the bridge of his nose to mine. "I won't go anywhere you don't want me to. Even if it breaks up my band," Sweeping his lips gently over my mouth, he whispered. "Even if it breaks my heart, baby. You are more important to me than any of that shit."
He covered my lips with his and picked me up, setting me on the kitchen counter. I stretched both arms around his neck and held him to me, deepening the kiss. My legs snaked around his waist.
I whispered when his mouth moved to my neck. "I shouldn't be so insecure. It's just you said 'Not-"
"No." he pulled back, staring me in the eyes. "You shouldn't be insecure. Because I want you."
"I want you, too."
