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"Fine," Melody hissed, and it was then that Jake realized why she had left her belt off.
"Melody, don't be—" he started, but before he could finish, Melody yanked open the truck door and threw herself out onto the sidewalk.
Again, he slammed his brakes on and battered his hands against the steering wheel until the truck horn honked loudly enough to wake the whole neighborhood.
"Damn it, Melody! Get back in the truck!" he yelled after her, but she was so stubborn, already walking with her shoulders pulled up around her ears against the rain. "Fuck!"
Cursing, Jake shoved open his own door, threw off his belt and clambered out of the vehicle.
It seemed the storm had led most of Silverdale's nightlife back indoors, and as Jake chased Melody down the street, he saw not another soul.
"Melody, for wolf god's sake!" he snarled at her, grabbing hold of her arm to yank her around to face him.
"What the hell, Jake?" she snapped back at him, snatching her arm free of his grip.
Jake couldn't take it any longer. He had been silent for far too long. He was angry, frustrated, all tied in knots. But worse than that, he felt the feelings he had for Melody tearing him apart inside, and he knew if he did not release them, they were going to eat him up.
Ignoring her protests, he grabbed hold of her by the upper arms, and though rain poured down onto his face, he met her gaze unwaveringly.
"I was angry and scared," he admitted. "Not just because of Sally but because of you. When I saw how injured you were, I…I thought she had killed you."
Melody looked about to speak, but he knew if she did, he might not get all he had to say out. He tightened his grip just slightly, scared she might try to pull away.
"I thought I'd lost you, and that broke me," he said, a lump forming in his throat, making it difficult to speak. "I thought I'd lost you, and then I thought of what I would have to tell Sally if I had, and it broke me a little more."
Melody's eyes flickered. The anger seemed to fade, replaced by more indecision. "But I didn't die. I'm right here, and all you've done is accuse me of being the problem!"
Jake gritted his teeth. This was getting nowhere.
"You are the problem, Melody! You are, because I can think of nothing else and no one else!" he professed, meeting her stunned gaze all the while. "When you are around, I just want to hold you, and when you aren't, I feel as if I have lost a limb. I see the way you are with Sally, and I realize I never should have tried to keep you at arm's length. She loves you just as much as I do."
"You…you love me?" Melody gaped at him.
"Yes, Melody Rivers," Jake said, and it was then that he began to babble, the words tumbling out of him like water. "I have loved you since that very first night. From the moment we slept together, I was yours. You stole my heart, my body and my soul that night, and it scared the living hell out of me because I already had such a complicated life and I didn't want to start a relationship on the ashes of an old one. You didn't deserve that and that's why I didn't call and why—"
He wasn't even sure what else he had to say, but he never got the chance because Melody dropped her plastic bag, gripped hold of his forearms and pushed herself up onto her tiptoes.
The next thing he knew, she was kissing him. Her lips were so strong against his they cut off his words immediately. His heart stopped, breath caught in his throat, and he imagined once more that he was dreaming, just like he had been that night when he had gone to apologize to her on her porch.
Even with the rain pouring down on them, it was the most spark-fueled kiss he had ever experienced, and he held her close, terrified she might disappear if he let go.
When she finally eased back, he did not dare to open his eyes, fearful she might vanish from his arms like smoke.
"Am I dreaming?"
Melody's chuckle hit his ears through the driving rain, and a second later he felt a stinging in his forearm as she pinched him.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed, eyes flying open.
"Not dreaming," she smirked up at him, still standing in his arms. All the anger was gone from her gaze, though Jake knew better than to say something he might regret.
"In that case, will you please get back in the damn truck?" he asked. "You're in no state to be walking in the rain. You'll get ill."
Melody scowled at him. "I'm no pitiful human."
Jake growled. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn?
Before he could say anything, she said, "I'll get in, on one condition."
