Professor Feelgood (Page 76)

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” She completely ignores the tension in the air and acts like we’re just all standing around having a polite chat. “Devin. Wow, you look pale. You know what’ll make you feel better? This tasty double-mocha latte I just bought for you.” She hands him the drink and shoots Jake and I a wink as she herds him toward the break room. “No need to thank me. My treat.”

When they’re gone, Jake rolls his neck. “Too bad. I would have enjoyed hitting him.”

“From what I understand,” I say, taking his hand and pulling him into the side hallway, “you have zero time to pick fights. Serena just told me what you offered, and it’s insane. It can’t be done.”

“It can, and it will. I was thinking about it all last night. I know exactly what I want to write and can salvage a little of the more general stuff from the existing book.”

“Even so, you’re used to writing two-thousand words a day, not ten. And Serena said you don’t want my help.”

He takes my hands. “It’s not that I don’t want it, it’s that … when we’re together, it’s impossible to concentrate on anything but you, so if I’m going to have any chance of getting this done …” He sighs and looks down as he strokes my fingers. “I need to lock myself away for the next seven days and have zero contact with you. It’s the only way. If I know I’m not going to be with you until I’m finished, that’s all the motivation I’ll need.” He looks into my eyes. “I’m aware of what’s on the line here, Ash, and failure isn’t an option. If it’s going to take writing a bestseller in record time to make this right, that’s what I’m going to do.”

I put my arms around his neck and hug him. “I think you can do anything you set your mind to, so I’ll keep my distance, if that’s what you want.”

He pulls back to look at me. “What I want is to spend every waking second with you, but right now, this is what I need. Along with this …” He kisses me deeply, like he wants the memory of this moment to last as long as possible. When the heat we’re generating becomes too much for a public hallway, he pulls back, breathless. “I’ll call you next week when it’s all over.”

We walk back around to the bank of elevators. When the doors open, he steps inside and turns to me. “It’s only a week, right? We can do this.”

I nod and smile, trying to seem more confident than I feel. “Right. It’ll be over before we know it. Good luck. May the words flow free and fast.”

He smiles as the doors close. “Don’t need luck. Just need you.”

TWENTY-FIVE

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The Story of Us

A WEEK WITHOUT JAKE IS harder than it sounds. I’d gotten so used to seeing him, kissing him, and making love to him, that after just two days, I’m irritable. After four, I’m downright twitchy. By day five, I’ve started day-drinking.

“Ash, ready to go? Nan’s expecting us at six.”

“Almost. Just let me finish this chapter.” I’m into my second round of edits on the monster manuscript Serena gave me. I think she was impressed I’ve gotten through it as quickly as I have, especially considering the first-time author has only a passing acquaintance with spelling and grammar. The entire manuscript may look like a bunch of red pen strokes, but at least I’ve clawed back a little of Serena’s respect.

I finish the final line and drop the manuscript on the bed. “Okay. Let me just grab my stuff, and we can head out.”

Eden hovers in my doorway holding a tote bag containing champagne and a gift box. “I can’t believe I finally get to give you a birthday present tonight. And that you’ve agreed to a party.”

“Not a party,” I say, pulling on my shoes. “It’s just dinner. One step at a time, okay?”

Ever since my mom died on my ninth birthday, I’ve refused to celebrate. It always seemed disrespectful to me to have people giving me presents and cake, as if they were glorifying her death rather than celebrating my birth. But with all the progress I’ve made in the past couple of months addressing how issues from my past contributed to bad decisions, I figured this is just one more thing I need to work through.

“You know Nan had her heart set on a surprise party, right?” Eden says. “She wanted to deck the whole roof garden out with lights and a jukebox, and invite all our friends. She was crushed when you knocked it back to just dinner in her kitchen with the three of us and Moby.”

“And Joanna,” I say, grabbing my coat from the closet. “She had something to go to first but said she’d come after.”

I pull on my coat and turn around to see Eden staring with a sympathetic expression. “So, Jake’s definitely not coming? I would have thought he was on the top of your to-do list for your birthday.”

I walk over to her. “He’s still in lockdown.”

“You didn’t want to at least tell him about it?”

“I promised I wouldn’t contact him, Edie. He’s working his ass off to salvage something good from this whole book debacle, and I don’t want to distract him.”

“Do you think he’s going to succeed?”

“I think he’s going to try.”

We walk toward the front door. “I don’t know as much about writing books as you do, but Jake’s a passionate guy, especially when it comes to you. If he said he’s going to break into heaven and rearrange the stars to spell out your name, I wouldn’t underestimate him.”

I know she’s right, but it doesn’t stop the low-level anxiety I’ve had all week. Right now, all of us at Whiplash are living with a giant blade hanging over us, and Jake is the only one who can stop it from falling.

As we head out of the apartment and down to the street, Eden links her arm in mine.

“Have you gotten around to telling Nan about everything that’s been going on yet?”

“No,” I say. “And I feel terrible about it. Every time we’ve spoken over the past few weeks, I was reassuring her about Moby’s health. I haven’t told her anything about the drama that’s been going on at work since I told her I got the promotion.”

“So she doesn’t even know Jake’s your author? Or that you’re dating?” When I shake my head, she lets out a low whistle. “Whooo, boy. I’m glad I’m bringing alcohol. Tonight is going to be a bumpy ride.”

I feel bad about keeping Nan out of the loop, but it’s not like I’ve had a lot of free time. And honestly, the whole Jake thing has had my head spinning from day one. If Nan knew the surly kid from next door was my author, she would have bombarded me with a whole bunch of questions about how I felt about working with him, and I wouldn’t have had an appropriate answer.

I know that I have to tell her Jake and I are involved tonight. I just don’t know how she’s going to take it. He was like family. It could get weird.

Eden and I head down the subway stairs, the location of my infamous back-breaking fall, and jump on the train to Nan’s. We grab some seats near the door and both check our phones. From the sappy look on her face, I know she’s texting with Max. I can’t do that with my man, so I do the next best thing: I check the Professor Feelgood Instagram feed.