The Art of Still Pretending

Eight

Blair POV.
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"Ok."

"Ok?" I say with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Jake asks. I've just explained the whole story between his brother and I for the past twenty minutes. The whole time all I got out of him was, Mhmm and keep going.

"Sure, why not."

"I think you guys are both idiots."

My jaw drops at that. "I take it back, I don't want it anymore."

He rolls his eyes, but keeps going. "You guys clearly liked each other. Well, you were in love with him. And he liked you at least a little. You should of fought for him."

"I did!" I defend.

"No you didn't. You didn't fight to have him and he didn't fight to have you. He just got you, because you let him. You let him have both you and Ashlyn. My brother's an idiot, believe me, but not a complete one. If he loved Ashlyn so much, he wouldn't have liked you at all. And he wouldn't have been so broken up about it when you guys stopped talking."

"But he did pick Ashlyn, I told you about New Years."

"Yea, I guess. Ok, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. But he was really broken up about you guys ending whatever you had. But, I'm going to give you props for it Knight."

I laugh at that, "Give me props for what?"

"For finally ending it. I know I'm an asshole to you sometimes..."

I cut him off with a laugh. "Sometimes?"

Him doing what he does best, he ignores me. "But you're a nice girl Knight. And, I know we've hung out only like three times. But believe me, I know a lot more about you than you think. And you're cool. And you deserve a lot better than what you were getting with my brother."

Blair, do. Not. Cry. For some reason, I want to cry. I don't know if it's about talking about Grayson, hearing I deserve better, or even missing Grayson. But, it's definitely getting to me. And it's so embarrassing. So I'm praying to god I do not cry.

"Oh god." Jake's smirk instantly drops from his face and he looks as if he's seen a ghost. "Don't cry."

"Why the hell would you say that?" Tears start to leak down my face. He's an idiot. The first rule when you see someone about to cry, is don't tell them not to cry.

"Fuck me."

Unable to help myself, I say, "Ok." I wipe away some tears falling.

"You have problems lady." He says to me, this causes me to cry more. "Oh fuck." Next thing I know, his lips are against mine.

My eyes close as soon as I realize what was happening. Actually, I think reacting to the kiss. Not necessarily realizing I'm kissing Jake Heart right now.

He pulls away from the kiss as fast as he kissed me in the first place. No, we did not make out. It was just a small kiss, I would be fine making out though. He has very kissable lips...wait.

My eyes widen, now I've finally realized what just happened. He looks at me with a satisfied smirk. "I am a genius," he says more to himself.

"Umm, what?" I ask completely dumbfounded. What the hell is going on?

"I did it," he gave me a boyish satisfied grin. My heart quickens at it. Like Grayson, he had dimples. While Grayson l had one though, Jake had two.

"Did what, kiss me?"

He rolls his eyes, still smiling. "Well obviously, but I made you stop crying." I raise my hand and feel my face. The tears are still there, but almost dried. Not thinking, I start to laugh. That is one way to make someone stop crying.

"Jake, you are one of the strangest people I know."

"Thank you." His smile is now gone, and replaced back with his usual smirk. We are quiet for a little before I let out another sad sigh.

   "A word of advice," I start to say, "don't fall in love with someone who's not in love with you."

   "Someone always has to be the one to fall first."

I'm unable to reply, due to the door's handle starting to jiggle. I notice how close I am to Jake, a second too late. The door swings open, just when I jumping away from him. Natalie and Blake both look at us with wide us.

"Umm," Blake starts to say.

"Oh my god, Blair what's wrong?" Natalie asks when she notices my puffy eyes. She then looks up and gives Jake a dirty look. "What did you do?"

"Me?" Jake asks putting a hand over his chest. He's trying his best not to laugh, and trying to look offended.

"Blake..." Natalie turns her head and warns him. "Find out what your friend did."

Blake still is looking at us shocked. He looks at Natalie, then to Jake, then to me, Jake again, and lastly back to Natalie. "Did you not notice how close they were a second ago?"

Without being able to hold it in longer, I start to laugh. Really hard.

"Jake!" Natalie says with wide eyes. "Did you break her?"

"Natalie, did you seriously not see how close they were?" Blake says interrupting.

"Ok," Jake sighs standing up. "We have to go and get ready for the game. We can't be late, and thanks to you for taking an hour, we might be."

Blake sighs, but nods. He kiss Natalie on the cheek goodbye. I can't help from saying, "awww." Blake and Natalie both look at me and roll their eyes, both having a huge smile on their face. I can tell how much they like each other. I do notice an off look in Natalie's eyes. She almost looks sad.

"You like that?" Jake grins at me, "I taught him that move." The smile on my face falls and I roll my eyes.

"Way to ruin the mood." I say to him. He smirks, comes up to me, and kisses my cheek. "Bye babe." The foul look on my face leaves, and is replaced with shock. I hate that my heart starts to beat faster.

"See," he sends me a wink. "Works like a charm."

"Asshole." I call him, but start to laugh. I have to give him props, because that definitely did something. He then decides to put his hand on my head, and ruffle my hair.

"See you later, kid." He says to me with a smirk. Is this guy serious? Like, I full on do not understand this guy. Blake just laughs, and they both leave after saying goodbye a last time.

Once they close the door, I turn to Natalie. "He is, hands down, one of the weirdest people I know."

"But he is really hot," Natalie adds on with a wink.

"Yea, I can't argue with that."

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