an eye for the innocent; tracob

10

hi... feel free to shout at me in the comments lmao (i would shout at me too) i'm sorry this took a literal eternity to update again but here is a long chapter!!

this chapter is dedicated to itkitspace (tbh if it weren't for her comment i wouldn't have got my shit together with this book so thank you to you!!)

Happy for you

“Lilly!” I exclaim as I answer her phone call (during a rare bit of spare time).

“Jakey!” she mimics excitedly, “You seem to be in quite the good mood for a change.”

“I am actually, I got a raise at the coffee shop,” I tell her.

“Jake that’s great!” she pauses momentarily and sighs out but it sounds like a happy sigh. “I’m happy to know life is taking it easy on you as of late.”

“Thanks Lils. I agree, the universe seems to have gotten tired of fucking around with me,” I say while looking out the window of the back room in the coffee shop where I always take my breaks. It is sunny out and I smile even more because of it. However, gloomy skies ironically bring me more joy than a clear blue sky ever could.

“So Troye is around I hear, how is he?” she inquires, tearing me from my personal reverie.

“He is great,” I say, a light but persistent fluttering is ruptured in my stomach, I almost shiver. “He looks great,” I say with no shame.

“You have become so flirty over the years, that poor boy,” she mocks.

“I would say he needs it. I was talking to him yesterday over the phone and he told me he hasn’t dated or anything since getting here and-"

“Whereas you have fucked about half of London, yeah you're so cool, fuckboys are awesome” she says dryly, I roll my eyes.

“Quit it with the dramatics would you?” I try my best to not smile at her statement, however. I have fucked a lot of people haven’t I?

“I’m just putting it out there, Jake. Don’t corrupt the boy into thinking being a virgin is some sort of sin to society.”

“How do you know he is a virgin though?” I question, ignoring her ‘warning’.

“Took a wild guess. I mean like I’m pretty sure he hasn’t been romantically involved with anyone since you and I’m also pretty sure he doesn’t do the whole one night stand thing.”

“I can say the same-"

“Jacob! Get your arse back here before that raise is taken away” my boss yells from the front.

“Talk later, Lils,” I say apologetically.

“By 'later' you mean like next month,” she teases playfully but never the less I feel bad.

“Sorry Lils.”

“Don’t be, there is nothing wrong with working hard. Just remember to have a life too and by life I don’t mean drinking your free time away and hooking up with every guy that has a pulse.”

“Bye, mom,” I say exasperated. She reminds me about all of that enough, she just does not get it. She is lucky that I didn’t hang up on her mid-sentence.

Yes, I hook up with guys a lot and drink like a fish but it is just good to forget responsibilities (and regrets) for a little while, it just works for me, it is better than the smoking habit in my opinion.