Page 40 of Worth the Risk

A memory suddenly surfaced. When I was fourteen years old and Jake was seventeen, he found out that I was being harassed by a boy on the basketball team. He asked me out, but I wasn’t interested. It turned out that he was the kind of creep that didn’t like to take no for an answer. He started waiting for me in the parking lot after cheerleading practice, saying disgusting things to me and getting handsy more than once.

I’d never seen Jake so angry before. The day that I came home crying because I was scared of how far things would escalate Jake was furious.

Ryan was away at college by then, and as usual, my dad wasn’t around enough to know or care what was going on with us. So, Jake took it upon himself to do something about my problem.

When I came out of the school the next afternoon, the basketball player wasn’t waiting for me.

I learned later that evening that Jake had confronted him. The guy ended up with a broken wrist, and Dad threw money at the problem to keep Jake out of trouble.

I stepped closer to Jake, suddenly worried about his reaction to all this. He wasn’t nearly as angry as he was when we were teenagers, but if he knew that Ford had broken my heart, he might still throw a punch or two.

Most people didn’t know that Jake had a temper, but my brother was more than just a fun-loving ladies’ man. He might have had some commitment issues, but he cared about his friends and family more than he usually let on.

He’d do anything for us.

“Jake, that’s enough,” I said firmly. “I didn’t tell you we were dating because…”

“It’s my fault,” Ford cut in when I trailed off. “I was an idiot, and I insisted that we keep the relationship a secret.”

Jake blinked a few times while he processed that. “Why? Because you’re friends with Ryan?”

“No. It was about work. I just didn’t think it was a good idea for everyone to know.”

“But that didn’t stop you from getting her pregnant.” Jake’s voice was practically a growl. “And then what? You broke up with her?”

Neither of us said a word, but the looks on our faces must’ve given Jake his answer because he cursed under his breath and took a menacing step toward Ford. I started to move into his path, but Ford was faster, squaring up to Jake with a clenched jaw.

“You need to back down,” Ford said. “Zoey might decide to give you the whole story in time, but that’s up to her, and I won’t let you pressure her.”

“You won’t let me?” Jake’s voice was incredulous. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m hers.”

A shiver ran down my spine at those two simple words. But they seemed to just piss Jake off.

“You don’t need to stand between me and my sister,” he snarled. “Move it!”

But Ford didn’t budge an inch, and before I could intervene, Jake shoved against his chest.

They were pretty evenly matched size-wise, but Jake put a lot of anger behind the move, and Ford stumbled backward.

Right into me.

I let out a surprised cry as his body collided with mine, losing my balance and starting to fall to the ground. It was only Ford’s fast reflexes that kept me from landing hard on the concrete, his strong arms wrapping around my waist and pulling my body flush against his.

“Shit, Angel. Are you okay?” he asked once I was steady on my feet again, bringing his hands to my face and cupping my cheeks. His worried blue eyes ran over every inch of me, as if I’d somehow gotten hurt even though he caught me before I fell.

“Yeah,” I said, bringing my hands up to his wrists. I felt his heart racing at the pulse point. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Zoey.” Jake’s voice was rough. “I… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

Ford whirled toward him. “Damn right, you shouldn’t have! What if she’d gotten hurt?”

Jake looked guilty, and I decided I needed to defuse this situation. It had already spiraled out of control once.

I placed a hand on Ford’s arm. “Walk me back to my bungalow. Please.”

The tension drained out of him immediately as he turned back to me. He tucked me under his arm.