Note from author: A few songs in here have been mentioned. Once again, I had no part in the production of 'See You Again' by Miley Cyrus.

Please give reviews! I want to hear what you think of this! Do you have suggestions for future plot lines or character developments/additions? Am I describing things in detail too much? Are my characters too perfect to be real? Please let me know! Constructive criticism is welcome, but please be kind!

Chapter 8: Changes

As my alarm clock beeped, I groaned and rolled over. I stared at the ceiling. I did not want to go to work today. It was going to be a long day. I sighed and wondered what day it was. Let's see… yesterday was one of my riding days, I remember that. I ride on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And yesterday definitely wasn't Tuesday or Saturday because I went into work yesterday, which I also remembered. So yesterday must've been Thursday and today was … Friday! Ah, what a relief it was to think that. I think no matter what country you're from, what religion you follow, what race you are, you can always agree on one saying: Thank Goodness it's Friday!

I got out of bed, washed my face, let Peanut out, grabbed a cup of yogurt for breakfast, got dressed for work, did my hair and makeup, made the bed and made a grocery list which I would fulfill after work tonight.

Promptly at 7:00, I entered my office and began working. I worked diligently because my work kept my mind off of Joe and focused completely on revising my story (an update on the story of the three-legged dog who'd rescued a woman from a burning building and mysteriously disappeared two weeks ago) until lunch.

I ate lunch with one of my coworkers, Angie. Angie is a very sweet woman, very personable, and she loves to talk. So I asked her about her current story and she talked the rest of the lunch break. She is the perfect person to have lunch with if you really don't want to talk or think about something that's bugging you.

After lunch, I finished my story, submitted it to my boss, and began researching topics for my next story. I found a few interesting ideas that I would propose during the meeting we have every Monday so Mr. Mason can approve them. I wrote some ideas down and highlighted my favorites so I could do some further research on them over the weekend.

As I was leaving work, I remembered I needed to do some grocery shopping and went to the local grocery store. I decided while I was there to rent a movie (there's a Blockbuster next door to the grocery store). A good action-packed-no-mushy-gooshy-scened movie at that. I found one that sounded like a good story called "The Gridiron Gang". It sounded good and violent.

As I was leaving Blockbuster and walking to my car, the store window next door to the Blockbuster caught my attention. It was a sports store, with all sorts of fan stuff. There were baseball caps, T-shirts, jerseys, over-sized coffee mugs, foam fingers, banners, socks, shoes, jewelry, bumper stickers, key chains and all sorts of other paraphernalia for every baseball, football, basketball and soccer team I could ever name. I thought about my brothers Tim and Luke instantly. Hey, it was never too early to do some Christmas shopping. Plus, it would be nice to bring them something back for Thanksgiving.

I entered the store, browsing for Boston Rebels and Steelers stuff in particular. "Welcome to Everything Sports, can I help you find anything?" I heard from behind me while I scanned the racks of jerseys for a Big Ben jersey. I turned around to look at the speaker. He was a young, good-looking guy, looked to be about my age, with dark black hair and eyes, large eyebrows, naturally tan skin and thickly muscled arms. He looked vaguely familiar. I looked at his nametag. It read "Jake". I looked up from the nametag to his face again, and it hit me.

"Jake Duckworth?" I asked incredulously. I had had a huge crush on him in ninth grade after I'd seen him checking me out at one of Tim's basketball games. He played JV with Tim during my (and his) freshman year. After he broke up with his girlfriend in tenth grade, he and I dated for a year and then decided to just be friends afterwards.

Jake's face lit up into a bright smile. "Hey! Jenna!" he said.

"I can't believe I'm seeing you, here in Boston of all places," I exclaimed.

"I know, it's so weird," he replied. "I thought I remembered that name when I read your interview with Joe Kingman. I know you're into basketball, I didn't realize you like football too," he said. Great, the first guy I meet after the fiasco with Joe and the first thing he talks about is my interview with the blockhead.

"I don't, not at all," I laughed, "I had to fill in when the other sports writer left. So what brought you here to Boston?" I asked him.

"Oh, you know, big sports industry, I got a full scholarship to Boston University and liked it here so much I decided to stay," he replied. "What about you? I thought you wanted to live in Kentucky?"

"I went there for college, researched the price of buying a horse farm in or near Lexington, and realized I needed to save up for a while before I could even consider buying a house and leasing a stall there," I said, "So I'm staying here for a few years until I have enough money to buy a horse farm, build a stable and house and not be broke," I added laughingly.

"Hey, my shift is over in ten minutes, do you want to go get a cup of coffee or something?" he offered.

"Yeah, I'd love to." Yes! Now I didn't have to stay at home all night like a loser and watch a movie by myself and wallow in self-pity. "But can you show me where some of the Steelers stuff is? I'm trying to find something for my brothers for Christmas," I asked Jake.

"Steelers stuff?" Jake scoffed, "You don't want to get them that. You're a Bostanian now, you buy them Boston Rebels stuff," he told me. I laughed and he suggested some different T-shirts, jerseys and key chains (Tim is always breaking his. What is wrong with that boy?).

After I bought enough things for both Tim and Luke's complete set of Christmas gifts, Jake was allowed to leave and took me to Starbucks for coffee.

"So how are Tim and Luke doing?" he asked me as we sat down at Starbucks.

"They're doing very well," I replied, "Tim just became coach of the JV team at Hempfield High School and he loves it. He just got engaged to his girlfriend, Kelsey, they're going to get married sometime this summer, they haven't decided when yet. Luke just started his junior year at Pitt University majoring in Physical Education. He wants to be a gym teacher at an elementary school after he graduates," I explained, "What about Trevor and Larry? How are they doing?" I asked him. Trevor and Larry are Jake's two younger brothers. Trevor is a year younger than me and Jake, twenty four, and Larry is Luke's age, twenty.

"They're great," Jake said, "Trevor is starting the next four years required to be a genetics physician at IUP and Larry is in his junior year at UCF, studying to be a physical trainer," he replied.

"UCF?" I asked. Jake nodded. "That's so cool! My aunt lives fifteen minutes away from UCF," I told Jake.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I considered going to UCF at one point because I'd be able to live with my aunt and uncle. That's really cool. Maybe next time we're down there he can come over for a visit, I'm sure Tim and Luke would love that," I suggested.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Jake said. We talked for a long time about lots of different things, mainly family and friends and stuff like that.

Around six-thirty, Jake looked at his watch with wide eyes and said, "Hey, I'm sorry, but I gotta go, I have to go pick my parents up from the airport. They came in a week early for Thanksgiving."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hold you up," I apologized.

"No, don't worry about it, it's not your fault," he said. "Hey, we should hang out some time," Jake added.

Oh yeah! Slam dunk baby! "Definitely," I agreed.

"Can I have your number?" he asked and I wrote it on the back of his hand so he wouldn't lose it. He gave me his as well on the back of my hand.

"I'll call you," Jake said as we walked out of the Starbucks.

"Yeah, definitely, call whenever. If I'm asleep, I'll have my phone off and if I'm not it'll be with me and on so feel free to call whenever you want," I told him.

"Thanks, you too," Jake said as I reached my car. "Hey, it was nice seeing you, Jenna," he called as I went around the side of my car to get in.

"It was nice seeing you, too. Have fun with your parents, tell them I said hi," I told him.

"I will, bye," Jake called waving.

"Bye," I waved back. Things were looking up again. I'd make sure he was single, lay on the flirt big time, and hopefully things would work out better this time than they did in tenth grade.

I made it home quickly, let Peanut out, and cooked a dozen pizza rolls for dinner which I ate while flipping through the mail. After feeding Peanut and showering, I popped a bag of popcorn, fixed myself of mug of hot chocolate and sat down to watch 'The Gridiron Gang' with Peanut in my lap.

The movie had a good message, it was based on a true story of a man who worked at a detention center with juvenile kids and formed them into a football team, basically. The actor that played the football coach guy looked very familiar. Something about the color of his black-white mixed skin, big brown eyes, very heavily muscled arms and deep voice reminded me of someone I knew very well. When he started imagining the juvenile boys becoming a football team, I instantly remembered who he reminded me of. Joe Kingman.

Of course! I couldn't sit down and watch a good violent movie without thinking of Joe, could I? I tried to ignore the strong resemblance and watch the movie but every once in a while would hear in my head a snippet of some conversation Joe and I had had.

Right in the middle of the movie when a member of a gang came to the football game with a gun, my cell phone rang. I sighed, paused the movie and pried Peanut's paws off of my lap. I looked at the phone and didn't recognize the number on the caller ID. I thought for a second, and the back of my hand caught my attention. The number on the back of my hand matched the number on the phone! IT WAS JAKE!!

"Hello?" I answered as calmly as possible.

"Hey, Jenna, it's Jake," Jake said, "Do you have time to talk? I mean, I didn't interrupt you or anything, did I?" he asked.

"No, no, I have time," I replied, "So how are your parents doing?" I asked.

"They're great. They were really happy to hear I bumped into you, and they said hi. Mom suggested we have dinner together one night," Jake answered.

"I would love to meet your parents for dinner one night," I said instantly, "If it's alright with you," I added.

"No, no, it's fine with me. Yeah, that'd be awesome. I'll have to let them know later on. They're asleep now, just went to bed," Jake said. "So what's up?" he asked me.

"Oh, not much, same old, same old," I replied. "What about you? What're you up to?"

"Nothing much, flipping through the channels, talking," he said. "So have you met a lot of people here since you moved to Boston?"

"Yeah, I have a couple close friends. We're going out for a girls' night out tomorrow, it's going to be lots of fun. How bout you? You probably have a whole ton of friends already!" I asked him.

"Yeah, I have a pretty nice group," he replied, sounding as if that wasn't exactly the question he had wanted to ask. However, he changed the subject and we talked for a good hour and a half. I couldn't remember talking to a guy for that long since high school! By the end of the hour and a half, I was excusing myself several times for yawning.

Eventually, I said, "Well, it's getting late, I should probably go."

"Wait, Jenna," he stopped me suddenly.

"What?"

"Hey, are you doing anything next Friday?" he asked me.

I thought for a second and slowly replied, "No-o."

"Do you wannago grabba pieceapizza and seea movie?" he blurted so fast that his words jumbled together and I couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Sorry?" I asked.

"Do you want to go grab a piece of pizza and see a movie with me next Friday?" he repeated slower.

"Yeah, I'd love to!" I replied happily.

"Awesome, what time should I pick you up?" Jake sounded very relieved.

"Why don't you come around six?" I suggested, "Do you know where my apartment building is?" I asked him.

"No, I'll need directions."

I gave Jake directions to my place and told him to wait downstairs in the lobby, just call me when he came. I already had more than enough J-named men who knew where my apartment was, unfortunately. "Hey, thanks so much for inviting me, I'm really looking forward to it," I told Jake.

"No problem, I can't wait to see you," he replied.

"Well I'm going to clean up around here and go to sleep so good-night," I said.

"Yeah, see you," he said and I hung up. I laid back down on the couch and laughed.

"In your face, Joe!" I shouted at the man who strongly resembled Joe on the TV. I decided to turn the movie off and just go to sleep. I really was getting tired; it was ten-thirty already! I put my dishes in the sink, brushed my teeth and fell asleep so fast I didn't have time to think of any boys.

The next morning, I slept until eleven o'clock; I was exhausted. When I woke up, I washed my face, changed into sweatpants and a hoodie and took Peanut for a jog in the park. Feeling good and awake, I came back home, took a shower, changed back into yoga pants and a T-shirt and grabbed a quick breakfast of yogurt and fresh strawberries.

While I was eating breakfast, I paid the bills that needed to be paid and got out my laptop. I researched each of the topics I had highlighted for work and decided on writing about the new movie "Enchanted". I book marked a few pages on my computer so I could find them easily later and do further research. I looked at the clock and saw that it was twelve thirty. I checked the Weather Channel online to see what the temperature was. It was forty-five degrees and they were predicting rain. The sky was overcast already, I could see.

I decided to go ride again and hopefully I'd make it to the barn before the rain. I bundled up and got in my car. I turned on my cell phone as I was driving, hoping that Jake would call later. I loved talking to Jake, he was so easy to talk to and distracted me from Joe. Before I knew it, I was pulling into Windy Acres' parking lot.

Emily was there, as usual, and already riding Captain in the outdoor arena. She was sharing the arena with a little girl (whose name I do not know) taking a lesson with Alice. There were two other cars in the parking lot so either two people were in the cross-ties or inside or on a trail ride. I was hoping to take Niveus on a trail ride. Maybe I could find someone who would like to join me before I left. I get nervous sometimes going out on the trail by myself.

I came into the barn and saw only one person, Penny, saddling her horse, Moose, in the cross-ties. Moose is a large Friesian-Appaloosa cross, but he's super sweet. I said hi to Niveus and Sadie and put Niveus in the cross-ties. "Hey, Penny," I asked as I did a quick brush-over Niveus.

"Yeah?" she asked, her voice a bit muffled from bending over and picking Moose's hoof out.

"Would you like to accompany Niveus and I on a trail ride? I'd really like to take him out since he's been so good, but I'd rather not take my chances when they're predicting rain," I explained.

"Sure, Moose and I would love to take a day off and go for a trail ride, thanks for inviting us," Penny said.

From then on, Penny and I had a nice conversation. I asked her how Moose's training was coming along (Moose was still a little young and in need of some further training) and she said he was learning very quickly. She asked me how Niveus was doing and I told her he'd never been better. She was telling me about how Moose had thrown his head up suddenly while she was putting his bridle on and gave her a black eye. I asked her if she had any trouble with Moose around other people and she asked what did I mean? I told her about how Joe had tried to pet both Sadie and Niveus and both of them gave him an attitude and wouldn't let him touch them.

Penny laughed, "Well for one thing, you said this was Joe Kingman, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, you know, Boston's star quarterback?" I said a little sarcastically. I hate complimenting him like that.

"Right, the real big guy," Penny said, "They might have been frightened of him because he's so large," she suggested. "Or, they could have recognized that you were acting angry and tense around him and your emotions fed into theirs. It's a funny thing about horses, they can sense when you're angry, sad, scared, happy, nervous even, and then they act according to your emotions," she explained.

"That's very true," I replied, "I never even thought about that," I said.

"Or it could have been something he was wearing. I've heard of horses who hate men that wear aftershave," she laughed and I giggled too.

"I told him they just don't like him," I laughed.

"So what was Joe Kingman doing here in the first place?" she asked me, "I read that interview you wrote with him but I thought you didn't care for football players," Penny said slyly, "Or is there more to the story?"

"Actually it's a really long story," I sighed.

"Hey, we've got time," Penny said, "Are you about ready to go?" she asked me.

"Yeah, let's go," I said. We took Moose and Niveus outside, mounted and rode down into the woods. I explained the story from the beginning about how I didn't want to interview Joe, he called me at work, made me come to the playoff games, the Josh fiasco, the dinner with him and Lindsey at my place, the flirting and then finally the blowout at the stable last Thursday and meeting Jake. Penny listened very well through the entire story and didn't interrupt me. She's a very nice woman.

"Wow, that was a long story," she remarked as we crossed a creek. "I don't understand why he called you about his Russian girlfriend and then tracked you down and had to see you in person. I mean, isn't it bad enough he broke your heart, does he have to stomp all over it, too?" Penny added.

"I know, he's such a jerk," I agreed, urging Niveus up a hill.

"That's very ironic how you met Jake the next day, he sounds like a sweet guy," she commented.

"Oh yes, Jake is great. He's a very good friend. We get along so well. Like last night, I talked to him on the phone for nearly two hours. I haven't talked to a guy on the phone for that long since high school!" I added.

"If I were you, I'd forget about the lunkhead football player and go after Jake, he sounds like the keeper," Penny suggested.

"I totally agree," I said. "So how is Dennis doing?" I asked her. Dennis is Penny's husband. He is a very nice guy, loves riding Moose, is very musical, and super funny. He's quite the character, and is one of the only adult men I know that can get away with wearing a ponytail and looking good in it. He doesn't look like a motorcycle bad boy, it just fits him. We talked about Dennis's surgery on his wrist he had not long ago and how he had to take it easy so he wouldn't further damage his wrist.

Penny was just beginning to tell me how frustrating he was to be around when it started raining. "Do you want to go back now?" Penny suggested.

"Yeah, we should definitely go before the ground becomes slippery and muddy and the horses start tripping," I said. We tried to hurry back without putting the horses in danger. Thankfully, since we were under the cover of trees and it was only a light drizzle, the ground stayed pretty much just damp until we made it back to the barn. We let the horses canter as soon as we came out of the woods. The downpour started just as we were making our way back into the barn, so by the time we came back in, we were both pretty wet.

Penny and I spent quite a while brushing and drying the horses and rubbing the mud off of their ankles and out of their hooves. Then, when they were safely tucked into their stalls we spent an even longer time drying the tack so the leather wouldn't be ruined. We both decided to take the saddle pads back home to be washed and dried. After sweeping the aisle clean of our mess, Penny and I were finished and made ourselves hot chocolate in the lounge inside the barn.

The weather had been getting colder and colder as we worked and was now an icy rain rather than just a drizzle. I was really hoping to not drive home in this weather. Penny was lucky and Dennis came to pick her up. I was going to wait until the rain stopped to start driving back home when my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered without looking at the caller ID.

"Jenna? It's Jake," said the voice on the other end of the receiver.

"Hey Jake, what's up?" I asked him. Yay! He called!!

"Not much. Hey, where are you?" he asked, sounding a bit anxious.

"I'm at the stable, I just got finished riding. I'm waiting for this ice rain to stop to start driving home," I explained.

"The weather reporters said it's not going to stop until late tonight, like one in the morning," Jake said.

"Really? Aw, man," I groaned.

"Where exactly is your barn?" he asked.

"About an hour outside of Boston down a little country road that will probably be the last road to be salted," I said.

"Do you want me to come pick you up?" he offered. My heart skipped a beat. HE WAS WONDERFUL!!

"Would you mind?" I asked, knowing full well the answer to my own question.

"Of course not, I want to make sure you're safe," Jake said.

"Okay, do you need directions or do you have a GPS in your car?" I asked him. He had a GPS and I gave him the address of the barn.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Jake told me.

"Thanks so much, Jake, I really appreciate this," I thanked him.

"Don't sweat it. I'll see you soon, okay?" he said.

"Alright, bye," I replied and hung up.

Jake Duckworth to the rescue!

Since it would be a while until Jake made it, I figured now was as good a time as any to finally groom Sadie thoroughly. I'd been wanting to do so for weeks now but never got around to it. I lugged my case of heavy duty grooming supplies from my locker to her stall where I decided it was easier to clean her and not have to sweep up the mess. Besides, she would be more comfortable (not to mention amiable) if she was in her stall.

Sadie wasn't extremely messy, just a little dirty. I started with the thickest, hardest curry comb and worked my way down to the finishing brush until her coat was soft, shiny and spotless. It had taken me about a half hour just to get every inch of dirt off of Sadie's legs, body, neck and face.

After her body was clean and Jake was still on his way, I cleaned out her hooves, picking the dirt out into a small bucket that I would later dump into the mucking wheelbarrow. I meticulously cleaned her hooves inside and out until they too were spotless. As soon as I dumped the bucket of hoof dirt, I started on her mane and tail, brushing and braiding it.

I had finished putting Sadie's mane into little ponytails and was just starting to braid her tail when I felt my cell phone vibrating in the pocket of my jeans. I held the pieces of hair in one hand, balanced the phone on my shoulder and continued braiding. "Hello?" I answered.

"Jenna, I'm at the bottom of the driveway to the barn but it forks. Which way should I go?" Jake asked me.

"Stay to the left," I replied. "Go all the way past the house to the very end of the driveway. It's a big white barn, you can't miss it," I told him.

"Alright, I'll be there in thirty seconds," Jake said.

"Okay. You can come right into the barn I just have to put a few things away and you can meet my horses!" I added.

"Cool. See ya," he said and I hung up. I quickly finished braiding Sadie's tail. I was just wrapping a rubber band around it when I heard Jake come inside the barn.

"Hey, Jake," I called from inside Sadie's stall. Jake had been walking past Sadie's stall looking anxious, but when he saw me his face brightened up and he came to the door of the stall.

"Hey," he said sounding very relieved. His smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Are you alright, Jake?" I asked him as I put my grooming supplies into the big case and shut it.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. He cleared his throat. "So this is your horse?" he asked gesturing towards Sadie.

"Yep, this is Sadie," I told him and patted her neck. I watched her as she approached Jake.

"Hey, Sadie," Jake greeted her. "Is it alright if I pet her?" he asked me.

"Sure, go right ahead," I agreed.

Jake stroked her face and Sadie actually nuzzled his shoulder! One thing about Sadie is she is not a very sentimental horse. She only nuzzles me and when she does she is very happy. But for her to nuzzle someone who she had never even met?! It was unreal.

Jake laughed and continued petting her. "She's a nice horse," he said.

"Thanks," I muttered, still awed at Sadie's behavior, "Jake, just out of curiosity, do you wear aftershave?" I asked him, thinking back to Penny's suggestion about Sadie's distaste to aftershave. Maybe that's why she liked him so much – he didn't wear the nasty smelling aftershave.

"Yeah, I do, why?" Jake said.

"Just wondering." Well, there goes the idea of the horses' dislike of aftershave.

I came out of the stall and closed Sadie's door. I gave her a carrot I had in the grooming box for being so nice while I brushed her. "I'll see you later, sweetie, I love you," I told Sadie and kissed her cheek. "Come over here and meet Niveus," I said to Jake, beckoning towards Niveus's stall.

Jake followed me to my horse's stall and I asked Niveus to come over and meet Jake. "This is my horse that I ride all the time. He's fantastic, aren't you boy?" I said to Niveus who had now brought his head over the stall door. "Niveus, this is Jake, Jake this is Niveus," I introduced them.

If I thought Sadie's reaction was good, you should have seen Niveus! He went nuts. Jake started petting his face and he looked like he could've crawled into Jake's lap and fallen asleep. He put his head over Jake's shoulder; his eyes drooped, his head bobbed and his lip flopped lazily a few times. I stared at my horse with growing shock. I couldn't believe how he and Sadie melted in the presence of Jake.

Now Joe is a freakishly large man, and Jake isn't as large as he is, but Jake isn't a twig either. He was six foot three and quite heavily muscled. Still, I'm not talking Joe muscle but Jake did possess large, intimidating guns!

I shook my head in disbelief and told Jake, "You can stay here if you want to, I just need to put this in my locker."

Jake didn't mind in the least, he stayed petting Niveus and didn't move an inch between the time I left and came back. "Are you ready?" he asked me.

"Yeah, let's go," I said, "Bye Niveus, I love you, dear," I told my horse and kissed his cheek, too. However Niveus was asleep already and didn't hear a word I'd said.

"It's a little slippery out there," Jake cautioned me, "so you can hold onto my arm if you want to," he offered, extending his arm.

"Thank you," I said and wrapped my arm around his.

We slowly made our way across the parking lot to my car where Jake let me get my car keys, house keys and change from my horse boots into tennis shoes so I wouldn't get horse muck in his car. As soon as I locked my car, Jake helped me over to his truck.

Jake drove a black Ford F-150 and it looked to me like it was the latest edition. He opened the passenger door for me and let me in before getting behind the wheel. As Jake sat down, he took a deep breath and started the car.

"Jake, are you sure you're alright?" I asked him curiously. I could see his hands shaking slightly.

He looked over at me and then hugged me suddenly. My eyes went wide and I patted his back awkwardly. "I'm just glad you're safe," he said into my hair which I'm sure must have smelled like horse.

Okay, yeah, he was being way overdramatic and nothing could plausibly have happened to me between the time he called me and made it to the barn, but you have to admit, he's so sweet! I hugged him back

"You're hair smells like a horse," he mumbled.

I laughed, "Sorry," I said. I let go of him and he pulled back and put his seatbelt on. He pulled slowly out of the barn parking lot and onto the road at the end of the driveway.

"Which way do I go?" he asked me before turning left or right onto the road.

"Go right," I told him.

"Would you mind telling me how to get back to Boston from here? I'd rather listen to your voice than a GPS system's," Jake asked. Awww!!

"No problem," I laughed, turning my face away so he wouldn't see it turning red. I noticed how very nice his car was. "This is a great truck, it's very roomy," I commented.

"Thanks," Jake said, "I'm glad I bought it now, it's nice in this kind of weather."

He must have a decent job, I thought and tried to remember what exactly his job was. He couldn't just be a sales clerk at Everything Sports. That place pays well, but not Ford F-150 well. "So do you have another job outside of working at the sports store?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm a recruit for the Boston Celtics," Jake said, pointing at his Celtics hoodie that I hadn't noticed before. Celtics attire in Boston was like Steelers Attire in Pittsburgh, lots of men wore it so when one saw it, one didn't think twice about it.

"That's awesome," I said, "how long have you been working there?"

"About two years," he replied, "After I graduated college I did some internships and a few other odd jobs here and there before getting accepted as a recruit for the Celtics," he explained.

"I see," I said, "and have you made any big recruits?"

"My biggest so far was Rajon Rondo, he's pretty good and has a lot of potential," Jake said.

As he said this, my cell phone started ringing. I took it out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and dropped the phone. "You have got to be kidding me," I muttered as the phone slipped from my fingers.

"Is something wrong?" Jake asked, "Who's calling you?"

"Joe Kingman," I said through gritted teeth as I picked the phone up off the floor.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" he asked when I dusted the phone off and glared at it.

"I guess," I sighed. If Jake hadn't wanted me to pick it up, I would have ignored it altogether.

"Hello?" I answered, my tone suggesting I was annoyed.

"Hey Jenna," Joe said sounding happy which only made me angrier. Oh sure! Just stomp all over the broken pieces of my heart not even two nights ago and then call me now as if nothing has happened.

"Hello Joe," I said, trying not to sound icy in the presence of Jake.

"What's up? Are you doing anything right now?" Joe asked me.

"Yeah, Jake is taking me home from the stables. I just rode Niveus," I explained, beginning to enjoy this opportunity to talk to Joe. I could tell him all about how Jake had come to my rescue and my horses loved him and oh wouldn't he be jealous!

"Who's Jake?" Joe asked instantly.

"Oh, he's an old high school friend I ran into yesterday," I said casually.

"So did Jake meet your horses?" Joe continued. He wanted to know if they were mean to Jake too. Hahaha!!

"Yeah, they absolutely love him. I couldn't believe it, Sadie actually nuzzled him and Niveus looked like he could crawl up into his lap and go to sleep," I said.

"Really?" Joe seemed incredulous. "They didn't even pull back or throw their heads back a little bit?" he asked.

"Nope, they loved him," I replied, rubbing it in. Oh, this was fun!

"Hmm, well, I just wanted to see how you were doing," Joe said.

"I'm just fine," I replied leaving the without you part out of my response though I was thinking it, "How are you and Teri doing?" I asked.

"You mean Tatiana?" he suggested.

"Whatever."

"We're fine," Joe said, "Well, I have some – uh – work I gotta do so I'll talk to you later, Jenna," he said. Yeah right. Work to do my butt.

"Okay, bye," I said and hung up.

"Do you talk to Joe Kingman often?" Jake asked after I put my cell phone back in my purse.

"I try not to but he calls me a lot," I said.

"How did you meet Joe Kingman?" he asked.

"Well I did that interview with him and then he gave me tickets to a Rebels game and made me do another story on that, then he got one of his friends to talk to me and got my number and it kind of snowballed from there," I replied.

"So I guess you meet a lot of people working as a journalist, huh?" said Jake.

"Actually Joe is the first notable person I've met. I'm not supposed to write the sports column, believe it or not, so I seldom write interviews," I said. "So how are your parents? Are they enjoying Boston?" I asked him, eager to change the subject. I didn't want him getting jealous of Joe.

"Oh yeah, my mom loves it here. This is their third visit since I moved here two years ago, and you know how often my dad takes a vacation," Jake replied and I laughed. When it came to business, Mr. Duckworth was all work and very rarely had time to take a vacation. He was just too focused on his work. An admirable quality, I suppose, but rather boring. "But they're both good. They were asking about you last night," Jake added, smiling at me. I smiled back and a chill ran up my spine – he was so cute when he smiled!

"What about me?"

"You know, the usual," Jake coughed after a pause. Okay, as Miley Cyrus once said in her song "See You Again", I'm not a mind reader, but I'm reading the signs. His parents were definitely asking about more than 'the usual'. Hmm, did they like the idea of me and Jake or were they trying to discourage him from it? I could see quite clearly that, if they were discouraging him, he didn't care too much about what they thought from the way he had so eagerly picked me up and his hand that wasn't on the wheel was inching towards mine.

"Will you need to go anywhere else today?" he asked me.

"Yeah, my friends and I are going out tonight," I replied, wondering where he was going with this.

"Okay, would you rather stay at my place, then, until the weather clears up and then I'll take you back to get your car or do you have a ride to go out?" he offered. And really, what kind of doofball (other than Lindsey) would decline an offer to stay at his place until the weather clears up? Obviously, not me!

"I'd love to stay with you," I said instantly and I could swear I saw his face light up. At least he didn't stop smiling the whole way to his house. After this, it took Jake about ten minutes to drive back to his place. He pulled onto a street with a sign on the corner reading Oakridge. How quaint! The houses in the neighborhood were small but cozy looking, and it reminded me much of my own neighborhood I grew up in, Greenridge. The names were even similar! "You own a house?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'll probably stay here for a while so I figured I might as well settle in and have my own place. Besides, you probably pay as much in rent each year as I do in mortgage, but I can get money back when I sell my house, unlike an apartment. Anyway, I prefer the smaller neighborhood environment to the hustle and bustle of the city," Jake explained.

"All very good points," I admitted, "I like this neighborhood, it's very cute," I said. Jake pulled into the driveway of a small, one story and a half house. It was one of those houses that has the main floor, a few steps up, and the next floor, plus a few steps down from the first floor to a basement. "Aww, I love your house!" I said, and unbuckled my seatbelt.

"Wait a second, let me help you," Jake told me, got out of the truck and cautiously walked over to my door and opened it for me. "Be careful, it's icy," he warned me. I grasped his arm and he helped me down. With a yelp, I slid as soon as my foot hit the ground and I clenched Jake's arm for support. He put his opposite arm that I wasn't holding onto around my waist and helped me balance. "Are you okay?" he asked me.

"Yeah, just a little humiliated," I replied honestly. He laughed and started walking slowly towards his front door. I put my arm around his waist, which helps one balance much better than just holding an arm by the way, and we slowly inched our way into his house.

Upon reaching the door, Jake unlocked the door with his hand that wasn't around me, opened the door, and gestured inward, saying, "After you." I thanked him, stepped into his house, and welcomed the beginning of a very different lifestyle.

Note from the author: This is kind of a 'to be continued' chapter. The original chapter would have been too long. I'm currently working on Chapter 9. Please be patient and review in the meantime so the writing is easier! :)