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Who would have told you that your elementary school rival would actually turn out to be your favorite person in the world? Jake would. Actually that is how your rivalry and friendship started. It was first grade and you had to switch classes since your teacher left on maternity leave.
You shyly made your way to the empty seat next to a small blonde boy. He smiles widely at you and told you “We’re gonna be best friends… But I’m a better speller than you. So we’ll be spelling bee rivals. Don’t forget it!”
Your tiny face looked at him in confusion. “And who are you?”
“I’m Jakey.”
The memory made you smile and then laugh when you saw the perfectly imperfect poster Jake made for picking you up at the airport.
You ran the rest of the way to reach him. “Jake! You still can’t spell cupcake? So much for spelling bee master!”
“Listen Cupcake…” he pretends to growl and hugs you tightly. “You look good!”
“I am. I am very good Seresin.”
“Wow. She sounds exactly like you Jake…” the caramel skinned man besides Jake.
“Who do you think I learned it from?” Jake gives your waist another squeeze. “She’s the best person ever. But it goes to her head. Coyote.. this is Cupcake. Cupcake, this is Coyote. One of the other pilots from the academy.”
You extend your hand to shake his. “A pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard about you.”
He places his hand on your to shake and it’s as if you had never known what warmth and colors were. A pleasant warmth takes over and you notice the uniform he’s wearing. Khaki was now your new favorite color.
You hadn’t noticed that Jake, who was now clearing his throat for attention, was also in his uniform. “Shall we go?”
“Mhmm. Yeah,” you nod.
“Good. I got us reservations at the new French restaurant,” Jake says as he and Javy place your bags onto the bed of the truck.
As you all talked over dinner, Javy discovered there were levels to your friendship with Jake, as well as with your personality.
It’s not that he considered you fake. No. He prided himself in knowing how to read people. That’s why he was able to discover how much more you relaxed and truly showed yourself the more comfortable you were with someone.
Did he want to get to know every inch of your body? Of course. He was not blind and he could appreciate your beauty. But you were the first person that made him want to climb all those levels so he could know you in every facets. It kept taking him by surprise how much this feeling had taken over him after having just met you hours earlier.
“Did you know that this little hell raiser is the one that originally gave me my callsign?” Jake tells Javy as he slings his arm around your shoulder and pulls you in close.
“It was the best insult I could come up with as an 8 year old!” You exclaim laughing. “You sucked at playing hangman.”
Something in Javy’s chest clenches at hearing your laugh. He takes in your smile and how your eyes crinkle at Jake making you laugh.
Everything was always easy for Jake. He always got the best scores on any test. He always was the most popular. And he always got the girls.
Javy knew he didn’t have a right to feel this jealousy over someone he just met, but there was something about you that he just needed to make you his.
“So how long have you two been hooking up?” He asks, more bluntly than he anticipated.
You and Jake look at each other and start laughing. “Never!”
“Nope! She’s the only one that I would never try to get with because she scares me!” Jake says laughing. “No but seriously. She’s truly been the only girl that actually has been a friend and helped me so much.” He leans over and kisses your temple. “Sorry Javy but she’s my original best friend… and rival!”
“Jake is still the worst to play hangman with, but yeah he’s been the only guy I’ve met that has never tried to cross the line of friendship with me. I respect him for that. And now he’s graduating from the Naval Academy!”
“All because you two,” he points between you and Javy. “You two kept me in line.”
You turn to smile at the other aviator. “He gets easily distracted talking about himself right?”
This causes Javy to crack up. He brings his hand to his chest as he still laughs. “Oh! That’s it. You’re my friend now,” he says and subconsciously places his hand on your thigh. Javy’s protective and jealous side were obvious to Jake. He would glower at any of the patrons of the restaurant that would leer at you. He would make sure they knew he had claimed you, so to speak. He would lean closer to you and keep an arm wrapped around the back of your seat.
You’re so distracted by staring at Javy and enjoying his laugh that you don’t notice his hand on your thigh.
Unlike you, Jake notices and smirks to himself. “Let me get refills for everyone,” he says dismissing himself to give you two time to talk.
For as much as you loved Jake, tonight was the first time you ever wished for him to leave you hanging for a few hours.
Ever since meeting his friend Coyote, you’ve just wanted to be near and with this man. ‘He looks like he smells of cinnamon and whiskey and warm summer mornings,’ you tell yourself.
You try to control the scowl on your face when you see a group of college girls approach Javy while he was at the bar. You sigh as he smiles charmingly at them and feel a bit of jealousy.
That word makes you stop in your train of thought. ‘Jealous? You just met him and have no claim on him!’
You’ll admit you felt a bit jealous at the confidence the college girls had to just approach any man that you wanted. You were about to look away when you noticed that Javy shook his head no when they tried to get his number.
Once he came back with the drinks, you feel his arm go around the back of your seat and you feel yourself relaxed into his side.
It’s not soon after that you are all making your way back to the truck to head home. Jake keeps his eyes on you but stays back pretending he left his wallet. He tosses his keys to Javy. “Just get the truck ready. I’ll be right there.”
Javy nods and uses this alone moment with you to wrap his arm around your waist and pull you close to him. He leans down and whispers in your ear “How about we show Jake what it’s like to leave him hanging and we go have our own friendship?” He nips at your earlobe before he starts walking again.
That warmth that you felt when you met him increased hundredfold. “Make me howl and I’ll understand why you’re called Coyote.”