“I refuse to hurt you, Jake. You mean too much to me. And I refuse to harm your friendship. If this is all too much for you—” “Hey,” he says, shutting me down with a look. He reaches surreptitiously under the table, his hand on my thigh. “It’s not. Rach, I swear, this was…it was just a dumb guy thing. It was a me thing,” he corrects, his tone lightening a bit. “It’s not about you, baby…or you and Cay.”
