Heat

Ashley arrived at home after her little date with Jay. Today seemed a bit off and Ashley couldn’t seem to brush it off. Before she had exited Jay’s car,
she asked him if he was free to have one of those late-night calls they used to have but he quickly said that he was busy tonight, but the way he said
it made Ashley a bit suspicious but she left it alone and exited the car.

As she entered the house, she was greeted with silence. “Hello, is anyone home?” She called out, but there was no reply. Ashley made her way
upstairs as she stood in front of Jake’s bedroom door. “Jake, are you in there?” She asked while knocking on his door until he finally opened it with an
annoyed look on his face. “What?” He asked, sounding as though he just woke up.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up, I thought the house was empty,” she said as Jake stood there with a blank look. “Okay, is that all?” He asked
as Ashley stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. “Uh, yeah,” she replied, earning a door in her face, leaving her dumbfounded.

Ashley silently walked towards her room, where she entered, and immediately plop down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling wondering if Jake was
still mad at what happened earlier, she didn’t understand why Jake hated Jay so much, but what she didn’t understand was Anna’s sudden change of
attitude.

The last time she remembered Anna saying that she couldn’t stand her cousin and know she literally following her around like a lost puppy and not to
mention, what had happened when she showed up this morning, she was drooling over Jake, which confused the hell out of Ashley because the last
time Anna was over to her house, she looked like she could’ve killed Jake.

Ashley found herself overthinking to the point where she had fallen asleep.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jake lay back down in his bed as his peaceful slumber was interrupted by Ashley. Just seeing her face made him remembered what happened when
she left with Jay and that just pissed him off all over again. After Jay drove off, Jake went back into the house to release some stress by smoking.
After almost covering his entire room with smoke, he fell asleep until Ashley came and ruined it.

Jake sighed loudly before a familiar ping caught his attention. He reached for his phone that was underneath the covers. It seems that Tatiana had
sent him a text.

“Hey, Jake, are you coming to my party tonight, I hope to see you,” she texted as Jake rolled his eyes, “Hey, Tati, yeah I’m ma swing by your party,”
he replied as the bubbles on the screen appeared almost immediately, “Yay, see you then, Jakey,” she replied as Jake’s nose scrunch at the sudden
nickname before tossing his phone. He plopped down on his bed as a sigh left his lips.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tatiana watched the text and smirk. It’s showtime, she thought before towards her friends, “Is everything ready for tonight?” She asked as they
nodded, “Yup, but I don’t see why you’re doing this, especially to your cousin?” One of her friends asked, “Well, both of them think they can get what’s
mine and that’s not the case,” she said as the same friend frowned, “But that Ashley girl, doesn’t even like Jake,” she said as Tatiana scoffed, “Duh, I

know that but she’s trying to take Jay and I’m having it,” she said as all of her rolled their eyes with an expression that said, “Here we go again.”

“Tatiana, you and Jay broke up 6 months ago,” she said as Tatiana started getting annoyed, “Why do you care anyway, all you guys have to do is host
this dump party and make sure everyone is here,” she said getting irritated with her friends, “Whatever,” they said before walking away.

Tatiana took a deep breath before heading upstairs to talk with her cousin. As she reached upstairs, she wasted no time in entering through her door
to find Anna pacing nervously. “Woah, whats’s wrong with you?” She asked followed by a chuckle, “I can’t do this, Tatiana,” Anna said as Tatiana
furrowed, “What do you mean, you can’t, you want Jake, don’t you?” She asked as Anna sighed, “Yeah, but this is my best friend,” she said as
Tatiana rolled her eyes, “F**k her!” She exclaimed, “She’ll never forgive me,” Anna mumbled before taking a seat beside Tatiana on the bed, “Who
cares, you’ll have me, we’re blood-related and blood is much thicker,” she said before pulling Anna into a hug, but behind her back Tatiana was
smiling wickedly, “Thanks, Tati,” Anna mumbled, “No problem, cuz.”

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jake was currently on his way to Tatiana’s party, but before he did so, he went to check on Ashley, who was sound asleep. A soft smile made its way
to Jake’s lips before he left the house.

As he arrived at Tatiana’s place, he was stunned to see so many people. As Jake entered the party, he caught the eyes of many girls, who winked,
seductively waved, and sweetly smiled at him. Jake walked further into the party until he saw Jay surrounded by a group of other girls, which made
Jake smirk before walking in their directions.

“Well isn’t it the man-whore,” Jake said catching their attention as Jay gulped before smirking, “That’s funny because you’re no better than me, Jake,”
Jay said as Jake chuckled, “Well, at least I don’t take b**ches on fake dates just to tell them I wanna f**k,” Jake said as the girls around Jay gasped
before walking away from him.

Jay’s jaw clenched as he stepped into Jake’s personal space, “What the f**k is your problem, huh?” He asked as Jake smirked, “I wonder what
Ashely would do if she found out that you were playing with her?” He asked as Jay’s eyebrows raised and a smirk stained his lips, “She would never
find out and what are you going to do, tell her because she will never believe you,” Jay said pissing Jake off until Tatiana stepped in between them.

“Woah, Woah, chill boys, we came here to party not fight,” she said before turning to face Jake, “Hey, Jakey, thanks for coming,” she said pulling him
into a hug, “You invited this asshole, Tati?” Jay asked, still very pissed, “Jay, take a chill pill, here take this drink, it’s mine, I just got it and Jake come
with me,” she said handing Jay the drink before pulling Jake with her.

‘Don’t worry about him, Jakey,” she said leading them to the couches where Anna and her crew were, “Hey, guys, look who I found,” she announced
while smirking at Anna, who blushed, “Hey, ladies, I’m off to get a drink, enjoy y’all night,” he said before walking away.

One of Tatiana’s friends passed her a drink before she sat down next to her cousin. “Here, drink this, it will calm your nerves,” she said handing her
the cup, “What’s in here?” Anna asked while glimpsing inside the cup, “Orange juice and vodka,” she said as Anna nodded before gulping down on
the drink, “You good?” Tatiana asked with a grin on her face as Anna nodded, “Yeah, I’m great.”

After a few minutes, whatever Tatiana and her friends put in that cup started to affect both Jay and Anna. “What the hell did you put in this drink,
Tati?” Anna asked feeling a bit dizzy, “Nothing, but look, Anna, there’s Jake, go shoot your hop,” she said as Anna tried to focus on where Tatiana
was pointing, “Where?” She asked, “Dance floor,” she said before Anna nodded, “Okay, wish me luck,” she said before heading to the dance floor,
“Good luck!” Tatiana mumbled before turning to her friends, “You know the plan, I’m going to look for Jake,” she said before leaving.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ashley was awakened by the sound of her phone ringing. She sat up rubbing her eyes until she realized it was night. “Damn, how long did I slept?”
She questioned until her ringing phone caught her attention. She picked up the phone and frowned, “Unknown number,” she mumbled before
answering the call.

“Hello?” She greeted, “Hey, is this Ashley?” The unfamiliar female asked as the sound of music was blasting in the background, “Yes, who’s this?”
She asked, “Look, you need to come get your step-brother, he drunk and causing a scene,” she said as Ashley’s eyes widened, “What! Okay, I’m on
my way,” she said before hanging up.

“Shit, Jake, why are you so careless?” She asked herself before heading to Tatiana’s party.

As she made it to the party, her jaw dropped at the number of people, who attended. She squeezed her way inside looking for Jake. As she squeezed
through the crowd, she suddenly heard Jake.
“Stay the hell away from Tatiana,” he said walking through the crowd, “JAKE!” Ashley yelled but accidentally bumped into a couple that was making
out, “Oh, I’m so sor- Anna! Jay!” She called out in pure shock as they both turned in her direction, “Ashley!” They both said before Anna turned

towards Jay before gasping.

“And here I thought you were my best friend,” Ashley said as her eyes welled up with tears, “Ashley, I-

By now, the music was cut off and everyone’s focus was on Ashley, Anna, and Jay.

“Save it, whatever we had is over, don’t ever talk to me again,” Ashley said as Anna’s eyes filled up with tears. “And you,” she said looking towards
Jay, who had guilt written all over his face, “Ash, let me expl-

“I should’ve known, I should’ve listened when I was told that you were nothing but a no good, piece of shit,” she said with tears streaming down her
face as she turned to leave but Jay grabbed her hand, “DON’T F**KING TOUCH ME, stay the hell away from me and go to hell,” she before running
out of the party.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jake saw everything and immediately ran after Ashley. “ASHLEY!” He shouted as he tried to catch up with her. There she was, sitting with her knees
up to her chest as she sobbed. “Ashley!” He called out causing Ashley to raise her head, “J-Jake, w-what are you d-doing here?” she asked in
between her hiccups, “I saw everything Ashley, what are you doing here?” He asked, “I was-

Before Ashely could explain, she broke down again as Jake sighed, “Come on, let’s go home,” He said helping her up, “No, I don’t want to go home,”
she said as Jake frowned, ‘Then, where do you want to go?” He asked as she took a deep breath.

“Can you take me to the river?”

TO BE CONTINUED...