lovestruck romeo

Tabby watched as Jake attempted to get her a glass of champagne. "It is a swan. A bartender you are not, though." She took the bottle from him and took a drink. "Much better. How's the party going?"

Jake sighed as she took the bottle from his hand, not understanding why she wasn't more excited about the swan. This was why they could never actually date–she had no whimsy. "Obviously, I'm having a wonderful time." He reached across the hot tub to pull the swan back towards him so that he now had two glasses. "Have you successfully managed to seduce Jesse yet, or are you locked in on someone else?"

Camille had been watching Jake. He seemed to be enjoying himself, maybe a little sloppy. But lately her brother had been off his game. Besides the injury, something just wasn't right with him. "It is, you should come grab some water with me. Get out of the hot tub for a little bit."

Jake looked around him at the water and shot Camille a confused look. "Camille, this is water." Why would he need to get more? His sister was so silly sometimes. At the suggestion that he should get out of the hot tub, Jake sank lower so that only his head was above water. "No."

"That is a frickin' swan... I thought it was a goose which is just a completely different vibe." Tessa tried not to spill anything else when she reached for the champagne flute, scrunching her face as she drank it. Super dry. "Thank you," she added. If you'd told her a couple of years ago she'd been tipsy in a hot tub with Jake Hunter, she would have laughed in your face. "Do you think the swan's gonna wanna get with Jesse too or what?"

"Wait..." Jake stared at the birds for longer than was probably normal or necessary, then whispered, "Some of them might be gooseses..." He might have to do a recount on how many he had drunk. When Tessa's words processed in his brain, a laugh burst from him. "You know, if it has any taste, it will at least try! What about you? Here to shoot your shot?" Jake was, of course, joking, but he still wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Jesse chuckled as Jake poured the champagne, perhaps not making the world's greatest bartender but he had style. "Thanks, man! I know, right? How cool are these little guys? I feel like I should be out there mingling but I don't wanna leave these flamingos behind either. Such an awesome party. Are you having fun, Jakester?" He must have finished up his course of painkillers already which was great news for his arm. "I feel like we haven't kicked back in forever."

"The coolest." He agreed, watching them bob on the water for a moment longer before looking up at Jesse. "Well, me and the flamingos are honoured to have your attention when your adoring fan club is waiting so impatiently." Jake waved at a couple of girls who had been watching Jesse, causing them to giggle and run off. "Yeah, it's the best." He was grinning, but there was little enthusiasm in his reply. "I mean..." He struggled to contain a laugh, "Isn't that what happens when you become a father?"

"I'll take that-," Latife cut in, swinging her legs around to get in the hot tub and swiping the swan before whoever else could. She threw it back which didn't take much effort given half had hit the water. A playful smirk hit her lips as she looked over at Jake Hunter. He did look really good (physically not like, emotionally, but whatever). "Bartending might not be for you, sweetie. We might be safer sharing the bottle."

Jake's brow furrowed as Latife appeared in the hot tub and kidnapped a swan–poor thing never stood a chance. "And sometimes things aren't for you, but that clearly doesn't stop you." He huffed, not sure if he wanted to sober up for this or get more drunk. "That won't be happening." He took a swig from the bottle, keeping it close so that she couldn't take it from him. "What do you want, Latilay?"

Juliette watched Jake push off the half-full champagne glass. "It certainly is. And how many drinks have you had so far?" She teased, grabbed the glass, and downed it. "I think we can thank Rose for these."

Jake done the math in his head before replying, "Five flamingos, three swans, and a duck." Honestly, there might have been more, but they weren't worth counting if they weren't floating on the back of a bird. "She's a genius, Juliette. Twizzler?" He grabbed the pack from the side of the hot tub and held it out to her.

Georgina enjoyed a party as much as the next Upper East Sider on the road to redemption. And she'd dragged Jake around a lot of them last summer. She knew what it looked like when he was having fun. She knew him. Stopping at the hot tub she narrowed her eyes, assessing the situation before her. Jake had been on a downward spiral before and he kept slipping. But why? His arm was healing- and he'd been so good about that before now- and Sapphire was back. And he could still kiss anyone else he wanted. She let out a sigh, tying her hair up before pushing her sunglasses onto her head- "Hey, you two. Get out. I'm serious, move it. This hot tub is occupied."

Jake was too enthralled by the inflatable flock to even notice that Georgina had singlehandedly cleared the hot tub of all it's other guests. Now he just looked like a big baby playing with his bath toys, one minor inconvenience away from throwing a tantrum. "Hey, woah, hey!" He objected as she swiped both of the champagne flutes. "That's just greedy." He pouted, but quickly moved on to drinking straight from the bottle. "Maybe I am. Maybe even forever. Who's gonna stop me, Gigi?" How long had Jake been drowning? How long since someone had even noticed that he wasn't okay? No one was going to try to drag him from the hot tub. "You want some Twizzlers? I'm sure they were here some–..." His eyes dropped to the red at his feet. "I can get those if you want to keep your hair dry."

"They may think that, but I guess I am going to have to remind them who they are working for." Juliette had seen the blast. Gossip Girl seemed to really enjoy digging into certain people more. Jake had become one of them. "Or bully them into being better. How are you doing?"

"If anyone can bully their agents into submission, I have no doubt it's you." He released a small laugh and followed it up with a shrug. "Gossip Girl's cheap shots aside, can't really complain. How about you?" Jake had seen her name on the blog one too many times beside William's and really hoped her bullying tactics extended to him.

cupid’s match ˚₊ · »-♡→ jake

Jake hadn't put much thought into the card he was holding, figuring he had simply been paired with another football fan. His mom–his mom–had been the one to sort out most of the pairings, so he trusted that she knew what she was doing. But the damn 49ers? He should have known she would have opted to try to fix his broken friendships than help him hook up. Sam walked through the door and Jake stood, ready to push past him and leave the room.

"You'll get there," Sapphire nodded, her expression softer than it had ever been as he spoke. She wished so much for him to get back to what he loved. Thinking of him separated from his dream made her heart ache. Still, she believed it would get better for him. If anyone deserved a big, beautiful, life... it was Jake Hunter. When he looked at her then, she felt her heart squeeze. She could hardly breathe when he looked at her like that. "You too," she said quietly. At his question, she felt the air come rushing back into her lungs. "Yeah, it's amazing. I mean, I didn't doubt Logan for a second, but they've really gone all out. I don't think there's ever been a Valentine's Day, Birthday Bash, combo like it in our history. Everything's beautiful. Are you?"

Jake smiled, but it didn't really reach his eyes. Maybe he could get his arm back to the way it was before, but he was an almost twenty one year old college drop out. By the time he sorted himself out, what NFL team would even consider drafting him? He just couldn't convince himself to have faith in anything anymore. "Thanks." His smile did go a little brighter that time. "Yeah, I don't think there will ever be a Logan Hunter party that isn't a total hit from the second the music starts playing. I sort of can't believe they managed to pull it together, all things considered." Jake didn't want to answer the question, instead choosing to distract her. "Isobel broke up with them."

"Right. Sorry, Jakey... That must be why I'm drinking for two," they grinned. The question was expected, and the last thing Logan wanted was to answer it. "I'm staying busy. Gotta keep an eye on that elephant ice sculpture, y'know. Just in case. How're you doing?"

"Must be." They both knew why they were really drinking for two. Jake noted the sidestepping of his question, and understood entirely. However, if they weren't talking about him, they would be talking about him, and he didn't want that either. "I'm fine. Physio's going okay. The elephant ice sculpture was a choice, that's for sure."

she was too deep in her thoughts, staring at the flowers to notice that someone had yelled at her to watch out. ceren jolted back to reality when a ball fell into her lap "christ!" she yelled, caught off guard. this security team were terrible. they were supposed to protect her from anything, that included flying footballs.

Jake ran over, breathing out a sigh of relief that the ball landed in her lap instead of bouncing off her head. "Sorry. Sorry!" He directed the second apology at the security team that were suddenly paying attention. "It is. That was my bad." He took the ball back from her, heat rising up his neck. "It didn't hurt you, right? You're okay? I think I woke up your entourage."

William raised both eyebrows as Jake stepped closer. He was obvious as ever in his sore spot for Sapphire Vandervort. Under normal circumstances, William would have prodded more at that. Would have dared to utter Sapphire's name another time, just to see how far Jake would let him go. But no, this was serious business. "I am covering my bases, you should be far less inclined to believe that it's so impossible. This mess, to put it lightly, started with Jesse Walker." William scoffed at his audacious and entirely true come back. "Allegedly! Excuse me, can we stay on topic here? He is fine. Let's get back to me- I mean, the point-, thank you."

Jake barely let him finish speaking before he was right up in his face, fighting the urge to grab him by the collar and instead prodded him in the chest with his index finger. "Listen to me, you piece of shit, if I find out there's any truth in what Gossip Girl's implying, she's going to be the least of your concerns." He hated him; with every fibre of his being, he hated this man. "Gossip Girl was ruining lives long before Jesse tried to take her down–at least he tried. When have you ever cared enough about anyone to stand for something? He's a better man than you'll ever be, and if Gossip Girl has something hanging over your head..." Jake released a humourless laugh before continuing. "Karma's a bitch."