“Shit, dude, why didn’t you tell me you had a hot sister?” Coyote peeked over Jake’s shoulder, down at the picture he was thumbing out of a worn leather wallet. Jake scoffed, holding up the picture as if it were some gold medal. To him, it was; a small, weathered polaroid he’d taken of you on one of your first dates, when he took you down to the pier and watched the sunset beside you. It was fraying at the edges, but, nonetheless, he kept it safe behind his pilot’s license. Every now and then, when he was on missions and needed a reminder of what he got to come home to, he would slip it out and memorize it for the millionth time.

“Nah, man. That’s my lady.” Jake smiled with nothing but pride. Coyote scoffed, taking the polaroid swiftly. “Bullshit; you do not have a lady.” Jake couldn’t help but laugh, snatching the picture back. “Is that really so hard to believe?”

“Um, yeah. When was there ever a time where you weren’t sleeping your way through San Diego?” Coyote scoffed, crossing his arms. “I don’t believe you. Where did you even meet this imaginary girl?”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Bumped into her at the Hard Deck. She wanted to play somethin’ on the jukebox, but didn’t have enough coins. Lended her some, and the rest is history.” He was grinning like an idiot now. “You should meet her. She’ll be at the harbor when we dock.”

And of course, Coyote jumped onto his proposal. Not only that, he got everyone else in on it; even managed to get a few bets going, too. Jake’s ‘fuckboy’ attitude was notorious.

There was no way he had an actual girlfriend.

Yet, there you were, the sun setting across the horizon as the carrier pulled into the dock right in front of you. Buzzing with excitement and nerves, you immediately called out Jake’s name when you spotted his familiar head of blonde hair.

“Hope you got money ready; somebody’s losin’ a bet.” Jake snickered, sparing a taunting smirk in the way of Coyote, Phoenix, Bob, and Rooster, before beelining across the wooden pier and straight to you.