The thought of leaving him has my throat tightening. Tears of devastation leak from my eyes. My arms wrap tightly around Jase’s neck, needing to mold myself to him— to feel him even closer. I want to burrow myself just as deeply in him as he’s done to me. My tears fall as Jase makes love to me against the shower wall. As reality hits that I can’t leave this man. I am falling in love with him. I don’t care if it’s too soon, too fast. I can’t help how my heart feels. I need to lay my cards down, put it all on the line—tell him the truth and see where it takes us. Maybe I can convince him to join me in New York. He could work at a shop there and eventually open his own place. Would his sister and brother be willing to move? Would he move without them? Am I crazy for even having these thoughts?
“Celeste,” Jase moans, “stay with me, baby.” His words push all my thoughts aside, so I can focus completely on being right here, in this moment, with Jase—on how good he feels inside me. His face nuzzles into the crook of my neck, and he bites down on my flesh as he comes deep inside me. Once he catches his breath, he lifts his head, pulls out of me, then sets me down on my feet.
“You didn’t come,” he says with a frown. It’s not a question, he knows I didn’t. We’ve only had sex a couple times, but every time he’s made sure I find my release before him.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper in embarrassment. I was so lost in myself, in him, I didn’t even notice.
“What’s going on?” He runs two fingers down the side of my cheek.
“Nothing.” I shake my head. “Was everything okay with your friend?”
Jase’s brows furrow. “Is that what’s wrong? You have nothing to worry about. Amaya is only a friend.”
“I know.” I nod emphatically. I wait for Jase to further explain himself, but he doesn’t.
“Hurry up and finish rinsing off,” Jase says. “I owe you an orgasm.” He shoots me an adorable wink before stepping out of the shower.
Four
Celeste
The Past
My skin is overly warm, and it feels like there’s a two hundred pound weight on top of me. When I try to roll over but can’t move, I tilt my head to the side and see Jase’s body is wrapped around mine. His legs are entwined with mine, and his free hand is holding my breast. We fell asleep naked last night, after devouring a pizza while we attempted to watch a movie on Netflix, which only ended in us making out and eventually making love.
“Morning,” Jase murmurs against my ear. His dick presses against my ass, and I let out a groan, which has him chuckling darkly. He pulls away from me, only to flip me over so he can hover above me. “What’s on the agenda for today?” he asks. I love that he’s assuming we’re going to hang out.
“I don’t know.” I shrug my shoulders. “Do you have to work?”
“Nope.” He shakes his head then dips it down to grab one of my nipples between his teeth. He tugs on it playfully, then looks up, releasing it. “I was thinking I would quit my job and spend the rest of my life with you in this bed.” He waggles his eyebrows, and I giggle, rolling my eyes. “I’m just kidding,” he says. “It’s Sunday, so I have off, which means…if you don’t have anything going on, I was thinking we could hang out.” He smiles shyly, his cockiness and confidence dropping a couple notches.
“That sounds good to me,” I tell him as I run my fingers through his hair and pull him to me. We kiss for several minutes before we finally get out of bed to get ready for the day. Jase surprises me with my clothes, as well as the outfit I borrowed from Quinn, neatly stacked. Apparently when he left the room to get our pizza from the delivery guy, he threw a load of laundry in the wash, and then Quinn threw them in the dryer. I get dressed and then head into the bathroom. Using Jase’s toiletries, I brush my teeth and put on deodorant. When I come out, Jase is ready to go as well.
“Where are we going?” I ask as we head toward his car.
“I was thinking we could go downtown, maybe go see a movie.” His eyes seek mine for approval.
“That sounds perfect.”
Jase opens my door for me, and once I’m in, closes it, but not before ducking his head in and giving me a swoon-worthy kiss.
The drive to downtown is filled with comfortable silence with the music playing in the background. My phone buzzes in my hand, and when I check it, I see it’s almost dead. There’s also a text from Nick asking what we’re up to today. I feel like the worst friend in the world when I text him back that I have more stuff I need to take care of and then promise that we’ll hang out soon.