He smelled delicious with a light detection of his cologne. He was so close. His jeans touched the thin material of my pajama shorts. They rubbed against me before his hand lifted for my waist. As it touched me, I jumped backwards.
My throat was thick now, but I choked out, “What are you doing here?”
He bent forward. I felt his breathing against my forehead and then his lips touched me softly. One of his hands lifted and skimmed a gentle finger down the side of my face. He trailed it to my chin and tilted me up to meet his gaze.
I felt a swift kick in my stomach. It was aimed low and delivered with perfection. I didn’t know if I would recover from it.
His eyes were piercing. They sparked with promise. “I wanted to see you.”
“Why?”
His hand cupped the side of my face now and he angled it so he looked straight down at me. His eyes were dark. A molten desire was there, but blanketed. I felt it reach for me, and everything I had decided that evening melted away. His thumb started to rub back and forth over my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned closer. I needed him.
His lips touched beside my eye, then the corner of my lips. He paused.
I gasped.
My heart raced now and I surged closer to him.
His lips touched mine.
Finally.
Then he whispered, “Your parents?”
I shook my head, but I pulled away to lock the door. After that, he tugged me down to the bed and it wasn’t long before we were naked and connected once again.
When he pushed inside, I let myself go. It might’ve been wrong, but I felt like it was right. And then he started thrusting. My hips moved to match and I stopped thinking. I could only feel. Jesse groaned in my ear and I turned to meet his lips. When I captured them, we groaned together.
I wasn’t sure how long we lay in bed afterwards. I felt replete, and he had collapsed on top of me. His head rested on my chest and I stroked his hair. I could’ve stayed there forever. With the cold wind against my window and the small clear lights around my closet, my room had a romantic feel to it. It was our corner away from the world.
When his phone lit up from the floor, both of us cursed.
Jesse grinned at me before he rolled over to check it. Then he cursed again as he sat up. “I have to go.”
“You just got here.”
He grimaced as he read more of his text. “Cord got arrested.”
“What?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. I gotta go and bail him out.”
“You’re joking.”
“I’m not.” He stood from the bed and started looking for his clothes. As a big yawn came over him, he shook his head and ran a hand over his face. “I’ve gotta wake up. I thought I’d be in bed with you all night.”
I scooted up against the headboard and gathered my comforter around me. I hugged it over my br**sts. As I watched him, I felt helpless. He had to go. That was the deal. I tried to stop myself from asking the question of when he was returning. No good would come from that answer.
So I heaved a deep breath. “Someone asked me out tonight.”
Jesse stopped what he was doing. The shirt he’d been about to pull over his head fell to the side and he sat at the end of the bed. His voice was low. “Who?”
“Eric Nathan.”
“Oh.”
What did that mean? Did it mean anything at all? My chest was tight as I asked, “What are you thinking?”
He snorted and pulled his shirt over his head. His movements were rough and he jerked his shoes on.
“Jesse?”
He snapped, “What’s your problem? We screw. That’s all we do. I don’t give a shit if you’re dating my replacement.”
“Your replacement?”
He started for the door, but I hurried and got there first. I pressed my back against the door and held the handle tightly behind me.
He stopped an inch from me, but stared past my shoulders. He refused to meet my gaze. He clipped out, “Let me leave.”
“What do you mean replacement?”
His hand ran over his head in a frustrated manner. He seethed, “Come on. Let me leave.”
My heart was pounding. When wasn’t it? And then I gulped. It was calm whenever I was in his arms. I almost groaned at that thought, but rasped out, “Jesse, you don’t mean for me? Do you?”
He chuckled and shook his head. Arrogance came over him. “Nah, Alex. I meant in basketball. He was second string forward, my alternate. The dipshit never played a game last year. He’s going to tank this year.” The smirk grew ugly. “Now I’m glad I ruined that sport for him. He can’t touch my records. I’d love for him to try. And everyone’s going to hope he’ll lead them to state champs. When he won’t, they’ll hate him. I couldn’t have planned that better.”
My heart sank. Of course he hadn’t meant for me.
He reached around me, but I didn’t give him a fight. I was shifted to the side and he slipped through. When the door was going to slide to a quiet close, his hand stopped it and he poked his head around the door. “Don’t let him screw you.”
Before I could ask what exactly he meant by that, he was gone. I went to the window. It wasn’t long before I saw him dart past my window and hurry to the Ferrari parked in front of the neighbors’ house. He’d left through the back door, which meant my parents hadn’t known he was there. I shouldn’t have been surprised. They would’ve torn the door down if they had. He was the closest reminder of Ethan. No matter how far they slipped into their numbed and dazed states, I knew they’d snap out of them for him. My parents loved Jesse more than they loved me.