Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I covered my whole face with both my hands. But then…then I felt Jake’s bigger hands on mine. He gently pulled them away. “You don’t have to be embarrassed with me.”
“I know. I don’t know how, but I do. I feel safe with you.”
He smiled. “I’m glad. I like you, Seth. I like spending time with you.”
My heart began thudding so hard, I was afraid I would die. He liked me, and I trusted him, and now I was going to die. “I like you too.”
His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, and I gasped. Jake went to pull back again, but I grabbed his wrist. “Don’t stop,” I pleaded, so he did it again. My tongue sneaked out, and I licked the tip of his thumb. This time, it was him who sucked in a sharp breath.
“I, um…I really want to kiss you, but if you don’t want me to, I—”
My lips slammed down on his. He made a grunting noise, not having expected it, but then his lips moved softly against mine. We did that a few times, slow, closemouthed kisses, before Jake’s tongue teased the seam of my lips and I opened them, let him inside. This was amazing. Maybe the most incredible thing I’d ever done.
Jake’s lips on mine. Jake’s tongue in my mouth. Jake’s teeth nibbling my bottom lip. Jake’s noises transferring from him to me. Jake’s hand on the back of my neck, pulling me closer.
He wrapped his arms around me again and held me and kissed me, and it was everything.
When he stopped, my eyes held his. “That was okay?” he asked.
“That was maybe the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I admitted, and he chuckled. “It was okay for you?” I added softly.
He tilted my head up so I looked at him. “It was maybe the best kiss I’ve ever had. Don’t you worry about that.”
The next thing I knew, I was kissing him again.
18
Jake
“What’s with the goofy smile?” Tucker asked me as I stripped off my coveralls.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I hadn’t even known I was smiling, but I couldn’t seem to help myself, not after that kiss with Seth the other night.
He was so sweet, and made these little sighing noises, and the way he’d clung to me got me so hard, I’d had to jerk off after he left. I nearly asked him to stay, but I was glad I’d resisted because fuck, I needed to get a handle on what happened between us. And I definitely did not want to give him the impression I was getting too far ahead of myself or couldn’t control myself. Not like that fucker he’d told me about.
The fact that he even wanted to kiss me was pretty special, and I wanted to take my time with him and let him call the shots if that made him most comfortable.
“Whatever,” Tucker grumbled. “What are your plans tonight, or should I not even ask?” Okay, he was clearly irritated with me, and I had a feeling it dated back to my not responding to his text last weekend and being a bit guarded about where I’d been. But hell, it wasn’t like I knew all the ins and outs of his relationship with his girlfriend. There were even a couple of weeks last year when he seemed to drop off the face of the earth after they’d begun dating. He couldn’t fault me for wanting to take my time in this instance. And once he understood the reason why—well, fuck. I had no idea what he’d think. Truth be told, I was a bit terrified, even if I knew he’d be accepting no matter what. Or at least I thought he’d be.
“Seriously?” I scoffed. “I’m heading to my mom’s new place for dinner.”
“Nice!” He seemed relieved that I wasn’t being evasive with my answer. Christ, I hadn’t realized it’d come to that. “Tell her I said hi.”
“Will do. How about you? Hanging out with Lauren?”
“How’d you guess?” He thumped my back. “See you tomorrow.”
I headed home to shower and change, then drove to Mom’s new place, feeling this strange fluttering in my stomach about seeing Seth again. I didn’t think he’d have any regrets about the other night, but I’d have to prepare myself nonetheless.
All my doubts flitted away as soon as I stepped inside the door and saw his shy smile, which told me we were probably on the same page.
I kissed Mom on the cheek and placed the white wine I’d brought in the fridge.
Turning back to Seth, who was helping place the garlic bread in a basket on the table, I had the urge to kiss his cheek as well. And as if he’d read my thoughts, his cheeks streaked redder than the light stain on his lips.