He extends his hand toward me with his palm up and says, “Penny, please.” I squeeze it tighter in my fist. I wanted to keep it. It was supposed to be my trinket to always remember him by, not that I could ever forget.
When I continue staring at my closed hand, he laughs and says, “I promise to give it back.” Those words are exactly what I need to hear.
When he picks the penny out of my palm, he leans over and kisses my lips with a soft peck. Then he starts to dig through the toolbox, although I’m not sure what he’s looking for. I hop up onto the ledge of the open trunk and stare out into the dark distance. Jace tinkers away beside me and I soak in this simple time with him. Could it really all come together this easily? Could we finally get to be together? Was time all we needed? As two high school kids, it wasn’t our time. But maybe now that we’ve become adults, could this be our time?
“How come you only drive Jaxon’s car?” I ask to interrupt my confusing thoughts.
“Because it’s my car now,” he says, while continuing to work with his hands in the dark. “He gave it to me this past summer. I was always working on it and keeping it in shape anyway, but I never thought he would just hand over the keys like that. I love this car because it reminds me so much of my dad.”
“Wow, that was nice of him,” I say on an exhale.
“Yeah…” he sighs. “Just another reason why I feel so shitty about going behind his back like this. I’ll tell him, I promise, Audrey. But you have to understand how hard it is. We always promised each other that we wouldn’t date each other’s girls, past or present. I just need to find the right way to tell him, but for now, I want to see where this goes.” He gestures with his finger between the two of us.
So, what he’s saying is that he wants to be with me, but he needs to keep it on the down low. How do I feel about that? I would never let it be a permanent situation, but it doesn’t sound like that’s what he’s asking. I can hold on just a little while longer. At least I can still have him in the meantime. That’s what I’ve always wanted anyway. Jace. It’s always been Jace.
I nod my head in agreement and then add, “But I’m not your girlfriend until I get a real first date.”
“Damn, I was hoping I could give this to my girl tonight,” he chuckles. Slowly, he lifts up his hand and a silver chain dangles from his fingers. My eyes follow the series of links until I see that my penny is suspended from the end of it. Somehow he made a tiny hole in the metal and strung a chain through it.
“Wow, you just made me a necklace?” I ask incredulously.
His hands move the length of my hair aside and he drapes it over my shoulder. Then he wraps the chain around my neck, clasping the two ends together. I look down at the penny lying just above my breasts.
“I’ve walked passed so many pennies in my life, never bothering to pick them up because none of them were ever appealing to me. Then one day, I literally crashed into the most gorgeous penny I’d ever seen, so I picked her up off the ground, wiped away her tears, and became mesmerized by her every movement. Stupidly, I let that penny get away from me, and I’ve regretted it ever since. You were my lucky penny, Audrey, and I’ve been dreaming about you for years.”
I can probably count on one hand the number of times I remember crying in my life. Three of those times have been because of Jace, and two of them occurred today. Tears well up in my eyes at his sweet words. How many times have I secretly girl-crushed, imagining Jace confessing his feelings for me? Never, not even in one of my dreams, did they come out like that.
“Babe, no more crying. You’ve reached your quota for the day,” he says, as he once again wipes my eyes.
I laugh through my tears and insist, “These aren’t sad ones.”
I stand up on my toes, wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him without warning. He is mine to take, whenever I want. Although a little voice in the back of my head annoyingly adds: Yes, except when Jaxon is around.
- Eleven -
JACE -
The futon bar pushes further into my ribcage as I begin to stir awake. Groaning, I shift to try and escape the evil bar that is determined to separate me from Audrey. I don’t understand how it doesn’t drive her fucking insane. Although I tossed and turned last night, I’d do it a thousand times more just to have her next to me all night long. Hopefully, I’ll soon be taking her back to my bed.
Last night when I asked to stay the night, I didn’t consider the true test of my willpower that would be required to resist her naked body beside me. Especially her begging-to-be-touched naked body. So much had happened last night, from the horrendous to the magnificent. I had witnessed her cry, twice in one evening. I felt like there were too many raw emotions and it would be better for her to sleep on it all. Trust me though, I was in pain all night long, and it wasn’t just the metal bar in my back causing it.
I run my hand lightly down the length of her side. Her soft skin feels like silk against my fingertips. All I can feel is skin. My fingers don’t have to detour across any clothing on her entire body. Audrey sleeps naked, well except for my penny around her neck. She sleeps like this, even when she’s by herself. Incredibly, it’s not to seduce a guy, but purely because that’s what makes her comfortable. An unforeseen growl rolls through my chest at the idea of other guys in her bed. She begins to stir at my possessive vibration.
Her back is tucked into my chest, but I peer over and watch her eyelashes as they begin to flutter open. She stretches her arms above her head and I run my hands up them to extend the stretch. One of her hands comes back down to her neck and I smile as she checks for the necklace. The act makes me kiss the back of her neck underneath her hairline.
Her back arches and it causes her ass to press into me. This time a groan rumbles past my lips at the fucking remarkable feeling of her unbelievable body against my willing and ready one.
“Please don’t say you’re planning to make me wait again…” she whispers in her sexy as hell hoarse morning voice.
“I couldn’t even if I tried. If I don’t get some relief from this body right here,” I say in a low undertone, while cupping her breasts and grinding into her from behind, “I might explode. You’re a tease even when you sleep.”
“Sorry…” she says on a moan.
“Are you though?”
“No,” she chuckles quietly. That’s my girl. Slowly, while lying on our sides, we move against one another. It’s a lot like the way we danced together last Thursday night, except now we’re naked and alone. I’ll take this with her any day. I reach behind my head and grab the waiting condom before putting it on.
I lift her top leg and hitch it up by holding the back of her knee. The closer contact makes her groan into her pillow.
“Do you want me?” I ask.
“More than air,” she breathes out instantly. Because I know she’s ready from all the grinding, I slip inside of her, inch by inch. Pausing, I wait for her to adjust to my size. When I begin to move, she lets out a strangled cry and urges me to keep going. Yes, ma’am.
Hours. I could do this with her for fucking hours. Days. Months. Hell, probably even years. Please just deliver my food and all other necessities to this bed, because if anyone wants me to leave, they will have to drag my ass out.
For years my body has craved what I now hold in my hands. I tried to feed it with what I thought it needed, and yet there’s something about finally letting your body have what it’s always desired. You can try and create feelings, but you can’t deny true attraction. Audrey feeds my soul with her strength and beauty.