Please Be Mine

y

was pretty sure she’d never seen anything more intoxicating than a Jake Talbot smile. His face was dusted with a five-o’clock shadow, but she could still make out those twin dimples of his. A small reminder of the boy he once was. Her fingers itched to run through the rest of his mahogany hair, the front sticking out to the side at the crown of his head, like he’d been running his hands through it.

Jake moved a hand from her waist and traced his knuckles down her cheek to her jaw. He gently caged her chin with his thumb and pointer finger, tilting her face so it was angled to his.

“Tell me, ,” he whispered. “What did you drive all this way for?”

Her heart hammered in her chest, the pulse of it reverberating down to her bones. This was Jake. Jake Talbot. He was part of her deepest, most cherished memories. She was so scared they would be tainted after all of this. The last thing she wanted was to lose the most precious moments in her life to pain or bitterness. Or both.

But the way he held her, the way his calloused, well worked hands felt against her skin, somehow knew that Jake would really hold her. He would take care of her and be there for her. And she could trust him with all of it, no matter what happened next. Because she already did trust him completely.

She took the leap to drive all the way here, to stand in front of him and tell him the same words he’d written to her. The words that she couldn’t deny were now etched across her heart. So she took a long breath, and finally let them out.

“You know what I came for,” she answered. “I’m yours, Jake. For as long as you’ll have me.”

Jake grinned, and finally, with a gentle sigh of relief, he closed the distance between them.

He kissed her like his lips were always meant to be on hers. Soft and inviting and confident. He pressed his hand into her back so he could get her closer to him, so he could kiss her with intention. Jake Talbot clearly knew what he wanted, and he took it. Jake Talbot kissed like he was making up for lost time.

His other hand moved from her face and around her shoulder as he tucked her close, his palm grasping the back of her head. The feel of his hands on her made her burn with a desire so fierce, she immediately wanted more of him. She raked the hair at his neck and deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue inside his mouth. He groaned at her advance, his fingertips bruising into her skin as their kiss seamlessly moved to the next level. A kiss that was needy and consuming.

wasn’t sure how long she’d been kissing him, but at some point, their lips slowed and his grip on her loosened. He pulled away so he could nibble on her bottom lip, then pressed his forehead to hers. She blinked her eyes open, but his dark lashes remained closed, his breathing steady.

She wanted to say something, but she wasn’t sure where to start. What did one even say after an irrevocably life-changing kiss?

“Tell me,” he finally whispered. He blinked his eyes open and leaned his head back. The hand he had on her neck was now playing with her hair.

“Tell you what?” she whispered in a daze.

“Can Kevin Costa kiss like that ?”

“Oh my god,” she replied, moving back so she could slap his arm. “You are still such a brat.”

Jake laughed out loud, and couldn’t help but beam at him. The last time she saw Jake, when he lost the woman who centered his world, he was a shell of the boy she once knew. Seeing him like this, hearing him laugh, reminded of all of those memories of laughing along with him. In the back of Hernandez’s truck. On the band bus. During lunch at camp. After practice in the band room. Potluck dinners and bonfires with their group late at night. She had so many memories with this man, and the kiss somehow made them all more precious.

Jake tugged on her jacket, pulling her back to him, and wrapped his arms around her. Holding her firm.

“This is crazy,” she admitted. “Right? This is absolutely insane? You and me, together? After all this time?”

“No.”

She felt her heart plummet, wondering if maybe she had it all wrong. For her, that kiss was earth-shattering. But what if Jake changed his mind? What if it didn’t mean the same to him?

Jake scanned her face, and she wished she were better at hiding her emotions. Or maybe Jake was simply a master at reading her after all of these years.

“My ,” he murmured, a smile gracing his lips. “This isn’t insane. For me, this is the most right thing in the world.” He dipped down, his lips grazing against hers as he spoke. “For me, it’s always been you.”