21. Jasper
21
JASPER
I absentmindedly drag the towel over my wet hair, looking at my reflection in the single vanity mirror. My tattoos look like living, breathing things, stretched and curved around my body. My free hand ghosts over my inner bicep, the pads of my fingers pressing against the tattoo there.
A perfect bite mark from my perfect girl. I can’t wait to watch her reaction when she finally sees it.
Sometimes I swear I can still feel it. Like some kind of fucked-up phantom pressure.
I stayed at the clubhouse last night in what I’m trying to convince myself wasn’t a pathetic move. I told Hawke that I wanted to get a jump start on work today, but I’m pretty sure he knew I was full of shit. Not that he cared. We sunk our night into kicking Rocks’ ass in too many games of pool. And because he’s a true friend, he only called me out three times for checking my phone like some kind of desperate man waiting on a woman to call him back.
But I can’t help it. What if hell froze over and she marched that sweet ass back to the clubhouse at 11 p.m. and I was at home? She’d probably backpedal all the way to Avalon Falls, and then I’d be back at square one.
Nah, staying here was the right move. She didn’t show up, but she could have . And for now, that’s good enough for me.
It’s quarter after seven, which means Coraline’s post went up on her socials fifteen minutes ago. I deserve a medal for my patience. Sharp-winged moths cruise around inside of me like I’m some teenage punk who’s about to find out if the girl he’s crushing on likes her back. I’m not expecting big declarations of love—we’re not there yet. But I have a feeling that I’ll be able to glean her headspace by her post’s caption today easier than if she was standing in the center of my room.
But fuck it, I can’t wait any longer. I open the app and her newest post is the first thing I see. It looks like some kind of strawberry crumble dessert, which feels like a fucking taunt if I’ve ever seen one.
Something in the Orange .
Well . . . what the fuck does that caption mean? I can’t tell if this bodes well for me or not. I drape the towel around my bare shoulders and switch to my music app. A few seconds later, the song plays from the speakers in my room. Head bent over my phone, I flip the light switch in the bathroom and stroll into my room to get dressed.
“Oh my god.”
I lift my head at the sound of her voice. My brain takes a second to catch up with my eyes, but when it does, delight surges through me like a goddamn river.
Because she’s here, standing in the middle of my room like my thoughts alone conjured her.
Coraline fucking Carter.
Wearing another white sundress with skinny straps, her black and white checkered Vans, and that trademark scowl she reserves just for me.
Fuck me but do I want to kiss it off that pretty mouth of hers.
My gaze is greedy, eating up every inch of her sun-kissed skin on display, snagging on the little trails of freckles along her collarbone and shoulders.
I grab the ends of the towel hanging around my neck and hit her with my most charming smile. “You lookin’ for me, baby?”
I expect her scowl to sink into a frown and acid to spill from her tongue. But she surprises me when her pouty lips curl into a smirk of her own.
“You thinkin’ about me, Jasper?” she counters, all sass.
My heart stops for a second. Like that fucker actually seizes inside my chest from the sound of my name on her tongue. The breathy laugh and the teasing tone. The back of my neck prickles and my fingers tingle.
I’m across the room in ten seconds flat, the towel somewhere on the floor behind me. I get into her space, my gaze glued to that teasing smirk on her face. For every step I take into her, she takes one backward until her ass hits my door.
My palms press into the wall on either side of her, caging her in. Her soft inhale might as well be a siren call, drawing me in closer until there’s barely any space left between us. I can feel the heat radiating off her body, her cherries and cream scent seeping into my pores.
The air between us crackles with tension, thick and heady like an impending storm.
A better man wouldn’t press her now. He’d give her space. But fuck it, I’ve never claimed to be a better man. Not when it comes to her.
“Say it again.” The hushed plea falls from my mouth and lands on her lips.
Her eyes flash with mischief before she tips her chin up. Her tongue swipes along her bottom lip before her teeth sink into it.
“Jasper,” she breathes out.
My eyes close involuntarily, my forehead resting against hers with a soft exhale. It takes everything inside of me not to steal my name from her mouth with my tongue.
She’s never said my name like this before—no one has. Why the fuck does it feel so intimate?
“Jasper,” she murmurs slowly. It’s a promise and a dare all rolled into one.
My eyes pop open, and I’d be willing to bet my pupils are blown wide. I drag one hand away from the door and curl it around the side of her neck, dragging my thumb over her fluttering pulse.
But just as our lips are about to meet, she blurts out, “Rules! We need rules.”
I draw back a little so I can see her face. As much as I love the angle of being in her space, I can’t see her eyes. And those gorgeous pools of emotion are the key to understanding the woman in front of me.
“Rules?” I echo, a smirk playing on my lips despite the almost desperation pounding against my skin to kiss her.
Her gaze darts from my lips to my eyes and back again. She clears her throat, her tongue dragging across her bottom lip once more. She nods a few too many times to be natural. “Yeah. We need rules if this is going to work.”
The pad of my thumb drags up along the column of her neck, over her jawline, and underneath her bottom lip. I tug it down, and her lips part with a soft exhale.
“If what’s going to work?”
She swallows. “Are you going to make me say it?”
I nod, preoccupied by the way her bottom lip flares in the middle. “I’m a little distracted right now, baby, so help me out, yeah?”
Instead of answering with words, Coraline shifts to her tiptoes and kisses me.
I don’t think I could be more shocked if she told me she’s really a horned blue alien from another planet. But I don’t let the shock ruin this moment. Nah, I’m not gonna waste a second of this.
Her lips are soft, tentative at first, as if she’s testing the waters. But when I tilt her head for a better angle, she deepens the kiss with a sense of urgency that fuels my own.
It’s a battle, our tongues dancing for dominance over each other. Her hands slide up my chest and wind around my neck, pulling me closer. But our height difference is at play here, and I can’t get close enough for her.
She makes an impatient noise, her hand snaking into the hair at the nape of my neck. She tugs on it, hard enough to draw me away from her mouth and drag a low groan from my chest.
Our labored breaths mingle in the air between us, lust swirling and swirling like some kind of fucked-up funnel cloud.
There’s a moment then, this silent shared breath. And then it’s like someone flipped a switch. With one hand tangled in my hair, her other one rests on my shoulders and she lifts her leg so her inner thigh rests on my hip bone. Her mouth fuses to mine in the next instant, and I follow her lead.
I think I might follow her anywhere, even to the depths of hell if she asked.
My palms leave her neck to curl under her thighs, lifting her without breaking the kiss. In this position, our height difference isn’t even noticeable, our bodies lining up perfectly.
Too fucking perfectly really.
Her legs wrap around my waist, the smooth skin of her inner thighs soft against my abdomen. Her muscles flex and relax as she moves against me. Her pussy finds my cock, and she rips her mouth from mine.
Face turned toward the ceiling, she pants out a watery sort of chuckle but she doesn’t stop rolling her hips into me.
I’m in agony and ecstasy all at once. My cock strains against my sweatpants, aching with desire as she rocks her hips. I’m almost painfully hard now, and all she had to do was kiss me a few times and rub that sweet cunt of hers against me.
I might feel a little ridiculous about that later, but right now, I’m too focused on not embarrassing myself by coming in my pants like I’m some fucking teenager.
I run my lips over the exposed expanse of her throat, dragging my teeth over the tendon. “There she is, my greedy girl.”
“Shut up and kiss me,” she snaps.
She swallows my chuckle with her mouth, and I’m more than happy to give her what she wants.
My fingers itch to explore underneath her dress, but I don’t want to turn this into something she regrets. I use my grip on her legs to widen them further, sinking my cock into her center.
The way she responds to my touch is the stuff of dreams, her body melting into me. It might be the only time she doesn’t willingly fight me on everything.
Someone pounds on the door behind her, shattering our little bubble like a pickaxe to a water balloon. She pulls her mouth from mine with a gasp.
“Yo, Jagger. You comin’ for breakfast or what?” It’s Hawke.
I hold her wide-eyed gaze and shake my head slowly. I grit my teeth, telepathically telling my friend to fucking get lost. “Nah, man. I’m busy.”
There’s a beat of silence. “Seriously, bro? I thought we were gonna do breakfast together today. It’s your turn to buy coffee. Plus, someone made these strawberry biscuit things, and they’re fucking delicious. You gotta try ’em.”
“Get lost, Hawke. I’m fucking busy right now.”
He laughs on the other side of the door. “Awe shit, bro. You fuckin’ yankin’ again to Carter? She’s gonna have your balls when I tell her.” That motherfucker sounds downright gleeful about the prospect.
Coraline huffs a laugh against my throat, and I decide that might be my second favorite sound. The first one is obvious.
“I’m gonna kill him,” I mutter under my breath. “Get the fuck outta here, man. I’ll see you at the garage.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Hawke says around laughter, his voice fading as he walks away.
She leans back a little and wiggles her legs, like she wants to get down.
I reluctantly put her down, taking my fucking time easing her to her feet. She stumbles slightly, her eyes dark with pleasure. Her lips are swollen from my fucking kiss.
My lungs expand with the realization. I don’t bother smothering the satisfied grin on my face.
I wasn’t sure before, but now I am.
She’s gonna say yes.