Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lola
Jace finds me setting up the downstairs room because today is the day. Today is the day my dad finally comes home. Jace is leaning against the door frame with that intense fuck-me stare that tells me exactly what’s on his mind.
This guy’s stamina is incredible. He kept me awake all night, fucking me senseless with that intense Jace style he has—hard, deep, and relentless—until I was begging him to stop and for more all at once. And the way he’s looking at me now like I’m prey, means he’s ready for round two.
“Are you going to help or just stand there watching?” I ask, straightening up from where I’ve been arranging Dad’s medications on the dresser.
His mouth curves into that slow, dangerous smirk.
“I’m helping,” he says, his voice still rough from sleep. “Providing moral support. Supervision. Making sure you don’t hurt yourself by bending over like that.”
“Right,” I say, fighting my own smile. “Because you’re so concerned about my safety.”
“I am,” he says, pushing off the doorframe and stalking toward me with that predatory grace he has. “Very concerned. Especially about the safety of that ass in those shorts.” His hand slides over my hip. “These should be illegal, Bells.”
“Jace,” I say, but it comes out breathier than I intended.
“What?” he asks innocently, his other hand joining the first, both palms now gripping my ass and pulling me close. I can feel his hard cock through his sweatpants.
“We don’t have time for this,” I say, but I’m already leaning into him.
“I know,” he murmurs against my neck, his teeth grazing my pulse point. “Doesn’t mean I can’t touch and remind you of what’s waiting for you later. I want to think about how wet you get for me. How your pussy clenches around my fingers when I—”
“Stop,” I breathe, grabbing his wrist, even though every part of me wants him to keep going.
He laughs, his breath hot against my ear. “You don’t want me to stop. Your body’s already responding to me. I can feel it.”
His other hand slides up to cup my breast through my bra, thumb brushing over my nipple until it hardens. “See? You want this as much as I do.”
I smirk, loving how he does this now—how he lets himself say exactly what he’s thinking instead of hiding behind that carefully constructed wall.
He looks tired, though. Shadows under his eyes, exhaustion showing in the way he carries himself. I don’t know if it’s from work, school, studying for his next test, or the fact that we’ve been up half the night fucking like animals ever since he moved upstairs two weeks ago.
Two weeks. Two weeks of his hand clenched around my throat while he pounds into me.
Of shower sex that leaves us both weak-kneed and gasping.
Two weeks of waking up tangled together, of lazy morning kisses that turn into something more, of learning every inch of each other’s bodies, of discovering what makes him groan, what makes me gasp, and what pushes us both over the edge.
Two weeks of this all-consuming, all-encompassing thing between us that shows no signs of slowing down.
At school, we all sit together during lunch now. Same seats every day. Sam stays beside Reece. Aubrey sits close to Noah with that quiet strength she now carries. I sit across from them, and Jace is always beside me.
The cafeteria is loud, as it always is, with people yelling across tables and chairs scraping the floor. But at our table, there’s a strange quiet awareness sometimes, because people stare. They try not to be obvious about it, but they stare. And I understand why.
Jace Cooper has always been the guy every girl whispers about. The fuckboy. The asshole. The guy who hooks up with girls and leaves before their panties are back up.
Only yesterday, Jace had his arm draped across the back of my chair, his fingers lightly brushing the back of my neck while he talked to Reece. His head turned slowly, his eyes fixed on a kid at the next table across from us.
“Got a problem?” he asked.
The kid froze.
Jace locked his gaze for a moment longer, then tilted his head slightly. “Keep staring,” he said softly. “See what happens when I get up.”
The kid immediately dropped his eyes. Jace went back to talking to Reece as if nothing had happened, his fingers absentmindedly sliding through the ends of my hair.
No one at our table reacted because that part of Jace is still very much alive.
He’s still the guy people don’t test, the one who can quiet a room with a single look.
The arrogant asshole walking through Eastern High with that lazy confidence and a mouth that gets him into more fights than it probably should.
But with me, something soft slips through the cracks, and I don’t think he even notices it’s happening.
His knee presses against mine under the table as he’s listening to Reece talk about some fight that happened at a party last weekend.
His fingers are absentmindedly playing with the ends of my hair while he laughs at something crude Reece just said.
Small touches. Quiet ones. The kind that wouldn’t mean anything coming from anyone else.
But from him they mean everything because Jace Cooper doesn’t do soft things. Not with anyone.
Jace is still that guy—still crude, crass, and completely inappropriate. Still making jokes that would probably make most girls slap him. And every now and then, he leans in close enough that his mouth brushes my ear, his voice dropping low.
“Love you, Bells.”
So simple. Casual. Easy as if it costs him nothing. But I know better. I know exactly what it costs him to say those words. To admit that someone matters. That I matter.
The first time he said it out loud in front of the others, Sam nearly choked on her drink. Aubrey’s fork clattered against her tray. Noah froze in place, staring at Jace as if he’d grown a second head.
But now he says it to me all the time. Casually. In public. While he’s eating my fries, scrolling through his phone, or in the middle of telling Aubrey about something that happened at the diner last night.
I catch Aubrey and Sam watching us sometimes. They’ve accepted it—accepted us—but I can still notice the doubt lingering behind their eyes. The unspoken question hanging in the air: Is this actually real, or is Jace Cooper just doing what he always does? Have his fun, before he moves on.
I can almost hear their internal monologue every time they watch us together. How long until he gets bored? How long until Lola becomes another name on his list?
But they don’t see what he’s like when we’re alone.
Those quiet moments when his walls come down.
How he pulls me into his arms at night as he needs me there as much as I need him.
They don’t see him at three in the morning when he can’t sleep.
How he looks at me when he thinks I’m not paying attention, as if I am something so precious.
But I am sure they can tell he’s no longer the same guy he used to be.
“You’re thinking too loud,” Jace says, his thumb brushing my bottom lip before sliding into my mouth. I suck on it instinctively, and his eyes darken. “Fuck, Bells. You’re killing me.”
“Good,” I say when he pulls his thumb away. “You deserve it after keeping me up all night.”
“You weren’t complaining when you were coming on my cock,” he says, his hands sliding down to grip my ass again, pulling me flush against him. “In fact, I remember you begging for more. ‘Please, Jace. Harder. Don’t stop.’ Sound familiar?”
My face heats, and he grins, clearly pleased with himself.
“You’re an asshole,” I say.
“Yeah, but I’m your asshole,” he says, leaning down to kiss me.
It’s not soft or sweet. It’s all heat and possession, his tongue sliding against mine, claiming me.
When he pulls back, we’re both breathing hard.
“And tonight, after your dad goes to sleep, I’m gonna make you come so many times you forget why you were ever nervous about today. ”
“That’s your solution to everything,” I say, but I’m smiling.
“It’s a good solution,” he says, his hands still on my ass, squeezing. “Works every time.”
“We have to leave in forty-five minutes,” I remind him.
“I know,” he says, finally releasing me with obvious reluctance. “Which means I should probably go take a cold shower. Because if I don’t, I’m gonna end up fucking you right here, and we definitely don’t have time for that.”
“Definitely not,” I agree, even though part of me wishes we did.
He begins to walk away, then pauses at the door, glancing back at me with that intense stare that makes my stomach flip. “You know what I’m thinking about right now?”
“What?” I ask, even though I probably shouldn’t.
“How good you’re gonna taste tonight when I get my mouth on you,” he says, his voice dropping an octave.
“How you’re gonna pull my hair and grind against my face while I eat that pretty pussy until you’re shaking.
How you’re gonna be so sensitive from coming that when I finally fuck you, you’re gonna come again within seconds. ”
“Jesus Christ, Jace,” I breathe, my entire body flushing hot.
He grins, that cocky grin that makes me want to both kiss him and kill him at the same time. “Just giving you something to think about, Bells.”
And he’s gone, leaving me standing here, wet, longing, and completely unable to focus on anything except tonight.
Damn him.
I turn back to the newly made up bed, grabbing one of the pillows to fluff it, trying to focus on the task at hand. Dad’s coming home. I need to make sure everything is perfect. That’s what matters right now.
But all I can think about is Jace upstairs in the shower.
Water running over that body I know so well now.
His hand wrapped around his cock, stroking himself because he’s too hard to ignore.
The way his head would tilt back, water streaming down his face, his abs.
The sounds he makes when he comes—that low, guttural groan that makes my toes curl.