16. Jason
16
J ulie bumps into my chest, exiting the restroom. Her soft pink cheeks glow beneath her skin, and her heartbreaking brown eyes find mine with a hint of shock.
“Are you okay?” The heat of her body burns into my palms as I grab her arms to keep her from falling on her ass.
It’s taking everything I have to not push her back into that restroom and relive whatever the fuck just happened on the dance floor.
She dry humped herself to utopia, using me as the vessel to get there. It was the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced. She has never been a shy girl, but feeling how she lost control like that, while my arms held her up, shielding her from whatever was happening outside of her bubble…I don’t think I will ever be the same.
My cock is still straining against my pants. Eager, feral, and completely hypnotized by the woman in front of me. I tried to get him back to sleep with a quick shot of whiskey, but staring into her big eyes, taking a whiff of her vanilla shampoo swirled with sweat, it's only making him rattle the cage even more.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Her voice is throaty, hoarse, as if her orgasm took away her ability to speak. “Just a little flushed.”
Yeah, no shit. At least she had her release. I still feel like hot fury is taking over my blood, and there’s only one remedy to stop it. Fuck , I can’t wait to get home and take care of that.
“Do you want some water?” I ask, taking a closer look at her fuzzy expression.
Biting her lip, her lashes flutter. “Nope, I want tequila.”
“Don’t you think you had enough?”
Indignance widens her gaze. “Not a fucking chance.”
My hands slide down to her hips, and I pull her in, just a little bit. Her breasts brush against my chest, and I love how her curves feel beneath my touch.
I didn’t come to this club hoping that we would reconcile and she would end up in my bed tonight. But I’d be lying if that isn’t the only desire I have after literally feeling her come undone in my arms. Seeing how shit-faced she really is makes that option wiped off the table within seconds. The last thing I wanna do is stay any longer than we already have and watch her mess with my head while she keeps moving her hips on the dance floor.
“Come on, baby. You’re wasted.”
Her eyes narrow, lips purse, chin raises high, defiance written all over her features. “I like wasted.”
She escapes my touch, then heads straight for the bar.
“Jules!”
Motherfucker.
Darting around like a social butterfly, she dances her way through the bar, slow enough to keep teasing my cock, but too fast for me to stop her and tell her it’s a wrap.
“Two shots of tequila.” She holds up her fingers when she reaches the bar, and I cage her in, her back to my front.
“What are you doing, baby?”
“Ordering shots.”
I bury my nose into her hair until my lips are flush with her ear. There’s a short intake of air when my breath tickles her shell, and she twists her lips toward mine. “I’m taking you home.”
She swallows, and my hands itch to cover her neck and kiss her plump lips.
“Your home?”
This woman is going to kill me. I’m trying to be the gentleman here, and do the right thing, but there she is, tempting me like a siren determined to make my resolve crash into the rocks.
“You don’t mean that,” I whisper.
She twists in my arms, and suddenly we are nose-to-nose, her expression wild and challenging. “Says who?”
My pulse throbs in my neck, our eyes linked. Chest searing with aggravation, my blood is pumped with nothing but pure lust.
She’s the only woman who can make me forget everything around me, sucking me in a vortex I don’t want to escape.
I’ve liked Julie since high school. Her wit, her skills to get shit done, her confidence when she walks into a room. But it’s this version, the one who pushes me out of my comfort zone and into adventure, that makes me feel so much more for her. She makes me feel alive when life has become mundane. She forces me to enjoy life with her effortless smile. She makes me want more than the life I’m living.
It’s easy to slip back into old patterns with her and cross that line again. But my heart still doesn’t completely trust her, and the last thing I need is a drunk night of mistakes.
“I’m taking you home,” I grunt, leaving no room for discussion.
“Ugh, fine.’ Her eyes roll all the way to Canada as she faces the bar again, where two tequila shots are lined up for her. Pulling a twenty from her pocket, she slaps it on the bar.
“Jules,” I warn.
“What?” She takes one of the glasses from the bar, bringing it to her lips. “Two more can’t hurt.”
She pours the liquid down her throat, a grimace traveling over her face, then swiftly repeats the move. Shuddering as she digests the liquor, she picks up a lemon wedge, sucking the sour fruit. Her entire face twists with disgust while a drop of lemon juice escapes the corner of her mouth, and I swipe it away with my thumb.
Her lashes fly up, big eyes peering at me when I leave my hand cupping her cheek. Fuck, she’s so adorable.
My gaze lowers to her lips. I want to kiss her and taste the lemon and tequila on her tongue. But one more taste, one more flick of her tongue against mine, and this whole she’s-too-drunk is going straight out the window.
So, instead, I take her hand and tug her behind me. “Come on.”
I wave goodbye to Ford and Jordan as we pass by, them throwing up thumbs and slimy smirks before I flip them off with my free hand. The fact that Julie is waving at them with a sheepish grin tells me those last two shots are hitting her hard, because I was expecting her to piss me off and tell Jordan he’s driving her home instead of me.
Five minutes later, my fist is clamped around the wheel, my cock still raging to be freed, and my jaw clenched in agony of having Julie so close and alone in my car.
Her head rests against the window, a grin rooted on her cheeks. She looks so carefree, it’s making my heart flutter out of my chest.
“What are you smiling at?” I ease my foot off the gas, stopping in front of a red light.
She glances at me with mischief etched in the darkness around her irises.
“You’re a buzzkill, do you know that?”
I wince at her forward comment, igniting a lopsided smirk.
“I’m a buzzkill?”
“Yup. And a cockblocker.”
I hoot out a laugh, and hope expands my chest while warm, fuzzy feelings spread along my body. I missed this. Laughing with her. Feeling comfortable with her. Just being with her.
“Babe, trust me. There’s nothing more I wanna do than forget all our bullshit and take you home with me. But I don’t take advantage of drunk girls, Jules.”
“I know. You’re not Jacob.”
“Let’s not talk about him.” The mention of my brother shrinks the hopeful bubble that was growing bigger by the second.
“Nope, never. Zipped.” She pretends to lock up her mouth, then leans her head against the headrest.
Her eyes close, her breathing slow and heavy, as the quiet settles in the car again. Relief falls over my chest, but at the same time, a small knot forms in my stomach, because there’s something lurking in the back of my head.
‘You’re not Jacob,’ she said.
Did he hurt her when he was drunk?
I stare into the night as the buildings pass by. Sometimes I wonder why I’m still here. Hunter left a long time ago. So did Bodi and Jensen. I always stuck around with the excuse that I have a lot of clients in LA. But truth be told, I have clients all over the country. I don’t have to be anywhere.
And glancing at the girl in my passenger seat, I suddenly long to go back home again.
What the hell, Jason? Go home and do what? Move back in with Mama and Jacob? Play house?
My gaze sweeps to the side.
No, the only reason I’m thinking about home is because she reminds me of it. Because having her in my space makes me realize LA has never felt like home.
“I don’t ever wanna talk about him. Ever ,” she whispers, eyes still shut, snapping me out of my daydream. “I bet she was right, you know? Bet he hurt a lot more girls.”
My entire body goes rigid, the back of my hairs dancing on my skin.
“Who? Jacob?”
“Jacob Schmacob.”
The leftover taste of beer turns to acid on my tongue, a strange storm brewing in my stomach. He hurt a lot more girls? He hurt her ?
“Jules?”
“Hmm?” She snuggles deeper into the seat.
“Did Jacob ever hurt you?”
Her eyebrows snap together as she shoots her gaze at me. “Of course he hurt me! Multiple times. You know this.”
There’s a hesitation in her words that triggers me, wondering if she’s speaking the full truth.
“No, I mean, did he hurt you?”
Her eyes are laced with tears, her frown deepening. “You hurt me.”
It’s like a burning arrow hits me straight into the heart, demolishing the little hope I had. My anger soars back in, though it’s not as explosive as it has been in the last couple of weeks.
“Ditto, babe.” I rub the back of my neck with sheer disappointment in my voice.
“I know. I suck.” Fatigue shuts her eyes again.
Great, and now I feel guilty again. Fuck. I grind my teeth, then pull her phone from her grasp and drop it in the center console so I can take her hand. Our fingers link, the heat of her palm calming my rage as she meets my gaze.
“You don’t suck. I promise.” She meets my smile with a tight one of my own, and I relish the feeling of holding her hand.
Do I hate the choices she has made? Yes, I do. Do I hate that she fell in love with my brother? I don’t think there’s anything more I hate in this world. But she doesn’t suck. She’s not flawless and neither am I.
She’s still my girl, though.
Her phone flashes a bright light, and I let go of her hand to pick it up. What the fuck? I just can’t catch a fucking break, can I? It’s like the universe is using me like a pinball machine, having its way with me without mercy.
JACOB : Call me tomorrow
I toss the device in her lap. “You got a text.”
She reads the screen, then lets out a snort. That alone should give me the confirmation I need, but when your heart is shoved around like mine, it doesn’t even come close.
“Nope, fuck him.” She reaches out to grab my hand again, but I dodge it by placing it on the wheel while tapping the turn signal as I drive onto her street. “Oh my god. You’re actually pissed at me, aren’t you?”
How the fuck can I not be? Whenever I think we’re getting somewhere, Jacob’s name keeps popping up.
“Are you still with him, Julie?” I squeeze the wheel tighter.
“Jesus Christ, are we really going back to fighting?”
“When are we fucking not?” It seems like it’s all we can do at this point.
“When you get your head out of your ass, that’s when!”
“Are. You. Still. With. Him?” I set my car in park in front of her building.
“No,” she shouts. “No! How many times do you want me to tell you? No . Do you want it in different languages? No, no, nyet, NO.” She repeats the word with half a dozen accents, though I have no clue which ones she’s aiming for.
“Then why is he still texting you?” I turn into the door to face her. “Why is it that every time I think we’re getting somewhere, we’re working through shit, his name appears?”
“Because he’s a fucking psychopath,” she huffs, exasperated. “I broke up with him, Jason.”
“When?”
“You know when.”
I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face.
“Maybe we should stop,” she says, her voice timid and triggering alarm bells in my head.
“With what?”
“With this.” A hand is thrown between us. “I don’t even know why I’m still trying. You’re so hellbent on twisting the truth long enough to make me the villain.”
Her pain fills the vehicle, taking a grip of my throat and digging in deep.
“I was there for you , that night.” She continues with a sigh. “Just you. Nothing else. If you don’t wanna believe that, then…well, then fuck you.”
She picks up her phone, getting out of the car like the thing is on fire, tears threatening to stain her cheeks.
“Jules, wait. Julie.”
“No.” Shaking her head, she holds the car door open but avoids my gaze. “Fuck you. I deserve better.”
She slams the door shut.
Motherfucker.
I can’t stand the look on her face, and I already know I won’t be able to sleep with those sad eyes haunting me until sunrise.
“Argh!” Without questioning myself, I jump out of my car and jog after her.
Blonde hair swishes through the air when she whips her head my way, a questioning look covering her sorrowful expression.
“Jason?”
Without any more hesitations, I take her face in my hands, crushing my mouth against hers, and she melts underneath my touch. It starts slow, just enjoying the heat of her lips against mine. It’s tender, soft, opening a zoo inside my belly. There’s still a hint of lemon lingering when I coax her to open with a swipe of my tongue, and my moan vibrates against her.
Forget about laughing with her. This. This is what I missed. Kissing her like there is no tomorrow. Like I can get lost in her, drown in her, and never wanna come back up for air.
It deletes all the rueful memories I have of the last couple of months, catapulting me right back to where I should be.
With her.
She pulls back, our foreheads linked.
“What are you doing?”
I lean back in, kissing her again, then find the spot beneath her jaw that makes her lashes flutter and her leftover defiance disappear.
“Truce.” Another kiss below her ear. “I’m calling a truce.”