Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Maggie
“ Y ou’re gonna miss this. It’s okay, you can admit it,” I tease as I strip my backpack off and let it drop to the granite rock. I’m quite proud that I was able to say it without a quiver in my voice; the only thing Jackson’s going to hear is me trying to catch my breath.
The sun has barely risen, but already, it’s chasing away the crispness of the fall morning. The sunrise hike to one of our favorite trails for our last hiking adventure before he’s due to report as invigorating and bittersweet as I expected it to be. Short and sweet, with a big payoff.
Just like our relationship.
Jackson stands tall and proud, hands on his hips, facing the valley below us. His strong shoulders pulled back, accentuating the curve of his spine to his perfectly muscled ass.
I drink in his profile, committing this moment to memory. He sees rolling mountaintops dressed in a kaleidoscope of orange, red, and yellow glory. All I can focus on is how much I’m going to miss him.
I join him at the clearing, and sadness threatens to overshadow the adrenaline from the hike, and for once, I acknowledge it, let it roll through me. Let it prick my eyes with hot tears.
He pulls me into a hug and rests his chin on my head, allowing me to burrow into his chest, soaking in his strength and warmth.
“Yeah, maybe a little.” His big hand smooths over my hair, and he cups my neck tenderly. With a finger under my chin, he lifts my face to his. Warm lips sip at mine as he delivers the most heartfelt kiss of my life.
“I’m so glad Alice bailed on this hike,” he murmurs against my lips.
The admission makes me feel guilty, but at the same time, this stolen day with just the two of us is bittersweet.
One hand slips under my shirt and down the waistband of my leggings, gripping my ass like we aren’t standing on top of a mountain out in the middle of the wilderness.
It’s been like this the whole hike. One minute, we’d be trekking up a switchback, the next, I’d find myself pressed against a boulder while he devoured my mouth.
“I’m so glad you weren’t focused on run times and sprinting up the mountain.” To get back at the way he’s teasing me, I grip the thick length pressing into my belly. His responding groan and hip thrust are my reward.
“We could’ve stayed at your place and taken advantage of the time, though,” I tease, even though I wouldn’t have missed this last adventure for anything. Not when he’s leaving all too soon.
He pulls us backward and sits on a boulder, pulling me between his spread legs.
The mischievous look in his eye sets off all my warning bells, and a low hum of excitement thrums through me, threatening to override the heartache I’m trying to ignore.
This man. He’s ridiculous in all the best ways.
“Why would we do that when I can enjoy you and a hike here?”
“Here?” I squeak. “There’s no way in hell I’m getting naked right now.”
He smirks as he pulls me back into the warmth of his chest, and his hands find their way back into my leggings. “We’ll have to be fast. But I think I can give you at least one orgasm on top of this mountain right now without getting you naked.”
There’s no way. I glance back toward the trail, and though we’re the only people here right now, we’re in the wide open. Too exposed. Anyone could walk up. But still, the hollow ache in my chest is overtaken by the thrill of what he’s suggesting.
“I don’t know if you can do fast.”
A wicked grin alights his face. “Challenge accepted.”
“Honestly. How does one man have so many freaking old T-shirts?” I rifle through a stack of shirts spread out on his bed, and the stack of sweats next to it falls over and makes a huge mess.
After Jackson very successfully completed the challenge I’d issued him, we raced back to the trailhead, and after I’d ridden him in the back seat of his Jeep, we raced home and barely made it through the door before I launched myself at him once more.
If he’s leaving me, I’ve been determined to enjoy every moment I have left with him. But all the orgasms in the world don’t do a damn thing to get his boxes packed and ready for storage, so after a sex marathon day, we’ve set up camp at his apartment to tackle the least fun job ever.
Grumbling about the insane amount of clothing he’s managed to collect over the years, I lean across the bed, straightening the stack of sweats I knocked over.
A giant palm lands on my back, pushing me down on my hands as he steps in behind me, pressing his hard length against me.
My body instantly responds, heat flooding my system. Again.
“Be still, Mags. This’ll just take a minute.”
He strips my leggings down and grips one cheek as he swipes a finger through my folds. “Such a needy girl, already ready for me.” It’s been like this all day. He gets close, and I’m ready for him.
There’s a rip of foil, and then the thick head of his cock presses into me. I gasp at the fullness, gripping the piles of clothes under me, pressing back to take him deep in one smooth thrust.
From the adjacent room, there’s a clatter of packing boxes crashing to the floor, and Alice’s voice booms through the apartment. “Shit. Hey, guys, sorry I’m late.”
Jackson rips himself away with a curse and whips my pants back up. Stunned, I stand and catch him slipping his sweats back up over his still-covered, rock-hard cock. “Fuck, I’m gonna need a minute.”
He disappears into the adjoining bathroom right as Alice barrels into the room. I make a show of fluffing the smashed pile of sweats, hoping and praying the room doesn’t smell like sex, and that she doesn’t notice the Maggie-sized imprint on the piled clothes.
“Wow, you guys haven’t made much progress. Slow going, huh?” she says, taking in the room .
The toilet flushes, and I spin away, ducking my face as I pretend to empty a drawer.
“Well, he’s got, like, nine hundred T-shirts to go through.
And the closet is absolutely packed. Who knew he had so many clothes?
We should’ve started this process a week ago.
” Hopefully, she’ll hear the complaint in my voice and not the desire she interrupted.
The sounds of the faucet turning on and off are as loud as I’m sure my heartbeat is in the moment.
“Where should I start?”
The door opens, and Jackson comes back into the room.
“You want to tackle the kitchen? The boxes are already made up, and everything in there is getting packed for storage.” If he’s bothered at all that his sister just interrupted us, I can’t tell, and it irritates the crap out of me that he’s so unaffected.
Guess I’m just another one of many things he’s leaving behind. No more than this endless pile of useless clothing. Forgettable. Replaceable. The realization shouldn’t hurt so much, but it does.
I snatch a box and dump an armful of clothes into it. Anything to avoid having either of them notice how upset I suddenly am.
“Sure thing,” Alice says and retreats, taking all the energy from the room with her. She’s too chipper. He sounds completely normal. I, apparently, am the only one completely out of sorts as I stuff another armload in the box.
“Hang on, Maggie, let me grab that…” He’s right behind me, leaning into my back, reaching over me to get to the box I’m working on.
His lips brush my cheek, my jaw, my ear, as he whispers, “Close call.” He pulls a pair of gray sweats out and leaves me glancing back over my shoulder.
I fully expect Alice to be glaring at us from the doorway, but from the sound of it, she’s working on packing up utensils.
The ch ink of what I imagine is his silverware organizer landing in a box provides enough cover for me to chance a glance at him.
He’s folding up T-shirts with precision, placing each item strategically in his duffle. It baffles me.
“Why are you doing it like that?” God, I sound as grumpy as I feel.
He watches me from across the room with a raised brow. “Like what?”
He’s packing and acting all fine and normal, like he’s not even bothered at all by the fact we almost got busted, like he’s not at all sexually frustrated. Like he’s just fine and dandy while preparing to leave. A wave of nausea washes over me.
“Never mind,” I huff as I turn back to the disaster in front of me.
The faster I can get this stuff packed, the better it will be.
He can go about his merry way, chasing down this stupid passion of his, and I can move forward with my life, Jackson-less.
I switch to his shorts drawer and begin my annihilation of it.
“You seem a little frustrated. You okay?” The tease in his voice is enough to fray the last of my composure. If I turn around, he’s probably got a stupid smirk on his face.
The nerve of this asshole. I shoot him a glare over my shoulder and chuck a pair of shorts at his head.
“I’m fine. We just don’t have time for you to dillydally if you expect all of this to get done before you leave.
” He better not be planning on just taking what he wants and leaving behind what he doesn’t.
“It’s fine. I’ll take what I need. And the rest, I’ll replace later if I need to.”
All the air is plucked from my lungs. Just poof. Gone.
Is that what he’s doing with me? How he sees things with me? God, I am such a fool. I should’ve known better than to let things get physical between us. I blink furiously to try to stop the stinging in my eyes.
“Here, let me have that one.” Once again, his voice comes from behind me, and then his arms are circling my waist, and he’s pulling me into him for one of his hugs.
What am I going to do when he’s gone? When he won’t be here to give me hugs to try to make things better? I’m such a lovesick fool over this man, and he has no idea.
To my horror, I sniffle into his chest.
“Don’t be sad, Mags.” His voice is soft, understanding, as his lips brush against my cheek. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll have FaceTime and still text.”
“It’s not the same,” I whimper.
His arms tighten around me, and his face finds the curve of my neck. Soft lips trace down the column of my throat, and I wish so hard that Alice would go away so we could have one more night together.
Instead, I focus on breathing and getting my tender heart to understand.
I knew going in that this was temporary, that he was leaving, and still, I foolishly let myself jump off the proverbial ledge, knowing full well I was jumping into these feelings alone.
Clutching his T-shirt for a second too long, I give him a squeeze and then push him away.
“We better get back to it,” I mumble.
It speaks volumes that he just lets me go.