Chapter Three
Alex and I saw each other constantly for three weeks and things were getting serious. At first, I thought it was just me. I'd never felt this way about anyone before, and everything was so new. I had all these crazy feelings, and I was happy all the time.
Max noticed I was smiling a lot more than usual.
It was a rainy Friday afternoon in early April.
Evan and I had two days left to put the final touches on our project.
We'd been working on it all day at his house.
I was actually sad to see it come to an end, because this assignment represented several different things to me.
Through the course of it, I became closer to Evan, and for that I was extremely grateful.
The hours we spent on together working filled a void for me.
I got to meet his family and spend many nights at his house.
We ate dinner together like a real family did, at a table, with conversation.
Not that Max didn't try, but most nights he worked late, and I usually ate alone and then reheated his dinner for him when he got home.
The time I spent at Evan's gave me the chance to see how another family functioned. Two parents, siblings . . . all the things I never really knew I missed until I met the Jordans. It had always been me and Max. It wasn’t that the Jordans' lifestyle was better than what I had; it was just different.
This project had also led me to Alex. If I hadn't been there that afternoon, I wouldn't have met him.
At first I thought, after each date, Alex would have had enough of me and stop calling.
Eventually, those thoughts began to fade, and they were replaced with excitement and anticipation for the next time we saw one another.
On the particular day in question, I was sitting on the floor in the family room, putting the last details on our presentation, when Alex slipped in behind me and placed a soft kiss on my neck.
"Hello, beautiful," he said into my hair.
"Hey." I smiled. "Did you have fun playing basketball with your friends?"
"Yeah." He swirled his tongue inside my ear, then blew his warm breath against the lobe.
"But I missed you." He gently pulled my earlobe with his teeth, then turned my face toward his, so he had better access to my lips.
His kisses were getting more intense, and he had recently started to add his hands to the mix.
He was very cautious with me and always stopped before things got inappropriate.
Sometimes, I wished he wasn't so polite.
Evan cleared his throat and said, "Could you two stop that? It's just nasty."
Alex ignored him and continued to kiss me. I didn't want to be rude, so I slowly pulled away. He looked at me as if no girl had ever asked him to stop. Come to think of it,
who in their right mind would ask him to stop kissing them?
"Evan's right," I whispered, and suddenly felt embarrassed.
He jumped to his feet and extended his hand for me. "Come on, then."
"Where?" I asked, as he pulled me up.
"Upstairs." He smiled. "I need a shower, and we need some privacy." He shot Evan a dirty look. "It's too crowded down here."
"I can't leave Evan," I said. "We're working on the project."
"Nah," Evan said. "We're almost done, and I have to call Cali."
"Thanks, little bro," Alex yelled, as he pulled me into the kitchen and up the back staircase. I suddenly felt awkward and nervous. I had never been to Alex's bedroom before. I’d seen Evan's room once or twice, but most of the time we hung out in the family room or in the basement.
Alex sensed my apprehension. "What's wrong?"
"Your parents?" I must have sounded really stupid because he was an adult, but Max would freak if I brought Alex to my bedroom.
"They're out to dinner and a movie with friends," he said. "Zack's parents, actually, so they won't be home until later. Evan and I are ordering pizza, and I was hoping you'd stay."
"Oh," I said. "Sure, Max knew I'd be here working with Evan anyway."
"Good." He smiled as he opened the door and led me into his room. It was just as big as Evan's and had a lot of the same stuff; a flat screen hung on the wall with an Xbox 360 sitting under it, and an intimidating book collection covered the remaining wall space.
"You have just as many books as your brother.
" I walked over to take a closer look. "I have to get all of mine from the library.
" Max and I lived a simple life. He didn't make that much money being the police chief of such a small town, so our budget was tight.
Buying my own books was often a luxury we couldn't afford.
He walked over and stood behind me. I could feel his breath against my hair as he spoke.
"My father's a passionate reader and instilled a love for books in all of us.
As rewards for getting good grades or doing something special, he would take us to the store and let us pick out a book.
The agreement was that we had to finish the book we started, even if we didn't like it.
Over the years, we've donated the books we finished to various book drives, children's charities, the pediatric ward, and women's shelters.
These are my favorites, the ones I decided to keep."
"All of these?" I scanned the shelves.
"I try to read them again from time to time."
I ran my finger across the spines and noticed a few titles and authors that I wanted to read eventually.
"You can borrow whatever you want," he said, as he pulled my back closer to his chest, picking up where he left off downstairs. He kissed my neck as he moved his hands down my stomach and to my hips.
"I'm gonna take a quick shower." He let me go. "Make yourself comfortable. I won't be long."
He disappeared into the room adjoining his. Evan had the same door on the other side, so I assumed they shared a connecting bathroom.
I continued to look at the books, deciding which one I wanted to borrow.
He had so many to choose from that I was getting overwhelmed, so I decided to look around the rest of the room instead.
He had trophies and ribbons from all the sports he had played.
I also noticed that Yale played a pretty prominent role in his décor too.
A few posters and his undergraduate degree hung on the wall near the door.
His dresser held some pictures, mostly of him, Evan, and Brenna, some with guys I figured were Zack and James, and then in the corner, just under the mirror, was a small photo of a very pretty woman, holding two children in her lap, a boy and a girl.
The little boy looked no more than two, and the baby, dressed in pink, was an infant.
The woman resembled Alex, or at least he did her, and I thought the boy looked like a smaller version of him. Just as I was about to pick it up to get a closer look, Alex came out of the bathroom dressed in nothing but a pair of track pants that had the Yale logo on the thigh.
He stood leaning in the doorway, and I was so distracted by his bare chest I forgot about the photo. He was stunning. I knew he was built, but I had only felt his body through his clothes. Now, I could see every ripple and muscle.
"That was fast." I hoped I wasn't drooling.
"Wanted to get back to you." He walked toward me.
The closer he got, the more I could smell his soap; it was clean and crisp.
His hair was still damp, and, when he got close to me, I could feel the heat from the hot shower coming off his skin.
Images of Alex lathering up and rinsing off in a steamy shower flooded my head.
I may have licked my lips. My body responded to him in ways I didn’t understand.
Most of the time, I walked around with an uncomfortable wetness between my thighs, and when he was close my nipples hardened.
All I could think about was him touching me in places he wasn’t supposed to.
"How was the shower?"
"Lonely." He ran his thumb along my bottom lip.
"Oh." I swallowed hard.
He tilted his head down and let his tongue take the same journey across my lip his thumb had just completed.
"You have no idea what you do to me, do you?" he whispered.
I shook my head as he gently kissed my lips.
He was barely touching me, but I could feel the intensity between my legs.
That feeling was becoming all too familiar when he was near.
Last week, it was intriguing and new, but this week, it was starting to ache.
I needed more, but I didn't know how to get it.
"You get my insides all twisted up," he whispered, as he continued to brush his lips against mine. "The more I kiss you, the more I want."
That's exactly how I feel!
He ran his finger down my cheek. "You're so soft," he murmured, as he pulled me over to the bed. "And warm. I want to touch all of you."
Then do it! The voice was screaming in my head, but I was afraid to tell him my thoughts.
I hesitantly placed my hands on his perfect chest, then slowly ran them over his well-developed pecs.
His body was hard and defined, and I wanted to feel more of him underneath my hands.
I'd never done anything like that before, but instinct took over.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, so I was encouraged to move my hands down his chest, over his ribs, to his abs.
His track pants hung low on his hips, and I could see his black boxers sticking out of the top.
I didn't know why, but having my fingertips so close to his underwear created that delicious feeling inside my panties.
I don't know what possessed me, but I pressed my lips to his neck and moved them down over his collarbone. He tangled his fingers in my hair and gently guided me down to his chest, as he pulled me closer to his body.
"Jocelyn," he whispered.