17. Jace
seventeen
Jace
I squint as Karliya speaks, straining both my eyes and ears to hear what she’s trying to say. The loud speaker blaring Twilight is no help for the soft spoken girl.
I’d been smiling originally, trying to be nice and placate the previous hookup, but it’s already been three minutes and Sienna’s popcorn is going to get cold the longer I stay out here.
Sienna .
My pulse quickens at the mere thought of her. My body is still vibrating with the aftermath of that kiss we’d just shared. Do you think she’d want to do it again? I mean, she kissed me first and I’m freaking amazing at it, so I’d like to think that she would.
I just don’t want to push her too fast. Unlike other girls who I’ve been with—Karliya included—they were easier to get with and then dump. As bad as it sounds, it’s the truth. I’ve had my fair share of women, and they’d wanted the same thing that I did.
To fuck without strings attached.
With Sienna, it’s different, though. We’re a mess of red strings tangled together by the Fates. She’s my past, present, and future (hopefully) .
I don’t notice the signs as I lean in to hear Karliya better. She’s in my Communications course, and so I’d thought that’s what she wanted to talk about…I was wrong.
So…so very wrong.
Karliya pulls my face down to her level and kisses the hell out of me. It’s sloppy and the pungent taste of grape soda and chocolate peanut butter fills my mouth. It takes everything in me to not gag.
My hands grip her shoulders trying to gently push her away, but when she drills her tongue into my mouth, I can’t help but to put a little strength behind my second push.
“Wha—”
“What the fuck?!” I gag, spitting the taste of her out of my mouth onto the concrete beside us.
Fuck. I hope Sienna didn’t see this shit. She already doesn’t trust me enough, as is.
“You do know that sexual assault is fucking illegal, right? What the fuck—” I can’t help the second gag. I think I’m going to be sick.
Fuck that.
I know that I’m going to be sick. I groan as my stomach roils. The scent of her wretched perfume sticks to me like a skunk’s spray.
“I thought we had—”
“Shut the fuck up. Oh my God…” I spit again, frowning as the taste of Sienna completely disappears from my mouth. “You’re lucky I don’t report you to someone.”
I can’t even look at Karliya as I snatch up Sienna’s snacks, taking them back to the car.
The air is cold when I get back in, and I just know she’d seen everything when she gives me the look as I try to hand her the popcorn.
You know the look that moms give when you’re in deep shit? Yeah… that look.
She’s mad.
“So…what did I miss?”
She blinks at me and her eye twitches. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this mad. I watch her, from the rapid rise and fall of her chest to her tapping on the door's armrest.
She rips me a new asshole so fresh that I think I’ve just been reborn. Never in my nineteen going on twenty years of life have I ever had a woman talk to me like that.
I blink, stunned and impressed as Sienna curses me from sunup to sundown, shredding my ego in a mere second, and I love it.
Her breathing is rapid as she finishes, trying and failing to focus her attention ahead, but I know she wants to do more, say more.
Had I been a smart man, I would’ve known not to touch her when she’s like this. Instead of being smart, I reach out for her, softly tugging her chin back to face me.
“Angel, I think your eyes work perfectly; however, I also think that you should’ve watched a little longer—”
She swats my hand away, and I chuckle softly as I continue.
“What she did was not consensual. She forced herself onto me. I didn’t kiss back, I would never do that to you. But while we’re here, let’s have a talk about trust and what this is that we have between us.” I eye her, noting her hidden resolve as her brows dip with concern.
“Oh, fuck you—”
“Would you?” I raise a brow as steam billows from her ears.
Oh, she’s angry . It’s kinda hot…Should I poke the beast? I study her quickly and scratch that thought. She’d personally see to my castration if I did.
I like my dick. Me and JJ have quite a time together.
“That’s not important right now, this is,” I say, gesturing between us. Sienna frowns, side-eyeing me.
“What?” she huffs, eyeing me down as I smile, tempting her.
My next words are measured. “We need to fix your list. Firstly, this thing between us can’t go anywhere if you don’t trust me.”
She shifts in her seat, folding her arms under her chest as she faces me. I smirk lightly as she sassily rolls her neck to look at me .
“I trust—”
“ Oh, bullshit! Don’t lie, Sienna. You trust me as far as you can throw me, and that’s not much. We’ll strengthen it in due time, but I need you to try to trust me.”
She nods slowly, gnawing on her bottom lip. “So she kissed you…Who was she? Do you know her?”
This could go so many ways…If I tell her the truth, she could spazz out again. If I lie, I’m a hypocrite.
The truth will set you free…I guess.
“She was a hook up—”
“YOU HAD SEX WITH HER?!”
Well shit…
The truth might send me to an early fucking grave, my goodness. I’m going to be twelve feet under for good measure, dealing with this girl.
“Oh my gosh.” She gags, putting a finger in her mouth like the childish woman she is. “Brush your teeth!” Sienna exclaims, twisting her face in disgust. I need to reel this conversation back to why I’d started it and quickly.
“Like I was saying, the list needs to be changed, and this thing between us will remain like that. You might think I’m a whore, but that side of me is only for you.”
That shuts her up. Sienna’s throat bobs as her eyes widen.
“I’ll be anything you want me to be. You want me to beg, I’ll do that.
You want me to do your list, already on it.
I’m yours . Everything that you want, Sienna, I’ll give it to you, but let me make myself clear.
” I lean in, my voice lowering as my lips brush Sienna’s earlobe, and she shudders for a whole new reason.
“No one else kisses these lips but me, and no one touches this pussy but me. Are we clear?”
Sienna gulps, her eyes raking my face. I want to kiss her so badly, take her in this car and let her stake her claim over me, for crying out loud, but I can’t and I won’t. She deserves so much more .
“What—”
Wrong answer.
“Are we clear?”
When Sienna doesn’t say anything, my blood temperature rises. She should know exactly how I feel about her. The only girl who I have eyes for is her . There’s no one else for me but Sienna Jones, and I’m going to make it my mission for her to know that, even if it’s the death of me.
“And you know what?” I pause, waiting for her to respond and huff when she doesn’t.
“Fuck the rules and fuck number three on your list, Sienna. I want you to be mine. No one else touches you but me. You have me, no doubt about that.” My chest heaves from the speed at which my words tumble out of my mouth, but it's the truth.
The only woman who I want and need is right in front of me, she always has been.
Sienna must get a bit of her confidence back after hearing what I said, because she clears her throat and lifts her chin defiantly. “You don’t run this show, Eros…it was my list.”
I tilt my head to the side, allowing the cocky smirk I’d been holding in to broadcast itself on full display. “And I’m orchestrating it, angel. You’re mine, simple.”
When I pull up to the girls’ apartment the next day, I feel relieved and nervous all at once. What I’m about to do is derailing Sienna’s schedule completely, and I don’t know if she’s ready for such a leap yet.
After I dropped her off last night, we talked more and made an agreement that although we’re keeping what we are behind closed doors, what’s going on between us will remain strictly monogamous .
She's a possessive woman, and I may or may not be a possessive man (I definitely am). It’s the only way that this will work.
It’s been fifteen minutes since I texted and told her that I’d be outside. Sienna had responded immediately that she was on her way down, but when I check my watch again, I chuckle.
For someone who’s always on time, she’s late today.
I’m reaching into my back pocket about to make a check-in call to her when a flash of pink rushes past me in a blur. I tilt my head as Sienna walks straight past me, her teeth gnawing on her bottom lip as she looks around.
Oh, she hasn’t noticed me…my phone ringing in my pocket only gives truth to my hypothesis as I answer the Bluetooth.
“Good morning, angel.”
“Where are you, psycho?” she deadpans, staring into the vast parking lot.
“On your left.” I grin, knowing my smile is hidden as I wiggle my fingers at her in a mock wave, leaning against the vehicle behind me.
Sienna’s gasp rings through both the speakers and my ears as she rushes over, her hands over her mouth.
“Jace,” she breathes my name like fresh air, “who’s bike is that?!”
“Get on, angel. We’ve got places to be.”