Chapter 39 I Got You
CHAPTER 39: I GOT YOU
LACEY
W aking up with Jace’s arms around me was interesting. I honestly don’t know what to think about full on spooning with him, but it happened and I definitely didn’t hate it. I pretended to be asleep and when he snuck out of bed, I wished he hadn’t. It was a stark reminder he is my friend and the cuddles were purely accidental.
I walk my luggage over to Jace’s Jeep, knowing it’s not going to rain, but a little intrigued as to why everyone was making such a big deal about the weather. He helps me load it in the backseat and then we both round the car to say bye to our friends.
“Jace, you think we can get a group picture before we all head out?” Poppy asks.
“Sure thing. Y’all get in front of the house.” He jogs over and begins digging in his trunk.
Locating his camera, he walks over to the front of the cabin. I know I’m staring, but there is no harm in looking at him. He’s wearing a black T-shirt, gray sweatshorts, and a backwards hat. His tattooed biceps and forearms are exposed.
Poppy walks over to where I stand and nudges me. “You gotta little drool on your mouth,” she whispers, gesturing to the corner of hers with her thumb.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Liar. You’re very obviously checking out the photographer.”
“No I’m not. I was thinking about how unfair it feels that he looks like that now. Doesn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like he made it his life mission to get even hotter to spite me. It has to be my punishment for ruining everything.”
“Oh, yeah definitely not checking him out,” she says sarcastically. “Come on, let’s go take the picture.”
We walk over and find our places among the group in front of the house. I squeeze in between Wren and Tanner.
“Everyone move in close,” Jace says, gesturing at the group.
Poppy jumps in front of Logan and he wraps her up from behind, kissing her on her neck. She lets out a squeal and I try to push the thoughts of having what they have out of my head. Jace brings the camera to his eye.
“Wait, are you not going to get in the picture?” I ask.
He drops his arms and his ocean blue eyes find mine. “Oh, um, I can.”
“You gotta be in the picture.”
His mouth forms into a devastating smile and he jogs back over to the Jeep grabbing a tripod. When he finishes setting up the camera he pushes between Tanner and me. I’m immediately surrounded by his scent and he smells delicious. He wraps an arm around my back and the feeling I had between my thighs last night returns. Goddammit. Jace counts down from five and I try to push every thought I have about him out of my head, but it’s no use.
We take a couple more pictures for good measure and when we’re done I head toward Jace’s Jeep. Wren and Poppy flank either side of me.
“I’d say don’t get wet, but there’s no fun in that,” Poppy giggles.
“Shut the fuck up.”
She slaps my butt and makes her way to Logan’s truck. “Love you, Lace. See you at home. Bye Wren.”
“Love you more,” I yell after her. Wren wraps me in a hug.
“Thanks for saving me from Tanner.” Her cheeks turn a rosey shade of red. “You really helped me dodge a bullet.”
“Of course.” I pull away from her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I want every last dirty detail of your little car ride.”
I roll my eyes as she walks away. I swing the door open and climb into the passenger seat. My head swirls with thoughts of last night again. How his fingers barely brushed mine and how desperate I was for him to touch me somewhere else. Anywhere else. How his corded arms were wrapped around me, holding me like I was a life raft in the middle of the ocean. How after he got up to shower, I considered following him into the bathroom. But why would I do that? We’re only friends.
The driver side door opens, snapping me from my train of thought.
“Ready to go, pixie?”
“Let’s do this.” I try to tug on my seatbelt, but it’s stuck and I can’t get it across my body. “Shit, it’s stuck.”
“Damn it, I thought I fixed it. Here, let me help you.” Jace reaches over and grabs my seatbelt, tugging firmly until it releases. The weight of his body on mine and his woodsy scent makes my whole body come alive. He pulls the belt across my body and clicks it into place. Just as quickly as he invades my space, he leaves it, leaving me as disappointed as I was this morning when he climbed out of bed.
Rummaging through my bag, I grab my e-reader and begin to read. If I can keep my eyes on my book for the next two hours, then I won’t be tempted to stare at the man in the driver’s seat. I won’t think about how much I like the weight of his body on mine. And I definitely won’t think about how much I liked laying in his arms this morning.
Jace starts the ignition and turns on some music. Zach Topp pours through the speakers filling the silence. We back out of the driveway and follow our friends down the gravel road. We are the last car in our caravan of four.
My eyes stay locked on the screen as we make our way around each curve of the mountain. I peer over for a split second to see him singing along to the song. His thumbs drumming on the steering wheel to the beat. I quickly divert my gaze back to my book.
As we continue, I realize there seems to be more twists and turns than I remember. I look up and find none of our friends’ cars are anywhere to be found.
“Did we lose the rest of the group?” I ask. He rounds a large curve in the road and my whole body flushes with heat.
“I need to stop and get gas,” he says. “We can get home this way too. The closest gas station is a little out of our way.”
I nod and my skin erupts with goosebumps, but not the good kind. I fidget with the air vents in front of me trying to get more air.
“You good?”
“Um, yeah, I think so.” I put my e-reader down and take a big swig from my water bottle, but nausea immediately overwhelms me. I try to close my eyes and breathe through it, but it’s no use. My jaw starts to tighten and my stomach does a somersault.
“Fuck, pull over!” The words are rushed and I slap my hand over my mouth. His wide eyes meet mine as he swerves off the road and onto the shoulder. I throw the door open and jump out. My feet barely hit the dirt before I empty the contents of my stomach all over the ground. Fucking hot, Lacey. Really fucking hot.
I bend over with both hands on my knees. I try to take a deep breath, but another wave of nausea hits me like a truck. I begin to heave, my body retches, and that’s when I feel him behind me. One of his hands gathers my hair out of my face and the other rubs slow circles on the small of my back as he soothes me.
“It’s okay, pixie. I got you,” he says.
I finish getting sick and slowly stand, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
“Goodness, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I quickly scan my body and realize a small spot of vomit on my T-shirt. My face burns with embarrassment. “Fuck me.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, nothing.” I quickly move to the back of the Jeep and he follows me, hovering closer than he should like he’s worried I may get sick again and he’ll need to jump into doing whatever it is he did before.
I swing the back door open, dig through my suitcase, and locate a new T-shirt and my toiletry bag while trying to ignore how close we are and how good it felt to have him take care of me.
I grab the bottom of the shirt I’m wearing, but realize his eyes are glued to me. “Um, I need to change my shirt.” I spin my finger in the air.
“Oh, yeah. Of course.” He takes a step back before flipping around and facing the other direction so I can change. I quickly change tops and stuff my newly stained shirt deep in my bag, so he doesn’t see it. I don’t know why it matters. He literally just held my hair while I threw up breakfast. I let out a low grumble.
“You decent?”
“Yes.” I grab my overnight bag and make my way back to the passenger side of the Jeep, careful not to ruin my shoes.
We both climb in. I pull on my seatbelt and it glides easily. I send a silent thank you to the universe. The last thing I need is him leaning over me to buckle me in when I have vomit breath.
“Didn’t want me to see you topless?” he teases, clicking his own belt into place.
“Are you saying you wanted to see me topless?” I cut him a look before laying my head on the headrest and shutting my eyes.
He lets out a low chuckle and starts the engine. “You good if we try to make it to the gas station?”
“Oh yeah. I think the mix of the sharp turns and my book made me nauseous. I’m fine now, just going to try to relax.”
“I’m sorry I took us this way.”
“You didn’t do it on purpose,” I laugh, keeping my eyes closed. “Thanks for holding my hair and rubbing my back and all that. You didn’t have to and it was nice that you did.”
“I told you I got you, plus it’s not the first time I’ve had to take care of you when you were sick,” he chuckles.
“Oh my god. How could I forget? Four wine coolers at fifteen was not my brightest move.” I squint my eyes open and turn my head towards him.
“No, it wasn’t, but I’ll always take care of you. I didn’t mind back then and I don’t mind now.” His words settle in my brain and I try not to think about what they could mean. I roll my head back to center and close my eyes.
“You know my parents still don’t know about that night,” I laugh. “Mom would probably lose it on me if she ever found out.”
“You think she’d still get mad about something that happened twelve years ago?”
“Well, not mad, but you know she doesn’t handle that kinda thing well. Would probably lecture me about how I need better life choices or something. Me drinking at fifteen really plays into her whole Lacey’s a mess narrative. She hasn’t changed much since you last saw her.”
“So, I’m guessing that means you two aren’t very close.”
“I don’t know. It’s complicated. You know Lori. Everything has to be planned and on the calendar, so unless she plans some family dinner or it’s an obligatory holiday I don’t talk to her much. Part of me hoped I’d see my parents more once my dad retired, but the opposite has happened. Colt moved to Texas for school, so unless the prodigal son is in town, then we don’t get together.”
I feel his hand squeeze mine and my eyes shoot open. A spark flies up my arm and makes my heart flutter. As quickly as I can, I shake him off. Silence fills the car and his hand returns to the steering wheel.
What are we doing?
The gas station comes into view and I take a deep breath, relieved that my stomach held it together and I’ll be able to get some much-needed space between us.
Jace parks the Jeep at one of the pumps and I make a beeline to the bathroom with my toiletry bag. It’s a single stall and surprisingly cleaner than I expected it to be.
At the sink I splash some cold water on my face and try to gather my thoughts. Grabbing a few paper towels, I gently dry my face. My hands rest on the edge of the sink and I give myself the pep talk. Get it together, Lacey. He’s your friend. He’s being nice. He doesn’t want to be more than friends. You just puked in front of him for Christ’s sake. Be fucking normal.
I brush my teeth, fix my hair, and double check that the rest of my clothes are clean before heading back to the car. I slide into the passenger seat and throw my bag in the back. Grabbing my e-reader, I pull my knees up to my chest and try to get comfortable for the long ride ahead.
Jace slides in with a wide grin plastered across his face, holding two plastic bags.
“What’s that?”
“Things for you,” he says, placing the bag next to me in my chair.
I take a minute to dig through it. Ginger ale, off-brand saltines, Dramamine, a Coke, and a bag of mini red and pink Starbursts are all piled inside.
“I wasn’t sure if you were still feeling sick, so I got you options. Also they didn’t have any coffee or tea, so I figured a Coke would help if you wanted caffeine.”
“How did you know I liked these?” I lift the Starbursts out of the bag.
“I have my ways.”
“Hmmm.” I eye him and pull out the Coke. “Did you not want anything?”
He digs through the second bag and pulls out a Coke, a bag of chili-cheese Fritos, and some gum. He places it all in the center console and puts the bag at my feet. “Speaking of you feeling sick, I think you should probably put the book down. We’re not quite off the windy roads yet.” He plucks my e-reader from my hands and puts it on the backseat.
“Fine, but then what will I do for the next hour and a half?” I grumble.
“I guess you’re going to have to talk to me.” His face curves into a wicked grin.