Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
JO
I wake up slowly, blinking at the sunlight streaming through my bedroom window. I have no clue what time it is or if I’ve been sleeping for a couple of hours or a few days, and I’m too lazy and satisfied to even attempt to figure it out.
Stretching, I just barely resist the urge to squeal at the delicious soreness in my limbs, the ache between my legs. All evidence of the love confession to end all love confessions and a sex marathon I’d like to repeat as soon as humanly possible. Rolling over, I reach for Jordan to get started on that, only to find the other side of my bed empty, his scent still clinging to the pillows.
Breathing deeply, I’m torn between wanting to go find Jordan and staying right here, inhaling his clean laundry scent like an insane person.
Fuck, I love him so much.
Clean laundry scent it is.
I turn my head into a pillow and inhale, grinning like a complete and utter lunatic. Now I really do kick my legs and scream, the pillow just barely muffling my glee.
“You’re gorgeous when you’re doing…whatever it is you’re doing right now.”
I shoot up at the sound of Jordan’s amused voice but forget to be embarrassed that he found me huffing his scent like an addict because holy shit . He’s standing in the doorway to my bedroom, wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts riding low on his hips and a smirk. His deep blue eyes sparkle, and his hair is sticking up in a thousand directions from sleep and my hands. He has a steaming mug in each hand, and never have I ever seen a more gorgeous man in all my life.
Mine.
No one has ever been this lucky in the history of ever.
“Holy hell, I adore every inch of you. Get the fuck over here.”
Jordan grins at me and saunters towards the bed, setting the mugs down on my nightstand and sliding in next to me. He grabs my hips and tugs me into his lap so I’m straddling him, cupping my face and bringing my mouth to his. The kiss is long and sweet and has my heart rolling in my chest with the knowledge that this is what I have to look forward to. Morning kisses. Coffee together. A shared bed. A shared life.
It all makes me want to scream into that pillow again.
“Miss me, Jo Jo?” Jordan asks when he breaks the kiss, keeping our mouths close, his forehead against mine.
“I did, but you brought me coffee looking all sleep-rumpled and sexy, so all is forgiven.”
I kiss his cheek and lean over, grabbing one of the mugs and taking a sip, hissing when the hot coffee burns my tongue.
“How do you know that’s not my coffee?” Jordan asks, laying his hands on my hips under the T-shirt I have no recollection of putting on, thumbs stroking circles over my bare skin.
I give him a sly smile. “Wouldn’t matter even if it was. Coffee compatible, remember?”
Jordan’s smile spreads. “How could I forget the first official day of the J’s Summer of Fun?”
I lean over and grab his mug, handing it to him and sliding off his lap to sit cross-legged on the bed, facing him. “Is this the first official day of the J’s Life of Fun?”
“Bet your ass it is.” He takes a sip of coffee and then studies me, his expression turning serious. “Should we talk more about it?”
“More about what?”
He shrugs. “Life. What happens now. What happens next.”
As always, when it comes to Jordan, I hear what he’s not saying. Despite the love confessions and the sex marathon and the fact that we’re both half-naked in my bed, this man needs some reassurance, and I am more than happy to give it to him. “Did you drive all night last night and knock on my door before six in the morning to come tell me you love me?”
He smiles, running a hand from my ankle to my knee. “I did do that.”
“And did I tell you I love you back?”
“It was the actual best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“And did you or did you not give me four freaking orgasms before the sun was even up this morning during the best sex of my goddamn life?”
Jordan smirks at me, stroking his fingers over the sensitive skin behind my knee, making me shiver. “Five.”
I laugh. “Oh, I know. I just wanted to see if you were paying attention.”
He leans forward and gives me a soft kiss. “I always pay attention to you.” His grin turns wicked. “Especially when you’re screaming my name.”
I clench my thighs because fuck, everything about Jordan just does it for me. He is my perfect match. “And are we or are we not sitting in my bed at…” I glance at the clock, shocked to see it’s two in the afternoon. “Shit, two p.m., mostly naked, because we lapsed into a coma wrapped around each other after that best sex of my life?”
Jordan snorts out a laugh and squeezes my hand. “There is nowhere I’d rather be than here, Jo Jo.”
I reach around him to set my coffee mug on the nightstand, shifting to snuggle into his side. He wraps his free arm around me and runs his hand up and down my arm. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be except where you are, J. Everything else is just details. Ones we’ll figure out, and soon, because a month away from you was too damn long, and I don’t want to do it again, even after all the love confessions.”
He leans down and presses a kiss to my head. “I was hoping you would say that because, longest month of my life.”
“No shit. I kind of wish you had started on that apartment hunting already because I have to be honest, looking at apartments is the actual worst, and I would be happy to delegate that particular task to you. And aside from that, I seriously don’t care where we live as long as we’re there together.”
He grins down at me. “I have a confession to make.”
I sit up so I can look at him. “Lay it on me, J.”
“Okay, so remember how I told you my brothers all live in the same building?”
“Sure, and you said there was an available apartment I still think you should have taken. All four of you living in the same building is exactly the kind of chaos I want to be in the middle of.”
Jordan sets his coffee mug on the nightstand and turns to face me so we’re sitting cross-legged, our knees touching. “So, the building is actually a brownstone in Back Bay, and it’s kind of ours.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What do you mean it’s kind of yours?”
He shrugs. “It belonged to my grandparents—my mom’s parents.”
I gasp. “The famous Cece?” Jordan has told me a million stories about his grandmother. She sounds completely zany and exactly like the kind of person I would love. I didn’t get to meet her when we were in Boston because she was on a three-week Mediterranean cruise, which, awesome.
“The very famous Cece. Her parents—my great-grandparents—bought the brownstone and the one next door in, like, 1925, and then Cece inherited them both when they died and held onto them for all these years. She and my grandfather lived in one, and they remodeled the other into five big apartments Cece rented out to a rotating cast of characters she took under her wing over the years.”
“And now your brothers live in it?”
Jordan gives me a sheepish smile. “Now my brothers and I own it.”
My mouth drops open. “You and your brothers own an entire brownstone in Back Bay?”
He nods. “Turns out they put that one in my grandfather’s name for tax reasons, and when he died five years ago, it passed to us. Cece said she wanted to see us enjoy it while she was alive. Elliot, Noah, and Coop moved into three of the apartments at different points over the last few years, but I was in Pittsburgh, and then I was in New York, and now…”
He trails off, and the hope in his voice is the best thing I’ve ever heard. “I guess there won’t be any apartment hunting after all.”
His face lights up even as his voice stays a little cautious. “You really wouldn’t mind living there? I mean, you’ve met my brothers. And Cece lives next door. That’s…kind of a lot.”
I take both of his hands, my eyes drinking in his beautiful face I love so much. “J, it sounds like exactly what I want. And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of a lot, so it’s perfect.”
Jordan leans in and kisses me softly. “You’re perfect.”
I snort, kissing his nose. “I’m super not. I hate cooking, am kind of messy, leave my shoes everywhere, and I always forget to make the bed. You sure you still want to live with me?”
He laughs, kissing me again. “I love to cook, seeing your shoes everywhere just reminds me you’re there, and why make the bed when I’m just going to try and get you back into it as soon as possible? Literally all I want is to live with you, Jo Jo. I love you so much, and the life I want is whatever life we get to do together. You are my happiest ending.”
Jordan’s words hit me right in the heart, which beats madly at the love in his eyes, the way he looks at me like I am his reason for everything. I could live a hundred lifetimes, and I will never, ever forget this day. I didn’t know a heart could be this happy.
“The romance, J. Oh, my god.”
Jordan grins and hauls me into his lap, wrapping his arms around me and settling my head against his chest. “Hurricane, I’ll romance the fuck out of you. Starting with this.”
He reaches over and grabs his phone, opening his gallery, and clicking on a picture before handing it to me. It’s Dippy in his habitat, wearing a scarf covered in hearts around his neck. When I press a hand to my chest, I’m not being dramatic. I’m trying to keep my heart from exploding with happiness. Okay, maybe a little dramatic.
I snuggle deeper into Jordan’s chest and feel his heart beating out the same rhythm. “You put that scarf on him before you left to come here last night?”
Jordan presses a kiss to the top of my head. “Not exactly. I left in kind of a hurry because all I could think about was getting to you. So I texted my mom earlier and asked her to put it on and send me the picture.”
I laugh, amused at how seriously he still takes our daily picture. “You know, it would have been okay to skip a Dippy picture of the day. On account of driving all night and dramatic, pre-sunrise love confessions and all.”
I feel Jordan shaking his head. “Never. Especially not today.”
“Why especially not today?”
“Because it’s National Scarf Day.”
I sit straight up, staring at Jordan incredulously. “Today?”
He grins at me. “Today.”
“And how is it you know that?”
He shrugs. “I downloaded an app the day you left New York that tells you all those national days. I wanted to be able to send you themed packages, but I never got the chance because, well, here we are.
“You downloaded an…” I trail off, launching myself into Jordan’s arms. He laughs and catches me, wrapping his arms around me and holding me tight. “You are the best person I have ever known. Like, seriously, I don’t know how it’s possible to love someone as much as I love you. Being this happy shouldn’t be allowed.”
Jordan kisses my neck and falls backwards with his arms still around me. Then he rolls so I’m under him, and he hovers over me, his deep blue eyes alight as he bends and kisses me. “Hurricane, there is nothing in this world I wouldn’t do to make you happy. I hope you’re ready for me to make you happy and love you the best way I know how for the rest of our lives because that’s my plan.”
I reach up and frame his face with my hands. “That’s a really, really good plan.”
“I’m glad you think that because I’d really like to get started right now.”
I give him a sly grin. “Oh, I think you already started hours ago. The five orgasms made me really, really happy.”
Jordan grins. “Well, we don’t have anything to do or anywhere to be for the rest of the day, and I’m pretty sure I can beat that.”
I lean up and kiss the face I love so much. “That’s one competition I can definitely get behind.”
“Game on, Hurricane.”
Jordan presses his mouth to mine, and with the love, laughter, and fun that is so uniquely us, we start the first day of the rest of our lives.
Together.