27. Lina
Lina
I tried to center myself, but I couldn’t concentrate on what was in front of me.
With an unsteady breath, I grabbed my glass of water and drank it.
No alcohol was consumed last night, but my head felt hazy, trying to grasp what was happening in the world outside of my mind.
Or, more specifically, outside my memories of Jonathan.
My face flushed at the thought of him, his lips, and his veiny hands.
“Are you even listening to me, Lina?” asked Mary.
I looked at her, blinking. “No.” There was no point in lying to her.
She let out an exasperated sigh as she glanced at the nasty purple mark and the bite marks at the base of my neck. Heat seared down to my chest, but I didn’t bother shying away from it like I usually did.
“As I was saying, you can tell me about the man who gave you all that next time, when you’re ready,” she said, hands gesturing over my neck. “Just let me know you’re with a guy next time, okay?”
“I’m sorry about last night,” I blurted. “A lot of things happened all at once and I . . . got distracted.”
“We can see that,” Eric stated lightheartedly.
I bit back a laugh as Mary glanced at the stamp Jonathan’s lips left across my skin again. She almost looked impressed, although irritation still clung to the edges of her smile. Meanwhile, Eric shook his head in mild amusement, with embarrassment blooming on his cheeks.
“I’m so sorry, Mary, Eric,” I said, glancing between the two of them. “I’ll be honest next time.”
They came knocking first thing this morning to make sure I hadn’t disappeared with some random man.
Mary was so concerned that she was ready to break down my door if I didn’t open within three knocks.
I didn’t have the chance to text her when I got home last night since I was distracted . . . by Jonathan.
My best friend went silent for a moment, eyes darting all over my face with her mouth tightening into a purse.
I waited for her to say how disappointed she was with me, but then her iconic, piercing laugh rang through my apartment.
Her smile stretched from one ear to the other, her face full of light and amusement.
“Looks like you had quite a bit of fun last night.” She raised a brow at me.
Despite the smile curling the corners of my lips, my skin burned hotter at her comment. “Y-yeah.”
Her eyes widened at my stutter as she excitedly looked at Eric. They both laughed, making me shuffle on my feet under their attention. “Is he cute?” she asked, giddy.
“Of course,” I mumbled.
“Can we get a name, at least?” Mary’s eyes glittered.
“No,” I quipped as a knock on the door grabbed our attention.
I wobbled to the door with her and Eric following behind me. He chuckled out loud. “Come on, Lina. At least give us the first initial of his—”
I didn’t even think of checking the peephole before opening it.
The three of us came to a standstill, staring wide-eyed at the person on my doorstep.
Standing there was Jonathan, wearing a simple gray hoodie, a white tee, and sweatpants.
The coffee carrier and brown paper bag he was balancing in one hand, and the lush bouquet of flowers he carried in the other, were telling.
However, neither Mary nor Eric were looking at those minor details.
They were gawking at the dark-red mark across his Adam’s apple, created by yours truly. I added a bite mark to the base of his neck, too, after he had insisted. Demanded, later in the night.
Jonathan looked shocked for a millisecond, probably expecting to find me alone, before he pulled on his usual charming grin. The curve of his lips morphed into that warm, handsome smile, and my friends practically swooned behind me.
“Sorry,” he laughed softly with no hint of awkwardness or surprise in his voice. He sounded like such an easygoing guy that Mary laughed with him. “I’m just dropping this off and will be on my way.”
“No, no! We’re just about to leave!” she said, waving her hand dismissively. Before I could stop her, she was at the doorway already. “I’m Lina’s friend, Mary, by the way.”
Jonathan’s eyes narrowed slightly with a raised brow, stepping aside. The grin on his face was now curious. “You look familiar,” he said slowly. “Mary Cha, right?”
Her eyes grew wide as Jonathan nodded. “I’m Jonathan Lo,” he continued. “We had a ceramics class once in high school.”
Mary’s eyes shimmered bright eyes. “I know who you are. Lina talks about you all the time.”
He looked at me, eyes glittering as bright as Mary’s.
The grin on his lips morphed into a devious and triumphant smirk.
A hum rumbled from his chest, a tune similar to the one he made as we climaxed together last night.
Me, on his fingers for the third time, and him, pleasing himself to the things he did to me.
The memory of his warm release splattering in rivulets across my lower body and over the dark tuft of hair over my sex flashed behind my eyes. My body ignited as I tore my gaze away from his black eyes in an awkward, obvious jerk.
“Anyways! We should get going. Come on, honey!” Mary exclaimed at once. Her voice was far too chirpy and squeaky.
She waved her husband out the door with flushed cheeks. “I’m Eric,” he said as he stepped out and nodded at Jonathan. “It’s nice to meet you, Jonathan.”
I heaved, trying to say something, but Mary and Eric were already walking away. Their faces burned more red by the second. “Enjoy your breakfast after!” she called out.
My brows furrowed. After what?
With my previous inexperience, I never would’ve caught that bit of insinuation. After last night and feeling famished after everything Jonathan and I did in the car, I now understood.
“MARY,” I blurted, embarrassment curdling my blood.
She laughed as Eric immediately pulled her down the walkway, waving goodbye. I slammed the door shut after Jonathan stepped in, my heart pumping.
“Sorry about that,” I muttered, burying my face in my hands.
“I don’t blame them. With the hickeys all over our necks, we do look like a pair of horny teens.” He snickered. “To be honest, your friend and my family will get along well. Especially those damn twins and her.”
I groaned, looking up at him, my skin still prickling hot.
His eyes were focused on nothing but me.
He took me in slowly. His eyes trailed over every inch of my face slowly—as if he were drinking a warm cup of tea—and he sighed gently at the sight of me.
The mischievous sparkle in his gaze from a second ago was gone.
He smiled shyly, cheeks pink, and I smiled back with the same fervor.
The haze of desire and want was no longer fogging our senses like last night, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to kiss him first thing when I saw him.
“For me?” I asked, glancing at the flowers.
“They’re definitely not for me,” he chuckled, handing them to me. “I didn’t know what your favorite flowers were, so I asked the florist to do his best. I hope you like them.”
I blinked. “How early did the florist open? It’s only nine.”
Jonathan grinned. “I have my ways.”
I scoffed as I fingered the soft petals of a white lily from the assortment of blue and white flowers. “How did you know blue is my favorite color?”
“You told me a few weeks ago.” He shrugged. I looked at him, confused. “When I gave you the taser and pepper spray,” he added.
“You remembered that?”
“Well, yeah. It’s you, Lina. I remember everything about you.”
I felt my heart flutter as I swallowed down that feeling. “I’m assuming you do this often? Remembering women’s favorite colors and all.”
He cocked a brow at me. “If you’re trying to ask me if I’m dating around, I’m not.”
“Well, you must buy a lot from your florist for them to open early just for this.”
He leaned down so we were eye to eye. “Lina, you’re the first and only woman I’m doing this for—which is why my personal florist was shocked that I called him at seven in the morning to make this. Andy doesn’t usually take personal orders, but this was an exception.”
Jonathan’s smile was wide as he glanced around my place. There was nothing spectacular about my apartment. It stood bare and simple with only the necessities. My move was easy and simple because I’d long abandoned the idea of decorating my space.
I wouldn’t mind doing something different to the bland and lifeless home I had, but I didn’t know how. Mary suggested adding more life to my apartment with color or plants. Although they were good suggestions, it all felt forced. So, things had been like this for as long as I’d lived by myself.
It didn’t matter to me that my apartment was boring. I had a roof over my head. I had my own place and paid for with my own money. It also wasn’t tainted by my family’s overbearing personalities, or voices, or cluttered lifestyles.
What mattered most was that this space was all mine.
Jonathan turned to me, holding up the brown paper bag and coffee carrier. “I got us some breakfast sandwiches, tater tots, and coffee. You couldn’t sleep too, right?”
I gestured for us to go into my dining room to the small table there. I went straight to the kitchen to grab us plates. “No, I couldn’t. I guess that makes both of us.”
“Hmm, I wonder why.” Jonathan’s voice dipped into a husky voice as I heard one of my dining chairs screeching across the floor.
My cheeks burned as I came back with plates. We both glanced at one another and at the imprint we marred across the other’s skin.
“I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” I admitted honestly.
“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you ever since you started working at the pharmacy.
Couldn’t sleep. Could barely breathe because you consumed every moment of my life,” he whispered.
“You were right when you claimed I was obsessed with you weeks ago. It’s true.
I am. I’ve been obsessed with you for over a decade, Lina Lee.
I had never admitted to it, and you never knew. ”