42. Jason
42
“ J ason!” The high-pitched screech in Julie’s voice has me jumping up like we’re under attack before I bolt through my penthouse.
“What? What’s wrong?”
My loud steps are becoming thuds when I reach the soft gray carpet of the bedroom, my hands holding on to the doorpost as if I have to brace myself for whatever comes next.
I expect to find her whiskey-brown eyes distressed, maybe even tears threatening to spill over, but she’s beaming at me like she won the lottery.
What the fuck? The beating organ that’s supposed to be behind my ribcage is sitting uncomfortably in my throat, and I swallow it back down to the right place.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” I suck in a breath, then amble toward her as the initial panic seeps out, her sweet chuckle gracing my ears. “You think that’s funny?”
“It’s a little funny.”
Cheeky brat.
The Friday morning sun glows over her tanned skin, and I slip my hands onto her barely covered hips, taking in her skimpy little cream bikini.
“That was the doctor!” She jumps into my arms, wrapping her hands around my neck.
Before I can ask her what the fuck she’s talking about, she crushes her mouth against mine. Her soft body presses deeper, and always wanting her even closer, I palm her ass, pulling her legs around my waist.
My favorite position.
My tongue swipes against hers, a moan humming through my core when they collide. Her kisses always threaten to pull me under, her entire energy drowning me in utter bliss, and I can’t freaking help myself. It’s like I’ve had to go without touching her for so long, always holding back, that now that I have her; I’m obsessed, not willing to let go.
Ever.
Before I can tell myself to focus on the reason why I ran in here, I’m carrying her to the bed, throwing both of us on top of the pink duvet she forced into my penthouse after she moved in when we came back from North Carolina last month.
My body sinks against hers, but something lingers in my brain.
Wait, what did he say? The doctor!
“Hold up, baby.” I pull back, cocking my head. “Stop distracting me! What did the doctor say?”
She pulls her lip between her teeth, eyes sparkling like the Fourth of July fireworks, and suddenly I can’t wait to be back in Braeden next summer, knowing it will be the first Fourth of July where she’s mine. Actually mine.
“We’re all good.”
“Really?”
She nods. “They didn’t find any more disturbed tissue, and he said we can go off contraception whenever we want.”
I’ve had triumphs in my life. Moments when I felt like I was winning in whatever this life is supposed to be. When Hunter won the championship belt and I was standing next to him. When I landed my first client. When I started Spencer Sports. When I earned my first million.
But nothing compares to her saying with her illuminating gaze what her words lack.
My heart jumps. “We’re good to go? As in, now?”
She laughs when she senses my cock growing against her thigh. “That’s all you think of?”
I dive into her neck, leaving a trail of kisses from below her collarbone until I reach her ear, my hand resting on her belly. “If we’re talking about me knocking you up, then yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.”
I’ve been envious of Hunter and Charlotte for years now. I want what they have. Sunday games with friends and their kids. I want to make memories and play with the kids in the yard after a long day. Dinner parties. Kids parties. I want a family. I want a home.
My hand dips lower, finding the curve of her entrance in my palm, and fuck me, I bet if I push this little excuse for a bikini bottom aside, I will find her all warm, wet, and ready.
Putting my words into action, I run my finger along the edge, fully intent on sliding home, but it’s slapped away, and I find her glare with wide eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? What are you doing? We’re supposed to be in the car in five minutes.” With a teasing smile, she rolls herself away from me and gets to her feet, hands on her hips.
I launch for her, trying to pull her back, but she escapes my grasp with a playful yelp. “Pfft, I can make you come in two, then I still got three to finish the job. Get your ass over here.”
She shakes her head, giving me her sternest expression. She fails. “Jordan is waiting for us.”
My cock is throbbing in protest, pushing against the nylon of my dark blue swimming shorts. I groan, dropping my head to the pillow.
“He can wait a little longer.”
“I’m not ready.” She strolls toward our joint closet, and I admire her ass. “Did you tell him yet?”
My lungs deflate. “Nope.”
I’m dreading it.
Jordan will be happy for us, knowing I’ve been thinking about moving back home for a while, but never really had a reason until Julie. But leaving my little brother alone in this big city still feels like I’m failing him. Like I’m abandoning him even though he’s a grown-ass man himself.
I’d much rather have him with us in Braeden, but he’s determined to make it big as a singer-songwriter, and who am I to stand between him and his dreams? Just because my dream is living in a small town with a bunch of kids and tailing that gorgeous woman standing in my closet, doesn’t mean that’s the same for Jordan.
“You have to tell him.” Her blonde hair dances when she finds my eyes over her shoulder. “And Ford.”
“I know. I will.”
“Today.” She throws a cute light blue sundress over her body, then grabs a scrunchie to put her hair up in a high ponytail.
She looks so fucking sexy.
“Does it have to be today?” I crook my finger at her, telling her to come closer.
She does, and when she’s standing beside the bed, I move to the edge. I drop my legs on either side of hers, locking her in once more and pulling her close.
“Yes, it has to be today.”
“Why?” I grab her legs so she’s straddling me.
“Because I found us a house.”
My eyebrows lift, my fingers digging into her hips in excitement. “You did?”
She hums in agreement, brushing her nose against mine. “A cute Cape Cod-style house with a back porch, two blocks from Hunter and Charlotte’s.”
If my heart could radiate light, I’m sure it would be as bright as the sun right now.
“No way.” A warm feeling bubbles inside me, almost as heated as the longing in Julie’s eyes as she continues.
“Five bedrooms. One that can be turned into an office. Long driveway for at least two cars. Big backyard with a treehouse in the back.”
It’s perfect. I can feel it in the tingly feeling in my stomach when I look at her.
I don’t have to see it to know it’s perfect. I can see it in the reflection in the gaze of the woman I’d walk through fire for.
She thinks it’s perfect.
Who am I to disagree?
“Two blocks from Hunter and Charlotte’s, huh?”
A hot breath flies over my face before she kisses me deep enough to hum my entire body alive. The little tease pushes my back onto the bed, mimicking my earlier moves by kissing her way down my neck.
My eyes shut, enjoying every connection of her lips on my skin and wallowing in my desire that’s growing by the second. “Is this your way of making sure I don’t protest about his house?”
I’m not gonna protest. Hell, she could ask me to live in a tiny house with her and be minimalistic and I would still do it. I’d crash at Hunter’s every other weekend just for a proper bathroom, but I’d still come home to her.
“No,” she says, a smile audible as she drags her body down my torso.
When she’s hovering above my groin, her hands push up my t-shirt, and I swallow at the sight of it. She slides my swimming shorts down, instantly met by my cock, grateful to be free.
“Then what is this?” I question on a breath, my body jerking when she takes me into her mouth.
Oh, shit, that feels good.
Big brown eyes blink innocently as she starts sucking, her plump lips moving up and down my shaft. She’s trying to distract me.
It’s working.
Desire flames through my loins. My muscles tensing and releasing in all the right places.
She’s knocking me out.
“Oh, fuck, baby.” My eyes roll to the back of my head, biting my lip. “What are you not telling me?”
I know this girl like the back of my hand. She’s up to something.
She releases me with a pop, a devilish smirk on her glistening lips.
“I’m not telling you that I already put in an offer.”
My eyes bulge. “You did what?”
She quickly swirls her tongue around the tip of my lid, and I let out another moan, barely able to focus. “It got accepted.”
I throw my head back, the sensation literally killing me while I try to register what she’s saying. Which is a goddamn impossible task when you’re getting sucked off like you’re shooting water and she is dehydrated.
“Baby, wait.”
Sweetly, she does as she’s told, and goddamn, the sight of her.
Ass in the air. Blonde hair messy around her pretty pink cheeks. Sun glowing over her face. Her mouth slack, ready to continue what she started with thick lashes slowly moving up and down with each blink.
“What are you saying?” I huff out, torn between wanting her to continue and feeling the need to clarify what the fuck is happening.
“I’m saying we bought a house.”
She’s saying we…we bought a house?
She saying…what?
“In Braeden?”
She nods.
“Close to Hunt and Charls?”
Another nod.
The corner of my mouth twitches. “And you did this without discussing it with me?”
She straightens her back, a guilt-ridden expression coming my way. “It wasn’t on the market yet. The only reason I saw the listing is because the agent did my dad a favor. They told me to do a solid offer. I knew it would be gone if it went on the market.”
This woman. She’s cute.
She drives me nuts. She’s stubborn. Resilient. Strong as hell. And even though she doesn’t even see what I see, she’s the most independent woman I’ve ever met.
I love her.
Swiftly, I jerk up, and she yelps when I grip the back of her neck, pulling her down with me, her body flush with mine.
“Is that so?” I growl with a smile dying to break through.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve talked to you about it, but the agent in me took over when the mama in me was jumping for joy. Plus, it’s the perfect location. Our kids would be growing up with Logan and Lizzy.”
Her gaze is pleading, as if I need any persuasion.
My stomach twirls like it’s training for the Olympics, my heart expanding like a ballon.
The mama in me.
“You see us raising a family there?”
She smiles in reply.
“You think it’s perfect for us? You, me, and our future?”
“Yes.”
The expanding balloon explodes, filling my body with something I can’t even describe. It’s light, and it’s heavy. It’s bright, and it sparkles. It’s uncomfortably comfortable, and I imagine it comes close to that unwavering love they talk about when you become a parent.
I can’t fucking wait.
“Then I’m sure it is.”
Her eyes beam, though still a little reluctant. “You’re not mad?”
I shake my head.
I’ve been mad at her plenty. And I’m sure I will be once more. But her being so eager to build our life together is not a reason for me to ever be mad.
“You forgive me?”
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t forgive you, baby.” I kiss her fiercely, the heat of our lips merging us as one, before I pull back. “Now the question is, will Jordan forgive us?”
“For what? Moving?”
I smile. “No, for being late.”
Loving the angst? How about angst in the fast and steamy world of F1 racing, with an obsessed world champion on the verge of crashing from his podium?