11. Cherry
11. Cherr y
I’ve given Jake a hard time about this date because it’s my default to try and find the bad in any good. I know that about myself and I know I need to stop doing it or I’ll push him away.
His thumb rubs over my knuckle, our fingers linked as we walk around the campus. I hadn’t known what to expect when he said date, but today so far had been perfect. We’d met up with a historian at Massachusetts Hall, who’d regaled us with facts and details about the oldest building on campus, going into great detail that I absorbed like a junky.
I adore history, always had, and knew I got that from my mom. But my love for buildings and the stories they held was from my dad. After Mass Hall, we went to McKinlock Hall and spent some time admiring all the details.
“This must be boring for you.” I cock my head up at Jake who is gazing up at one of the ceilings. His head snaps down and he grins at me, as he turns me in his arms, and pulls me close. I can feel the hardness of his body against mine, smell the cologne he wears mixed with the scent of his shower gel and I want to drown in it.
“You think watching you get all fired up and excited by seeing these old buil dings is boring for me?” His lips quirk and I blush at the way he makes me feel. Wanted, special, like I am the center of his world.
“Isn’t it?”
“No, Blossom, any time spent watching you smile is the best time, and knowing I’ve had a tiny part in putting it there makes me happy as fuck.”
Right then and there the words ‘I love you’ stutter on my lips, but as if sensing it, Jake bends and takes my mouth in a kiss that is hungry, deep, and full of the words he stopped me from saying.
When he pulls back, his hand caresses my cheek, and he looks at me with so much unspoken love, I think I’ll burst.
“I have one last surprise before we head back.”
“Jake, you’re overachieving already. How will I ever come up with a date as good as this one for you?”
His arm tightens around me as we walk and he chuckles. “You don’t, Blossom. It’s not your job to impress me. You do that just by breathing.”
God, he makes it impossible not to love him when he says things like that. “Jake, that isn’t how it works.”
He stops us in the middle of the path that leads to University Hall and cups his hands around my cheeks. His eyes are more green than blue today as he gazes at me, his tongue wetting his bottom lip, before he shakes his head. “Blossom, you don’t seem to get it. You’re mine, and I don’t mean I want to own you, although God knows I do. Perhaps the better explanation is I’m yours. You’ve owned my heart and my soul since the day you ran into me. You said you were a ten but you’re so much more. You’re my reason and it’s my fucking pleasure to make you smile and treat you like the princess you are. I fucking love you.”
My heart feels like it will beat from my chest as he says those words. Tears blur my vision and I let my head fall to his chest as emotions overwhelm me. I might only be young but I know right here and now that I’ll never love another person like I love him .
Gently, he tips my head up and I blink away the wetness in my eyes as he studies me.
“I love you, Jake.”
He shakes his head. “Blossom, you don’t have to say it back.”
Laying my finger over his lips, I stop him. “I know I don’t, and I wouldn’t do that. I’m saying it because it’s true. I love you and it scares me and excites me, and makes me want to experience everything with you beside me.”
“It scares me too, Blossom, but I promise you I’ll never hurt you.”
He kisses me again then and it is sweet and full of promise. When he pulls away, I smile so wide my cheeks almost ache. “So what’s this surprise?”
Jake waggles his eyebrows. “Follow me.”
He leads us to the University Hall building, which is very different from the other buildings but also more familiar, as I’d been in here a few times already for admin stuff. It is where the Dean has his office and student services have offices here too. It’s the weekend so it’s pretty deserted inside with most of the doors locked.
“Where are we going?”
Jake smiles. “Do you trust me?”
I roll my eyes because I might be in love but I’m still me. “Of course. You had your hand around my throat last night.”
A growl slips from Jake’s throat as his eyes skim my neck and a ferocious, dangerous look that makes my pussy ache sweeps over me.
“Don’t tease me, Blossom.”
“It wasn’t a tease, it was a statement.”
He mumbles something I don’t hear before he pulls me behind him to the door of the Dean’s office. My heart beats fast as I watch him look around before picking the lock on the door and swinging it open.
“Jake, what the hell?”
Pushing me through, he closes it behind us and smiles. “I want to show you something. ”
“And we had to do a little breaking and entering for you to do that?”
“Babe, you do know my past is more than a little murky right, and we aren’t stealing anything. We’re just looking.”
“Your past doesn’t matter to me, Jake. I see who you are now.”
I mean it too, everyone has a past, and although Jake hasn’t told me much about his or really anything, I’m not in love with past him, I love the man before me now.
He walks to a glass cabinet and once again picks the lock as I peer over his shoulder. The cabinet is lined with old books, photographs, trophies, and a few antique bottles. Stepping back as Jake opens the door, I watch him gently lift a book from the shelf and place it on the table beside us.
I gasp in awe as I look at a first edition copy of A 1669 CLASSIC OF ARCHITECTURE, INCLUDING DESIGNS BY MICHELANGELO.
“Wow, this is amazing.”
Stepping forward, I touch the cover with reverence, knowing just how much a book like this is worth. But it isn’t the monetary value, it’s what’s inside.
“I thought you might like it. We can’t stay long but I thought you might want a few minutes to study it.”
“Thank you.”
Jake leaves me then to study the book as he goes to look at the photographs behind me. But I’m enthralled, taking in every detail of every page and sucking up the knowledge of the artwork inside.
Before long, I feel Jake beside me. “We need to get going.”
Taking the book, he places it back in the same exact spot and locks the cabinet before checking the coast is clear so we can leave.
Walking back to the dorms, I talk nonstop about the designs, the lines, and the influence of art on architecture. Jake listens as if what I’m saying is the most intriguing thing he’s ever heard.
“Sorry, I’m waffling.”
“You’re stunning when you’re like this. ”
I’m about to laugh when my phone rings. Frowning, I take it out and see it’s work. “I need to take this.”
“Hey, I need you to work. Two of the other girls just called in sick.”
I listen as my boss begs and, although I don’t want to end my day working, I know I’ll say yes. Hanging up, I look at Jake with an apology on my lips only to see understanding on his face.
“You have to work.”
“Yeah, he’s in a tough spot. Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s fine. I have a few things I need to do anyway. How about pizza at my place tomorrow night?”
“I can’t. I have that paper due and I need to study for that exam on The Art Of Gothic Architecture.”
I see Jake’s shoulders tense before he smiles and I can see he’s disappointed. “How about I help you?”
I shake my head. “No, you’re too distracting.”
“Tuesday then?”
“Perfect.”
He kisses me deeply when he leaves me at the door to the coffee shop and I feel hope like never before, my steps filled with happiness. I never expected it to crumble into dust like it does.