Chapter 11 #2
“Well, it’s a young game. Still growing. Wouldn’t want all the spoiling to mess it up. Therefore, as my third choice, I’ll pick Persona—”
He makes a face and huffs.
“What?” I ask, defensive. “Persona’s good!”
“It has a high school setting,” he says flatly.
“Right. Which makes it excellent.”
“It makes it dumb.”
I gasp.
“Viola, the whole storyline feels like a soap opera, and the world-building is just dull.”
“Oh my god, you’re so wrong.” I stand up—and immediately begin shivering in the cold, but power through. “I am going to bed,” I proclaim haughtily in a pseudo-British accent, attempting my best Otto impression. “And you”—I point at Jesse—“are an idiot.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Get back in.” His hand comes up to my wrist and tugs me down. “You’re one giant goose bump.”
I’m not certain what happens after that. Maybe it’s Jesse’s pull, or the heat fuzzing up my head, or the slippery floor of the tub. I lose my balance—which is a totally normal thing. It has happened to me a million times. Absolutely nothing weird about that.
Nothing, except for the spot where I land.
It’s not quite an embrace, but I’m draped awkwardly over Jesse, one arm around his neck while the other holds on to his shoulder for balance.
Any other time I’d think that my right breast pushing against his naked chest through my bikini top is very unfortunate, but today I have a more pressing problem.
An unmistakably pressing problem, right where my ass meets Jesse’s lap.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, scrambling to push away. But that only makes the flesh of my ass drag against his front, and what’s happening down there is…unequivocal. Unmissable. And Jesse must know that, because it’s big.
Huge.
“I…” I can think of absolutely nothing to say. I settle for repeating, “I…”
Jesse’s eyes close, and stay closed as his cheeks color, as he takes a deep breath, as he tells me, “I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to…” His hand moves up to support my lower back in a gesture that doesn’t seem fully voluntary.
I think he’s making an effort to remain completely immobile, but I feel him vibrating tightly with some sort of tension that…
My heart explodes in a gallop. My stomach floods with heat. We are barely touching, and I can’t remember the last time I was this turned on.
“So.” My voice is a breathy, shaky attempt at humor. “You do like me.”
His eyes close. “Viola. You have no fucking idea what I feel for you.”
This has to be one of those dreams I’ve been having. It’s the only possible explanation for the way I decide to respond by wiggling my ass in his lap. But when he feels me move, his lips part to let out a gasp, and his grip hurts for a second.
“Still?” I ask, unable to help myself.
He finally opens his eyes. “Mm?” He is not breathing normally, like people usually do when they’re sitting still. And neither am I.
“Well, I know you used to be into me when we first met, and maybe…maybe last year, for the mistletoe. But I wasn’t sure if you still…”
“Yes. Still.” He leans forward. His mouth comes to rest on my collarbone. Not a kiss, but his lips move softly as he speaks against my skin. “I doubt I’ll ever stop. Viola, you might want to…move away.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t…”
I think he does. He does a lot, and this is the hottest thing that has ever happened to me. Bar none. “It’s okay.” I settle more comfortably on him, feeling his cock twitch. His expression, the way his eyes widen and then almost roll back in his head, it’s out of this world. “I don’t mind.”
His hand tightens involuntarily on my lower back. “You don’t?”
“No.” No one has ever looked at me this way. Like I could make or break them. Like they don’t think they deserve me, but oh, they want me. “No, I really don’t, and—”
The glass door opens, and the noise is so loud, it startles both of us.
I’m not sure who breaks apart first, but the result is the same: One second there is no space between Jesse and me, and the next I’m staring at him from across the tub.
We turn at the same time, finding Mike waving at us from the deck entrance.
“I forgot my room key,” he says, slightly dejected.
My heart pounds against my ribs. I need Mike to leave. I need to know what happens next between Jesse and me. I need it right now.
“Are you guys going to bed, too?” Mike asks.
No, I scream inside my head. There’s still heat pulsating sweetly at the base of my stomach, coiling tight inside me.
No, we’re staying here. We’re finishing this.
But Jesse says, “We were about to,” and lifts himself out of the tub.
I stare at the way the water trickles down his chest and thighs, and it definitely doesn’t help things.
He finds his glasses and slides them on in a gesture that by now is so recognizably Jesse, I…
Have I ever found someone this attractive?
“Here.” He holds the bathrobe out to me, never meeting my eyes.
“Thanks.”
Look at me, I order him silently. Just—look at me. We can continue this upstairs. We can talk about it. We can do whatever we want.
Jesse nods, walking toward the glass door. “I’m gonna stop by the kitchen and get some water first. See you guys tomorrow.”
“Good night,” Mike tells him, strolling closer to me, waiting for Jesse to be out of earshot before adding, “Hey, sorry for leaving you guys alone. It didn’t occur to me until now that you were stuck with some dude you barely know, alone, in the middle of the night. It was such a dick move.”
“No. No, it’s fine.” I take a deep breath. Massage my temple. Force myself to get out of the tub. “I trust Jesse.”
“Okay. Good. I thought so, he’s always been a great guy, but I mean…They all are until they aren’t. You never know when people will turn creepy. You weren’t uncomfortable, were you?”
I shake my head, closing the lapels of my robe as the cold seeps once more inside my bones.