Ahead, a figure approached, and Jessica swerved to the right, intent on taking another path toward the main road. But then the figure said, “Jess?” and she froze.
That voice and the way it said her name had graced her fantasies for months after Mexico—and well beyond that.
“Jack,” she breathed, unable to contain the grin that stretched her mouth wide.
For a moment, they remained rooted in place, ten feet apart, simply drinking in the sight of one another.
The years since Mexico had been great to Jack. Back then, he’d been buff, but his muscles then were mere ghosts of his current physique. What she could see now of his arms and legs indicated he’d trained hard and had been rewarded. His biceps stretched the cuffs of his t-shirt sleeves indecently, his forearms thick. The sharp edges of his quads were visible below the hems of his shorts, tapering into calves and shin muscles—what were those even called?—that flexed when he shifted slightly on his feet. And she knew if he turned around, she’d find his already glorious eighteen year old ass had only gotten more impressive in the time since.
She bit her lip, the pain sobering, and Jack said, “You’re staring.”
“So are you.”
Even in her perusal of him, she hadn’t missed the way his eyes had raked her body from head to toe. The path those blue eyes had taken scorched her skin like a brand, reminding her of all the times he’d done it before.
Reminding her of him following those same paths with his hands.
A little head shake brought her back to reality before she could lose herself completely in that entirely unhelpful daydream, and Jack chuckled.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he said.
“This is truly unbelievable,” she agreed.
“You came right after high school?” he asked. “You didn’t transfer recently or something?”
“Nope,” she said. “I’ve been here since that fall.”
“Me, too,” he whispered thickly, his words carried to her on the light breeze.
“Jack…” she said, unsure what she’d been planning to say after.
But something within Jack seemed to snap, and in three long strides, he ate up the distance between them and wrapped her in his arms.
It was second nature to sink into his embrace, to open the floodgates where she stored her most precious memories and allow everything they’d experienced that week to return in a deluge that would’ve swept her off her feet had he not been holding her. A sob tore free from her throat, unbidden, and she inhaled deeply, trying to regain her composure.
Only…he still smelled exactly the same, and that hit of pureJackhad her sobbing harder into his chest.
Jack didn’t pull back in revulsion or scold her to pull herself together. He simply tightened his grip, those strong arms holding her together as she fell apart.
“I know, sunshine,” he said reverently, resurrecting the long-buried nickname. “I missed you, too.”
THEN: April 6, 2020
“Where’s your girl?” Zachasked as they descended the worn wooden stairs to the beach.
“Where’s yours?” Jack shot back with a smirk.
“It’s not like that and you know it,” Zach said. They reached the hot sand then, and both boys slipped off their Adidas slides and picked them up.
“Does she know that?” Jack asked. “You two looked awfully cozy last night when Jess and I came back to meet you.”
“Oh, so she’sJessnow?” Zach asked.
“Don’t change the subject, dumbass.” Jack spun and placed a hand in the center of Zach’s tanned, naked chest, halting his trekacross the beach. “I really like her, man, and if you fuck with her friend, that ruins my chances.”
“Dude, you just met her!” Zach said incredulously.
Jack simply shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I like her, and if you fuck with her friends, you fuck with me. Got it?”
