And that security is like nothing I’ve ever had.
My hands grip his biceps and, right as it becomes apparent that I am indeed going to come, I open my eyes. Jake doesn’t have to say he loves me, because it’s written all over his face.
He loves me. He wants me to be happy. Safe. Cared for. And I want the same for him. I shout, my nipples tight, the pressure building and the pleasure mounting. Jake’s encouraging me and pulling my hips into him, fucking me through my peak. He loses himself in the motions until I sit up and grip his chin, forcing his eyes to mine as he comes. His arms band around my back and we kiss, hot and deep.
Jake smiles, wiping a little moisture from under his eyes. “That was intense.”
I grin. “It was. Perfect.”
“You didn’t need help.”
I rub my lips together as emotion clogs my throat again. “I felt safe.”
“Me too,” Jake says, tugging me into a tight hug. “I did too.”
FORTY-SEVEN
JAKE
Darcy’s headis on my chest and we’re naked in bed together. It’s the last night before her aunt and uncle come back, effectively marking the end of summer. I move out tomorrow evening. School starts for me next week and, in addition to my course load, I’m assistant teaching two classes. I don’t mind it. I enjoy teaching, but it’s a lot of work.
I’m trying to stay in the moment, where this gorgeous woman who turned my life upside down is tracing my tattoo with her fingertip. She’s tense, and that’s not helping.
“So we spent all summer seeing where this goes. We agreed we don’t want to let it go. But what does that mean?” Darcy asks. “What does the next . . . month look like?”
I kiss the top of her head and wrap my arm tighter around her shoulder. “It means I’ll be at school, thinking of you, and you’ll be here, thinking of me.” My finger circles her shoulder cap. “And when I come out this way for Little League practice, maybe I’ll stay over. And when it’s the weekend, maybe Bill and Maggie can spare you to come stay with me in Huntington?”
She nods. “Yeah. That makes sense. I won’t be able to talk to you every day, though. I don’t have phone signal out here.”
I chuckle softly. “I’ll call the landline like the good old days. Ask you what you’re wearing.”
She snorts. “No one’s had phone sex on a landline since 1997.”
“Aw, come on, Darce. It’s a time-honored art form.” She laughs and I admire her smile, her cute cupid’s bow. “I could write you letters. And you could write me some. We can exchange them when we see each other, and open them when we’re apart.”
Darcy puffs out her bottom lip. “That’s cute.” She swallows and her finger idly circles my belly button, following the trail of hair that runs down the middle of my stomach. “I’ve never seen your lab. Can you take me?”
A smile curves my lips. “Didn’t know you wanted to. I’ll warn you: you’re going to find out exactly how nerdy I am, and that might instantly get you pregnant.”
“Good thing I have an IUD,” she muses. She falls quiet, her breaths long and even. I think she’s asleep when she finally speaks again. “It’s not going to be the same.”
“I know.”
“I really like this. We’re good like this. I wish I’d just jumped your bones in June like I wanted to.”
I tip her chin so she has to look at me. “I wanted to sooner, but I think we jumped each other’s bones at the exact right time. We needed time. Otherwise, it would have just been a one-night stand that made it awkward the rest of the summer.”
Darcy gasps. “I wouldn’t make it awkward! I’m a professional! I can handle a one-night stand!”
“That’s sweet, but not with me, you can’t. You’d have been haunted by the dick all summer.”
She cackles and slaps my chest. “You’re so full of yourself.”
“You love being full of me, Rossetti. It’s a good thing to be full of me.”
She groans and rolls out of bed, heading for the bathroom.
I stare after her, letting my thoughts drift. She emerges with a shy smile and her hands out, now wearing some of her tiny panties and a thin white tank top. “One last underwear dance party?” she asks.
