I also want to fall asleep with him and wake up together, but I don’t say that. My gut tells me that’s an invisible line he’s drawn, and I have to respect that.
But kissing? I really hope he’s willing to bend on this.
He smiles, and I take that as a good sign. “I think kissing is okay.”
I smirk. “I like to think we’re a little more than okay at it.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I think I do, but maybe clarify just to be sure.”
That blush intensifies, but he’s not deterred. “We can kiss. Doesn’t mean it has to lead to more.”
More as in relationship status or more as in sex? I don’t know if he’s being intentionally ambiguous, but I decide not to press. He probably means both.
But still, I’ll take it.
And I do.
Unclipping my seatbelt, I shift position and draw him to me with a hand on his neck. He meets me halfway across the centre console. It’s an awkward angle but we make it work, and kissing Reed is worth it a hundred times over.
I lose myself in the warmth of his mouth, the tease of his tongue, and the way his hands slide onto my thighs and grip me tight like he wants to keep me here forever.
And there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
REED
Sunday morning dawnsbright and clear. It’s days like this that enforce my belief that I was right to move here. Well, for now, I remind myself because this isn’t necessarily where I’ll end up.
But I’m not thinking about that today.
The air is cold and crisp, my breath visible as we walk out to Jerry’s car, and when I look up, the sky is an amazing blue colour, with just the odd fluffy cloud in sight. If it wasn’t for the bite to the air making me shiver, you could mistake it for a summer’s day.
We drive over to Sean and Vic’s place to pick up the trail at the back of Sean’s house. This morning was, well, not awkward, but I don’t know how to describe it. We fooled around a little last night, but I slept in my own bed again. I know Jerry wanted me to join him in his, I saw it in his eyes when he looked at me, but however foolish it might seem, I needed to go back to my own bed. To keep what we’re doing clear in my head.
And what is that, exactly, Reed?
I glance out the window at the fields upon fields, ignoring the voice in my mind that sounds irritatingly like Paul. “Do you think it’ll snow?” I ask, to break the silence more than anything.
But I am curious.
I want to see Jerry’s house with a layer of snow covering it. See the tree in his garden glisten with a dusting of white.
“More than likely.” He glances over at me, smiling. The sun catches his hair, picking out some red highlights, his gaze just as warm and inviting, and I’m suddenly struck by how handsome he is. “Why? You hoping for a white Christmas?”
I don’t remember the last time it snowed on Christmas Day.
A day I’m going to be spending here, since I’m not due at my parent’s house until Boxing Day. “Maybe,” I mutter, a flare of panic making my voice go up at the end.
Jerry frowns. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” Time to be honest, because the day in question is only a little over a week away. “It’s just occurred to me that I’m going to be here on Christmas Day. All day. And I never asked if that was okay or if you had plans.”
His fingers tap on the steering wheel, and he bites his lip.
Fuck. Maybe he does have plans.
“It’s fine, I can go to the pub or?—”
