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She wiggled her toes, a smile on her lips thinking about his mouth.
He looked at her with puppy-dog eyes. “Please don’t make me get into a cold bed.”
She sat up and gave him a playful little wave.
“You suck,” he grumbled, throwing his legs over the edge. He tore the duvet off the other bed and climbed in.
“I certainly did.”
He choked at her comment, then turned off the light.
Jess blinked her eyes open the next morning, listening to the sounds of rumbling trucks and distant honking horns and sirens. She rolled over and glanced at Kevin, who was starfished on the bed—legs and arms wide, head turned to the side, smiling in his sleep. She snickered and snatched her phone to take a picture of how blissful he looked in that bed alone, and made a note to make fun of him later. But when she tapped her screen, her heart sank. Three missed calls from Charlie, and another text.
Please call me. Let’s talk about this. I want to make it work. I’ll do anything, Jessie.
Her chest tightened as she thought about Charlie, probably all alone in Garrison in a new apartment doing whatever fancy new job his father lined up for him. His family was probably thrilled that Jess was no longer in the picture, but she realized then that she hadn’t put a ton of thought into how Charlie was doing. That maybe it wasn’t all on him to reach out; she was just as guilty for not checking in on him.
She waited for the guilt to come, waited for that gnawing feeling of doubt about leaving him and starting a bakery and hooking up with someone else. But that feeling never came; she still felt content in her choices. She still felt content after taking Kevin up on his offer and leaving Charlie behind.
Then her mind reeled back. She hooked up with someone else. It felt monumental for her, a huge new step into claiming her life again.
Except if she was being honest with herself, being with Kevin didn’t feel like a hookup. It felt like joy. It felt like comfort. It felt like that first bite of a sugary pastry or slicing into freshly baked bread. He made her feel elated, excited, inspired. He made her feel seen. He made her feel—
Movement from the other bed pulled Jess from her thoughts. She peeked over her phone screen and watched as Kevin stretched with a big, satisfied yawn, then relaxed again in the bed, hands perched under his head.
She smiled and placed her phone down, then rolled out of her bed and peeled back the cover of his. She crawled in and swung a leg across his torso, kissed up his neck to his ear. “Good morning,” she whispered.
Kevin’s smile grew bigger at the sound of her voice. He traced lazy hands to her hips, then in one swift movement he tightened his hold and flipped her over so he was on top of her, making her squeal. He brushed the hair away from her face. “Good morning, my dear Jessica.”
She shook her head, willingly let the smile bloom on her face. “Can’t you think of a new nickname?”
“Never.”
She rolled her eyes. “I feel like I need a nickname for you, then.”
“I like when you call me Kev,” he admitted, kissing her cheek. He brushed a hand up her side, goose flesh dotting her skin from the feel of his fingers on her.
“Not Kevvy Bear?”
“Stop that.”
She grinned. “Kev doesn’t have the same ring to it, though.”
“Fine, then you can call me daddy.”
“Anddddd you took it too far.”
He cackled, sliding his body next to hers and curling his arm around her waist. “As much as I would love to fully explore the fact that you crawled into my bed without clothes on, we do have things to do this morning…”
She pouted. “But those things aren’t as fun.”
He smiled, kissing her neck. “Then I guess if you would rather stay here instead of getting a New York bagel then learning how to make egg tarts at a culinary school—”
She ripped off the blanket and jumped out of bed.
Kevin chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
After demolishing bagels with lox and large cups of coffee, Jess followed Kevin as they ventured through the subway down to the financial district.
