Page 66 of I Just Want to be Yours

Margot’s cheeks flare again, and I hate to see it. I hate to see her holding back anything. We’re supposed to be past this—wearepast it. She doesn’t hold back her feelings like she used to. Not with me.

She turns to look at me more, abandoning the towel in her hand so she can brush her fingertips under my shirt and up my side. My cock twitches at the contact, and I try to stay focused on whatever she’s about to say.

“I didn’t think you’d want to be around my parents.”

My immediate reaction is to emphasize how muchI don’twant to be around her parents. I want to be aroundher.But something in the way this conversation has her nervous gives me the common sense to take this a little more seriously. “Do they know about me?”

“Somewhat.” Lying down on me, she crosses her arms on my chest and props her chin up to look at me. “They know I’m seeing someone, but they don’t know you’re . . . you.”

A smile pulls at the corner of my mouth as I run the backs of my knuckles over her cheek. “A college drop-out who’s in a band?”

“Stop.” She playfully swats at me. “You’re more than that, and you know it.”

“Maybe, but that’s how my parents see me, so I figured yours would feel the same.” A frown settles on her beautiful face, and I force a laugh. “Come on, don’t look at me like that.”

She blinks, her features softening. “Sorry. It’s bullshit, though.”

I cock an eyebrow.

“I mean, my parents don’t know any better. They might think of you that way at first, but that’s not who you are. Anyone with eyes can see it, and your parents should know that better than anyone.”

Something in my chest aches, but I push the feeling away. At the same time, Margot crawls up my body so her face is over mine, and it’s like the feeling never even happened.

“They should know you’re smart.” She kisses the side of my neck, and my lungs remember how to work the moment her lips touch my skin. “And kind.” Her lips press another kiss. “And hardworking.” She moves to the other side of my neck and leaves a kiss there. “They should know you’re talented.” Her mouth moves up to my jawline where her lips tease my skin with another light kiss. “And driven.” She leaves a gentle kiss on my cheek, but I turn my head and catch her lips with mine. No one has ever seen me the way she does. I’m not sure I deserve it. Reaching for her, I weave my fingers through her hair and kiss her deeper. She opens for me, letting my tongue find hers. She indulges me for a moment, but it ends too quickly. Pulling back, she’s a little breathless when she says, “You care about other people, too. So many people in your position could be selfish, but even though you’re chasing your dreams, you care about the people you left behind.”

My eyes search hers, but there’s no resentment in them. I hate that I’m leaving her behind. I hate that she feels left at all. Brushing a stray hair from her forehead, I let my hand cup the side of her face and love the way she leans into it now. “I don’t know if I deserve you.”

She looks at me a little more sharply. “You deserve everything.” She rests her chin on the backs of her hands again. “You deserve to be on that stage,andhave a family who supports you,anda girlfriend who lo—wants to see you happy.” The second part of her sentence comes out rushed, but she quickly centers herself on top of me and presses her mouth to mine. I groan and slip my hand under the hem of her T-shirt only to be met with her bare hip. She’s not wearing anything underneath and despite it being the middle of the night, I feel a surge of energy at the discovery. I’m dying to be inside her again, but I have a feeling she needs to hear what I’m about to say.

“You deserve to be happy, too.” My fingertips graze thebare skin of her hip, and it takes everything in me not to bury myself between her legs for the fourth time tonight. “Whatever you want, I want you to have it.”

“I do have what I want.” She palms me outside my briefs, and I groan as I pull away from her. I need her to understand this. I need her to listen.

Confusion etches her features, and she sits up. I’m grateful the motion puts her a few feet away from me because the only way I can have this conversation with her is if she can keep her hands off me for five minutes.

I sit up too, my elbows resting on my bent knees. “I don’t want you to ever put your dreams on hold for mine. Everything you care about—your classes, career, your blog—they’re important, okay?”

She frowns. “I know they’re important.” She tilts her head. “Jackson, what’s this about?”

I blow out a breath, my hand reaching up to rub the back of my neck. “I just hate that you’re having to bend so much for the things I want right now. I’m sorry this isn’t ideal.” She moves to crawl toward me on the bed, and I hold up a hand. “Stay over there, Red.”

She pauses. She’s on her fucking hands and knees, frozen in place with her bare ass exposed now that my T-shirt has ridden up.

“Sit,” I command. I can’t think straight with her in that position, and the fact that she does as I say only has my dick straining more against my briefs.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Her words come out with careful consideration.

“I’m fine.” I wipe my hand over my mouth as I look at her. “But everything you do turns me on, and I want to get this off my chest before I fuck you into this mattress.”

Her cheeks flare, and she puts her hands in her lap. “Okay,” she says a little breathless. “I’ll be good.”

I rub my hand over my face and crack a smile. “Jesus Christ.”

When I look at her again, the corners of her lips are pressed like she’s fighting a smile. She knows exactly what she’s doing. “Go ahead,” she says with a reassuring nod. “Get it off your chest.”

I can’t tell if she’s mocking me, and my eyes narrow a little before I give in and say, “There’s a lot of focus on me in the band right now, but I don’t want you to ever feel like you ever have to put your dreams on hold for mine, okay?”

Now that I’ve said it, it doesn’t feel as big as it did in my head. Maybe it’s because I’m still turned on, or because she just had me laughing, or maybe it’s just because in my head things always feel bigger than they actually are. Maybe it’s because she makes everything a little less overwhelming.

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