Page 44 of Being Julia

She took Jake’s arm, and the two of them left. Ellery walked over to where I was standing and wrapped her arms around me.

“Did you just give him permission to have sex with our daughter?”

I took in a deep breath and sighed.

“I just told him to be careful. It’s inevitable, Elle. It’s going to happen. Look at the way they look at each other.”

“They remind me of us,” Ellery said as she tightened her grip around me.

“I know they do, baby.” I kissed her head.

Julia

Jake and I spent every day of the summer together. The first time we had sex was the most amazing experience of my life. He was gentle and loving, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. We had sex a lot. Now, I understood why my parents acted the way they did. I felt like I couldn’t get enough of Jake and always wanted him. Just the way he looked at me sent an ache down below. It amazed me that, after all those years, my parents still had the same feelings for each other. Collin and I were fortunateto have Connor and Ellery Black as our parents. Sometimes, we didn’t always see eye to eye, and we argued, but what kid didn’t argue with their parents? This was the best summer of my life, and I still missed London so much, but Jake helped me through it and helped me to accept it. He often took me to her grave so I could put flowers down and talk to her.

My mom and dad loved Jake, especially my dad. The way the two of them talked about corporations and finance bored me to death, but they had something in common, and it was good to see them get along. We packed up what we needed and traveled back to New York. I drove back with Jake, and we stopped at his house first before he took me to Columbia for a tour. We walked hand in hand across campus as he showed me each building. It was packed as students were moving into their dorms and sorority houses. People were everywhere. We ran into a few of Jake’s friends, and he introduced me to them. They seemed like really great guys, and I couldn’t wait to get to know them better. Of the six friends I had already met, only two had girlfriends. We all went out that night and had a lot of fun. We laughed and drank (don’t tell my dad), and Jake and I tore up the dance floor at the club. When it was time to leave, we said goodbye to our friends and walked down the streets of New York.

“Your friends are great,” I said, laying my head on his shoulder.

“Yeah. They’re pretty cool, and I could tell they really like you.”

“I hope so.”

“I love you,” Jake said as he kissed my head.

I stopped the moment he said that and looked at him. My heart was racing, and my skin started to heat up.

“What?”

“I love you.” He smiled.

Neither one of us had said those words yet. As much as I knew I loved him, I didn’t want to be the first one to say it just in case he wasn’t ready.

“Why do you look so shocked?” he asked. “I love you, Julia Rose Black,” he screamed through the city streets.”

People smiled at us as they walked by. We were near an alleyway, and I grabbed Jake’s arm. I pulled him towards the brick wall as I leaned my back up against it, wrapped my arms around his neck, and then my legs around his waist. He held me up and smiled as he kissed me.

“I can’t help falling in love with you. You’re an amazing woman, and I love everything about you. I’ve wanted to tell you that I've loved you for so long, but I didn’t want to scare you.”

Tears stung my eyes. “I love you too, Jake Jensen.”

“You do?” he asked.

“Of course, I do. I wanted to tell you months ago, but I was scared. I’m so in love with you.”

His mouth smashed into mine, and he kissed me passionately on the streets of New York City.

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear those words come out of your mouth.” He smiled.

“Actually, I do because it’s the same way I feel when I hear you say it.”

“I want to make love to you so bad right now, but it’s getting really late, and your dad will kill me if I don’t have you home on time.”

“I don’t care about my dad right now. I just want to be with you.”

“I promise you a perfect night tomorrow.” He smiled. “I won’t let you get in trouble, Julia.”

“Fine.” I pouted as I unwrapped my legs from his waist.

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