Page 62 of Rectify

The door rushes open, and he pounces. Caging me in with his arms against the wall, his lips trail down from my ear to my collar bone. “Is it weird if I say I hate leaving your bed in the mornings.”

I smile. Something I’ve done so much more of since he’s walked into my life, and stretch my neck, giving him more access to me. “It would only be weird if I didn’t feel the same.”

Pulling back, he stares at me, the slightest bit of apprehension passing over his features. “Do you?”

“I miss you whenever I’m not with you.”

He seals his mouth on to mine, and I sigh into him; glad my confession did nothing more than motivate him to touch more of me.

“Sasha,” Holly calls from the other side of the door.

“Fuck,” Jay huffs. “It’s never going to be enough.”

He says it more to himself than me, but it’s enough to let me know I’m not completely alone in my infatuation.

Opening the door, Holly looks past me and smiles at Jay. I can’t even be mad at her cockblocking. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to sneak in that extra five minutes with him every day.

“Hello, Mr. Evans.”

“Holly, you kick me out of here almost every day. Just call me Jay.”

“And miss seeing that scowl on your face? Hell no.” Opening the door wider, she walks in and passes us. “I actually came to see if you guys wanted to go across the road for coffee? A morning tea break, maybe?” She looks at me pointedly, basically demanding I do as she says. “It’s slow and I’d rather not have to worry about whether or not I’m sitting on man jizz.”

Jay takes hold of my hand, and gives her a sinister smile. “Don’t worry Holly, there’s only one place my man jizz goes—”

“Jay,” I scold, interrupting him before he takes that joke any further, while Holly pretends to block her ears.

“Thanks for that, Mr. Evans.”

We’re already halfway out the door when he glances at her with the most serious expression. “It’s Jizz Man, Jay to you.”

“You two are incorrigible.” He throws his arm around my shoulders, and I realise we’ve never done this before. Been in public together before. I link my fingers with his and contemplate how real this feels, as we cross the street.

“But we’re funny.”

He pulls a chair out for me, and gives me a quick peck before glancing at the menu board. “What do you want to drink?”

“Can I have a Caramel Latte, please?”

Taking advantage of the unfettered access we have to one another, he kisses me again. “Coming right up.”

Sitting down, he takes my hand in his as we wait for the waiter to bring us our drinks. “So,” he starts. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was thinking. What if, next week I took you out for dinner?”

“You don’t have to do that.”

His brows furrow. “But, I want to.”

I tug at my earlobe, while trying to put my thoughts together. I know what I’m feeling isn’t going to make sense to anyone else but me, so I try to avoid answering him altogether.

“What’s the big deal?” he presses. The waiter interrupts Jay’s confusion, placing our coffee’s on the table. “What aren’t you telling me?”

I hold the tumbler to my nose, and inhale the sweet smell of Caramel. “Nothing.”

He leans closer. “Sasha.”

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