Page 100 of Game Changer
There were ways Steve and I didn’t fit together.He didn’t like dancing.Cooking.Reading.Nothing wrong with people who don’t like those things, and I don’t think you have to like all the same things to be well-suited, but Jax and I always seem to be in sync—when it’s time to sit together quietly and read, when it’s time to get up and go for a hike.We do some alone things, like he goes for a long solo run every morning, heads to the gym in Onanole to work out while I sit on the dock and gaze at the lake or do some yoga, but he good-naturedly tagged along as I explored the cute little gift shops and I had no problem following him while he hiked around taking photographs at Deep Bay.
The bedroom door opens quietly, and Jax slips in.
My heart bumps and I smile.
He closes the door quietly, takes a couple of steps and stretches out on the bed next to me.
I toss my Kindle aside.My entire body reaches out to him, every cell full of longing for him.“Hi,” I whisper.
“Hi.”He lifts a hand to smooth my hair back.
“You can’t sleep here.”
“I know.Fuck.But I want to kiss you goodnight.”
He rolls toward me, sets hand on my stomach over the quilt and leans in for a kiss.Our mouths meet in a long, heated kiss.We kiss again, and again, and I’m getting dizzy and hot.
God.I’m brimming.Overflowing with emotion and things I want to say to him.Does he feel the same?
When he draws back our eyes meet, and I search his face for any sign that he wants to say something, too.My pulse accelerates, my breath coming in tiny puffs.The air pulses around us and I wait, moments piling on moments as he cups my face, his thumb rubbing over my bottom lip.
“You’re beautiful, Molly.”
My face heats and my heart beats faster.“I wish you could stay.”
“Me too,” he groans.He kisses my forehead and rolls off the bed.“Good night, little trivia whiz.”He slips noiselessly from the room.
I close my eyes, my throat tightening and my lungs constricting.
I guess hedoesn’tfeel the same.
I mean, in fairness I didn’t say anything to him about how I feel.Oh my God.My feelings are getting way too caught up in all this.It’s a good thing I’m leaving Sunday.
I turn off the light and roll so my face is pressed into the pillow.
20
Jax
Mom, Grandma and Grandpa are planning to leave around four o’clock.I’m acutely aware of every passing hour on Sunday and the fact that Molly is leaving with them.
This makes me unaccountably angry.Not at her.I’m not sure what I’m angry at, to be honest.
I know I have to get her alone before she leaves.The last couple of days have been fun with the family but torture not sleeping with Molly.In a short time, I’ve gotten accustomed to having her in my bed.To having her.Every night.Every morning.Sometimes afternoons.
So after lunch on Sunday, I announce that Molly and I are going for a walk.I ignore the looks exchanged between my parents and grandparents.
We walk to the main beach and out onto the pier.At the end, we sit on the bench and look out over the lake.The sky is overcast and the lake is more gray than blue today with whitecaps.The air is heavy and sultry with the promise of a thunderstorm.I want to say something, but I don’t have a fucking clue what to say.
“Jax.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve given me so much this summer.”She sighs.
“Like what?”
“Experiences.Seeing dolphins and whales in the ocean.Bison.A moose.”Driving back from Lake Audy where the bison enclosure is, we saw a huge moose standing near a creek.“Seeing the Northern Lights.”
