Page 11 of Somewhere Only We Know
“Are you–Jax, are you a virgin?” Nate asks softly.
I bite my bottom lip and play with the gold chain hanging around his neck that he never takes off. “Yes?” I don’t know why I phrased that as a question. It’s not like I’m waiting for anyone special. I could’ve lost my virginity in high school like my friends. But it felt more like marking an item off a checklist. And I didn’t want that for my first time. But coming to college–I don’t broadcast that I’m still a virginat twenty-one. Nobody does because there’s this urban legend that by eighteen you’re supposed to have lost your virginity, like it’s a pair of keys that you’re destined to never find again. And once the horny college guys hear a girl is still a virgin, they’ll jump at the chance to befriend her and then leave her once they take what she willingly gave them. I mean, I’m sure I would like sex, love it even, when I get the hang of it. It’s like riding a bike. Or so I’ve been told by my countlessSex and the Citymarathons.
“Hey.” He starts and gently lifts my chin up to meet his eyes. “If you think I’m about to blow past every stop sign to be with you, then you haven’t been paying attention. I want this–us, as more than friends and more than I’ve wanted anything.”
“Oh,” I say. I feel like an idiot and don’t know why I lumped Nate into that category. But after years of our friendship and him never making a move on me, I just assumed he wasn’t into me. Joke’s on me though. Because it’s clear he’s wanted us to be anusfor longer than I suspected.
“Yeah,oh. I won’t rush you, okay? We can take this as slow as you need to. But just so you know, as soon as my lips touched yours, I became yours. And I hope you became mine?”
I nod my head as best as I can while on his pillow and meet his eyes. “Yes. Slow. And you’re mine.”
Up close I can see each perfectly curled eyelash that guys are blessed with and the amber flecks splattered in his brown eyes.
“There she is,” Nate says and that gets me smiling. “Now, can we go back to kissing? Because that’s all I’ve thought about for the last three years.”
“You have?” I ask, thinking he’s joking. Although he’s said something along those lines but in my confusion andhurt, I refused to believe him. I thought he said that in a moment of anger. But now laying under him, with his still hard erection pressing into my center, it’s clear that he wasn’t lying.
“Yes.” He tells me and dips his head to lay a kiss on my neck. Tingles spark all over my body when he kisses me there and the necklace he’s wearing dances along my chest. “I’ve wondered what sounds you would make if I kissed you here.” A breathy moan escapes as he kisses and suckles on my neck. “And here.” A whimper travels up my throat when he nibbles on my earlobe. Nate hikes my leg up high around his waist and rolls his hips into my clothed center. His eyes flare with renowned heat when I moan and grip his arms. “And that. I won’t rush this with you, Jax. I promise to go as slow as you want.”
“Okay,” I exhale shakily.
Nate dots kisses over my face. Relaxing me. Getting me comfortable with him before he’s kissing me like he’s been walking through the desert for days with no water. He kisses me like I’m the only person alive. And maybe now I finally do feel alive.
I never thought kissing was a big deal. I always thought it was a means to an end.
Turns out I haven’t been kissed by Nate Holloway.
7
JAX
PRESENT DAY
“Jax!” I hear my name yelled as we’re following the crowd to leave the stadium. Kamryn and I look at each other before we both stop and turn around.
“Sophie! Hey,” I greet when she walks over to us. She’s donned in Cincinnati memorabilia with what looks like Chance’s number on the breast pocket. “Kamryn, this is Sophie. Sophie, my sister Kamryn.”
“Hi. Big fan of your clothes,” she gushes. Sophie is clearly sunshine personified.
“Hey, thanks. Jax says you just moved here with Chance?”
“You know him?” she asks Kamryn and not in a mean girl way.
“Yeah. I went to college with him and his brother Brandon. Small world.” Kam says and pops her sunglasses on her face.
“Really small,” she notes and then gasps. “So you’re the sisters we’re supposed to meet for drinks?”
“Guilty.”
Our laughter echoes and blends in with the sounds ofothers still leaving the stadium. Still high with excitement off of the win.
“Chance said we’re all meeting at the Tipsy Tavern for drinks?” Sophie questions after she looks up from her phone.
“That’s right down the street from my place,” I chime in.
“Perfect! You can just ride with me if you didn’t drive here.”
“We actually walked. But a ride would be great and I’ll give you directions. It’s kind of confusing to get to.” I tell her as we set off to the parking lot.
