Page 67 of Afterglow
"It's nothing, Theo."
I shake my head. I'm not accepting that answer. "Try again,"
Jaz fiddles with her fingers, as she prepares a response. "This is how most nights are for me. I either sleep for an hour then wake up or I can't fall asleep."
Fuck. I didn't realise her insomnia was this extreme. "What can I do to help?"
Jazmine's face drops, a small smile forming on her face. "I don't know. I still haven't really figured out a way to make my body tired."
"Want me to eat you out?"
Jaz coughs. "What the fuck?"
I smile, raising my eyebrows. "Orgasms are a good way to tire the body and stop you from thinking,"
She rolls her eyes. "No, thanks. I'm not in the mood for that,"
I nod, accepting her answer. "Okay, what about a massage? It should loosen your muscles and release any tension,"
"You don't have to do that. I don't want you to miss out on sleep because of me,"
"No. You're not going to push me away," I say. "Let me do this for you. Please?"
Jazmine's chest rises and falls. "Fine," She rolls onto her back, but turns around quickly. "No funny business, either."
I smile. "It's just a massage, Princess. You said no so, I will respect that. It's human decency."
I spend the next hour removing all the knots from Jaz's shoulders. I wish I had offered to do this weeks ago, it's no wonder she can't sleep.
My fingers skim over her shoulder blades, before I push my thumbs into her spine. I do this until I reach Jaz's lower back.
"How do you feel, Princess?"
She mumbles something incoherent, so I pull her shirt back down and I take my place in bed. Jaz has a soft smile lingering on her mouth as I run my hand down her back one last time.
Once I'm under the covers, I carefully drag Jazmine closer to me. She turns around, becoming the little spoon. I drop a kiss onto her neck, watching as her eyes flutter shut.
I remain still and alert, waiting for any signs Jaz isn't asleep. The minutes pass and she is still resting with no indication she will wake.
Our bodies fit together, as if we were made for each other. The realisation stays with me, putting a smile on my face.
I want to keep Jazmine Allen forever.
I just hope she'll let me.
Chapter 30
Theodore Knight
And we’re done. Thanks for coming in Logan,” Jazmine says to my teammate.
This is our last interview before we collate the data to write our thesis paper. I asked three of my teammates who have had injuries over the past three years if we could use them for the project and they were more than happy to help.
There are two days until the entire project is due which is crazy. I can’t believe how fast the semester has gone. It seems like Jaz and I were partnered up aweek ago.
But with my busy schedule, I’m always doing something so it makes sense that I don’t notice when my days and nights blur into another.
Jazmine and I spend the rest of the day organising and analysing our data. It is time consuming but we both want to earn a high grade. Jaz is hoping to be on Cooper and Byrd’s radar after handing in the paper. We haven’t talked about the future in detail but from freshman year it’s her goal to work for them.
