Page 72 of Jace
“And now we’re going to sleep,” he says softly as he lifts his head. “It’s late and I have to get up early tomorrow. I’m going tomy folks for the weekend. Besides, I’m afraid to injure your dick again if we take it further tonight.”
I frown, kind of bummed by that. But when he pushes himself over me to turn out the bedside lamp which is at my side, I’m momentarily distracted by all that golden skin that’s now hovering over my face.
His chest is unreal.
I so want to take that teasing nipple in my mouth, but maybe that would scare him off. That's the last thing I want, not now that I finally have him.
Of course, I do touch his chest. I have to explore; I have to feel him. My fingers wander immediately over the light smattering of chest hair.
He chuckles when the light goes off and he settles back in his cuddling position against me. His leg is over mine again, his big body nestled against my side, arm over my waist and chin against my shoulder. I bask in it, wrapping my arm around his big shoulders, pressing him closer in the dark.
I just… Can’t for the life of me remember when, and if, somebody ever cuddled me like this.
And I love it.
And I also love it when his fingers start to map out over my stomach slowly, following the dips and valleys almost with reverence.
I'm still waiting for the freak-out, but he makes this look easy. I envy that and am glad for it. But when his fingers start to dip lower, still softly grazing my skin, I gasp, grabbing his hand with my free one and wrapping our fingers together.
“Careful now,“ I warn. “You're the one who told me I should not put out before dating. And I want to properly date you. Like boyfriends.“
He smiles against my shoulder. “So if you are my boyfriend, do you want to come with me tomorrow? I won’t be back till Sunday.”
My heart soars at that. I already know his family, but he still wants me to come with him. But I deflate right away because I can't.
“I wish I could, but I have a gig tomorrow night and a soccer match on Sunday. I'm sorry. Tell your mom I said hi?“
“Shame. But will do. I have to build a damn gazebo for my mom with my dad and brothers. See you on Sunday then?“ he asks, and I can hear the hope in his voice.
“Yeah, we can meet up Sunday.”
“Like a date?” I can hear him grinning.
“Yeah, man. Like a date.”
“Cool.” He presses himself closer again, nearly being half on top of me. “Goodnight, boyfriend. I’m glad we’re gonna try this.”
“Me too, Ty. Me too.“ I rest my cheek against the top of his head, basking in his presence as I wait for him to fall asleep.
It doesn't take long for his breathing to even out into soft snoring. I nearly chuckle at that, but stop myself just in time because I don't want to wake him. Of course he's a snorer. That big lump of a man. It would be weirder if he wasn't.
But I don’t mind. He can snore his ass off for all I care.
He’s here. He wants to try. And that’s all that matters.
NINETEEN
It's when I'm starfishing in the mud in my parents' backyard that I seriously contemplate my life's decisions. And I don't even mean the decision to try the gay route; I mean the decision to take my dad up on his request for help in their damn garden.
I look up at the bright blue sky, the sun beating down on me, while my aching back is caked in mud. And it gets in places that it shouldn't be in. I sort of maybe fell down from the top of the gazebo, but I can only smile like an idiot.
It's a permanent feature now, thanks to Jace.
But Iamin the middle of plotting a murder, no matter how happy I am. Fucking Mason, who pushed me off the freaking roof.
I know it was supposed to be a friendly push. But unfortunately, I slipped on a freaking snickerdoodle wrapper that J left up there. Idiots. The both of them.
So yes, I'm considering whether I will survive going to prison, because I'm going to kill at least one of them today, maybe both. Good thing that I just found out I'm maybe sorta gay, so the soap grabbing would be a-okay.
