Page 78 of Jace
I stay silent at that, but I can't help the stupid grin that's been there since Friday.
“Ah, that's what I thought.” She smiles at me as she polishes some wine glasses. “Well, if your date can make you smile like that, then it's a good thing you broke up with Kaylee. She was nice and all.” She gives me a knowing look. “But she didn't make you smile like this.”
I smirk fully now. “Yeah, I’m figuring that out too.” I grab the basket. “Thanks for the food. Put it on the tab.”
“Already did. Have fun.” She winks at me before continuing with her work, and I take my cue to leave.
Jace eyes the basket when I put it in the passenger seat. When I jog around the front of the cab and get back in the driver's seat, he has already peeled back the cover and is peeking inside.
“This looks delicious. Are we going for a picnic?“
“Sort of,” I say as I leave the parking lot and drive the ten or so minutes to the second location of the night. “I wanted to do a beach picnic. But since you just said you don't have cars like this in your small ass country, I guess you've never gone tailgating before?”
Jace, who’s thankfully plastered against me again, smiles. “I’ve heard of tailgate parties. Never went, though… Is that what we're doing? Are you gonna get me drunk and have your wicked way with me in the back of your truck?”
“If the last time you were drunk is any indication,” I start, indicating our last victory party, “then no, I wouldn't want you to fall asleep tonight.” I nudge him, making him chuckle. “We're going for a tailgate picnic.”
“Cool. I think the last time I went for a picnic I was about eight years old, and Julita took me.”
“Julita?” I ask, and he proceeds to tell me all about his nanny, his sort of surrogate mom after his own mother left. He never told me about her before, about the fact that when he turned twelve his dad sort-of fired her. He only kept her on for cleaning then, saying he was 'old enough to look after himself.'
I grip the steering wheel tighter, riding down the sandy road that leads to one of my favorite spots. His father is a real bastard. But if he wasn't such a dick, Jace probably wouldn't have ended up here in the States. With Missy. With me. So I guess there is a silver lining somewhere.
When I arrive at our destination, a secluded sliver of beach where hardly anyone ever ventures because there are a lot of rocks here as well, a place where my brothers and I surf a lot, Jace proceeds to explain how Julita pulled him out of the canals of Amsterdam once.
“Is that even sanitary?” I ask as I park the truck backward, giving us a nice view of the beach and sunset during our picnic.
“What? The canals? God, no. You don't want to know what kind of stuff is in there. I do think they clean them every once in a while, and it's mostly bikes that pop up out of it. Lots of bikes.”
“Can you ride a bike?”
He blinks at me like I'm stupid. “I'm Dutch, I had multiple bikes growing up. The bicycle is like our national vehicle. There are more bikes than people in our country. Please tell me you can ride a bike.”
“I can. Lamar can't. We've tried to teach him since we were kids actually, but his legs are just too big.” I smile at the memories of an eight-year-old Lamar repeatedly falling off his bike while me and my brothers raced around him.
Jace actually looks offended by that as he follows my lead and gets out of the car. “Really? He can't ride a bike?” he inquires over the top of my pickup.
“Nope,” I answer as I trail around the vehicle and get the basket, Jace following me to the back, and we both climb up. “He's awesome on the field, but he's actually really uncoordinated when it comes to other sports. Never go climbing with him, he'll break one of his legs for sure. We tend to keep him away from any extreme sports.“
He chuckles at that. “I love the thrill of some extreme sports. I did a bit of wakeboarding and snowboarding back home,” he says as he sits down on the blanket that was already in the back of my truck. “Have you ever gone snowboarding?”
“No, we don't have any snow here, and my football schedule is way too busy to travel a lot. But I would love to try.” I smile up at him before I gather the basket from my aunt and pull out a load of sandwiches and some Bud Lights, snorting at the tea lights in some glass holders and a box of matches. Aunty Edna at her best.
“You're secretly a romantic, corny bastard, aren't you?” he asks with a smile when I light up the candles and place them as far away from us as I can.
I flush at that because, yeah, a picnic at sunset with candles, I never did that for Kaylee, actually. “It's too much, right?” I blurt. “The candles are my aunt's fault, really. I didn't ask for those. I wanted to bring the surfboards and our gear, but I kinda forgot it back home, and I didn't want to drive back to my parents' place because my brothers are being so damn annoying, and they're probably still there and–”
“Hush,” Jace interrupts my rambling, his hand on my face, making me look at him as he now sits closer beside me. “I love it.” He smiles, and there is only sincerity in his gaze, so I swallow away my nerves. “Nobody’s ever done something like this for me. It's special.”
He kisses me after that, making my nerves dissipate immediately as his lips press down softly on mine.
I hold onto his waist and pull him closer to me, happy that we are completely alone, and I can finally do this again. It feels like an eternity ago that I left his bed, but it's only been a freaking day. I've been a rambling bundle of nerves ever since.
Because this feels so,soright.
This right here. This is so much better than any kiss ever was.
I deepen it; the sandwiches can wait a bit. He thankfully obliges with a soft groan, throwing his leg over me as he does, straddling my lap.
