Page 81 of Summer Ever After
“Oh, we should’ve checked before my phone died.”
“No, it’s a good thing.You’rea good thing for me. For my head.”
Then why does he feel like such a bad thing for me?
“I’m glad I could help.” I smile before turning over to face the opposite direction.
“Hey, Jane?”
“Yeah?”
There’s amusement in his voice that wasn’t there moments ago. “Isn’t this the one-bed trope from your paper?”
“We’re both staying on our own side,” I snap, causing him to laugh.
This is not fine.
And I don’t got this.
Walker
The sky shifts from purple to pink, enough of a change to cause me to stir in my sleep. My eyelids barely lift, confirming what my mind already registers.
I’m spooning Jane.
I don’t move. My gaze drops down the length of her neck, over her collarbone, to her body, where my arms wrap around her waist, holding her close to me. Her hips and legs line up perfectly with mine, like two spoons in a drawer.
She’s beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever told her that, but I should.
She should know how absolutely breathtaking she is.
I close my eyes and breathe in her scent. It’s not a store-bought perfume or even her shampoo. It’s just Jane, with a hint of ocean salt, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever smelled.
And for the first time in years, I feel content.
My mind isn’t racing with golf stats, world rankings, who’s doing better than me on the course, or who I need to beat in the next tournament.
For one moment, everything is still, except for the steady beat of my heart and the hot thrill of desire.
Every inch of my skin aches to pull Jane even closer, to entangle our bodies in a way that connects us even more. The urge of attraction is more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt. I want to place my lips at the hard line under her jaw and kiss until I blaze a path up to the corner of her mouth. I’d make each movement slow and torturous, worshiping her the way she deserves. My hands would roamher arms, memorizing how her skin feels against mine. Then I’d roll her over to her back and wake her up with even more kisses. We’d lose the morning to our desires, and nothing would ever feel so complete and perfect.
The rightness of holding Jane resonates deep into my soul, like maybe I was meant to come back to Sunset Harbor all along…just for her.
But then what?
Do I confront Capri and tell her she’s wrong about me and that I could be the kind of man who deserves Jane? Even if I did that, what happens next?
I don’t live here.
I don’t evenwantto live here.
And Jane is not coming back to Jupiter with me.
We both lose, and pretending that’s not the outcome is just setting us up for disappointment, like being ahead in a golf tournament all weekend and losing by one stroke on the last putt of the eighteenth hole. Nothing hurts more than thinking something amazing is in your reach, only to find out it’s not.
I can’t do that to Jane. I can’t be the guy who takes her romantic moment and ruins it. Capri is right. She deserves better. She deserves to have her one-bed trope with someone who’s actually going to stick around.
That guy isn’t me.
