Page 42 of Honest With You

“Mhmm. You might know him. Six feet tall. Gorgeous blond hair. Oceans of blue for eyes. Abs for days. You know… very hot California Ken vibes. Goes by Jes—”

Before I can even finish my teasing, I’m on my back with Jesse hovering over me. His biceps frame my face and I swallow hard, both from nerves and excitement at the sight of him over me.

“Say it again.”

I match his grin. “I. Have. A. Boyfriend.”

“Damn straight you do. Girlfriend.”

I start to laugh but it’s muffled when he kisses me with the same fervor he did against his car this morning.

His head starts doing that side to side thing. His tongue sweeps my lips, asking for permission and I surrender to him, meeting him stroke for stroke. My hands tangle in his hair, pulling and tugging.

When he leans closer on his elbow, his other hand trailing my arm and his hips pinning mine, my breathing starts to stutter. I place a firm hand on his chest and push.

“I have to tell you something.”

Jesse nods, breathless. His eyes dip back down to my lips and I have to tap his chest again to get his attention. He grins, kissing the tip of my nose before he pulls me up. He situates himself against the sea of pillows and settles me on his lap. His hand brushes the hair back from my face before resting on my hip.

He nods for me to continue.

“I’m a—I’ve never–I’m not as experienced as you.”

His left eyebrow shoots up as understanding dawns on him and then Jesse swallows, his free hand running through his hair.

“Okay… are we talking about–?”

“Sex.” I spit the word out, hiding my face against his neck.

He doesn’t even hesitate. His hand is back, cupping my cheek as he tilts my face up.

“Did you think I was going to pressure you, Ava? I hope you know that you set the pace here. I just wanna be with you. Kiss you. That’s more than enough for me, alright?” He rests his forehead against mine. “You are more than enough.”

I sigh on an exhale, my breath literally leaving my lungs. I’m completely speechless.

He pulls my hands from his chest until I collapse in his arms and he wraps them tight around me as he lays us back against the pillows.

“You’re mine. I’m yours. The rest will follow.” He presses a kiss to my hair, sighing in contentment. “I’ve thought about this a lot, you know. Ever since that night in your kitchen all those years ago.”

I rest my chin on his arm, looking up at him.

“Why didn’t you reach out?”

He shrugs then shakes his head. “Ava, I have no excuse other than I was thirteen crushing on a girl for the first time in my life. I was also a lonely kid dealing with my dad’s infidelity. Back then, I had zero confidence and no friends besides Ty. The only person I could think to talk to about my confusing feelings was you, and I didn’t know how to do that. You had just lost your mom. I didn’t want to add to it.”

I hum my agreement, my fingers dancing around his chest.

“The timing of the kiss kinda sucked too. We left the next day.”

A laugh bubbles out of me at the memory. “Yeah… Now that you mention it, I can’t believe I asked you to kiss me in front of the microwave. And on your last night, while we were waiting for the popcorn to finish popping. Like our parents weren’t just a few doors down. I had some nerve at twelve years old.”

He boops my nose, his tone light and teasing. “Almostthirteen.”

I smack his chest playfully. “I really thought Stephen was going to strangle you.”

He scratches the back of his neck. “He might strangle me now.”

I shake my head, kissing him on the neck. “He won’t. If I’m taking a chance on you, he’ll know you’re important to me. He would never try to take that away from me.”

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