Page 104 of Third and Ten

“Hmm?” I ask, dazed. I glance up at his arm, and the way it’s straining against his weight as if he’s struggling to hold himself back is quite possibly the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

It isn’t even fair. How can I possibly tell JD that I need him to slow down when being with him makes me want to forego all sense of decency and throw down in a hotel stairwell?

“You are just…so…damn…beautiful,” he replies, punctuating each word with another kiss on my shoulder, then he straightens up and locks his eyes onto mine. “The hormones don’t matter. I want you all the time. You’re all I ever think about since the day you came home.”

I’m so drunk that I can’t even open my eyelids completely. I try to say something back, but it only comes out as a stutter. He must not care, because he responds by crushing his mouth into mine again.

Screw being responsible and emotionally stable. If this is how JD makes me act, then I don’t even care about the rest. I’ll figure it out at some point, when I’m not hyper-focused on how nice the full length of his body feels pressed against mine or whether I can actually swallow his tongue if I try hard enough.

But…what if being with JD is more responsible than being without him? What if he makes me feel this way for a good reason, and it’s not just physical attraction?

I’ve never experienced this connection with anyone else before, and so far, I’ve been chalking it up to chemistry and hormones. But maybe there’s more to it?

He pulls away, bringing me back from my thoughts. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I know it’s too much. I don’t mean to overwhelm you. It’s just that my feelings for you are sort of like that.” He gives me a sad smile.

“Overwhelming?”

“Yes, but in a good way.”

I nod. “I get it.”

“You do?” He looks surprised to hear I might feel the same.

“Honestly, I don’t understand what’s going on in my brain or what’s happening between us most of the time, and I still want more of it. So, yeah, I know what you mean,” I admit with a short laugh.

He closes his eyes and shakes his head, as if he’s having a conversation with himself. “Tenley,” he begins, his eyes opening again. “I wasn’t completely honest with you in the beginning because I was afraid to admit how much I liked you. But it only seemed make our relationship more complicated, so I want to tell you everything this time.”

“Okay,” I reply carefully.

He reaches up and strokes my cheek softly, staring at me in that way that melts my insides again.

“I am so very much in love with you.”

I blink a few times, and it takes reaching the point when my lungs start to burn for me to realize I’ve been holding my breath. “You are?”

He nods, furrowing his brow. “I really am.”

“Oh,” I say on a shaky exhale.

“I know you probably aren’t ready for that, but I can’t help myself.”

I gulp, preparing to feel the walls closing in around me. “JD…I…”

“Please don’t let it scare you away,” he adds quickly. “I just think you deserve to know where I am.”

I shake my head, thinking about Blake’s warning earlier. “I’m not scared. Well, maybe a little, but you’re not scaring me away.”

“I’m not?”

I know. I’m just as shocked.

“The old me might have been making an escape plan as we speak, but right now, I just feel warm…and happy.”

He smiles, relief washing over his face, and he leans in for a short kiss. “Good. Because I was really hoping you wanted to hear me say it.”

“I don’t know if I wanted to hear those words from anyone until you said them,” I admit. “But, coming from you, I like it more than I ever thought I could.”

He hums and kisses me again. “I love you, Tenley Jean,” he says again as he pulls away.

---