Page 102 of Touch Me

“This. Me. All of it.”

“That doesn’t really help, Jace.”

“I’m so bad at this. It’s not coming out the way I want.” He starts to tap his fingers on the empty space of the bed between us. “Okay, here’s an example, photography.”

“What about it?”

“It was because of you.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” I sit straight up in bed and turn to face him.

“Don’t you remember? That dinner years ago?”

He has a sly grin on his face.

TWENTY-SEVEN

JUST YOU AND ME

“No,no. Please don’t say it.” She shakes her head and covers her eyes with her hands, hiding from me. “That’s what you remembered? When I told you to take a picture so it would last longer? Cue embarrassment.”

“Don’t you realize what you gave me? An outlet. I was always teased for being the freak that either didn’t make eye contact at all or stared until the point of terrorizing others. You gave me a way to look without scrutiny. To study without ridicule. You gave me a solution. And now, not only can I take a picture and stare as long as I want, study anything or anyone I feel the need to study, but you gave me photography.” I sit up in bed and take both her hands in mine. “That saved me. You... saved me.”

“Jace, I don’t know what to say. I don’t feel like I can actually take credit when I was just a stupid kid saying the first bullshit line that popped into my head.”

“I know. It sounds funny when I say it out loud, too. But it gave me an idea at a time when I had no other options for how to handle what was happening to me. I bought my first camera soon after that dinner, and it continues to be my lifeline.”

“That’s why you didn’t want me to see the dark room? You thought I would figure it out?”

“I guess so. But part of me wanted you to figure it out so you could see the connection. The way you were already cemented in my life.” I start chuckling a little. “I mean, didn’t you notice the pillows?”

She looks around the room utterly confused. “What pillows?”

“What pillows,” I repeat, shaking my head, “all the pillows, Cassie. Every pillow in this house is emerald green.” This little bite size piece of crazy is either going to earn me hella boyfriend points, or she’s going to leave a Cassie-shaped hole in my wall as she runs screaming.

“Green because...?” she draws the word out as she tips her head and squints her eyes, clearly trying to figure it out in her head.

“Because of your eyes. When I say it was always you, I mean it wasalways you.”

Her eyes widen, and she draws her hand up to cover her mouth as she studies my face. My heart is beating like a racehorse waiting to see if she is going to pole vault over me and head for the door. She does the exact opposite, launching herself into my lap and kissing the hell out of me.

Boyfriend points it is!

Pushing her back, I lie between her open legs, and she lays her hands beside her, careful not to touch me too much. I can handle her touching more now than before, but she has trained herself to keep her hands off and wait for me to tell her I’m okay.

I cover her neck and chest in kisses as she fists the sheets, trying to restrain herself. I push myself up to hover over her and lift her tank top up and over her head with one hand.

No bra.

“That’s my girl.”

I glide my fingers over her bare skin down to the waistband of the little shorts she always wears to bed, and I pull them down just low enough to expose her pretty little pussy. She takes in a shuddery breath when I stroke up and down her slit, her eyes closed.

“Always so wet for me.”

I lean over and draw a nipple into my mouth, and at the same time, insert two fingers. Cassie pulls on the sheets, fisted in her hands, and her mouth falls open as I curl my fingers and slowly drag them in and out, slick from her arousal. I find her clit with my thumb and start a slow rhythm.

She raises her hips off the bed seeking more pressure, and I lower myself down to her raised hips, drawing her clit into my mouth.

---