“Anytime.”
We walked back over to the table and joined Michelle who was talking to a good looking older guy that I didn’t recognize. Maddy and Jake rejoined the table after that, but they didn’t sit.
Jake held onto Maddy’s waist, “Well we are going to head out. We have a long drive to Kansas City.
Michelle scoffed, “I can’t believe you guys are driving there tonight it’s already eleven.”
Michelle stood up and Maddy gave her a hug, “I know, but we have an early flight tomorrow and we are staying in a nice suite when we finally get there.”
“Good planning.”
Maddy just shook her head as Michelle gave Jake a quick hug and then Maddy turned to me, “I’m so glad you were here. I hope we will see you soon.”
“Of course, if you guys ever want to come to Dallas you are always welcome.”
We hugged and then Maddy hugged Andy and Jake hugged me and then shook Andy’s hand. After saying goodbye to a lot of other people after that Jake and Maddy flew out of there.
Michelle and the guy she was flirting with went to dance, leaving Andy and I alone again. I guess Michelle wasn’t afraid for us to be alone when she was busy with a guy.
Andy asked me to dance again and I accepted. We danced to another slow song and just as the song was about to end Andy whispered softly in my ear, “Come home with me.”
The air from his breath on my ear sent shivers down my spine. “Andy. I can’t.”
“I just mean for tonight, just one night.”
I pulled back a little so I could see his eyes to see if he was serious. He was. “That would be a horrible mistake.”
“Why? Are you seeing someone?”
“No.”
“I’m not either. So we are two single adults. What’s stopping you?”
“The fact that we used to be in a very serious relationship and we are still trying to get over each other.”
“So maybe it will be closure. Just one more night, no strings attached.”
My head was screaming no at me, but my mouth blurted out, “Okay.”
He looked slightly surprised and then took my hand leading me out of the tent. We hopped into his car and I sent a quick text to Michelle to tell her that I went to her place to sleep. I had a key and was pretty sure she wasn’t going back to her place until the next day anyway.
The ride to Andy’s was full of tension and anticipation and neither one of us said a word. We pulled up to Andy’s house, the same house we had lived in together and we went inside.
Charlie ran up to me and I sunk to my knees in my long bridesmaid dress and wrapped my arms around his neck, “Oh he’s so big now!”
Andy sat his keys down on the table next to the door and I stood up and looked around. It was the same house, but it looked completely different from the last time I was there. “Wow. You remolded.”
He nodded, “Yeah. I guess I needed a change.”
“I like it. It’s very…manly.”
He laughed, “Thanks.”
He walked closer to me and it felt like my heart was going to explode with it beating so hard in my chest. My voice squeaked out, “This is a bad idea.”
He moved his hand to the back of my head, his fingers were in my loosely curled hair. He pulled my mouth to his and kissed me with intense passion. I could feel how much he had missed me in that one kiss and I kissed him back with equal intensity. We had already crossed that line, we might as well enjoy one night together.
We moved back to our old bedroom, clothes flying off the entire way. When we got inside our old room we were down to only our underwear and my bra.
We took in each other’s bodies slowly. His hadn’t changed. He was obviously still running and working out every day. He looked at me with a hunger in his eyes, “Fuck. You are perfect.”
I smiled as I pulled him back to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him as his hands unfastened my bra.
When it fell to the floor he moved me closer to the bed and gently laid me down. He started kissing my neck and I leaned my head to the side to let him have better access. I could feel how hard his was through his boxers and I clenched my thighs together, feeling the wetness spread as his kisses trailed down to my breasts.
Part of me wanted to take our time, but the other part of me need him buried deep inside of me so I pulled him back up to my lips. “Do you have a condom?”
He nodded and reached into the drawer next to the bed, pulling a condom out. I slipped my panties down and he removed his boxers and slid on the condom, taking the hint that I needed him right then.
He had no problem sliding slowly inside of me as I was soaking wet and so ready for him. We both groaned as he sunk into me and I held onto his strong shoulders as he moved in and out of me. He moved one hand down and stroked my clit until my muscled clenched around him tightly and my entire body shuddered with release. I felt his cock jerk inside of me as he came and then we both laid there together, totally spent.
“Damn, Jackie. I needed that.” He moved so he was laying next me.
“Me too. You have no idea. It’s been awhile.”
“Oh yeah? Since you’ve been with me or since you’ve been with anyone?”
I turned my head slightly, “Do you really want to know that?”
“Yes and no.”
I smiled knowing exactly what he meant. “The last time I had sex was in this room. Not in this bed though, this is new.”
He chuckled, “Yeah pretty much everything is new. So you haven’t been with anyone since we’ve been apart?”
I shook my head, “No, you?”
“No.”
I was genuinely surprised. I knew he hadn’t dated anyone, but had figured he had a one night stand or two. “Really?”
“Yeah really, is that so hard to believe?”
“Yes.”
“I just haven’t had anyone catch my eye.”
“Yeah I can relate to that.”
I moved my head so it was lying on his chest. That was my favorite way to fall asleep when we were dating. I looked over his perfect face and my fingers found the faint scar above his left eye. That had to have been from the car accident because he didn’t have it last time we were this close. We didn’t talk and just laid there in utter silence.
I hadn’t actually meant to fall asleep, but had been so tired from the day before and felt so safe in Andy’s arms that I was out cold. I woke up the next morning and looked at the clock seeing it was almost eleven. I sat up and looked at Andy who was still out. I shook one of his shoulders, “Andy. I have to go.”
He slowly sat up still groggy. “What? Why?”
“Because I have to get to Michelle’s before she does. Shit she is probably already there.”
He put his hands on my shoulders, “It’s okay. You’re twenty four, you don’t have a curfew.”
“I know, but she will know I was with you.”
“Just tell her you stayed with an old friend from high school. Or tell her it’s your life and you can be with me if you want to.”
“She won’t understand. She’ll lecture the hell out of me.”
“It’ll be fine. You’re going back to Texas. She can only lecture you for the car ride to Wichita. Or I can take you.”
I smiled. I wanted to take him up on that offer, but knew it was a bad idea and for once I listened to that instinct. “Thanks, but I’ll let Michelle take me this time. I have to go though I’m going to miss my flight.”
I stood up looking for my clothes and remembering all I had was my very formal dress. I put on my bra and panties and held up this dress, “Well if this doesn’t say walk of shame I don’t know what does.”
Andy had slipped on his boxers, but nothing else and walked out into the hallway tossing me an old pair of shorts with a drawstring and a t-shirt. “That better?”
“Yes. Thank you.” I slipped them on. “Can you please take me to Michelle’s?”
“Of course.” He slipped
on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and I petted Charlie again before we walked out to his car and he drove me to Michelle’s.
“Do you regret last night?”
I shook my head, “No, not at all. It was really nice.”
He grinned, pleased with my answer, “Good.”
He parked the car and I gave him a hug, not wanting to let go, I breathed in his scent as he held onto me. “I’m glad you’re happy in Texas Jackie. I would never mess with that.”
Still holding onto him I said, “Are you happy here?”
He pulled back a little, “Yeah. Why?”
“Just do me a favor okay?”
“What?”
The words hurt to say, “Please just try to date, to find someone who you like.”
He looked confused, “Why?”
“Because we have to let each other go, I can’t move on until I see you moving on. You’re the stronger one. Please.”
He swallowed hard and I could tell it pained him to agree, but he did. “I’ll try.”
I kissed his lips softly and got out of the car.
I waved goodbye and went to Michelle’s front door looking for my keys when Michelle walked up wearing her bridesmaid dress and carrying her heels. She looked really surprised to see me out in the hallway of her apartment building, “Are you just getting here?”
“Yeah and so are you.”
“Did you go home with Andy?”
I didn’t answer, “Who did you go home with?”
Usually Michelle had no problem telling me in way too much detail about her hook ups, but she just unlocked the door and we both went inside. “We are late. I’m gonna go get changed and we will leave.”
I thought it was really strange that she didn’t want to talk about her night, but I let it go since it meant she was questioning me about mine.
Chapter 27
Andy
A week after the wedding Maddy and Jake got back from their honeymoon in Saint Lucia and I went over to see Jake. I had been in a funk since Jackie left after our night together and thought maybe being around my friend would help.
My plan at the wedding had been to keep my distance from Jackie, but that all went out the window as soon as I saw her. I knew I needed to be with her at least one more time, but when I took her to Michelle’s the next day she had made me promise to try dating someone else.
She wanted me to move on. It was like she was desperate for it so that she could move on to someone else, which made my chest tighten just thinking about it.
He was outside working on his truck when I got there and got out and walked over to him, “Still trying to get this thing running?”
He stood up straight from working under the hood, “Well I hadn’t had a lot of time before the wedding.”
“How was the honeymoon?”
“Great.”
“Good. The wedding was nice.”
He closed the hood. “Yeah, you have a good time?”
I nodded. “Yeah of course, free booze and food, who wouldn’t love it?”
“What about you and Jackie?”
“What do you mean?”
He walked toward the house and I followed him, “Please. I saw you two at the wedding, man. You couldn’t keep your eyes off of each other.”
He had left before Jackie and I left together so I knew he didn’t know about that. We walked into the house and Maddy was reading on the couch. “Hey Andy.”
“Hi, Maddy, welcome home.”
“Thanks.”
Jake went into the kitchen and I followed him in, trying to keep my voice down because I didn’t want Maddy involved in our conversation. “Jackie is back in Texas where she belongs. So nothing that happened at the wedding matters.”
He opened the fridge and grabbed two beers, handing one to me. “So something did happen at the wedding?”
I didn’t want to lie to my best friend. He was always honest with me. “Nothing bad. We just had a really good time.”
He shook his head, “So you two just had a one night stand. That’s fucked up.”
I opened my beer and took a drink, “Man your wife is really rubbing off on you. You used to stay out of other people’s business.”
I meant it partially as a joke and luckily that’s how Jake took it, “Yeah well, I really care about my friends. You guys love each other, I just don’t get why you won’t move to be with her. It’s really not that far away.”
“I will always love Jackie, but she’s happy in Texas. And she’s moved on. She even wants me to move on. In fact she practically begged me to date someone else.”
He shook his head at me, like I was a complete idiot. “Yeah, that means she’s still in love with you, jackass. She needs you to move on so that can. And the second you two are in the same place you hookup.”
“Yeah because neither one of us have moved on. She’s right. We aren’t going to let each other go until we start dating new people.”
He sat down at the bar in the kitchen. “Or you aren’t supposed to move on from one another. Think about it.”
I sighed, exhausted from having to always explain this to my friends, “I’m going to say this one more time. We are not you and Maddy. You guys have been friends since you were six and through everything, kept coming back to each other, because you were supposed to be together. I get why you think that’s what love is, but honestly man, people break up all of the time because they aren’t supposed to be together. Jackie and I want different things. You and Maddy wanted the same things so you should be together.”
It looked like he was letting that sink in when Maddy walked into the kitchen, “You staying for dinner?”
I shook my head, “No, I have a date. Thank you though.”
She looked as surprised as Jake did when she said, “A date, with who?”
“Just a girl from work, she was in the class below us in school. She’s nice.”
Jake’s jaw twitched like he wanted to say something, but he held it in. Maddy smiled, “Well that’s good. I hope you have fun.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you guys soon.”
I left after that and went home to get ready for my date with, Sarah. We had both been working this summer for the summer school program and I just asked her the day before if she would go out with me. She looked shocked, but excited when she accepted.
I had to keep my promise to Jackie and try to date other people. I picked her up at seven and took her to a nice restaurant. She looked really pretty in a slinky black dress with her long brown hair pulled up. I pulled out her chair for her and when she was seated, pushed it in, being the perfect gentleman.
We ordered and made a lot of small talk. When the food got there she had a huge, bewildered smile on her face.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes. I just can’t believe I’m here with Andy Clark.”
Using my whole name was a little odd and reminded me of Kourtney, but I tried to let it go. “Why?”
“Well I mean in high school my friends and I dreamed about this. I wasn’t a part of the cool kids in school. I was shy and awkward and you and Jake Keller, you guys were like famous in school. You never would have noticed me.”
I admit I didn’t remember her from school, but we weren’t in the same class and our class sizes were pretty large. There were people I didn’t know in my own class. “I was kind of douchebag in school, but I’m sure I would have noticed you if we had any classes together or something.”
She laughed, “We had two classes together your senior year and one your junior.”
I shrugged, “Well like I said, I was a douchebag.”
“No, I get it. I mean you dated girls like Madison Wright, Kourtney, and Jackie. I mean there was no way someone like me could compete.”
I tried to change the subject, the way she was talking about me it was like I wasn’t a real person. “Well, I definitely notice you now.”
She smiled, “Well I’m glad. I’m sorry that your relationship had to end, b
ut to have a chance with you is amazing. I still can’t believe she left you. She’s crazy.”
I felt instantly protective of Jackie, “Well she had to follow her dream. No one would give up a job like that.”
“Are you crazy? I would have in a heartbeat. I mean, seriously. You can find a job anywhere, but a gorgeous man who actually knows how to treat a woman, that’s tough to find. She’ll be sorry someday when she’s fifty and surrounded by cats.”
“Yeah I doubt Jackie is going to have a hard time finding someone else.”
She shrugged and started eating her salad, “I don’t know. If she keeps picking her career over love, she’s going to be very lonely.”
I just smiled politely and tried to get through dinner, peacefully. When I took Sarah home, I walked her to her door. “I had such a good time tonight.”
I lied, “Yeah. So did I.”
“The night doesn’t have to be over though.” She bit her bottom lip, “Do you want to come inside?”
I wasn’t tempted in the slightest. “I can’t. I have to be up early tomorrow, but I will see you soon.”
She looked slightly upset and then smiled, “See you are a good guy.”
I gave her a polite smile and walked back to my car. When I got inside I sent Jackie a text.
Me: I did what you asked me to.
I started my car and drove away because I didn’t want Sarah to think I was considering her offer. When I got home and changed out of my date clothes I checked my phone and saw Jackie hadn’t replied. She was probably still at work.
I fed Charlie and watched TV and around eleven heard my phone ping with a text message.
Jackie: You went on a date?
Me: Yeah.
Jackie: And? Did you have a good time?
If she knew it was miserable she would probably encourage me to keep going out on dates so I made it sound good.
Me: Wasn’t like our first date, but it was nice. She’s a really nice girl.
Jackie: Well I’m glad she’s a nice girl.
Jackie: Are you going to see her again?
I did work with her so yeah I would see her again. So it wasn’t a lie when I replied:
Me: Yeah, definitely.
Evolve (Soulmates Book 4) Page 16