by Tabatha Kiss
We move toward the door but Will stops me. “Hang on…”
I listen as he closes the window blinds in the front room and I wait patiently in the door frame until he comes back to retrieve me.
“We’re officially alone,” he says.
“No torches?”
“No torches or pitchforks in sight.” His eyes drift from mine to my lips, triggering a rush of heat through my core.
I hold my breath to keep my knees stable. “Will…”
He holds up a finger. “Wait… Don’t say anything for a little bit. I want to enjoy this for a second.”
I count slowly in my head until I reach five. “Enjoy what?”
“I missed you,” he says. “That’s all.”
“Yeah. I missed you, too.”
“We’ve known each other since we were kids. Felt strange not having you down the street all the time; causing trouble.”
“If only anyone else agreed.”
“Tucker does.”
I roll my eyes. “Tucker once took a bullfrog to a school dance.”
“Because you dared him to.”
I chuckle. “Oh, yeah…”
Will steps back through the hallway toward the kitchen. I follow behind him, casually glancing at his firm rear in the shadows.
“No, Jovie,” he says, popping the refrigerator open. “You’re not as universally hated around here as you might think.”
I lean on the island counter. “Name one other person besides you or Tucker.”
Will sets two ice cold beers on the counter. “My mom.”
I pause. “Rachel? Really?”
He nods. “Whenever Sara would start ranting and complaining about you and us, Mom would hum and agree but once Sara turned away, she’d look at me and wink. I think she enjoyed living vicariously through you.”
“I knew I always liked your mom.” I pull the tab on my drink. “What about your dad?”
“He never said much other than a passive ‘whatever, just don’t knock her up.’”
“Ouch.” I wince slightly. “Actually, Hank used to say the same thing, come to think…”
“Dads will be dads,” he says. “Though… I still don’t think it would have been the worst thing. I know you disagree, but… admit it, Jove, you and I would have made a cute kid or two.”
I ignore the sudden burn in my chest. “Maybe.” I take a quick sip and the cold drink stings all the way down. “I still don’t think the timing was right.”
“I accept that,” he says. “It took a while for me to see it but you were right about that. Twenty-year-old me with a wife and a kid basically spelled disaster. I gave into the fantasy that once you get married everything falls into place but I had no job, no real direction, and no motivation to change it. Hell, I lived at home with my parents and I spent every dime I had on that ring. What the hell was I thinking?”
“You did what everyone said you were supposed to do,” I answer. “It happens to the best of us.”
“I should have listened to you back then. You were right about everything else. I’m not sure why I thought this was different.”
“Not everything else. I mean, have you seen my closet?”
He chuckles. “I’ve spent so much time thinking about what I’d do differently if I could just go back in time to that night. As awful as it was… now that you’re back, I don’t think I would have changed a thing.”
“Really?” I ask.
“Seeing you again, like this…” His eyes fall to my waist. “It’s like a pause is what we always needed to get to this point.”
“So, what you’re saying is…” I smile as I glance around his kitchen, “that me taking off was the best thing that ever happened to you?”
“In a way, yeah.” He steps around the counter to stand beside me. “I changed and became a better person and a more responsible man because I lost you.”
My breath catches. “Well…” I swallow. “You’re welcome.”
He looks at me now like he always used to, like I was the only girl in the world worth gazing at. It floors me the same way and I can hardly move as he places a hand on my cheek.
“You know,” he says, “I have this memory from when we were kids. I must have been about ten-years-old. I was walking home from school and I saw you sitting on the swings in the park. I said hello to you but you didn’t look up.”
I chuckle. “Sorry.”
“You had your head down just staring at your shoes and I remember thinking, ‘but she’s so pretty. What does she have to be sad about?’”
“Oh, I probably wasn’t sad,” I joke. “My resting bitch face came in around the same time as my breasts.”
He laughs. “I could tell the difference, even back then. Not with your breasts, of course. Although, they developed beautifully, by the way. Kudos.”
“Thank you.”
“I used to say things to you just to get you to smile,” he says. “It worked sometimes and it would make my day.”
“Mine, too,” I say, trembling beneath the touch of his hand.
“Then, I’d try to make you laugh. That was harder to do but not impossible.”
I raise a brow. “Is that why you used to trip up the stairs at school a lot?”
“It is.” He nods.
“Damn. Good job.”
“Then, later…” he leans closer, “I’d touch you just to hear the sudden intake of your breath and feel the tremors beneath your skin.” His lips brush against mine. “I’d kiss you just to hear you moan… and then I’d go down on you just to hear you scream.”
I sigh, softly shaking as my knees threaten to give. My hands rise to his waist. He puts a little pressure on my neck, tilting my face upward and I part my lips as he kisses me. It rocks my core, yanking me back to a simpler time and I take hold of him to draw him closer.
The doorbell rings and Will pulls back.
“Damn…” he whispers. “They’re fast.”
“I’ll hide out in here,” I say.
He cups my face and kisses me again, holding on for several seconds before letting go. I step back, moving deeper into the kitchen to stay out of view as he heads for the front door. Murmuring voices travel in from the living room but I can’t make out a single word over the intense pounding of blood in my ears.
The door closes again and Will returns with two thin boxes stacked in his hands.
“So,” I say, “about that blank slate…”
“To hell with it.”
He abandons the boxes on the counter and rushes over to take me in his arms again. He pulls me against him, gripping hard as he crushes his lips on mine. I throw my arms around his neck as my knees finally give out but his strong arms hold me up.
“I want you…” His voice rasps through his throat.
God, I want him, too. I want him to pick me up and carry me to his bed. I want him to touch me from head-to-toe and fuck me all night long like he used to. All of it. All of him. I want it all back the way it was before.
But that would be picking up where we left off. It wouldn’t be starting over like we agreed to do.
I place an open palm on his chest. “Will…” I say, putting pressure on him.
He inhales deep and lays his head on my shoulder. “I know,” he says, reading my mind. His grip loosens and he takes a short step back but he stays close to me. “It’s too soon.”
“Right,” I say, licking the moisture from my lips. “We should set some boundaries.”
He lays a hand on the counter. “Exactly. What are we thinking… first base? For now?”
“Maybe rounding first?” I suggest.
“Yes. Rounding. I can round.”
“Just no…” I take a calming breath. “Nothing that involves too much running and sweating.”
“Until we both agree that it’s time to run and sweat more.”
“Yes. That sounds smart.”
“I can do that.” He turns away and faces the counter, leaning into it with both hands.
<
br /> I step to the side to keep a little distance and grab my beer can. The condensation drips along my fingers but it’s not enough to cool me down. A fresh, warm pizza scent invades my nose and tickles my empty stomach. I look at Will still staring at cabinet in front of him with his head down. One of us should say something…
“So, I guess we should continue with this date, right?” I ask.
He doesn’t look up. “It’s hard,” he says.
Sympathy clutches my chest. “I know but I really think that if we don’t play this safe this time, then—”
“No, I mean…” He glances over his shoulder at me. “It’s hard.”
I look down to his groin. “Oh.”
His cheeks burn red. “I just need another minute…”
A laugh teases my throat. “No problem. I, uh…” I force a chuckle down as I pick up his beer and set it down in front of him and slide back out of the way.
“Thank you.” He snatches it and swallows several gulps.
I take my own drink and the pizza boxes. “I’ll be on the couch. Wanna watch a movie or something?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. See you soon.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Take your time…” I step toward the living room, “but not too long because I will eat all of this cheesy bread.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I know.”
I settle on the couch alone and silently exhale every ounce of heat from my body.
Boundaries. Yes. Good, strong boundaries. Walls, even. Big, fancy walls that are sure to keep us apart as long as we don’t touch each other ever again.
Will walks in and sits down beside me, making sure to keep several inches between us.
We look at each other as his smirk slides across his face and my cheeks burn a bright red but we keep our twitching hands in our laps.
Boundaries. Oh, yeah.
This will definitely last.
Seventeen
Will
I knew I had feelings for Jovie Ross when I was fourteen-years-old.
We grew up together but I never saw her as anything but my classmate until then. Or, at least, I thought I did.
It struck me in waves. One day she was just weird, loner Jovie, sitting by herself in the cafeteria with a travel book in her hand and a pink slip from the vice principal in the other. Detention. Again. Who knows why this time.
Then, all of a sudden, we were in ninth grade and our English teacher made us read Romeo and Juliet as a class. Roles were assigned at random. Mrs. Carter drew my name for Romeo and the class rolled their eyes. Of course, he’s Romeo, they said. Then, she drew Jovie’s name for Juliet and they laughed in her face.
That was my first clue. I didn’t laugh with them because I couldn’t see anything funny about it. It was just a play. Just a bunch of old words on a page but teenagers don’t think like that. They instantly saw us as star-crossed mates, destined to mayhem and tragedy, but not only that — it was the classic joke of the popular boy forced to lower himself and play nice with the loser chick for everyone’s entertainment. I wasn’t about to be the brunt of a joke like that and the only way to overcome it was to own it.
I got out of my desk, walked to the back of the classroom, and slid into the empty seat next to Jovie without saying a word. The snickers died down and Mrs. Carter got on with it but the cruel glances and puckered smiles remained on their faces. It didn’t seem to bother Jovie, though. Nothing ever did.
We spent the next week reading it aloud as a class and I heard Jovie speak more words than I’d ever heard from her mouth before. Her monotone voice slipped away. Emotion dripped off her words in long, full sentences and I couldn’t help but respond in the same way.
Our classmates probably found it hilarious but I honestly don’t know or care. I was stuck on Jovie the whole time.
That was when she started offering me her second Pop Tart every morning.
Two years later, she was mine.
Three years after that and she was gone.
Fast forward four more years and here she is with her head on my shoulder. She hasn’t budged in a little while, so she’s probably sleeping. I’d look and find out but I really don’t want to wake her. She’s breathing steadily. Her skin is warm and her pulse is strong. I don’t want to know what’s going on in her head. Just having her close by again is enough for me.
I tap the remote on the couch beside my knee, inching the volume down just in case the final action scene startles her out of it. The movie is almost over and I’ll cross that bridge when I get there but for now, this is all I want. A quiet night with Jovie, surrounded by empty drinks and ravaged pizza boxes, and a movie with a plot so dull that it doesn’t even matter that I’ve missed several scenes because I’m too busy embracing her instead.
Her breathing shifts and I hold mine, hoping she’ll fall right back in but she raises her head.
“What time is it?” she asks, focusing on the television again.
“I don’t know...” I reach for my phone next to my seat. “Just after midnight,” I read.
Jovie leans forward and rubs her eyes. “I should get home while it’s still dark enough to sneak out of here unnoticed.”
“Movie’s not over yet,” I say, keeping my hands on her.
She looks over at me and smiles. “I’ve seen this one before.”
“So have I but not with you.”
Her shoulders relax and she settles back beneath my arm. “Okay... fine.”
I wrap my arm a little tighter around her, holding her close and she doesn’t fight it. Her hair brushes the tip of my nose, wafting a bit of her scent upward. I close my eyes and breathe her in. My blood starts pumping south again and I know what will happen if I don’t settle down but I can’t help but touch her a little more.
I brush her hair to one side, revealing the smooth skin of her neck and the black straps of her dress. Her chest rises and falls but it pauses for a second as I slide one strap down.
I kiss her once on the shoulder. My lips stay there as I inhale, fueling my groin with more blood and I grow erect in my jeans.
Jovie tilts her head away, bearing her neck to me. I kiss it again with a firm touch, pulling her closer and she melts against me. She raises a hand to the back of my head, holding us together. Her breaths become sharper and I let my tongue taste her as my lips crawl up to her earlobe.
My hand slips around her, inching steadily closer to her breasts until Jovie takes it and places it there herself. I squeeze once before slipping my hand in to palm her bare breast and Jovie lets out a quiet moan in response. She turns her head back and our lips meet in passionate, breathy kisses.
I open my eyes and look at her, once again thoroughly entranced by the siren in my arms. She twists around a little, pressing her hip into my groin and I kiss her deeper with lust. Her nipple grows hard against my fingers. Her mouth quivers as I pinch the sensitive, pink nub. I fight the urge to slide my hand between her legs and fingerfuck her until she comes for me. Rounding first. That’s where we agreed we’d be for now and I can’t betray that trust we’ve built.
She lies onto her back, slowly taking me with her until I’m lying on top of her. I settle between her open legs, crawling my hand up her thigh to push her dress upward. Her skin is as soft and smooth as it always was. She tastes just as sweet and smells just as good. I kiss her harder and faster as her nails dig deeper into my shirt.
Just two kids making out on the couch, forgetting all about the movie playing in front of them. My ears focus on my mother’s office door for a second, just in case it opens suddenly and I wonder if Sara said she’d be home at five or six…
I pause as a laugh clenches my throat.
“What?” Jovie asks, breathing hard.
I glance around my house. I own this place. I’m an adult and yet, here I am, scared my family will walk in and catch me with Jovie.
Just another old habit, I guess.
“Nothing,” I say, taking her lips
again.
She pulls my bottom lip between her teeth and gently sucks on it, sending me back in time. Jovie and her various moves. God, how I’ve missed this. Her little moans. That subtle grind of her hips. From our first kiss all the way to the end, it never grew boring, that’s for sure.
“Will...” she whispers.
“Yeah?”
“You’re kind of... stabbing me a little...”
I shift backward and grab the TV remote pressing into her hip. “That’s not me...”
“Oh…” She covers her mouth and laughs. “Whoops.”
I let it slip from my fingers onto the floor and I ease in close to kiss her again.
Jovie lays a hand on my chest. “I really should go, Will.”
I take a deep breath, relishing in her scent. I’m not ready to let go of her yet.
“I know.”
We kiss once more, long and deeply, before she slides free from my grasp and stands up off the couch. I force myself up and follow her through the house to the bedroom.
She bends over to grab her boots and sits down on the edge of my bed. “This was fun,” she says.
My erection throbs in my jeans. “Oh, yeah. It was.”
I admire her, watching as she steps one foot into her boot. Long, brown hair falls over one side of her face, casting shadows along the bridge of her nose. I can still make out the faintest color of her shining eyes and the hint of rouge on her cheeks.
“Jovie, I don’t want to stop seeing you,” I say.
She pauses and looks up at me. “I don’t either.”
“Go out with me again.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow night.”
Her lips twitch. “I’m pretty sure Jovie Watch will be just as annoying tomorrow night as it was tonight.”
I furrow my brow. “I’ll think of something.”
“Like what?” she asks.
“Something.”
She chuckles as she ties off the other boot and sets her feet on the floor. “Sounds like a plan.”
My heart tugs me closer to her and I step forward. “Jove...”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t go home tonight.”
Her head tilts in hesitation. “Will, I shouldn’t stay.”