by Amber Lynn
Jasmine stopped to take a bite of her sandwich, but John knew it was a move meant to help her focus her thoughts. She’d hate to start crying in front of someone else, even though she’d broken down in front of him before. John reached over to let her know he was there for her by putting his hand on the part of her leg just above her knee.
“I found out that night that my grandma was dying of cancer. Unbeknownst to me, all she’s ever wanted for me was to settle down with a nice guy, so I showed up on John’s doorstep begging him to be that guy for a little while.”
“Technically, she showed up in my bedroom, since I was in the shower and didn’t hear the doorbell.”
Jasmine looked at him sideways and pinched the top of the hand on her leg. “I wasn’t going to admit to breaking and entering, but I needed to talk to you. Anyway, a boyfriend was necessary and John was kind enough to agree.”
“I’m sorry to hear about your grandma, but I do have to question picking John. It seems you’ve given him some acting lessons, but it’s no secret he’s not exactly dating material.”
John felt sorry for Doug, because he got to see the scowl spread across Jasmine’s face before she looked over her shoulder at the other man. It was difficult not to lean over and suck on her bottom lip as it jutted out.
“The world could say the same thing about me, but most people are smart enough not to say it to my face.”
“I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just everyone knows Klinger has absolutely zero plans of settling down. The longest relationship he’s had lasted about two weeks.”
Not wanting things to continue on the negative path, John opened his mouth to interrupt, but Jasmine jumped to finish the conversation, spinning around so she could face Doug. “His longest relationship was fourteen months and five days, so maybe you should rethink your math.” A pause for a deep breath made John think she was done. “And whether he had plans of settling down or not, those plans changed when I decided I was in love with him.”
When John realized she was going to speak, he’d gone ahead and picked up his fork to try a bite of salad, but that fork clattered back down to the plate when he heard her words. The room was eerily quiet as the words settled in.
Chapter Fourteen
Jasmine bit her tongue as she kicked herself for letting her feelings slip. She’d planned on telling John eventually, but it was way too soon. The other women he’d been with had made the mistake of letting him know how they felt and that usually ended up being their downfall. Jasmine wasn’t ready for things to be over, and she knew after spending a few days with him that she’d never be ready.
They talked about the lives they lived before meeting, so Jasmine knew all the ways she could screw things up. And being the screw up she was, the one thing sure to get John running had worked its way out of her lips. She couldn’t breathe, hopeful that if she turned into a statue, somehow the words would go unheard.
“Oh, no,” Doug said. Jasmine didn’t need to see the pity in his eyes to know how things were going to go, but seeing it felt a little like a final nail in the coffin.
“I hate to be rude, but would you mind taking my car back to pick yours up without me?” John sounded calm, and Jasmine wasn’t sure how to read the almost lack of emotion in his voice. She felt movement beside her before a key fob flew in the air so Doug could grab it, but she didn’t look over to see if the man next to her was projecting emotions on his face.
“Sure, give me a call when you want to pick it up and I’ll come grab you.”
“Just park it in my spot and I’ll drive it home after the game tomorrow.”
“Okay, then give me a call when you want a ride to the game.”
Jasmine thought about asking Doug to wait so maybe he could give her a ride home. After John said whatever it was he had to say in private, she was going to have to call a driver to come pick her up and that would give her a little too much time to think in public. Not knowing Doug very well, her lips remained closed. He was John’s friend anyway, and based on the conversation they’d had, he’d more than likely just laugh at her naivety.
“As far as I know, Princess is going to the game, so we’ll just call her car service to give us a ride. Actually, now that I think if it, we could just call it for you. It’s something the studio provides for you, right?”
The heat of John’s eyes gravitated to bore holes in the side of Jasmine’s face as she continued to remain focused on the room in front of her. She hadn’t paid much attention to Doug, since her eyes seemed to seek out John whenever he was around. She’d seen the moisture still on his face and sweat marks from his armpits and a few spot on the front of his light gray shirt. His pants had to be uncomfortably sticking to his skin.
“Yeah, whenever I’m working on a film in the city I request a car. I thought I might need it for myself, though.” Jasmine was a little confused. Her brain processed that he said they were going to the game together, but she wasn’t sure if that was simply because they’d already talked about her going.
“Unless Meemaw telepathically called and said she needed you right this second, I’m pretty sure you don’t need a car for anything. I mean, the plan for the afternoon was to draw the curtains and watch that vampire movie you’ve been wanting to watch, right?”
“But I thought,” Jasmine let her voice trail off a little bit, not wanting to repeat her previous mistake.
“Let’s get Doug on his way so we can talk about what you thought, okay?” John moved out in front of Jasmine and turned to face her. “I know it’s scary, but we’ll figure things out. There’s no reason to run away.”
“If it’s all the same, I’m just going to take your car and wait for you to call me with some kind of explanation of what I just witnessed. Because I’m confused as hell right now.”
Doug wasn’t the only one. Jasmine saw John’s arm raise in the air to wave behind him, and within a few seconds she heard the front door open and close. Being alone with the man with the smoky gray eyes was suddenly terrifying.
“You weren’t supposed to say it first,” John whispered, stepping a little closer so there was only an inch of space between them. They weren’t touching, yet she felt like he’d wrapped his arms around her.
“Say what?” Jasmine knew what she wasn’t supposed to say at all, but she wasn’t sure what he meant. She had blurted out he’d been in a relationship it was apparent his best friend didn’t know about. Maybe John had a special moment he was going to tell Doug about the relationship that changed his view of the world. That sounded silly to Jasmine, but her brain wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders.
“The L-word. I’ve been trying to figure out when is too soon to tell you I love you and make sure it sounds sincere. I figured I needed to at least wait a month, but you blew that plan out of the water.”
“You’ve been planning on telling me you love me?” There was disbelief in her words, and she hoped he understood it wasn’t because she didn’t want him to say it.
“Of course. I know we’ve talked about how things were before we met, but talking about it doesn’t show you how different things are between us. I’ve honestly never felt as content as I have with you here the last few days.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, leaving his hand curled around her neck. “I know that content doesn’t sound romantic, but when you’ve been searching for someone who can drive you crazy, yet has the ability to soothe the inner wild child, content is perfect.”
“But we’ve only known each other for a few days. I thought you were going to kick me out and blame my feelings on what’s going on in my life. Judging by the look on Doug’s face, he was waiting for you to burst out laughing.”
“When you’re at the game tomorrow, ask Lizzie how long it took Doug to fall for her. She moved into his place a day or two after they met, so there’s no way he would’ve laughed at you. If anything, he would’ve told me what an idiot I am and maybe commiserate with you because I’m an idiot.”
> “How long did it take them to get married?” Jasmine felt like she’d put her foot in her mouth again when a brief look of sadness crossed his face.
“Longer than either of them wanted. Doug had to relearn how to walk because he refused to let me carry him down the aisle. He asked her to marry him within a week, though.”
John had mentioned the accident and aftermath that sounded like part of a movie, but it was hard to remember it when Doug was walking around happy and the couple was expecting a child together. Jasmine had only seen them together briefly, and like the rest of the couples John called friends, they looked happy, which wasn’t an emotion Jasmine usually associated with matrimony.
“I don’t know why I asked that. It’s not like I’m expecting us to get married. I was just curious how it worked with them.”
“Come on, let’s go sit on the couch.” It wasn’t an option as John grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the living room. The wood floor beneath her bare feet was cold along the way. When they made it to the couch, John sat down and then pulled Jasmine down so she had her legs on either side of him and their bodies faced each other.
“I don’t want to rush into anything, even though it’s seemed like we have. I practically planned out a wedding with your grandma the other day and we’ve already narrowed it between two and fifty kids, so our lives are pretty much mapped out, but we don’t have to jump right into that life. Part of me is afraid that if we do, you’ll get bored.”
“You’re afraid I’m going to get bored? What about you? Your best friend was here just a few minutes ago saying your longest relationship was only two weeks. We’re about halfway there, shouldn’t you be a little more concerned about whether a new flavor of the month will come along?”
John smiled as he pulled Jasmine closer to his torso. Chances were it was a little uncomfortable for him since his zipper was working overtime to keep him in.
“It’s kind of cute that you just blushed.”
“I did not.” Jasmine could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, but she wasn’t about to admit it. It wasn’t her fault scenes of naked flesh flashed through her mind, raising her temperature a few degrees.
“Yeah, you did, but I won’t tell anyone. The point I was going to make before you started turning into a tomato was that what you feel down there is because you said you were in love with me. Usually when someone I’ve been seeing says that, not only is it impossible for me to get hard like that, but my balls seem to shrivel up into little raisins that take a week to rehydrate.”
“Judging by the Olympics you’ve put on, it’s a kind of doubtful you can go a week without some attention.”
Jasmine was nudged backwards while John’s lips found a sensitive part of her neck. Taking away the contact, even through their clothes, made her sigh. The first day they’d been together was all about sex, really great sex. The days that followed had their moments of explosiveness, but more and more hours were spent on connecting on other levels.
“If you’re looking to make a bet on that, I’ll take it, but I think you’d suffer just as much as I would.” John stopped his gentle sucking and leaned back against the couch.
The idea did have its merits, but Jasmine wasn’t looking to torture the guy. Their cuddling on the couch, watching movies or just talking, proved to her it wasn’t only sex between them. Jasmine couldn’t remember a time when a relationship wasn’t about sex. There were even a couple of guys in the contacts list of her phone that were solely for a little exercise without having to go through the work of meeting someone new at a club.
When she got together with her standbys, words were the last thing on either of their minds. A quick romp and a collecting of clothes lasted less than an hour and then she was back to her day. John didn’t seem to know the meaning of the word quick. Every time they came together, he was thoughtful and passionate beyond her wildest imagination, and Jasmine had a pretty wild and vivid imagination when it came to sex.
Sitting there, staring into his eyes with what she could only imagine was a dreamy look in hers was silly. John made her feel that way. It was impossible to describe exactly how just being near him made her feel, but the butterflies that fluttered like they were looking for an escape from her stomach told her it was more than she’d felt for any other man she’d met.
“Please tell me you aren’t seriously contemplating the bet. I stand by the fact that I’ll do it, but we both know it’d be torture.” His warm hands, which had been holding her tightly around the waist, sneaked up her shirt, and the skin-on-skin contact made her draw in a breath.
“I’d be terrified you’d go find someone else to appease your inner beast with,” Jasmine whispered.
John’s head shook back and forth. “Never, Princess. You’re it for me until you decide the next leading man in one of your movies or the rock star who sings your newest favorite song draws your eye.” Jasmine opened her mouth the protest, but John was too quick to continue. “You should know now that I won’t give up without a fight.”
“I’m not going anywhere, even if watching you battle for me does have a little appeal.”
Both of his eyebrows, which John claimed were naturally perfectly shaped, rose in either interest or question, maybe a little of both. “Going a little medieval, are we? Don’t worry. If I catch you looking at a guy with even an inkling of interest, I’ll suit up in my armor and have my white horse immediately brought out for a joust.”
The idea of John walking around in a suit of armor caused her to chuckle. She’d seen him in his goalie equipment, so it wasn’t hard to imagine the slow, kind of clunky walk.
“You just pictured me in my pads didn’t you?”
Jasmine nodded her head as the smile already on her face spread. “For your safety, I’d hate for them to be any smaller, but there’s got to be a way to make them less restrictive when you waddle around, right?”
John groaned, only causing Jasmine to laugh more as his fingers dug in to her sides a little as he tried to tickle her. She wasn’t ticklish, but she tried to fight him off. Somehow in the little tussle and rumble that resulted, she ended up being pinned on the couch with his body hovering over her. Hovering wasn’t exactly the right word, because their bodies touched from waist to toe.
“Why couldn’t we find each other sooner?” John asked as he leaned down to place a chaste kiss on her lips. It didn’t matter if he was trying to verify she still had her tonsils or just brushing his lips against hers, the mere touch gave her some level of high that made her feel an extra boost of energy.
It still seemed foreign to think about things that way, but Jasmine couldn’t help wondering the same thing. She’d never looked for a serious relationship, and only being in one for a few days made it impossible to know all the answers.
“Do you really think that if we were high school sweethearts, and then went off to do what we’re doing now, we’d have been able to stay together?”
John looked a bit perplexed for a second, but he quickly came back with an answer. “Good point, but I have to believe we would. We may have been immature and overwhelmed by the bright lights, but if we felt what we do now and couldn’t make it work, what hope do we have now?”
“If we would’ve been high school sweethearts, we’d probably be halfway to your goal of fifty kids by now, which would mean my career probably never would’ve taken off and we’d never know the emptiness we’ve felt with other people.”
Jasmine had never really thought about it, but the way she worked through partners was a means to try to fill the emptiness. It was human nature to feel connection with people, but other than her family, she’d never been able to find a connection that stuck.
“Sometimes it feels like you can read my mind. Not necessarily what I’m think about that minute, but I’ve had people ask me why I can’t pick a girl and settle down. I try to explain that I just don’t feel anything meaningful, but no one understands. I guess on the flipside, I’ve always looked at them crazy when t
hey’ve tried to describe love to me. It’s really not something someone else can explain to you. You have to feel the passion and panic that goes along with meeting someone for the first time and knowing there was something about them that made you want to peel back layers to find just how closely your hearts beat in sync.”
“Do you think anyone would believe me if I told them you were a romantic?”
John’s perfect teeth made an appearance as his lips curled up and he laughed. It was a little funny that even though he was sweaty, and had a certain aroma from that sweat, that his breath was minty fresh. For some reason Jasmine thought if he stunk, everything about him should stink. The fact that she even stopped to think something like that spoke to how addled he made her brain.
“I dare you to mention that to the girls tomorrow at the game. They’d probably start feeling your forehead and asking what kind of drugs you’re on.”
“That’s what I figured. I guess I have the challenge of proving to the world you’re more than just a jock with a magic touch.”
The evil look that cross John’s face as one eyebrow raised and a sly grin appeared told Jasmine she was in trouble. The anticipation of his next move was as electrifying as the move itself, something he appeared to understand as he remained perfectly still for what seemed like minutes.
When he finally decided she’d been tortured enough, he used his quick reaction time to sit up on the couch and bring her into his lap. This time she was facing away from him with the solid appendage in his lap poking her rear end.
“Let’s see how unbelievable we can make the stories you use as proof. You’ve been begging me to watch this movie since you saw it on the guide, so let’s see if you think I’m as romantic as your vampires on the big screen.”
Somehow in his rearranging of their bodies, John had managed to grab the remote and flipped the television on. Jasmine wasn’t as desperate to see the movie as she’d let on, but she was curious to see if he’d be willing to sit through something she figured he wouldn’t enjoy. The fact that he was didn’t feel like another move to try to get in her pants, like most men seemed to be obsessed with. His willingness felt more like he just wanted to make her happy, and the thought made her heart skip a couple beats.