“Olive.” Jenson’s voice in my ear is somber, and I immediately tense.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I found my father.”
“Oh God, J.”
I start walking quickly, looking for somewhere I can be alone.
I always imagined Jenson might say those six words to me one day. But not like this. Not where I’m barely in the middle of a bunch of barking dogs and he’s not here with me so I can read his expression and look into his eyes and be there for him…
“How did you find him?”
“I hired a P.I. last month. Kind of a last-ditch effort to track him down. Anyway, he just called me. Can we meet?”
“Of course. Where are you?”
“My mom’s with the kids. I’m right outside the dog park.”
I look around.
“Not there,” he says. “Keep going, further to the left.”
“Can you see me?” I say as I walk toward the gate entrance.
“Yep. You look gorgeous. Take about five more steps toward the fence. Now look right.”
I turn, and then I see him. On his cell phone watching me just like I’m on my cell phone watching him.
I hang up and head over to him. When I’m close, he starts walking, and I follow him. Past the gazebo and the large Welcome to Liberty Falls est. 1795 sign and behind the skateboarding park to a long line of thick trees standing between the park and the endless line of pastures. Nobody’s skateboarding today because they’re all at the fair. Jenson ducks behind the trees and pulls me in with him where he puts his mouth over mine immediately.
I melt into him and wrap my arms around his neck. His hands move to my ass as he kisses me more urgently.
Then, just as quickly as he’d started, he pulls back.
We stare at each other in silence.
I don’t know why I’m shaking while Jenson flips through his phone. It’s not my father we’re about to identify. But it’s such a huge missing piece of Jenson’s life.
“Don’t you be nervous.” He smiles at me as we sit down on the ground and lean our backs against the enormous tree trunk. “I need you to be my rock right now.”
I nod and search his face as we sit across from one another. The green of his eyes is bright, the way it is when he’s curious and hopeful.
“Well, show me.” I gesture to his phone. “Or tell me or something.”
“The P.I. sent me this link. He’s sure it’s the right guy.” Jenson sets the phone on his lap and points to a website of a real estate company called The Waverly Group.
I look up at him. “That’s your father’s company?”
He nods and clicks on the About Us page. Donald Waverly, President.
“There’s only one other employee,” Jenson says. “An assistant.”
“Where is the company located?” I say, afraid he’ll say California or Texas or somewhere else far away from here.
“Philadelphia,” he says.
My mouth drops open.
“Philadelphia?” I say incredulously. “But we looked and looked for him!”
“We did. But that was a long time ago. This website was first put up two years ago. I don’t think he had his own company before, so he must have been listed under somebody else’s agency, and his name wasn’t public.”
I take another look at Donald Waverly.
He’s distinguished-looking with gray hair and a dark suit. He has the same green eyes as Jenson, and when I keep looking at his face, I realize he’s also got the same square, chiseled jaw. My eyes fill with tears.
“He looks like you,” I say as I turn to Jenson.
Jenson closes the site and turns off his phone abruptly.
I touch his hand. “Are you going to contact him?”
“I don’t know.”
“It sounds like you came back to Liberty Falls to pursue what’s in your heart,” I say. “And I’m only part of the equation.”
There’s silence for a moment, and I don’t think he’s going to answer me. But then he says, “I’ve felt really lost, Olive. I love Dee as a father. I do. But the way my mom kept it all so underground, because of how things happened…it’s like I’ve had this…”
“I get it. It’s a hole you need to fill.”
I reach over and put my arms around him.
His mouth tips up in a sexy grin. “I didn’t get a chance to tell you earlier—you look super sexy today.”
“Thanks,” I say. “I dressed up for you.”
He runs his fingers through my hair. “I want you. I’ve wanted to do this all damn day.” His mouth covers mine again, and this time, we don’t stop.
Jenson controls the angle of the kiss with his hand that’s tangled in my hair.
“Harder,” he mutters into my mouth. “Don’t hold back, Olive. Give it to me.”
Our tongues are wild as we kiss each other with abandon. It’s urgent and out of control. Jenson’s free hand goes to my waist where he slips his hand underneath my shirt and scrapes his rough palm over my burning-hot skin.
“Something’s different,” he murmurs. “We’re different this time.”
He’s right. We’ve always been like this, passionate and electric together. But I feel something different too every time we touch, something more. I have since he’s been back.
“Maybe because we’re not holding back anymore,” I say as he pulls me onto his lap. “Because we’re both adults this time.”
He sucks on my neck and moves his lips lower.
“I hated seeing that jerk flirt with you,” he says as he trails kisses down my collarbone.
“It doesn’t mean anything, and I didn’t flirt back,” I say on a moan.
“I know. But it doesn’t mean I like it. And my mom—she tried to set me up with an old high school classmate before you got to the fair.”
He moves his hand up my bare stomach and grazes the curve of my breast.
“Oh, God. J…” I barely remember what he was saying. Oh right, something about family wanting to set him up. Well, that’s the story of my summer.
Jenson’s fingers slip underneath my bra cup, and he tugs lightly at my nipple. I moan into his shoulder, trying to keep my voice down.
Our behavior is getting riskier. Even though we’re hidden behind a stand of trees, we’re in broad daylight. But the danger just makes it more exciting, more of a turn-on.
Movement behind a nearby tree catches my eye. But when I look more closely, I don’t see anything.
Hmmm. Weird.
Before I can say anything to Jenson—
“Noooooo!”
We break apart and stand up. Jenson hurries to make sure my shirt is smoothed down, and then we run toward the sound of the high-pitched, agonized scream. When we emerge from the cover of the forest and I see what’s going on, my heart comes up into my throat.
Auntie Sue is slowly rolling in her wheelchair down the grassy hill in the town square. Matilda’s chasing after her, but before she can catch her, the wheelchair tips over and crashes on top of Auntie Sue. And then…silence.
“Oh, no.” I bring my hand to my mouth.
“I’ll call 911,” Jenson says immediately.
Chapter Twelve
When Jenson and I reach Auntie Sue, she’s unconscious. My heart breaks for her, but for the first time in years, she looks at peace. It almost feels like a perverse sort of permission to take the leap into the unknown, to let go of the family ties that bind. Jenson locks eyes with me, and I nod at him even though he never asked me anything out loud.
Three hours later, we all stand around Auntie Sue’s hospital bed and watch her sleep. As much as it seemed like God was trying to give her a leg up into the beyond, Auntie Sue is alive and sleeping like a baby with, miraculously, no broken bones and no head trauma. I’m more relieved than I want to admit, and I vow to spend more time visiting her this summer.
However, now isn’t the time. Because while I love her, watching anyone sleep like this is its own little f
orm of torture.
Unless we were excused, we’re all here, and the hospital room is hot and crowded. Kyle and Connor are too little to be expected to be here. And Cindy offered—more like absolutely insisted—to be the one to take Kyle and Connor home with her. Jenson tried to say he’d do it, but Cindy used the grandmother card, and now he’s stuck here with the rest of us at the hospital.
My cousin Stacey whispers from my side. “Even if she had died, if she came back to life right now, she’d still be the same.”
I shush her, but she won’t stop.
“You know what I mean, Olive? People mourn the dead, but it’s almost like they forget what they knew. Auntie Sue is awesome, but she was also bossy before she became incapable—remember that? She used to boss all of us around, and her sisters and kids, too. We loved her sassiness, but we used to get so mad at her too.” Stacey shakes her head. “People don’t want to admit the truth. I mean what’s so freaking wrong with the damn truth?”
My gaze automatically shifts to Jenson standing across the bed from me as my mother keeps her arm around Cybil sitting at the foot of the bed. Cybil leans her head on Mom’s shoulder.
“Such a beautiful paint job,” Mom comments as she stares awkwardly at the wall behind Auntie Sue’s head.
“Isn’t it?” Cybil agrees. “Very tasteful.”
Awkward silence follows until Cybil finally says what we’re all thinking.
“My sister just won’t let go,” she says.
“It’s like an iron grip,” Matilda murmurs in a quiet voice.
“She’d feel so much better if she’d just give in and let God take her,” Mom agrees. “Give in, Auntie Sue.” My mother practically moans the words. “Let go.”
Let go. Give in. Take me.
Oh, my God. I’m taking a conversation about death and turning it into sex in my head. I really have lost it. But I don’t want to miss out on living when I’m so blessed to be young, healthy, and alive. Auntie Sue wouldn’t want me to suffer like this. She wouldn’t want me to hold back on love.
My eyes find Jenson’s.
I want him so much that it aches. I tell Mom I have a message from work that can’t wait, and I kiss Auntie Sue goodbye.
I’m walking through the parking lot when I hear him call to me.
I spin around with a smile. “You got out?”
“Of course.” He steps closer until he’s near enough to touch. “I’ve got some time before my coaches meeting.”
Thank God. The ache between my legs is so intense I can barely stand it.
“Are you ready?” he asks me as he nods at his truck a few feet away.
Yes.
As soon as we get into the truck, I look at him. “Remember how I said I want everything with you?”
His eyes lock with mine. “Yeah?”
“I want it now,” I say. “If you do. I don’t want to wait anymore. I don’t care about going slow and taking our time. What just happened with Auntie Sue—it made me realize even more how precious life is. It goes by so fast, you know? I don’t want to waste any more time. She was always so good to me, and I feel like even now—she wants me to be happy.”
Jenson grips the steering wheel tightly. “Olive. I don’t want to wait either.”
“So let’s go to my house.”
Jenson gives a quick nod and turns on the truck. He weaves his way through the parking lot and onto the street.
We don’t speak during the fifteen-minute drive, but as we veer into my driveway, Jenson murmurs, “Thank God. I didn’t think I’d make it here without pulling over and taking you in the backseat.”
I think I say something in response, but I have no idea what. It’s incoherent, much like my brain right now. All I know is how desperately I want him.
We barely make it inside and shut the door before he puts his mouth over mine.
“I’ve always wanted to know what it feels like to be inside you, Olivia,” he says into my mouth. “I want to make love to you so much it hurts.”
“I don’t know why, but I’ve been nervous,” I say as I slide my hands underneath his shirt.
He pulls off my top and unhooks my bra in record time. “Maybe because of how long we’ve wanted each other. What if I don’t live up to your fantasy?”
His thumbs run over my hard nipples and I moan.
“What if I don’t live up to yours?” I say.
“I went to Sequoia National Park once,” he says in a rough tone as he reaches for the zipper on my cut-offs. “I was scared the trees wouldn’t be as amazing in real life as they’d always looked in pictures. You know, awe-inspiring.”
“And?”
“Awe-inspiring,” he says.
Well, like Auntie Sue’s day at the fair, not everything always turns out like it seems it will. Jenson and I will have to wait to find out if our lovemaking compares to the sequoia trees. As soon as he picks me up and carries me to bed, my house phone starts to ring. And ring. And ring.
Concerned something’s wrong, I grab my phone off my nightstand, and we listen to the voicemail on speakerphone.
“Olivia, I assume you’re on your way home now,” Mom begins. “I’m driving myself. Oh, wasn’t that so hard with Auntie Sue today? The poor thing…”
Jenson is still kissing my neck, but with a lot less enthusiasm. He finally stops altogether as Mom continues talking like she’s right here in the house with us. “And I saw you talking with Will. He seems like a nice guy, doesn’t he? So together and successful, too. Oh, but poor Auntie Sue—I just can’t stop thinking about her…”
“Or talking about her, apparently,” Jenson says.
I laugh as I reach over and run my fingers through his hair.
The voicemail finally cuts my mother off, and Jenson reaches for me again. He pulls me on top of him, and I catch my breath when I feel his hard length hitting me exactly where I need him most. Just as we start kissing, the doorbell rings.
“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” Jenson says as I jump. “Who is that?”
I shrug. “Not a clue.” I step out of bed and walk down the hallway so I can peek out the door peephole. Crap. It’s a delivery. Must be that package of Todd’s that Daphne had asked me to accept for them while they were away with his parents this weekend. I run back to the bedroom and throw on a t-shirt and shorts, then return to the door and open it. If this isn’t proper foreplay, I don’t know what is.
“Hi there.” The delivery guy looks at me and gives me a creepy grin.
I give him a quick smile and sign the clipboard he holds out for me.
“Thanks,” I say as I grab the package and shut the door.
I walk back into the bedroom, taking off my clothes as I walk. By the time I reach Jenson, I’m naked again.
“Delivery on behalf of Daphne,” I say. “Let’s not waste any more time—we may get interrupted again.”
I reach down and carefully release Jenson from his boxers.
When his huge erection pops out, I immediately wrap my hand around it.
“Christ,” he mutters. “Feels so good, Olive.”
He guides me onto my back, and his hand slips in between us to the part of me that needs him so badly right now I’m shaking.
“Shit.” Jenson’s voice is raw. “You’re so wet.”
I reach for the condoms inside my bedside table and hand him one. “I need you inside me.”
He’s just rolled the condom on when his cell phone rings. He reaches over and hits ignore, but it rings again immediately.
“Just see who it is,” I say.
He glances at the phone. “It’s an 800 number. It’s nothing.”
He turns off his phone, and finally there’s silence. It’s just Jenson and me like I’ve fantasized about for so many years. He braces himself over me, and I wrap my arms around his back and look into his eyes.
But when he goes to push inside me, to take that final, irreversible step, something stops us. Me. My muscles tense and Jenson can’t…get in,
so to speak. I take a few deep breaths and tell him to try again.
Nothing.
Despite how intimate we’ve gotten this past week, intercourse seals the deal, and that seems to be the one thing I’m not able to do. We try everything, from different positions to taking a break to powering through. Nothing works. I’m just not having it today.
Mom’s phone call certainly didn’t help. But the truth is, I’m scared. The memory of my heart breaking when Jenson and I ended things all those years ago still haunts me. It’s illogical, but the heart doesn’t care about logic.
“It’s okay.” Jenson touches my cheek with his hand. “It’s all right.” He rolls off of me onto his back, puts his arms around me, and rests my head on his bare chest.
“Oh, Lord.” I’m so embarrassed I don’t think it’s possible to feel more uncomfortable than I feel right now.
“So we practice,” he says. “All good things take practice, right?”
I trace invisible circles over his chest with my finger. “I bet you and Meghan didn’t need to practice.”
“Hey.” He takes my chin in his hand, forcing me to make eye contact with him. His are warm and tender. “I bet Meghan and I didn’t have the history that you and I have. Nobody makes me feel the way you do, Olivia. Don’t let this mess with your head.”
I glance at the clock. “You have to go soon. You’ve got your coaches meeting.” I hesitate, not sure I should say something, but I don’t want him to think I’ve forgotten. “How are you doing? You know, about Donald?”
Jenson pats my leg. “Thanks for asking, but I’d rather not talk about it. I’m not sure what I’m going to do if anything. I just need some time on it.”
“Okay.” I put my hand on his. “I won’t mention it until you do then. But I’m always here.”
I walk with him to my front door.
“This is just the beginning for us,” he says as he kisses me good-bye. “You and me—we’re only getting started with how good this can be.”
“Do you think in some parallel world we’re married with two point five kids and a white picket fence?”
“It’s what’s kept me going,” Jenson says, his hands in my hair while he nibbles my lips. “The dream of getting to that universe someday.”
Jenson (Wild Men Book 4) Page 12