One and Done (Two Outta Three #2) (20 page)

I looked up cautiously, taking in the way her lips parted almost suggestively, but I knew she was just anxious. “Did you know I stopped by your house two nights ago?”

“Wait, what?” Her eyes darkened, an unmistakable mask of guilt.

I sighed and trembled slightly. “I felt bad about what went down at the store. I knew it was a dick move and I should have apologized, but again I hated how much I felt like the old Jesse, you know?”

When did you come over?” she demanded.

“When do you think? I rolled up to your house and saw a strange car in your driveway. I knew you parents were gone and it couldn’t have been Emily’s. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was Ethan’s prissy ride.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how much of a creeper I sounded like. Guess the kids from Bethel Falls High School did have something right about me. I was definitely a class five weirdo.

Rocky looked as if she were caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Her eyebrows were pushed together and her nose was scrunched up in regret. “Uh, yeah he wanted to cook for me.”

“Cook for you, huh?” Yeah, right.

She nodded but didn’t say a word.

I could have rolled my eyes, but I didn’t. As a twenty-three-year-old male, I’ve ridden my share of rodeos before, and I knew perfectly well there was no cooking usually involved.

“You know what ‘cooking for you’ is code for, right?” I took a few breaths to calm myself, worried that my jealousy would be overtly obvious. My jaw tightened and my teeth clenched, picturing that douche getting grabby with Rocky. I shook my head, waiting for her to respond, and when she didn’t, I pressed on. “I stayed in my car, wondering if I should go in and bother you. Hell, I sure wanted to.”

“Why?”

“You know why,” I muttered. She should know why, but that didn’t mean she did. At least I wanted her to know why.

“Do I?”

She really wanted to play this game, didn’t she? Fine. I’ll bite.

“I saw Ethan walk out with extremely, extremely messy hair. His little poof was no longer a poof.” Though my brain was telling me—screaming—for me to stop, it was as if my hand had a mind of its own. Desperate to feel Rocky’s warmth once and for all, I reached out and did just as I imagined, dragging a finger against her olive-toned cheek.

Her mouth opened and closed as if she had something to say, but no words came out. Her lips remained parted, breathing in loudly. I silently prayed to hear her moan again.

I wonder if Ethan heard her moan.

My mouth hardened as I imagined the prick walking out of her house, eyeing me with that self-righteous look on his face. I smacked my tongue in disgust. “I was angry, but why? I had no right to be angry. We weren’t even good friends anymore.”

Like a bad train wreck I couldn’t stop myself from imagining the prick caressing Rocky’s body. I felt my insides turn in anger, my blood boiling dangerously. Though I may not have deserved the princess sitting in front of me, I knew Ethan didn’t either.

What the hell was I doing? How was this helping me? I needed to erase the visual from my mind. I also needed to erase the memory from hers.

Propelled by lust and love, I banished every second thought I had and let my carnal instincts take over. Bringing my face dangerously close to hers, I continued to touch her cheeks, moving my fingers down to the dip of her collarbones. I was desperate to replace Ethan in every single fantasy—that meant replacing him in her memories. “Did he touch you like this? Did he lean into you like this?” I invaded her personal space, finally inhaling her sweet scent. “And whisper sweet nothings in your ear?”

I continued my trek of her body, going unbearably slow though all I wanted to do was grab her by the hips and her throw her down onto my bed. I wanted to take her hard and fast, but I knew she didn’t deserve that. She deserved my undivided attention. I needed to make love to her and not fuck her brains out…though I admit my dick grew harder at the thought of the latter.

“Did he touch you like this? Gentle, the way you deserve to be treated?” My fingertips tingled in anticipation, feeling an electric pulse travel from her skin to mine.

“I’m not glass.”

No, she was far from fragile, but she did deserve care. Ah, sweet, naïve Rocky. Couldn’t she see how much she was worth?

When somebody hurts you, you tend to forget.

I felt myself wilt for a moment and thought better of it.

I’ll make it up to her.

“No,” I whispered. “Just someone special.”

Rocky pulled her arm back from my grasp. With fiery eyes she gazed at me and shook her head profusely. “Why are you doing this? Why are you asking these questions? This isn’t right.”

“What do you mean?” I practically whined.

“I can’t keep up with your moods, Jesse. First you’re cold, then you’re aloof, and now you’re—”

“Hot?” I teased.

“Please make up your mind about me,” she said point blank.

I gazed at her with an incredulous expression on my face. How could she not know that I loved her? I practically just laid everything out on the table for her. Fuck, I was in the middle of foreplay!

“I already told you how I felt,” I replied, flabbergasted.

“When?”

“At my restaurant? The photo?” I replied, trying to keep my voice from betraying my shock.

“That didn’t mean anything to me.”

Ouch. That was a stab in the heart. Good thing I’d always known how to tell when Rocky was lying. I bit back a smirk as I watched her fingers drum anxiously against the couch.

Two could play at this game.

“I heard you talking in your sleep. I’d like to say that it did mean something to you. You said my name and how much you cared about me—”

“I always thought that when this happened you wouldn’t be talking about another guy first!” She shouted, startling me.

“When what happened?” Once again my carnal response was electrifying.

Instead of answering, she just stared at me with a blank expression. The corners of my mouth lifted into a flirtatious grin, knowing perfectly well that I caught her right where I needed her. I was bursting at the seams, but I knew to take my time. “You don’t want to talk about another guy, huh? Fine, let’s talk about me then, because I know exactly what I would do to you.” Once again my finger worked up and down her arm. “I’d take my time to explore each curve, each crevice of your body. I know you’re not fragile by any means, but I’d treat you like any treasure should be handled.”

“H-how’s that?” she squeaked.

There was no denying the smile on my face. “With awe and all the care in the world.”

I shut my eyes and sighed, reveling in the feeling of her soft skin on my fingertips. After years of only imagining what it would be like—feel like—to cross the uncrossable border of the friend zone, nothing could have prepared me for this. After years of swearing I’d end up alone thinking that I deserved to be alone. After all that time pushing away the one…I was officially done.

I inhaled her sweet scent, further catapulting me into a dizzying abyss. “I’d map out your body, taking in your favorite spots and bookmarking them for future reference.”

“Bookmarking,” she snickered.

“Okay, bad choice of words.” She may have been laughing now, but in just a few moments I’d make sure her giggles were replaced by sighs. I leaned forward, allowing our noses to graze each other and bit back a growl that was working inside my throat, forcing out a raspy question. “Then you know how I’d kiss you?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Like this.”

Without another moment’s hesitation I licked my lips and quickly pressed them against her supple pair. I grabbed onto the back of her neck with one hand and allowed the other to continue its exploration of her body. Prying my mouth open, I took her plump bottom lip between my own and plunged my tongue into her warmth, gently showing her how much she meant to me.

That is until Rocky took matters into her own hands. Grabbing around my neck, Rocky dove into my body, pressing her breasts against my chest, causing me to crash onto the couch. Our kisses became more intense, hurried, as if finally getting a taste of water after years in the hot desert. If anything, that’s what we were, weren’t we? Two survivors finally on the verge of their oasis.

This is wrong, Jesse. Stop it.

As if a light bulb switched off in my head, I carefully pushed her off me and wriggled myself toward the arm of the couch. Common sense still won out against everything else.

“What’s wrong?” Her chest heaved up and down, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I could make out the thrashing of her pulse against the crook of her neck. It mimicked the pounding of my own heart.

I swallowed. “That…was great.”

She smiled a bit arrogantly, but that smile soon washed off her face. She looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to say more.

I bowed my head slightly. “But I promised myself I’d never drag you down with me.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to do this for a long time. A very long time,” I admitted.

She raised her hand in confusion. “So why…”

Though it was torture keeping my feelings to myself, it was even more painful saying it out loud. “Because I always thought I wasn’t good enough for you. You deserve a good guy like Ethan. I mean, I hated him from the moment I saw him because he was who I wanted to be in more ways than one.”

She rolled her eyes. “If this is about being privileged—”

“It’s not. You deserve somebody your parents want for you. A person who’s stable—”

“You’re stable!” She cut me off with irritation. “Isn’t that the reason why you brought me here? To show me that?”

I bit my lip and allowed my eyelids to fall slightly. As hard as I tried to fight it, I couldn’t help but let the feelings of insecurity once again wrap its ugly claws around my heart. “Can you clarify something for me?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess so.” She blinked, frowning heavily.

“Everything you did with me in high school…you did it because you wanted to, right? Not because you felt sorry for me? Not because in some way you were trying to get back at your parents for smothering you?”

I need to know this. As much as I don’t want to know it, I need it.

Her eyes widened in understanding. “Of course I did it because I wanted to. I told you that from the start.”

I shook my head. “But you said it was to protect me. That means you felt sorry for me.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Her eyes darted around as if she were piecing together erratic thoughts. When they landed on me once again I saw a determination in them that I was most grateful for. “What about New Year’s Eve? I kissed you then, didn’t I? That wasn’t me feeling sorry for you.”

I felt my cheeks warm. “I know I gave you a hard time about that, but I guess I was desperate to hide how much it meant to me…especially if you only did so because you were trying to find an excuse to dump Ethan.”

“Would you stop mentioning him?” She just about groaned.

Remembering Sloan, I felt a familiar twinge of anger and embarrassment. “Wouldn’t be the first time I was used to make a boyfriend jealous, but it would be the first time I felt hurt about it.”

She looked horrified. “You know I wouldn’t do that. I kissed you that night because—”

“Because you were caught up in the moment.” Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before.

“No…” Her voice dropped by octaves. She visibly swallowed and pressed her lips together before answering. “I mean, I was, but only in the way that it gave me the courage to do something I’ve always wanted to do.”

I watched silently as she fidgeted. Though I wanted nothing more than to take her right then and there, I knew it wouldn’t be right. She seemed so…lost. Ignoring my pent up frustration, I mentally prepared myself to put an end to all this, but my dear Rocky was once again full of surprises.

Her voice was no longer small and meek, it sounded empowered. With blazing eyes she cooed, “Just like I’ve always wanted to do this,” before nudging her petite body against mine. Momentarily caught by shock, I quickly regained my focus, plunging my tongue into her mouth. Grabbing onto whatever part of her body I could, I massaged her skin in time with how my tongue caressed hers.

Sweet. Just like I always knew it would be.

I soon lost myself to the rhythm of her light touches, groaning each time she grabbed onto my hair, pulling lightly as if she were afraid I’d run away.

Not this time.

Then just like that, I froze. Once we hit this point of no return, there really was no going back for me. I couldn’t spend another five years denying what my heart wanted. “Rocky…you know that…I mean, you could tell that…”

“Jesse, you’re making me nervous right now. What’s wrong?” Her mouth trembled in worry.

I lifted my chin and sighed. “You know this isn’t just messing around to me, right?”

“Huh?”

“I know I was giving you a hard time about using me, but you know I didn’t mean it.”

“Uh, yeah. Of course not.”

I had to tell her. There was no more holding back. “You know I…I always loved you, right? I have always loved you. From the moment your dorky self said, ‘Hi, welcome to our bio group,’ to the day we sat on those bleachers and said goodbye. I have never stopped thinking about you.”