The Heart - Kate Stewart Page 0,13
Jack asked, placing a booted foot just inside my bedroom, teetering on the step up it took to get inside.
“Sure.” He was just inches away. I could see every detail of his chiseled face, his eyes, nose, lips, and chin. All of it appealed to me, all of him. There was an evident pull between us, and I could see just how much it was affecting him with the way he looked at me, though his demeanor reeked of confidence.
“What made you go out and buy a Tesla today?”
I peeked over his shoulder at my beautiful new car and exhaled deeply with a satisfied and equally confident smile before giving him an answer. My body rattled with awareness as he inched forward, and I made no move to encourage him or otherwise. I fed off him greedily, and I was sure I matched his heated stare. Taking great care not to touch him, I leaned in as close as possible.
“I felt like it,” I said with a wink. I gripped the handle of the door behind him, and he stepped back so I could shut it. “Night, Jack.”
“Night,” he said, hesitating before he began to make his way off the porch. “Oh and Rose?”
“Yes, Jack?”
“You fucking excel at sexy.”
“If the Kardashians can live with the size of their asses and profit from it, you can get out of bed, Rose.”
The first time I’d ever been kissed was in fourth grade. His name was Jason Hammond. We had dropped pencils under our desk in an attempt to steal a kiss, in hopes of recreating the same kiss I’d seen the night before, but it lacked every single detail and emotion that had made me suddenly curious about the act of kissing. No matter how many times I’d pressed my lips to his under that desk, it didn’t feel anything like what I’d felt seeing my parents do it the night before.
It had been an accident, really. Long after they assumed I’d gone to sleep, I snuck downstairs, determined to devour the last two Twinkies I’d been denied after dinner. When I heard them whispering back and forth in the living room, I froze.
The lights were dim as they stood in each other’s arms in front of a roaring fireplace. I made a beeline for the pantry and grabbed the box. Much to my dismay, I found it empty. Rolling my eyes with defeat, I begin to creep back toward the stairs when I glanced at them and stood paralyzed at the sight before me.
“Love me, Seth,” my mother whispered as he stared down at her with a look that made my heart ache. I was surprised by how much it hurt. I gripped my chest as my father continued to gaze at her with a look of pure devotion on his face as she asked him over and over to love her. He held her face close to his and whispered something to her. She nodded as a tear slid down her cheek. He caught it with his thumb. With a gentle finger, he pushed the strap of her nightgown to the side, leaving her shoulder bare. He kissed it slowly with his eyes closed and she tilted her neck back. I knew I should’ve left then, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. My mother never begged for anything. I’d never heard that type of desperation in her voice, and she’d never looked so... beautiful. He leaned in and took her lips gently. It was all I could do to keep from matching my mother’s sigh as she clung to him and returned his kiss. I clamped my hands over my mouth, though I was barely breathing. When he’d pulled his lips away, he kept his hands on her face and whispered words to her that made her smile. Awareness that I was not supposed to be there raced through me, and I snapped out of my wistful daze, ran up the stairs, and shut my door carefully so there was no way they could hear it. My breaths came out fast as fear crept through me. For a second, I was terrified they may have seen me and I wouldn’t be able to explain myself. When I was sure my secret remained safe, I slumped against the door as my heart pounded and my curiosity soared.
I would never forget the way they looked at each other or the way she’d said his name as if he was the only