Jilted Jock - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,62
you and Richard broke up?”
“No.” She brought me a mug and we sat back on the couch. A piece of furniture I could never look at without thinking about fucking her on it for the first time. “I knew he’d be worried or worse, try to convince me to come back to California. It felt awful keeping it from him. I’m glad he knows now.”
“Any particular reason you didn’t want to fill me in after any one of the many emails I sent?”
I’d hoped to keep the rest of the night light. I had to get on a plane in a few hours and then who knew when I’d see her again, but there were things I needed answers to so that I’d know where I stood when I left.
“Because I knew you’d come and say all the right things and we’d be here.” She waved a hand between us.
“Which is where exactly?”
“Sexed and talking feelings.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “I missed the hell out of you.”
“You look good,” she said. “Single life agrees with you.”
“Being in the same room as you agrees with me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Just because I slept with you doesn’t mean I’m going to start letting you feed me lines.”
“I’ve never fed you lines, sweetheart. We belong together. Tell me you don’t feel it?”
“Look, I’m not going to pretend I haven’t missed you. I wondered if it was possible you really cared for me or if you were just getting over your broken heart. We’re so different and I know you’ve done everything you could to show me you were sincere, but part of me believed you were just salty about being rejected and wanted to prove you could have me.”
I chuckled. “I’m salty as hell, sweetheart, but I meant every word. Those two weeks with you may have only been fourteen days, but they’ve stayed with me more than all the other days in my life. I can’t shake you. Don’t even want to.”
“I think maybe I hit you in the head too hard.”
“Maybe so.” I placed a soft kiss to her mouth and let my lips linger.
When I pulled back, she threaded our fingers together. “I came to New York because I needed to know if what I had with Richard was right for me. It was obvious really quickly that we’d grown apart, but I had to make sure my reservations about him weren’t because of you. I did consider reaching out after that, but when I looked you up online there you were all over LA. And I couldn’t even be mad about it because you thought I was with Richard.”
“But you were anyway.” I squeezed her hand.
“Try not to let it go to your head.”
I set my mug on a small table next to the couch and scooted closer. Her feet were pulled up under her and I grabbed both ankles and straightened her legs to rest on top of me. Dainty toes and cute feet – was that a thing? Because I was digging hers. Blue nail polish and all.
As I ran a finger down the arch of her foot discovering she wasn’t ticklish, she continued. “So, you can see why I didn’t respond to your emails.”
“If we’re going to give this a go, you’re going to have to accept that ninety-nine percent of what you see or read about me online is bullshit.”
“So, you didn’t kiss a Brazilian supermodel?”
I closed one eye and pulled my mouth into a grimace. Technically, Julianna had kissed me, and without giving me much warning. It’d lasted only long enough for me to get my bearings and end it, but did anything but the end result really matter to her?
“No. That did happen.” I held on to her feet as she tried to pull them away. “I meant everything I said in those emails. And so much more. I’m crazy about you. Yeah, after you left with Richard, I tried to move on, but I couldn’t.”
“What did you mean, if we’re going to give this a go? I live in New York, you’re in California. Speaking of, when do you have to head back?”
“Tonight.”
She bit down on her bottom lip.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“I’ve done long distance before, remember?”
“Yeah, but not with me.”
She smiled. “God, you’re cocky.”
I pulled her onto my lap and brushed her hair behind her shoulder. Placing a kiss on the bare skin between her neck and shirt, I offered what reassurances I could. “We’ll make it work. If