Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Jake didn’t respond to my apology. Instead, he walked over to the door, closed it and shut off the light. I looked at the digital clock, which said 11:30. It was later than I thought. Only the streetlights outside illuminated the room now, as he removed his wet jacket and threw it on the floor. Then, he pulled his t-shirt over his head and was completely shirtless.
Oh…wow…okay.
I bit down on my bottom lip hard, and my body trembled as he approached the bed.
Yeah, this was more like the dream I had imagined.
“Scoot over,” he said in a low voice.
I turned to my side and moved to the right, tucking my arms under my chin.
An indescribable sensation came over me when I felt his warm rock hard chest up against my back. Then, he put his arm around my waist. He was…spooning me.
Holy shit.
I closed my eyes, breathing in the masculine smell of his body: sweat mixed with cologne and rain, and I hoped he couldn’t sense my nerves. The room was completely silent aside from the sound of the rain pelting the window, but I felt like he would be able to hear my heart beating through my ears.
His breathing was heavy, and I could feel it on my neck. At one point, I inadvertently moved and brushed up against the metal of his lip ring and it caused me to flinch.
He spoke low against my back, his voice vibrating through me. “You’re moving around a lot. You okay with this, Nina? Would you rather go back to your bed?”
“No. I want to stay.”
He had no idea how much.
“Good.” His body seemed to relax further into mine after I said that I wanted to stay. His nose was buried in my hair and I could feel him smelling me. He gripped my waist and the heat of his breath behind me continued to make me crazy. My underwear was completely soaked from the need developing between my legs.
I didn’t understand what the spooning meant or really, how such an innocent thing could make my body respond this way. I just knew that it felt amazing to be so close to him and that my emotions were going haywire. Those butterflies in my stomach? They were forming a conga line right about now.
After getting a glimpse inside his mind through those drawings and after bonding with him in the elevator last week, lying next to him like this was the most intimate experience I had ever had.
“Jake?”
“Yeah.”
“I really am sorry for invading your privacy.”
After a long pause, he said into my hair, “It’s okay, Nina.”
“Thank you.”
“Nina?”
“Yeah?”
“Your underwear drawer might get rearranged this week. That’s all I’m sayin.”
My back moved against his mouth as I giggled. I started to relax, and minutes later, I fell asleep in his arms.
CHAPTER 9
Two weeks later, and things with Jake were stranger than ever. I hadn’t slept in his bed ever again after that night, and we never spoke about the spooning or the drawings I discovered. The morning after I slept in his room, I woke to an empty bed because he had already left for work.
He tutored me a couple of more times and made no effort to take things any further with me those nights alone in his room. He was basically acting like nothing ever happened. As a protective mechanism, I had convinced myself that this was for the best. In reality, his indifference made me furious and unfortunately, even more physically attracted to him, if that was possible.
The only positive thing to come out of the anger I felt was that it made me focus harder on my studies. I was now in a secret mental competition with him, determined to get an A on my next math exam. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of taking me on another expedition of fear and felt like I needed to prove myself. At least, it was a positive way to channel the sexual frustration.
That’s not to say I didn’t close my eyes at night and imagine him lying behind me. Knowing what that actually felt like now was a curse. Keeping my feelings in check was so much easier before that night. But I was also determined to move on from my infatuation with Jake.
So, one Monday afternoon after math class when Alistair asked me for a date the following Friday night, my response was, “Sure, why not?” Jake would be on his way to Boston by the time Alistair came to pick me up from the apartment, so there would be no awkwardness. Not that Jake would even care, but it made me feel better knowing that he wouldn’t be there to scrutinize my date. Alistair was pretty much the polar opposite of Jake except for the fact that they were both really smart.