“Everything feels better with you,” he muttered to me.
I took a deep breath, my hands moving up and down his muscular back in a gentle caress.
Even after all these years, the effect he had on me was unchanging. I both hated that, and loved it, all the same.
“Do you want to sit down?” I asked after a long moment. I wasn’t sure how long we had stood there, but I knew we had to pull away eventually.
He paused. Then, “Yeah.”
Slowly, I pulled away. Our eyes met in the dark hallway, and it was hard to tell how he was feeling. The only thing I knew was, I was feeling too damn much.
I let out an awkward cough and pulled away. Without saying anything more, I walked over to the couch. I could hear Jensen following behind me.
“Are you hungry?” I asked.
I looked back at him. He shook his head, his face closed off.
“How was your day with Elodie? I hope it wasn’t too much trouble?”
“Not at all. Elodie is a total sweetheart.”
He shot me a knowing look. “That’s kind of you to say, but I know my little girl. I know she can be a little terror when she wants to be.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped then, and Jensen relaxed marginally. “Maybe to you. But Elodie and I, we’re like this.”
I crossed my pointer and middle finger together to show him how close we were, and Jensen watched me with amusement in his eyes. He clasped my fingers with his big hand, holding it there. We held still for a moment, before I reluctantly pulled away, breaking the spell.
“How’s work?”
He made a small, dissatisfied noise.
“That bad?” I asked.
“It’s getting better.” At my questioning look, he clarified, “My cousin is the COO of the company.”
I shook my head, still not understanding. “Does he suck at his job or something?”
Jensen’s eyes widened at first, as if he was surprised by my blunt question, before he let out a soft chuckle and said, “Or something.”
“Rich people,” I said. “You people think the world runs on nepotism.”
He grinned at me, and I was glad he didn’t take offense to that. “My cousin is not a bad man. He’s just lost.”
“How old is he?”
“Twenty-nine,” he answered.
He was older than me by two years. What a scary thought to mull over. That even in two years’ time, I still might not have my shit figured out.
Jensen must have misinterpreted my expression for something else, because he added in defense of his cousin, “Sometimes it’s hard to fill the roles that are pushed onto us.”
“It seems you don’t have that problem,” I said, and that was true. It looked like Jensen was born in the role of CEO for a big investment banking company.
He shrugged. “Maybe I’m just good at pretending.”
I shook my head. “Bullshit.”
He laughed. “You’re that certain about me?”