“It's been years but my body still remembers exactly how your skin feels up against mine.”
She licked her lips, “Jax …”
“I’m not saying you’re the best I’ve ever had.”
The fire lit up in her eyes again. “Are you ser—”
“And I’m not saying I’m the best you’ve ever had. But our bodies connect. When I see you, I want to be inside you. I want to fucking own you. Nothing else.”
Her breathing picked up.
“It’s more of a primal instinct. Maybe it’s something about what we went through together or maybe I just cut that summer too short.”
She looked over my shoulder like she wanted someone to run in and break this up, like making any more eye contact with me would pain her. “You leaving me that summer wasn’t my fault. You did that.”
“Peaches, I know that. We both needed to move on.”
“Move on to this?” she yelled and threw her hands up. “This, right here between us? We’ve moved on to what? The connection neither of us can shake?”
I boxed her in by putting both my hands on either side of her hips on the counter. I made sure my lips were only an inch from hers when I said, “We can shake this. Let me shake it from you from here on out. No strings. When I’m here, helping you with your class and getting ready for my app launch, you let me get you out of my system and allow yourself to let go enough to get me out of yours.”
I saw her mind working as she slid her hand over her hair. “And when you go back to the city and visit my dad? You expect me to just wait here for you?”
She framed her question to drill home a point and with it, she struck one of my nerves. Before I could hold my tongue, I shot back, “You obviously have a comforting system here. How many times did you fuck Roman while I was gone?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“It doesn't matter,” I shook my head, attempting to shake off the jealousy I finally had to admit I was feeling. “Let yourself go with me, Whitfield. Get me out of your system.”
“I don’t have you in my system, Jax.”
She stood tall, her head tilted up at me, like she meant every word she said.
I knew different.
I knew this stance better than any. She wanted to run. She wanted to wave a white flag and go back to some comfort zone where she could lick her wounds, build her wall back up.
“If you don’t, prove it.”
“How?”
“Play along for two minutes. If you want me to stop, just say so, and I’ll walk away.”
The fire in those emerald eyes of hers burned with fear.
If she walked, I’d find someone else to be with, I reminded myself.
Something in me screamed I would never find someone like her.
I silenced that scream as best I could and stared at her like I’d walk away right then if she asked me to.
I knew better. I just hoped she didn’t.