Discovering April (20 page)

He smiles, his hands bracing themselves on the bed at either side of my head. “I didn’t say that... it’s just I don’t want to rush anything.”

Jared’s shirt falls open when I finally reach the last button. His perfect abs are shadowed and defined by the moonlight. My eyes start up his chest. “Rush?” I whisper softly as my hands graze their way up his biceps that frame my face. “Jare… this has been seven long years in the making. I think we’ve waited long enough.”

He pauses for a second. I hear his breath hitch in his throat as his dark eyes study my face. For some reason, I’m surprised when I feel Jared’s lips on mine. The passion between us is renewed at my admission. It’s my turn to moan against his lips. My legs automatically slide up and down his, causing my dress to hike up slightly before my legs wrap themselves around his waist. His hands make their way up my side slowly as if ingraining into memory the curve of my body. My hands have automatically found their way to his belt. I slip my fingers through it and release the hook, swinging it open. Before I know it, I’m unbuttoning his jeans. That’s when I feel his hands squeeze me tight. His lips leave mine for the first time since I spoke, and I feel them slowly trace their way down my neck. My fists clench against the skin on his waist.

“Oh, Jared,” I groan.

His body freezes above me for a fraction of a second. His head lifts out of the crook of my neck to meet my eyes again.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you call my name like that?” he whispers.

My hands find their way to his face and mingle with his hair. “There’s more where that came from.” I shoot him a sexy smirk before pulling his lips back to mine.

I ROLL OVER THE next day, wrapped in nothing but Jared’s cream sheets. Once I notice I’m alone, I take the opportunity to let out a hushed scream into his pillow. I can’t believe that really happened last night, I think as I spin back around and bite my nails. The sly smile plays on my lips as I think back to the events of the past night. I don’t really remember when we started taking each other’s clothes off. But I do remember lying there naked in front of each other for the first time ever. I remember him pausing, taking me all in. The way his eyes darted all over my body was the way I looked at a painting in a museum. It was a look of awe and appreciation.

When I just couldn’t take his sexy gaze anymore, I climbed on top of him. Our eyes met right before – his eyes were so eager and vulnerable. I’ll never forget how we both gasped at the same time, when I first felt him before I began a slow rhythm. I allowed his hands to explore every inch of me until I couldn’t bear to be away from his lips any longer. I leaned over, meeting them as his arms wrapped around me to bring me closer and closer until there wasn’t a single breath between us. That’s when things really began to heat up. With one swift motion, he flipped me over until he was on top of me, never pulling away from my lips. Once Jared took control, I can’t seem to remember anything but ecstasy—I do recall screaming his name quite a few times as promised.

“Oh my God,” I mutter, rolling into the pillow once again.

That’s when I hear footsteps making their way up the creaking stairs.

Oh crap
.

I run my fingers through my hair a few times, lick my finger, and run it under my eye so I don’t have that classy raccoon look. I have just enough time to pull the sheets up to the curve of my breasts before I see Jared walking in, carrying a cup of coffee between his hands. It’s his blue plaid boxers that really catch my attention, though.

“Good. You’re up!” He sits on the edge of the bed, offering me the cup between his hands.

“Mmm, yeah. Thanks.” I take the cup from him, trying not to think about the fact that I just touched the same hands that were all over me last night. My body gives me away as I feel the heat rise in my cheeks. I try to cover it up by taking a sip of coffee.

“So…” I mutter with my lips against the cup. “Last night…”

“…was amazing.” He finishes my sentence.

“Yeah,” I admit, shying away from his gaze.

“Apes…”

I place my cup on the nightstand after another sip while he fumbles with his words. Before he can finish his train of thought, I interrupt him with thoughts of my own. “Jare—I’m going to take a shower.”

I climb out from under the covers, allowing them to reveal my naked body as I slip to my feet. I feel his eyes on me. “Wanna join me?”

I feel my hair tickle my bare back as I peek over my shoulder at him. He’s on his feet in seconds. I reach my hand for his and guide him to the door next to the lavender room. The grey tiled bathroom is slightly small, I think, as I lean my bare behind against the cold sink. Jared opens the tall glass door of the shower and turns it on. Before he can turn around, I’m already slipping my fingers into his boxers and letting them fall to the ground. Jared steps out of them before pulling me into the stream of hot water. The glass door thunks closed behind us, but I barely notice because Jared’s hard body is pinning me against the tiled wall. His tongue parts my lips and coaxes something deep inside of me to awaken once again. My teeth carefully graze his bottom lip as I pull away, leaving a trail of kisses down his neck and onto his chest. He’s rock hard from the past five seconds alone, and I have to stop kissing when I reach his belly button just to pull him into my mouth. His hands involuntarily reach out to grab the bar on the door when I catch him by surprise. I begin my steady pace of pulling him in and out of my mouth. I’m so deep into my rhythm that by the time I look up, Jared’s head is leaned back against the wall and his lip is under his front teeth. For some reason, this bothers me. That’s my lip now! Releasing my hold on him, I glide up to meet his lips again.

“Oh, my God baby, that was—” Before he can continue I’ve given his mouth something better to do. The rest of his sentence is a murmur against my lips as our tongues mingle once more.

He spins me around and I brace myself against the glass wall before I welcome him inside me. He carefully thrusts into me as the water drizzles down around us. When I finally open my eyes, I realize my hands are flat against the shower door, but Jared’s are nowhere to be seen. That’s when I feel him slip my hair over my shoulder and his warm breath on the back of my neck is hotter than the water on my back. I automatically close my eyes, savoring the feeling of his proximity to me. I moan when I feel the tip of his nose run itself down my neck, only to circle back and this time he leaves a trail of kisses down it. He continues his slow circling kisses down my back until I feel it building up inside of me. My incessant breaths are causing even more steam against the glass as my fingers uncontrollably twitch until I hear Jared’s smooth voice whisper into my ear.

“Come for me, baby.”

That’s when I can no longer maintain my control. He grips my waist tighter as he thrusts deeper inside me, finally causing the world to explode all around me. I have to lean my head against the glass as the last of my orgasm racks through me. Jared only lasts a few more seconds after he witnesses me lose all control.

I feel his forehead slump onto my shoulder as he tries to catch his breath again. We stay like that for a minute before he kisses my shoulder and pulls away. I twist to see him dunk his head under the stream of water before running his hands down his face.

“I’m thinking pancakes. You coming?” His arm wraps around my waist, pulling our bodies face to face.

“I still haven’t showered yet, babe.” I smirk up at him.

“Right… I may have showered before.” He winks. “I’ll meet you downstairs then.”

He leaves me staring after his tight butt after he kisses me on the forehead. I hear the bathroom door shut behind him before I lean forward and allow the water to cascade down my face and through my hair.
Wow
, is all I can think as I take a step backward, reaching for the soap. I grab the bar and lather it up in my hands before bringing it to my nose. It smells just like the fresh scent I associate with Jared. My hands glide themselves down my arms and across my chest before down one leg and finally the other.

By the time I rinse myself clean, the scent of his soap fills the room. I slip out of the shower and notice a yellow towel folded and sitting on the sink that wasn’t there when I was leaning against it earlier. I wrap myself into it before glancing back towards the shower. My handprints are still visible against the steaming glass. My hands reflexively extend to place themselves against the only remnant of our passionate tryst in the shower. My mind whips back to Jared’s breathing on my ear, his kisses down my back. That’s when I realize – I’m in trouble. There is no way I’m turning back now. I don’t know if it’s my wet hair dripping down my back or the though of what Eric will say when he finds out that leaves me with a shiver.

AFTER AN AMAZING weekend, we spend the entire week together. The only time we are apart is when I am in school. Even then, our eyes lock through the window. We are like polar magnets; no matter where we are, we are drawn to each other. I can feel him; it’s crazy to explain. We carpool every day and Ro doesn’t tease me about it anymore. I think it’s because I admitted to her that we are an item now. I don’t like to call him my boyfriend; I don’t want to jinx anything. Speaking of a jinx, it seems my furry little friend has also taken a keen interest in Jared. I’m old news whenever Jared comes over.

The first time Jared came inside my house was Tuesday. He opened the fridge for a glass of water. When he saw the bottle of mayo, ketchup, and old stick of butter, he grabbed me by the arm and took me grocery shopping. On the ride there, he made me spill my guts about my money troubles. The lack of medical insurance was only the tip of the iceberg. He listened intently and his harsh face was unreadable until he finally spoke.

“You’re going to move in with me.”

I blatantly laughed in his face. “No, I’m not.”

“Apes, you can’t afford to live on your own anymore and go to school! I have plenty of room in my house. Come live with me.”

“I can’t… that wouldn’t work.” I told him.

I think we had our first little argument about moving in with him. It was actually pretty cute, but in the end he realized there was no budging me. It’s funny: he gave me my balls back, but I don’t think he was expecting me to use them on him. On the other hand, maybe he likes me better this way.

Even with our little argument, this past week was one of the best of my life. It’s not because we did anything special either. We literally just hung out at my house or his.

Now it’s Friday, and we are sitting on the bleachers with the remnants of lunch beside us. We still get the passing glance from the student body, but no one seems surprised anymore.

“Apes, Mack’s having a bonfire tonight at his beach house and we were invited. Would you want to go?” he turns to face me.

He actually asked me what I wanted to do! It’s so refreshing rather than to be told.

“Oh, all of the crew is going?” I ask curiously, but inside I’m cringing thinking about seeing Eric again.

“Yup,” he says, putting his arm around me and pulling me closer. I think he noticed me shivering slightly.

“Yea, sounds like fun.” I find myself wanting to hang out with Stacey and Mack again. Despite Eric’s outburst, I think Jared’s friends are actually kind of cool. I don’t feel like they are judging me or trying to hook my boyfriend up with their cousin. I kind of feel like myself around them.

“Okay, we’ll head out there after you get out of work.”

“You know, it’s kind of creepy that you know my work schedule.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. It’s the same every week; it’s not that hard to memorize.”

“Why, Jared Hoffman, you sure know how to make a girl feel special!”