Page 92 of My Turn

Alana

He abandoned me. I was shocked by how much it affected me when he said those harsh words over the phone. I’d been pathetic and sent him a couple of texts, but he never responded. They didn’t even show up as read. I was starting to think that he’d blocked me.

How could somebody go from completely obsessed to simply gone? It was ironic, really. I wanted him to leave me alone and now that he had, I was the one missing him. He’d pulled an Uno reverse on me. It was bullshit.

An arm slid around my shoulders, startling me from my thoughts. I smiled weakly at Jayce and leaned into him. He tightened his hold on me and it almost felt like he could make everything okay. Being in his arms was safe. I hated that we hadn’t been in a good place for a while. Maybe that was why I’d become so close to Erebus.

I shook away the thoughts. Today was the anniversary of Jake’s death. I didn’t know why we were all gathered at Jayce’s house. We’d gone to his grave, stood there and said some awkward words to the dirt, and came here. There was food in the kitchen, but none of us had eaten.

To be honest, I didn’t feel as despondent as I’d expected to. I thought this would be the third worst day of my life. The first was when he died. The second was the night after his funeral. It was the most alone I’d felt, after everyone had dropped off their obligatory casseroles and went their separate ways. I’d locked myself away in Jayce’s spare bedroom to stew in my own despair.

Today, though, just felt like a normal day. I might have even felt lighter. It was like that knot in my chest that tied me to Jake had loosened, allowing me to see a future that wasn’t intertwined with his.

I slipped my arm behind Jayce and nestled into his chest. When I inhaled his scent, I found myself wanting more. I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that. Long enough for his parents to leave and the sun to lower, causing long shadows to stretch across the living room. Neither of us moved, not until the room was dark.

“Do you want to sleep here?” he murmured into the top of my head.

Without thinking too much about it, I nodded. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept well. Maybe being here with him would give me the peace of mind that I needed. If I hadn’t been afraid for my safety, I would have tried it earlier. I didn’t think that threat still loomed over us, which offered me a confusing combination of peace and despair.

When he picked me up, I let out a startled sound. He tucked me against his chest and I relaxed into him. That leather and tobacco scent embraced me and I wanted more, so I wrapped my arms around his neck. I nuzzled my nose up against his skin, inhaling. His heart hammered; I could feel it through his pulse point.

Had I been overcomplicating this? My reservations were valid, but after everything that had happened over the past month, it all seemed incredibly trivial.

I loved Jayce. That was never in question.Whenthat had happened wasn’t all that important anymore. We hadn’t been locked in some godforsaken love triangle. It just existed on the outside, a constant we were aware of but wouldn’t address. I had no idea if Jake had known. I doubted it, otherwise he would’ve been extremely insecure about it.

Jayce reached for the doorknob to the guest bedroom and I tightened my grip on him. “Can I sleep with you?”

He froze, pulling in a slow breath. Without saying anything, he turned around and brought me into his room. My heart beat faster when I looked at his king-sized bed. It seemed like an awful lot of space for just one person.

Suddenly, I wondered how many other women had slept here. It wasn’t fair or logical, but I resented that idea. Jayce wasn’t going to wait forever. He was incredible, handsome, and had a good job. I kept pushing him away and turning him down. What the hell was I doing?

He set me on the bed, then settled on his back beside me. My heart beat fiercely against my chest. I didn’t know what I was doing when I sat up. He looked at me curiously, his head cocking. The gesture was familiar. He did it a lot, like a predator assessing its next meal. Was I the prey?

“Alana?”

Without saying anything, I shifted onto my knees, tucking my feet underneath me. He just watched me, those blue eyes assessing. Blue… They were just his eyes. I’d been looking at them for years.

He reached out to put a hand on my thigh. “Alana-”

I grabbed either side of his neck and pressed my lips to his. He cupped my jaw, immediately opening his mouth to me. Whenmy tongue met his, he made a sound that caused my body to react, like it recognized it.

He lifted me onto his lap and deepened the kiss. Straddling his hips, I moaned when his dick hardened against me.

“Fuck, baby,” he groaned. “What are you doing?”

That endearment just rolled off his lips, like he’d said it before. It sounded right and wrong. His words, his kiss, his body… I ran my hands over his shoulders, then thrust my fingers into his hair.

When I didn’t answer him, he turned me onto my back gently and in one smooth motion, he pulled my pants off. My legs fell open and he dropped down between them, looking up at me with something akin to nervousness.

“Is this what you want, Alana?”

I nodded. His eyes blazed with an intensity that made my core throb.

He kissed the inside of my thigh, then sucked on the skin. Continuing like that, he made his way up to my pussy. His tongue flicked my clit and I jolted.

“Promise me something,” he said before he trailed his tongue down to my entrance. “Say my name when I make you cum.”

His fingers plunged inside of me at the same time that he made a long swipe upward. He hooked them at just the right angle on the way out and my back arched. I gasped when he sucked on my clit. It was impossible to catch my breath as he made circles around it, then went back to direct stimulation.

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