Page 86 of When Glitter Meets Gold

I pull him down to sit opposite me while I perch on the edge of the sofa, twisting to face him.

“So…” he begins but then his eyes flash down to my legs that spill out from the split of the dressing gown. “You’re not…”

“Wearing underwear? No. I just got out the shower in case you haven’t noticed.” I smile. “You’ve had front row seats before, what’s the big deal?”

He groans. “Look will you just cover up for like twominutes so I can get this out? I need the blood to be in my head, not my dick.”

I huff, cross my legs and pull the silk over my thighs. “Better?”

“Thank you,” he begins a little calmer before his eyes flash to my chest where my nipples are definitely piercing through the silk. He gets up, strides around the coffee table, and rubs the back of his neck. Then in one long breath, he says, “Okay, I don’t know what that was earlier in my car, and I’m not complaining.” He clasps his hands behind his head and looks up. “In fact, please feel free to do that again any time you like.” He lets his arms drop, then rubs a hand over his mouth. What’s got him so jittery? “But we have to talk about what you said before you ran off.”

I swallow, my mind casting back to what the hell I said. I stare up at him, giving him my most confused expression.

“You said you got the urge to show me that this,”—he points from me to him—“isn’t a one-sided thing. You said you didn’t want to be one of the people whouseme.” He sighs when I don’t say anything. “Sara, is that what you think you’ve been doing? Using me?”

Oh.He’d picked up on that. Sure, I wanted him to, but in a way that satisfied him, not in a way that made him feel bad like he clearly does right now. Shit.

“No,” I say, standing to go to him then taking both his hands in mine. “It’s just, I know we got off to that weird start, where you actually thought I was using you.”

He lets go of me, his hands shooting up to rub his face, his biceps straining against the sleeves of his white T-shirt. He groans. “Sara, please tell me you didn’t have sex with me because of what happened at Midas. Because you were trying to prove you weren’t using me?”

I don’t like that we’re not touching anymore, so I placemy hands above the waistband of his sweatpants, stroking him gently. “No, not entirely. I know we moved on from that.” I continue to stroke at his waist. “I guess I just didn’t want you to think I expected you to do all the work. I mean you’ve been very…generous.So generous. And all I’ve done is leave you with…blue balls.”

His eyes fly open. He sets his hands over mine, removing them from his body. Before I can protest, he’s already drawing in breath.

“I don’t care if I’m not the one being taken care of,” he says firmly. “I get off on seeing you get off. The only reason I haven’t let you make me come until tonight, is because you said you weren’t ready to date.” He stares down at me, his eyes intense, but the soft Jack is still very much there. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured.” He shakes his head, “I’ve been so focused on keeping the weight off you, only to find out you screwed me in my car because you felt bad.”

“God Jack, you make it sound like you hated it!”

“I did not hate it. I fucking loved everything about it,” he says, never sounding more serious. “Of course I wanted to have sex with you. I wanted to fuck you the second you screamed in my face after the car wreck, fucking angry little body turned me on so much.” I try to hide my gasp while he still looks serious as hell. He lowers his voice. “I’d take blue balls for a whole year before I let you feel like you owe me something.”

I bite into my bottom lip because everything he’s saying is just so damn…sweet. I don’t know anyone who’d get this worked up because someone paid them back a sexual favor. Which makes me wonder if Amber was right… Could Jack really like me? Yes, he’d told me before, at his home, but things were so new and everything happened so fast, I barely had time to consider the implications of his admittance.

“Okay, maybe it’s wrong to feel like I owe you something,” I say at last, remembering what he told me a couple days ago about giving him honesty. “Maybe that isn’t healthy.” Then I feel a streak of frustration course through me. “Maybe I just wanted to give you something, and that was the first thing that came to mind. Isn’t it okay to want that?”

I step forward, but I don’t touch him since last time he moved me off him, and I’m still pissed about that.

“Well, yeah. But not if…” He’s still frowning.

“I didn’t feel pressured.” I throw my head back. “I wanted to have sex with you. Sure, I was a little nervous, you heard Amber in the alley way, it’s been a really long time!” I cross my arms over my chest. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said those things to you, but Jack, I can’t help it if I want things to feel equal between us.” I sigh. “You’re so used to always being the one to take care of people, to look after people. Why can’t you just relax when someone attempts to do the same for you?”

He’s shrugging and frowning and grumbling under his breath, and I can see that this is new territory for him. He’s simply not used to being taken care of. It’s endearing for the whole of two heartbeats until that course of frustration blasts through me again.

“Christ, I only had sex with you and you’re acting like I gave you a kidney!” I throw my head back. “Between you and Amber, I swear!” I shriek. “First, she’s telling me I’ve got to get back out there, then she’s telling me I need to be careful. I have sex with you, and you act like I’ve pissed in your breakfast. Why can’t you both just realize that maybe I’m not doing any of this as some attempt to fix myself orbecause I think I owe you? Maybe it’s simply because I actually like you!”

Jack looks like he’s both relaxed and tense at the same time. “You like me?”

I attempt to play with my hair, but remember it’s wrapped beneath the towel, so I just stand there looking at my feet instead. “Yes. I like you, Jack.” I blink up at him, smirking. “I wouldn’t wear my trashy shoes and cut out panties for just anyone.” Finally, I get a smile from Jack. I continue, “I get it. You think I acted like that because I wanted to please you.” Then, I narrow my eyes as a smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. “But what if it turned me on as much as it turned you on? What if I went into it thinking of you but came out on the other end thinking how much I can’t wait to do that again? Would that change things?”

He shrugs, but I can see his eyes light up even though he’s too stubborn to admit I could be right. “Maybe.”

“I know I’ve been keeping you at arm’s length by not wanting to do the whole dating thing, but you’re the one who said no more games,” I say, my voice perking up. “Let me stop playing hard to get for a change and just do something for you because I know you’ll like it.”

The dimple in his cheek appears, and finally he’s smiling again. “Alright.” He shrugs as he takes a step toward me. “I suppose.”

Thank God that’s over, but just for good measure, I add, “So are we done?” I move back from him.

He nods, reaching for me. “I’m just not used to someone?—”

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