Page 68 of Before You
It’s ironic how accurate his statement is if it were flipped around because Trent’s loss of Marley was one thousand percent my gain.
~
“How are you going to get your homework done if you’re staring at me?” I ask without looking up from the equation I’m calculating.
“It’s boring,” Marley complains.
“I’m not sure it’s supposed to be fun, but it still has to be done,” I tease, setting down my calculator to write down the answer on my paper. I look up at Marley, finding her watching me with a smile to make me feel like I hung the moon.
She spins the ring on her thumb, and she’s too far away from me. I’m not sure I trust myself to keep my hands off Marley if I’m next to her, though.
“What if I just didn’t do it? I could throw it out the window and say my boyfriend’s dog ate it, and my professor would be none the wiser,” she says, her eyes twinkling like stars.
“I don’t have a dog,” I point out, and Marley scoffs.
“I know, JJ.”
I push my homework to the side, standing up from the loveseat to sit by Marley on the couch. Her smile grows, reminding me of a ray of sunshine, and I’m just lucky to have her light shine on me.
“Hi,” she says, turning off her tablet to face me.
“Sweetheart, you still have to do your homework,” I say, and she frowns, her eyebrows furrowing.
“I don’t want to.”
I chuckle, shaking my head. “I know you don’t want to.”
Marley raises her hand and her fingertips graze across my cheek to the shorter strands of hair on the side of my head.
The barber Eddie sent me to called it “a messy crew cut,” after making sure to leave the hair on the top of my head long enough for it to still wave. It’s a neater version of what Mom normally does, but Bria nodded her approval when I got here earlier. I believe her exact words were,You look like a Hemsworth, but hotter, and I felt like a million bucks when Marley’s jaw dropped after she walked out of her room. It was certainly enough to make me forget about my interaction with Trent earlier.
“I like your haircut,” she says, now running her fingers through the longer strands on top, and a quiet sigh slips from my lips. “When you told me you were getting one, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to run my fingers through your hair anymore.” The corners of her mouth tilt up, pulling my attention to them, and it was a bad idea to move by Marley, especially when she’s combing her fingers through my hair. It’d be so tempting to lean forward and kiss her. I might have restraint, but I’m not a saint, and the number of times I’ve replayed the moment in her bedroom is embarrassing. I’ve had two and a half years to fantasize about all the things I want to do with Marley. I want to know what it feels like to press my lips to her skin, and what it feels like to have hers on me. Mostly, I just really want to kiss her. “Hey, JJ?” she asks, and I slowly lift my gaze to meet hers.God, she’s so fucking pretty.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re looking at me like you want to kiss me,amore mio18.” And just like the first time I met her, Marley’s whole face breaks into a smile capable of knocking all the air from my lungs.
“That’s my line, sweetheart, but yeah, I do,” I say, leaning forward to kiss her. She’s still smiling when my lips press against hers, and her nails scratch over the back of my head, causing a rumble to rise out of me.Kissing Marley is dangerous because it makes me want to lose control.
I cup her face in my hands, reluctantly pulling away. Marley’s nose bumps against mine as our breath mingles in the space between our mouths. “Why’d you stop?” she whispers, and my throat catches.
“Because I don’t trust myself to if we keep going,” I admit, stroking her cheek with my thumb.
“Are you okay with that?” Marley asks, leaning her head back to look at me, her cerulean orbs watching me.
I’d be more than okay with it, but at the same time, I’m afraid I’ll disappoint her. I saw how surprised Marley was when she learned I’d waited for her. I’m awareanythingwith Marley will feel like heaven to me, but I wanteverythingto be good for her.
“JJ, we don’t have to do anything. I’m happy to just be in the same room as you,” she says, sincerity ringing in her lyrical voice.
“I love you,” I say, and Marley smiles.
“I love you too.”
I pull Marley to me, kissing her again as she leans in, meeting me halfway when the lock on the door flips. Marley turns away at the same time Asher and Bria walk in the front door, their conversation halting when they see us.
“Sorry, were we interrupting?” Bria asks, not even bothering to hide her grin.
“Dude, you look like a Hemsworth.Nice,” Asher says, and Bria laughs, smiling at him.
