Page 9 of The Lover
I smiled. “I knew it. I told you Starbucks would change your life. Not to mention Eddy’s.”
“You like it here now,” he said. A statement, not a question.
I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.
“It’s okay,” I said quietly.
“You’re not alone.”
“No. I have friends.”
“Good.”
There didn’t seem to be anything say at that point. I suppose I should have opened the door, hopped out, said goodbye and left. Except I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want him to leave.
What I really wanted was to kiss him, but I had made that move in the past and had gotten burned by it.
“Fuck this,” I heard him growl before he reached for me. His hand coming behind my neck, pulling me toward him. It was just lips and tongues at first. Urgent breaths, nibbling teeth. Except I needed more. More of him touching me, more of me touching him.
Jake must have agreed because he was hauling me over the center console so I was in his lap. The space was tight and awkward. Every time I shifted to rub myself along his body, my ass hit the steering wheel and the car horn let out a little yelp.
“Help me,” I said even as I tried to get my hands to the buttons of his jeans.
“No,” he grunted. The next thing I knew was being lifted and set back on the passenger seat. I was freaking five foot nine. He really should not have been able to lift me so easily.
I was trying to catch my breath, wondering what happened to make him kiss me and then what happened to make him push me away.
“I’m not fucking you in a truck outside your dorm.”
“You seem angry. Are you angry?”
“I’m hard, Ellie. Hard and apparently staying that way. I didn’t… I wasn’t planning on...”
“Okay. Yeah. I understand. We should probably avoid the kissing and stuff.”
“You being three hours away makes that easier. You being a foot away makes that more difficult.”
I smiled at him. “Jake Talley, that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Go, now. Before I change my mind.”
“Okay, but you know I want you to change your mind.”
“Ellie,” he growled.
“Going. Going.” I opened the door and hopped out of the truck. “See ya, Jake.”
“Call me Sunday,” he snapped.
And that was it. He left and I had to think about what that kiss meant.
That’s when I knew I was going to need reinforcements.
Three
Ellie
Imadeit upstairs to the second floor of the building. I used my key to let myself in the room.
