Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers #1)(55)

And then I did.

Jason’s mouth crashed onto mine as I came, swallowing my scream of ecstasy. He slammed into me one last time a few moments later, groaning as he locked his arms around my waist, holding me tight against him.

Sleep came for me quickly after that. I felt Jason leave the bed to get rid of the condom, clean himself up, and then come back with a towel for me before he climbed back into the bed. I was barely conscious as he moved the warm terry cloth over my skin, more gentle than I would’ve been with myself, but I smiled. Who would have thought that our literally running into each three months ago would lead to this? Me, falling asleep against a man who so obviously cared for me.

I used the last bit of energy I had and turned to him, snuggling close against his chest.

“Hey,” I murmured, with my eyes already closed. “Thought you only did that for people who “belonged” to you.”

“What?” he grunted back.

Our conversation in my mother’s office seemed so long ago, but it flashed in my mind. “The other stuff is reserved for someone who belongs to me. You trying to belong to me?” We liked each other, had had a lot of sex in the month since we started dating, but both agreed that oral sex was a whole other level of intimacy.

“You ate the cookies.”

I smiled at the warm rumble in his chest as he laughed at that, and then moved a hand down to squeeze my ass. “I guess I did, huh?”

“Yep. All of them. Were you trying to send a message? I belong to you now?”

His hand fumbled a little in the dark, before he grabbed my chin, tipping it up so he could press his lips to mine.

“I think you already know the answer to that question.”





fourteen.





“Come on. Get your lazy ass up.”

“Fuck you.”

“I’ll let you do that later. But for now, get up. Come on. The sooner you do, the sooner it’ll be over.”

Reese shot me a scowl, rolled her eyes, and then pulled herself up from her seat on the edge of the fountain. “Fine, lets go.”

We ran for a few more minutes before she slowed down, but this time, she kept moving instead of completely stopping. The light jog would at least keep her heart rate up, and gave us a chance to talk.

“This is why you don’t eat two sweet potato pies by yourself over Thanksgiving,” I teased, jogging little circles around her, but being careful not to break her pace. “Cause then, you get mad at yourself, and ask your man to help you—”

“And you end up contemplating killing his ass for forgetting that you weren’t in the fucking army like he was, and that this isn’t basic training.”

“Says who?” I grinned, ignoring a couple of the strange looks I got as we jogged across the Blakewood campus. I was used to people’s reaction when I worked out by now, and hell – I’d probably be looking too if a big dude ran past me with one leg encased sweats and a running shoe, and the other replaced by my running prosthetic from the knee down.

It was early in the morning though, and still pretty quiet. Reese shot another scowl in my direction.

“Says me. You’re pushing too hard, again.”

“Nah, baby. You’re tough. My baby thug, remember? You can snatch a chair from under somebody, you can take a little tough-love training. Now come on. Move it.”

I smacked her on the ass, hard, and ran past her, grinning at the murderous look she gave me. It accomplished my goal though, and she started running a little, and then a lot faster, trying to catch up to me.

A few minutes later, I stopped her, and checked her heartrate from the tracker on her wrist. “Aiight, let’s walk a little bit. Let your heartrate come down before this last stretch.”

Reese used the arm of her running jacket to wipe away the sweat that had built on her forehead. It was cold outside, in the late November weather, but we were more than warm enough from running.

“So… I heard back about that internship in Cali this morning,” I said, carefully watching her face for a reaction.

She kept her eyes averted, head pointed to the sky as she sucked in air. “Yeah? What’d they say?”

“I got it. They were really impressed with my credentials… excited to have somebody who was former military. Asked me to finish spring semester at a school out there. Paid internship, with a job upon graduation. And the salary is bananas.”

Reese dropped her head, and tugged her lip between her teeth, before she looked up, turning to me with glossy eyes. “That’s amazing, Jay. I’m so proud of you.” She stopped walking to step in front of me, grabbing my face as she pushed herself up on her toes to kiss me. “That’s really, really good. I’m happy for you.”

I believed her. I could see the pride in her eyes, see the genuine delight she felt for me. Right behind the dejection she was trying to hide.

“Thank you,” I said, grabbing her hand as she tried to pull away. “They were in my top three choices, so it’s pretty cool that they actually made an offer.”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “Oh please. You’re you. They would have been crazy not to give it to you.”

I tugged at her, trying to keep her still, trying to get her to look right at me, but she wouldn’t. Instead, she slipped her hand away from mine and turned around, quickly brushing her eyes before she spoke.