Mine Would Be You (94)

I wanted her to need every part of me as much as I needed her.

Those nights, when she knew I was struggling, she told me extra. With her touches, sighs of how much she loved me, and each night I felt a bit better than I had. Knowing I had her with me.

Right now, I can’t wait to get off work and meet her before heading back to her place. We take turns, a few nights at my apartment before we spend a few nights at hers, with Jenko. And he loves it. Usually curls up in the bed with us, purring away. I don’t care where we are. It makes no difference to me as long as we’re together. The clock ticks by as I type away, looking over a contract, and thankfully, it hits five a lot quicker than I expected. Through the windows, the light of the December gray sky beams in.

I pull on my winter coat as I pull my phone from my pocket. There’s a text from Nina telling me she’ll meet me outside my office. That was five minutes ago. After shutting down my computer and grabbing my case, I head toward the elevators. They’re full, everyone leaving for the day, and we all step off on the ground floor at once. Nodding a few goodbyes to familiar faces, I head straight to the doors and into the cold.

Instantly, I find Nina in the crowd. In a tan coat that isn’t warm enough for the temperatures and a knit hat pulled over her hair, she rocks back and forth on each foot, probably trying to stay warm. She turns, and even from a distance I see her brown eyes light up, and I grin.

Her cheeks are flushed from the cold when I approach.

I take her gloved hand in my own. “Are you insane, Scott? It’s freezing.” I pull her in for a quick hug, trying to warm her up as best I can.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she mutters into my chest. “Now come on. Don’t forget we’re going out tonight.” I nod, not dropping her hand from mine as we walk through the streets. Christmas lights gleam off the buildings in the gray sky as we head towards the subway.

“Let’s grab a hot chocolate.” I grin, pulling her to a stop at the food cart. “Two hot chocolates, extra whipped cream on one of them, please.” Quickly, I glance at her, squeezing her palm before handing over some cash.

I hand her the one with extra whip first and walk to the side of the street, away from the afterwork crowd. “Hold this.” I give her my own drink, and she again bounces on the balls of her feet, her breaths coming out in little clouds.

“Jackson,” she whines, the sound hitting my skin like a drug, “come on, it’s cold.”

I raise a brow. “No shit, Sherlock. You need a better coat.” With a roll of my eyes, I reach up and adjust her hat, which is leaving her ears exposed, and tug it down until it’s right over her eyes. “Whoops.”

She laughs softly as I flip it up, uncovering those beautiful eyes and smiling at her. Then I pull her coat tighter and use the skimpy tie it has to bind it around her waist. She hands me my drink back as we begin walking, her hand in mine, and head into the subway train. Somehow, despite her having the one with extra whip, like she always does, I end up with some on my nose.

She pulls off her glove and wipes it off with her finger, her simple touch erasing the cold.

“Thanks, baby.” I lean down and press a kiss on the side of her head, inhaling her familiar perfume.

Despite our various displays of PDA, I know it’s not her favorite. And while I would have no issues kissing her on the subway or anywhere, despite the amount of people around, I know a kiss on the head shows her enough how much I always want her. She leans against me, her head on my shoulder until we come to the stop near her apartment and make our way inside.

I hang up our coats on the rack near her front door after kicking our shoes off. “I’m going to need a nap if we’re going out. I’m old you know,” I mumble, and she rolls her eyes.

“You’re not old.”

“Despite that, I want to nap, and I want to nap with you.” I grab her hand and practically drag her to her bedroom. She sets the hot chocolates on her desk and sets an alarm as I reach for the small drawer she gave me for clothes, just like the two drawers she has at my apartment, and tug off my work clothes.

Her eyes watch me, heating up as I slip on sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt. And the look in her eyes causes a spread of heat from the base of my spine all the way to my neck. I take a seat on the edge of the bed, staring at her. “Everything okay over there?” I say, feeling my smile spread.

Her cheeks flush as she slips on a large sweatshirt and out of her leggings, drawing my attention. “You’re too pretty,” she mumbles when she meets my eyes again. “It’s not fair, it’s distracting.”

I grab her hand and pull her closer to me, my hand wrapping around the back of her thigh as she rests her hands on my shoulders. “That’s how you make me feel all the time.”

My thumb rubs back and forth in the hollow at the back of her knee, feeling the goosebumps rise under my touch. Easily, I pull one knee forward and it lands next to my hip. Shamelessly, I scoot back and pull the other forward until she’s straddling my hips.

“I thought you wanted a nap,” she says, her hands on either side of my head.

“I do. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to kiss you first.”

Her eyes light up, and she leans down, giving me a soft kiss before moving along my throat, placing a trail of soft ones there too. I squeeze her legs until she squeals and gives me what I want. Her lips find mine again, her tongue lightly teasing them until my hand comes up and grips the back of her neck, deepening the kiss until we’re both breathless.