Shattered Ties(31)

We’d gotten completely off track, and I hadn’t even noticed.

“Here is my vague answer. I think there’s something here, but I don’t know what it is just yet. Let’s just see where this goes, okay?”

That was a fair answer. We were both moving into this too fast, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to put a label on whatever we were. I didn’t want either of us to feel compelled to make a relationship work if we weren’t even sure that we needed to be in one. I wanted to let things go naturally, and take it from there.

“That sounds fair to me,” I replied.

“Good. We’re both done with our food, so do you want to get out of here? We could hang out at the beach or something.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

I grabbed my purse and threw a few bills on the table to cover our dinner. Jesse didn’t look happy about the fact that I had paid for dinner, but I ignored the evil glare he was shooting in my direction as I grabbed his hand and led him from the diner.

“Why don’t we take my car, and I’ll just drop you off here when we’re done?”

He nodded as we walked to my car. “Works for me.”

The ride to the beach was the quietest five minutes of my life. Neither of us knew what to say after our little heart-to-heart. We both seemed afraid to say the wrong thing. The silence continued as I parked my car and grabbed two towels out of my trunk.

We walked side-by-side down the beach until I found a spot I was happy with. I handed Jesse his towel, and we put them on the sand next to each other. I felt an awkwardness around us that I wasn’t used to, and I didn’t like it.

“Okay, this silence sucks. Neither of us should ever be this quiet when we’re together,” I blurted out.

He laughed. “I like to think of myself as the strong, silent type.”

I rolled my eyes. “No one goes for guys like that, regardless of how many romance novels they write about them. At least, I don’t. I like someone who actually talks to me.”

“You’ll never find a guy like that. You’d talk too much for him to get a word in.”

I elbowed him as I lay down on my towel. “Shut up, asshat.”

He elbowed me back. “Make me.”

I knew when I was being challenged, and I never backed down from a challenge. Before he knew what I was doing, I sprung off my towel and tackled him to the ground.

I straddled him as I raised my arms in triumph. “I think I just did.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes, why?”

In one swift move, he flipped me onto my back. I struggled as he pinned my arms above my head and held my legs down with his own.

“That’s why.”

“You don’t play fair,” I grumbled as I continued to struggle.

I was getting nowhere fast. Jesse was a lot stronger than I was.

“And what was fair about you tackling me with no warning?”

“But I’m a girl. I needed the upper hand.”

He laughed. “Don’t try to play the girl card. It doesn’t work with me. Ally used to use it all the time when we were kids, and I learned not to fall for it. She can kick ass, and so can you.” “Who’s Ally?” I asked.

“Andy’s twin sister. She’s like my sister, too. We all grew up together.”

“That’s cool that you have them. I only had Lucy growing up. Everybody else was always too stuck-up to be any fun.”

“Then, I’m glad you had Lucy.”

I stopped struggling. He’d won, and we both knew it.

“Okay, you win. Will you let me up?”

He kept one hand on both of mine to hold them in place as he ran his other hand down my arm. I shivered at his touch, and he smiled.

“I kind of like you like this.”

“Why’s that?” I whispered as he ran his fingertips over my arm.

“You look good underneath me.”

I would have thought he was kidding, except a look in his eyes told me he wasn’t. There was an emotion in them that was lust mixed with something else I couldn’t put my finger on.

“I kind of like it here,” I whispered.

He leaned in closer, so his weight was fully on me. It felt good, too good, to have our bodies pressed together like this. I needed him to move before I did something stupid, like kiss him again. There was no way that I would be the one to instigate another kiss.

“That’s good to know.” He leaned down farther until our lips were almost touching. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“That little conversation we had earlier. I don’t want to kiss you if you don’t want me to.”

“I never said I didn’t want you to kiss me.”

I held my breath as he searched my eyes, looking for any doubt or uncertainty. He would find none. I wanted this more than anything in the world. He smiled briefly before his lips touched mine.

When we connected, I saw stars and rainbows and all those other things people in the movies claim to see. Jesse released my arms, and I wrapped them around his neck, pulling him tighter against me, as I deepened the kiss. He ran his tongue along my bottom lip, and I parted them as he slipped his tongue inside.

The sensations running through my body were new to me, and I wasn’t sure how to react. Sure, I’d kissed boys before, but those times had been nothing like this. There was an ache between my legs, and I rubbed them together to help ease it. He moaned as my movement caused my lower body to press up into his. Oh dear God. I could feel him through his pants, and he was hard. That alone caused the ache to become unbearable, and I pushed my pelvis up tighter against him without even realizing what I was doing.