Page 33 of Mom Com

I grin back. “Oh, shut it. What’s next, flowers and a poem?” I tease, knowing he thinks all that stuff is ridiculous.

He grabs me by the hips and pulls me forward, wrapping my legs around his waist. “There once was a girl from Haverberry.”

A laugh bursts out of me. He leans forward, finding my lips with his, his warm breath heating me from the inside out. I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my chest against his, enjoying the feel of his strong back under my hands.

He pulls away for a brief second, just long enough to breathe, “Whose beauty was so intense it was scary.” His hands slip inside my open coat and under the rim of my shirt, rough fingertips sending a thrill up my spine. “The boy tried hard to be good.” He kisses my collarbone, his mouth leaving moisture that tingles in the cool air. “Always heart before wood.”

He moves his right hand to my stomach, his fingers drawing a tentative circle around my belly button. “But fuck me, she smelled just like strawberries.”

“I take it back,” I manage as I recline the seat and pull him onto it with me. “You should enter that thing in the town newspaper.”

He lies on his side, with me on my back, our bodies pressed in such a way that I feel him wanting me through his jeans. He traces a line along the band of my underwear, sending a wave of warmth to my core. “I think maybe you’re right. That’s exactly what this town needs,” he says, his eyes searching my face. “But right now, all I care about is what you need.”

His hand slips below the fabric, slowly, like he’s not in a rush. “Tell me what you need, Maddi.”

Heat bursts through me and suddenly I know what it is that I need. I need to move on, not just tell myself I’m going to, but actually do it.

“Do you have a condom?” I ask, my voice soft and breathy.

His eyes widen. “I thought you said—”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m ready.”

“You sure? I mean—”

But instead of answering him in words, I kiss him, his muscled body pressing down on mine with comforting weight. And for a moment I forget Wilder, I forget my anger, I just let go.

Jake’s here? No, he can’t be. That makes no sense; didn’t he just go out with Spence? I head for the stool near the wall where I left my things, leaving Liv and Wilder to their non-argument argument, and pull my purse from under the pile, nearly knocking my and Liv’s coats to the floor as I try to simultaneously maintain control over my purse and the pool cue. Apparently, I’m not the walk-and-chew-gum type I thought I was. And annoyingly, I catch Wilder noting my fumble.

I scowl at the latch on my purse that’s refusing to give. After some jabbing and pulling, I get my phone out, which informs me that somehow two hours have passed since I met up with Liv. And also that I have a new message from Spence.

Spence: Home. Had soooo much fun! But now Gma is telling me to take a shower before bed? Ugh! I’m gonna do it I guess... because for some reason my bathing seems super important to her. You two are weirdos.

I snort, silently thanking my mom for winning that battle.

Me: Love you, my dude. Still out, but heading back soon. Text if you need me.

I nod to myself. That’s exactly what I’ll do; I’ll simply go home. Yes, yes. A perfect solution. I tuck my phone back in my purse and rest my pool cue against the wall (it takes two tries to get it to balance), determined to walk over to Liv and tell her I’m out of here. But then I hear my name.

I turn too quickly, almost colliding with Jake.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Jake says and picks me up in a giant bear hug, my feet lifting a couple of inches off the ground.

“Uh, um, yeah,” I say as he puts me back down. I straighten my rumpled shirt and tuck my hair behind my ear. “Here I am.”

He chuckles. “Let me guess, you suddenly missed Matt Mazzeo and you just couldn’t let another hour go by without seeing him on his birthday?” Then he adds, “Which is why you turned down my offer of root beer floats?”

I laugh. “First off, I don’t like root beer,” I say good-naturedly. “Well, I kind of do, but I would pick literally a thousand desserts before that one.”

“Ouch,” he says, touching his chest like I slugged him, but still grinning. “Looks like I’m going to have to up my game in the future.”

“And second,” I continue with a pause. Is he flirting with me? “I actually had no intention of coming here, but Liv and I were drinking at The Corner Bar and we made this stupid—” Wait, that’s not what I meant to say; what I meant to say was that I didn’t go out with him because his son was after some guy bonding time and I didn’t want to intrude.

“Yes?” Jake says since I stopped directly in the middle of my sentence.

My eyes involuntarily flick to Wilder and Jake notices. “Oh,” he says, his grin fading.

“Anyway,” I say, “I was just about to leave.”