Page 36 of Always Choosing You

“You’re the only thing that feels normal to me right now,” he said. “Does that scare you? Because if it does, we don’t have to do this. I don’t want to pull you into whatever this is—”

“Jay.”

His toffee eyes dimmed as he looked into hers, looking like he was bracing for disappointment.

“It doesn’t scare me,” she whispered.

He nodded. At that moment, he didn’t look like the confident Jay she’d always known. He looked like a kid. Timid, scared, vulnerable.

She decided to be the confidence he needed and closed the gap between them, pressing her lips to his.

In an instant, his hands were in her hair, loosening her bun as he kissed her. His kiss was hot, urgent. Shivers ran down her spine.

I’m kissing Jay Sanchez. I’m kissing Jay Sanchez.

She wrapped her arms around his back, but it wasn’t enough for him. He slid her on his lap, her legs curled up on his side as he held her tightly, his lips warm as he slid his tongue down her throat. He was good at this, really good. It kind of pissed her off that they’d waited for so long.

The thought made her pull away. “Why now?”

Jay just pressed in again, kissing her with such ferocity, she felt like she couldn’t comprehend it all. But he slowed soon after, dropping a delicate kiss on her neck before whispering in her ear.

“Because I’m an idiot, and I didn’t realize what I was missing,” he said like a prayer.

She pulled back, looking into those candy-colored eyes again. “Yeah, you are an idiot.”

He smiled at her, looking so happy it almost broke her heart. She hated that he was going through so much, and so far away from home. She wanted to give him what felt good, to make his world a little brighter after months of feeling so dark and so alone.

He didn’t give her too much time to think as he leaned in again to kiss her, rubbing the small of her back underneath her sweatshirt, his fingertips trimming the back of her sports bra. So she played too, moving her leg to straddle him as she ran her hands through his wavy hair, letting his Scoops hat fall behind him, loving the rumbling sound that escaped his chest when she did it.

He broke away from her. “I’m sorry for being an idiot.”

“Like at the party,” Rory added.

Jay exhaled. “I deserved that slap.”

“You did,” she grumbled, turning her head away from him, her stomach turning at the memory of that horrible night.

She felt his hand trace under her chin, guiding her back to him. “And you were right. I should have never asked you to fake flirt with me to get girls, or put you in a position that made you uncomfortable. Even when I—” He broke off.

Rory cocked an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

“I knew how you felt,” he admitted. “Or at least, I had a feeling.”

Rory covered her face with her hands and groaned. “How?”

Jay pulled them away, holding them in his and tracing her palms with his thumbs. “I guessed. You get adorably red every time you get mad at me. It makes it fun to mess with you a little bit.”

She glared. “Even when it means making things really fucking awkward between me and Ty?”

His face fell. “Yeah, that was bad.”

“Really bad.”

“Please,” he said, letting go of her hands and wrapping his arms around her waist tightly. “Please forgive me. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. I really messed up.”

She reached up and ran a hand through his hair, loving the way her touch was making him ease some, his eyes closed, his face relaxed.

She lowered her face to his, her lips close enough to brush against his. Then she smirked. “I’ll think about it.”