Page 417 of Seasons of Love
Mal guided me to the middle of the bed and took his place on one side. Jake took the other side and pulled the blanket over us.
I turned to Jake and pulled Mal's arm over me. Then I took Jake's hand, laced his fingers with mine, and tucked our joined hands in the space between my neck and my shoulder.
This was the most complete I'd felt in my life, which was unfair to Mal because I knew I didn’t need anyone else but him. Or at least I didn't think I did. But what can you do when your heart is selfish and wants more?
When Mal reached out for Jake, I thought I was going to cry, but the tears didn't come. All I felt was peace and completeness.
Well, that, and a stupid erection.
I thought people with concussions weren't supposed to be under any kind of stress?
12
MAL
I didn’t need to open my eyes to know I was exactly where I needed to be. At home, in my bed, with Griff sleeping soundly against me.
His hair smelled of coconut and holidays on the beach. I inhaled the scent, allowing myself a moment to indulge until movement on the bed took my attention from Griff.
Jake.
Our eyes met over Griff’s head. It didn’t take any special powers to see what was going through Jake’s mind at that moment.
Panic. Confusion. Lust. Hope. Longing.
He looked at Griff sleeping against me and then ran his hand over Griff’s hair and the bandage on his arm. Griff moved a little and let out a small, contented sigh but didn’t wake up.
Jake’s hand froze over Griff when he moved. So without thinking, I took it and brought it to my lips. His eyes closed as I placed a kiss on his palm.
I didn’t know what to say to him. Why did we have to use words to communicate when actions always spoke louder? And then I remembered one of the many things my wiser-beyond-his-age husband said to me once. Sometimes we need to hear what’s in someone’s heart because we’re too scared to trust our eyes.
Jake had followed us to our bed last night because I’d asked him to. Not with my words but with my actions.
I’d be lying to myself if I denied the effect that small, barely-there kiss at the LA resort had on me. I’d be lying if I denied that watching as Griff pulled Jake in for a kiss at the hospital didn’t settle something in the pit of my stomach.
Maybe it was time to listen to my heart, my body, and my soul, not to mention my husband.
“Jake,” I whispered.
He took his hand back and sat up in bed slowly, looking down at the T-shirt Griff had given him last night. It was red with the words, No one loves like a romance author, printed on the front. It was such an old T-shirt that some letters were faded from being washed, but they were as true today as when I saw Griff wearing it for the first time.
Griff loved like no one else I’d met before. Maybe it was also time to give him what he needed too.
“I…um…I’ll head to the resort now,” Jake said in a low voice.
“Will you be back later?” I asked.
“Yes. I’m happy to keep Griff company while you go to work.”
“Jake,” I said, stretching my arm to reach his over Griff. “I would like to see you later too.”
I didn’t want Griff to wake until he was ready. After what he’d been through, he needed as much rest as possible, especially with the concussion.
Jake looked at me, searching for the meaning behind my words, so I said it again.
“I want you here, Jake. Not just for Griff.”
“Okay.”
