Page 16 of Summer Sweethearts
She finds me curled up in the recliner, covered in my favorite blanket, crying. “I’m fine,” I sniffle, blotting my eyes with the blanket.
“No, you’re not. What the heck happened? Aiden wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“That’s the story of Aiden’s fucking life right now. Not telling someone something. What a damn shocker,” I snap, and her eyes grow wide. I’m pissed that Aiden and Cain knew Michael was back in town. He bought into Cain’s company, for Christ’s sake, and no one has said a thing to me. Sure explains why Aiden has been so weird for the last few weeks, fucking meddling-ass men.
Jessica climbs into the chair, wedges herself next to me, and wraps her arms around me. “Talk to me, baby. I’m here. I just need to know what happened, so I can help,” she begs. I look at her, eyes filled with compassion, and, dare I say, love.
“Remember when I told you about my serious relationship? That we were together for years, and he broke it off and left town? Well, I haven’t seen or heard from him in almost five years. This afternoon I went to Ted’s so I could grab lunch, and I ran right into him. He informed me he moved back here a few weeks ago. He apparently bought into Cain’s construction company.”
“Was he with someone else? Was he rude or totally ignoring you?” she asks, her voice aggravated and angry on my behalf. She’s fucking adorable when she’s upset, her tan skin gets flushed, and she swats her raven hair out of her face.
“No, nothing like that. He barely spoke besides telling me he moved back and that he was working with Cain. Just seeing him brought back all these emotions and memories. I’m pissed at myself for crying in front of him and running away. I should have kicked him in his fucking dick and then left,” I tell her, my tone getting louder as I continue. Jessica giggles, and I glare at her. “It’s not funny,” I snark while also trying not to laugh. I’m picturing myself kicking him in the dick and running away.
“Do you still have feelings for him?” Jessica grabs my chin, turning my jaw so we are looking into one another’s eyes.
“I don’t know, I feel nothing for him but anger at the moment,” I tell her honestly. I’m still too dang angry about how he left and how he just waltzes back into town.My town.Now,thanks to my boss and his fiancé, I’m going to be sharing Kingston with him again. Since we ran into each other, he won’t be avidly avoiding me. Which also pisses me off. He said he’d been here for weeks, and this is not a big town. That means he’s been avoiding me on purpose; too much of a coward to face me after how things went down years ago.
“Okay, so what do you wanna do? Wanna move? Quit your job? Never leave the house again? Tell me, and I’m all in,” she asks. I look at her, brow cocked and a smirk on my face.
“None of the above. I will not show him that he shook me. Well, after today, that is. I’m going to work tomorrow, and Aiden is getting a piece of my mind. And Michael… Well, I’ll figure that out later. ” I wiggle out of the chair, standing up, and grabbing Jessica’s hand.
“Let’s order Mexican and start that new Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon show. I’ve heard good things, and Reese is life,” I tell her, grabbing her hand and pulling her up to stand with me.
She wraps her arms around me as she stands. “Deal.” She kisses my lips softly. “I’d love nothing more than to sit on the couch snuggled up to you and binge television while gorging on tacos.” She kisses me again, this time with more passion, as her tongue licks across the seam of my lips. I open, allowing her to push her tongue into my mouth and tangle with mine. Our kiss turns frantic as we lick and suck the other’s tongues. I whimper as she nips my bottom lip roughly. “Lor, you better stop making noises like that or there won’t be any snuggling or tacos. I’ll fuck the sadness out of you instead,” she growls, and I rub my thighs together in excitement.
Pulling away from her to break our kiss, I step back and bend to grab my phone off the coffee table. I’d love nothing more than for her to fuck me senseless and remind me that I’m hers, but I don’t want to use her like that. She’s not Michael’s bandaid or replacement. She’s mine, and I want her to know that.
* * *
“That’s probably the food,” I call from the couch as Jessica hurries to the door from the kitchen. She’s refused to let me leave my spot, insisting on taking care of me in any way she can. Minutes later, she’s hauling two bags into the living room, setting them on the coffee table.
“It’s tacos, so I didn’t think we needed plates. That cool with you?” She pulls takeout boxes from the bags and opens them, swapping tacos back and forth between them. “Here,” she says as she hands me a styrofoam box filled with different tacos. She even put the little packets of each hot sauce in there so I can mix and match them too.
“Thank you,” I mumble around a bite of pork taco. She grabs her container, sits down, and leans back into the corner of the couch. I snuggle into her, curling my legs to the side and hitting play on the remote. We eat our fill of tacos while we watchThe Morning Show,and I’m sorry, but Reese absolutely slayed her role as this mouthy newswoman. I lean forward and set my empty container on the table. Looking to my left, I see Jess is done too, so I grab her container and set it with mine.
Returning to my comfy spot, cuddled up to my woman, I focus on the television and get lost in the episode. Jessica has an arm draped around my shoulder, drawing gentle, slow circles on my bicep. I feel my eyes start to grow heavy. I try to stay awake, but my eyes close, and I drift off to sleep.
When I wake up, the television is off, as are all the lights in the house. I’m still on the couch, and from the soft body under my head, so is Jessica. Grabbing my phone, I check the time and see it’s three AM. I sit up, stand, and squat down in front of Jessica’s sleeping form. Her head is resting in one of her hands, her dark-as-night hair spilling over her face. My eyes catch on her pouty lips, and I lean forward and kiss her lightly. “Jess, babe, wake up. Let’s go to bed,” I whisper, and she begins to wake.
Blinking her eyes open, her lips quirk into a smile. “Hi, Lor. You fell asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“That’s okay. But it’s three in the morning. Let’s go to our bed and get some good sleep,” I tell her, grabbing her hand to help her up.
“Our bed. Mmm, I like the sound of that,” she purrs. I roll my eyes at her words, but smile because I also like the sound of that. I’m quickly falling harder and harder for this woman, and I can’t help but be excited and nervous. She’s so much younger than me, but also we’ve only been together for a month, and everything has happened at lightning speed. I can’t seem to find a single regret or wish that it happened differently.
She stands, hand still clasped with mine, and I lead her to our room. Stepping into the room, I drop her hand and remove my clothes. I grab an oversized shirt and throw it on, turning to see Jessica in a tank top and panties as well. She crawls into the bed, and I follow suit, pulling the blanket over both of us. Snuggling down into the blanket, I move so my back is flush against Jessica’s chest, the way we’ve slept every night. “Good night, Jess,” I whisper into the dark.
“Night, Lor,” she murmurs back and kisses the top of my hair. Her arm curls around me, pulling me even tighter against her. I close my eyes and drift back off to sleep.
LORETTA
There’s no sign of Aiden yet, and I’m not sure if he’s avoiding coming in since he has to know that I know, or if he’s honestly late. The opening breakfast rush is over, and Dwight is in the kitchen gearing up for lunch and refilling the stock we’re low on. After wiping the tables down and heading to grab the broom to sweep, I hear the bell above the door chime. Looking up, I see it’s Aiden coming in, his hands full of random shit.
Rushing toward him, I take the wood sign and a package of chalk markers from his hands. “Thank you, Loretta. You’re a doll,” he tells me as he dumps the remaining things on the counter.
“I’m mad as hell at you. So don’t think this gets you out of it. You owe me an explanation, Aiden,” I chastise him, setting the sign and markers on a nearby table. He sighs, and heads around the counter, firing up the coffee machine. My irritation grows by the second as I sit there watching him whip up a couple of drinks for us.Does he think he’s just going to ignore my question and not explain shit to me?That is not how this is going to go. I love Aiden to death. He’s one of my best friends, but this was some shady shit he did.
“Aiden, I’m not kidding. This was beyond meddling, and I deserve to know why you didn’t tell me Michael was back in town,” I tell him, my tone sharp and to the point.
