Terrible Love
Vingt et un
In a half asleep stupor, Jon scooped me off of the couch and carried me across his apartment and into his bedroom. Letting a yawn rip through him, he kicked his bedroom door shut and then carefully set me down on the left side of the bed. Despite the exhaustion flowing through my body, I couldn’t help myself as I rolled over onto my side and widened my eyes, watching Jon move slowly around his room.
The brunette turned from me, unaware that I was this coherent. His fingers worked easily on the buttons of his shirt. When he reached the bottom, he shrugged the fabric from his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. As he stood there, bare torso, he let out a small sigh and then looked down.
I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as he unbuttoned his pants. Shaking my head, I pressed my face into the pillows and let out a small groan.
“Didn’t enjoy the show?” Jon’s voice filled my head as I pulled my face from the pillows and peered over at him. His skin was smooth and defined as he turned to me, a smirk on his lips as he watched the heat in my face intensify. He was standing there in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and socks. It would have been comical if every inch of my body wasn’t a 5-alarm fire.
Tightening my jaw, I rolled over onto my other side and pushed the blankets back until I could scoot my body under them. I could feel the blood pulsing through my head as the other end of the bed dipped down. Seconds later, I felt him behind me, his bot breath tickling my ear as he pushed some hair from my face away with his trembling fingers.
I thought about it.
For the first time, in what felt like 20 years, the thought rushed through the forefront of my brain.
My heart was beating erratically as I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the words fly back into view. Images and ideas started to form behind my eyes. With every passing second, I could feel the knot in my stomach tighten.
The skin on my stomach and back that he had ran his hands over just hours ago started to throb like a burning iron was pressed against it. Sweat started to form around my hairline as I felt the skin on my neck tingle. I could still feel his lips. I could still hear the growl leave his throat when I bit down on his bottom lip.
I could barely breathe as I felt his arm wrap around my waist. I was terrified of what could happen. I didn’t want to ruin whatever we had again. I didn’t want to feel the heart ache when he left Winnipeg after his game. If we did this, if we finally took this step we had both been dreaming about, what would be left?
Was this it?
“Jon,” I whispered, my voice shaking.
The brunette gently pulled me into him, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. “What’s wrong, Blondie?” His voice was calm as it floated through my head. The breath that left his lips tickled my ear, causing a shiver to rush through me.
“What are we doing?”
“Going to bed.” Jon stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We have client things tomorrow, you need to get some rest.”
I nodded, my eyes wide as I looked out at the room across from me. “Thanks, my brains a little foggy.”
Jon hummed as a response. Readjusting his grip on me, he pressed another kiss to my hair and then stayed still. I could feel his heartbeat slow down. I could hear his breathing steady and fall into a slow rhythm.
I tried to will myself to sleep. I tried to think about being exhausted and having to meet clients. The clients that had given me my biggest job in years. The clients that I would be spending more time with than my own family in the upcoming months.
Sleep didn’t hang around for long. After falling in and out for a few hours, I realized the sun had come up. Running my eyes over the sunshine poking through the cracks between the blinds, I carefully pulled Jon’s arm from my waist and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
Every part of me felt stiff as I pressed my feet into the hardwood and pushed my body up. Once the weight of my torso was pressing down against my legs, a long sigh fell from my lips. Although my brain was swimming in a half-awake fog, I made my way across the room, into the hallway, and down to the kitchen.
My mind was empty as I went about the normal morning routine of making coffee. After I hit the button to start brewing the liquid, I walked over to the living room and grabbed my laptop and cell phone that were still lying on the coffee table.
Before I could control my fingers, I was dialing Abby’s number, my heart thudding roughly in my chest as I thought about the brunette waking up and hearing me talk about all of the things in my head to the woman on the phone.
She picked up on the very first ring.
“Morning babe, what’s up?” Abby’s calm voice relaxed me for a moment. The relaxation was ruined when I parted my lips.
“Jon came home and kissed me last night, but not like just a kiss, you know? It was heavy, like heavier than anything that had happened before and I stopped but I… I didn’t want to stop it.” I was shaking as I turned from the coffee maker and started pacing, involuntarily pulling at the sleeves of my jersey. “I asked him to the dinner with Mike and Maria. I slept in his bed.”
I could barely feel my lips as I looked out into the apartment.
“I thought about it, Abby.”
The phone was silent for a few seconds before the woman’s voice came tearing through the other end. It was a higher pitch than normal, like she had just been injected with adrenaline straight to the heart. Through her hysterics, I found myself leaning against the counter, a hand over my eyes as I tried to pick a few words out.
“I need a mimosa for this conversation,” Abby laughed as her voice went back to her normal tone. Rustling sounded from behind her voice. “Are you going to do it?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” I admitted, my body growing warm from the thought.
Abby huffed as the sound of liquid pouring into a glass filled the gap between words. “Aspen, you’ve both been waiting for this since you were, what, sixteen? You’re both single, you’re both in love with each other, what’s the problem?” I listened as Abby took a sip of her drink, “We’ve been waiting for this for years, Aspen!”
I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes as Abby went on and on about how everyone was tired of waiting for things to happen between Jon and I. She told me again about the wives and their bets. She reminded me of how happy I was with him, how everyone saw the look we gave each other. She brought up our parents, how relentless they were with trying to get us together.
She said all signs pointed to yes.
She said that everything in the universe was trying to bring Jon and I together.
“You wouldn’t be calling me if you thought it was a bad idea. It’s all in your cute little head.” Abby took another sip of her drink. I wished I had some of my own. I wished I was sitting across from her, Madelyn running around, a glass of wine in hand. I wished I was back in the summer. I wished this was all different.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I heard the ring of the coffee pot from behind me. Grabbing the coffee pot, I moved my mug closer to me and poured the dark liquid into it. Setting the pot back in the maker, I went to walk myself over to the couch when I heard footsteps echo from the hallway.
“So tell me about the kiss.” Abby said dreamily, “Pat hasn’t kissed me like that since-”
“Abs, I should go,” I could barely breathe as I watched Jon poke his head into the kitchen, spot me and then smile. He was in nothing but his boxer briefs. My imagination didn’t need any room to run wild.
“He’s awake!” Abby said excitedly. “What did he sleep in anyway, he seems like a-”
“Boxer briefs… only,” I breathed lightly as Jon sent me a wink and walked over to the living room. Turning the TV on, he turned and went to walk back over to me. As I watched him, all I could hear was Abby screaming through the other end of the phone.
When he was close enough to me, his eyes widened as he looked over at the iPhone in my hands. After a minute of listening, he leaned in and smiled.
“Good morning, Abby. How’s the little one?”
Abby silenced herself almost immediately. The sound of her drinking filled the phone, causing a small laugh to escape my lips. The woman on the other end composed herself and informed Jon that she was doing better, but I was stuck with him. Without hesitation, she informed us that one of the kids woke up and she needed to go.
Abby mumbled a quick goodbye and hung up almost immediately after. When I pulled my phone from my ear and set it down next to my coffee mug, Jon looked up at me and lifted his eyebrows. “She okay?”
“You know I turn to the Sharp’s whenever I have a crisis.” I shrugged a shoulder and remained calm until I realized what I had admitted.
“Crisis?” Jon echoed the word back at me that was now setting fire to every thought in my brain.
A heavy weight landed on my shoulders. My teeth started to grind against my bottom lip as I slowly looked from my hands up to Jon’s eyes. When they met, I felt all of my organs start to ice over. He looked worried. He looked scared. He looked defeated.
He thought I was scared again. He thought everything was going to go back to how it was the last few weeks. I could see the regret swimming in his eyes. I could feel the tension radiating from his body. It looked like he was getting ready to catch me if I started to run. It looked like the world was falling down around him.
“Jon, it’s nothing.” I watched the destruction continue in his eyes.
“What did I do?” His hands were shaking as he looked down at them, his eyebrows meeting in the center of his forehead as he looked back up at me.
“Jon, it’s all in my head,” I smiled at him and watched as his big brown eyes rose to mine. “I call Abby so she can tell me whatever I’m worrying about isn’t-”
“Is it because I kissed you last night?”
I felt my body tense from the sound of his voice. His words floated in through my head and started to suffocate my brain. All of the words I could have said disappeared. I could feel my heart race as words crawled up my throat and made me sick. There were so many answers on the tip of my tongue.
I couldn’t think of the consequences. I couldn’t think further than this conversation.
“Yeah,” I breathed and watched as Jon’s eyes darkened. Swallowing hard, he tilted his head to the side and nodded a few times before parting his lips.
“Bad?”
I shook my head. My eyes were wide, lips slightly parted as I struggled to take in air as the darkness in Jon’s eyes lifted. They were bright and clear as he looked at me, inspecting every pore on my face.
The corners of his lips twitched for a moment before they settled in a soft smile.
He nodded.
“Good.”
The conversation was over.
Without another word, Jon poured some coffee into his mug, walked away from me, and into the living room. Setting his mug down on the coffee table, he dropped his body onto the couch and started flipping through the channels on the television.
I couldn’t stop staring at him, the image of him smiling at me burning the back of my eyelids. Every time I blinked I could see him looking at me, my words clearing the storm in his eyes. He was happy his kiss had brought on those thoughts. He was happy I spent the night dreaming of him running his hands all over me. He knew where I stood now.
He knew how bad I wanted him.
Instead of pressing the subject, I took my mug of coffee in one hand, my laptop in the other and made my way over to the couch. Sitting down next to him, I crossed my legs, put my hair up in a messy bun and took a long sip of coffee.
As I adjusted the laptop against my legs, Jon’s heavy arm settled down against my shoulders. Leaning into me, he pressed a soft kiss to my temple and then went back to sipping his coffee and watching whatever show was airing on television.
In between sips of coffee and getting sucked into small scenes in the show on the TV, I went through my emails and flagged ones that were important and answered a few inquiries.
Halfway through writing out an estimate for an office room renovation, I heard my phone start to buzz from the kitchen. Galning up at the screen, I watched as Mike’s name popped up.
“Jon! Can you grab my phone! It’s Mike, he’s the-”
Jon was up and jogging into the kitchen. As he grabbed my iPhone, he jogged backover and right before he handed it to me pressed the green button. Mouthing a thank you, I turned from him and stuck my finger into my ear.
“Hey Mike,” I smiled as the man on the other end of the phone gave me a warm welcome.
“How was the flight in, Miss Pyatt?” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Not bad. I’ve done it a few times.” I shrugged a shoulder and glanced over at Jon who was standing in front of the couch, his arm twisted so he could put his hand on his shoulder blade. The other hand was moving the coffee mug to his lips. My eyes were roaming around the defined muscles in his back, trailing down every hill and valley until they reached the waistband of his underwear.
My face was burning up as I turned away and tried to focus on Mike’s words.
“Ground break at five, dinner reservations at seven, sound good? Are we meeting your guest?” The man didn’t even know me, we had never met in person, and I can categorize him in with literally every other person in my life who was knee deep in the happenings of my love life.
It was almost comical.
“I will be bringing one of my good friends.” I watched as Jon’s head whipped around and shot me a smirk and a wink as he saw the blanket of red on my cheeks. “We will be there at five, do you need me to bring anything?”
“Just a smile, thanks for the confirmation, Miss Pyatt.”
“Of course, see you later, Mike. Always a pleasure.” I hummed and watched as Jon peered over at me again, a wide smile on his face.
After a few more words, Mike and I hung up. As I set the phone down on my leg, Jon sat back down and looked over at me, his eyes playful as they watched mine struggle to stay on his face. “You never talk to me like that.” Jon huffed as he wrapped his arm back around me and pulled me into his side.
Closing the laptop, I set it and my iPhone down on the coffee table and leaned into the burnette. Resting my head against his shoulder, I closed my eyes and let the smell of his skin warm my body.
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m really proud of you.” Jon pressed a kiss to my temple. “I know I never really say it anymore, but, I am.” My heart was pounding in my chest as I looked up at Jon and watched as he gave me that look. The same look he gave me whenever he spoke about my career or accomplishments. The bright eyes, warm smile, you’re the only thing I want, look. The look that made my knees weak. The look that made me dizzy.
I could feel the world stop spinning as he leaned into me and pressed his lips to mine.
When he pulled away, everything in the world was void of color but him.
“I don’t want you to leave, Aspen.” Jon breathed, his lips lightly brushing against my own. “What do I have to do to keep you here?”
My mind was silent as I looked at him. I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to see the hurt in his eyes when I said no or shook my head. I didn’t want to wake up to an empty bed anymore.
I didn’t want to go a day without feeling his lips on mine.
Lips trembling, I swallowed hard and shook my head. “I don’t know.” I whispered and watched as Jon shut his eyes, defeat washing over him as he leaned forward and kissed me again. Instead of pulling away, he pressed into me, his heart racing under the palm of my hand as my eyes fluttered shut.
As the intensity of the kiss nearly tripled, he gently leaned me back, his hand guiding me down against the cushions on the couch. Hovering over me, he left a trail of soft bites from my chin to my collar bone. As he bit down on the skin in the crook of my neck, a soft moan left my throat as my hips jerked up, pressing into his.
A groan left Jon’s throat as he pressed his face into my skin, his heavy breathing making every nerve in my body explode. I was shaking as I felt his teeth lightly sink into my skin again.
“Later,” I could barely believe the words that were coming from my lips as Jon pulled his face from my neck and looked down at me. His eyes were shimmering in the sunlight pouring into the living room now. I could see every warm yellow and deep brown spec in his iris. I could see every emotion rushing through his head.
I could feel myself getting lost in him.
“Aspen, I-”
“Later, please.”
The brunette turned from me, unaware that I was this coherent. His fingers worked easily on the buttons of his shirt. When he reached the bottom, he shrugged the fabric from his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. As he stood there, bare torso, he let out a small sigh and then looked down.
I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as he unbuttoned his pants. Shaking my head, I pressed my face into the pillows and let out a small groan.
“Didn’t enjoy the show?” Jon’s voice filled my head as I pulled my face from the pillows and peered over at him. His skin was smooth and defined as he turned to me, a smirk on his lips as he watched the heat in my face intensify. He was standing there in nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and socks. It would have been comical if every inch of my body wasn’t a 5-alarm fire.
Tightening my jaw, I rolled over onto my other side and pushed the blankets back until I could scoot my body under them. I could feel the blood pulsing through my head as the other end of the bed dipped down. Seconds later, I felt him behind me, his bot breath tickling my ear as he pushed some hair from my face away with his trembling fingers.
I thought about it.
For the first time, in what felt like 20 years, the thought rushed through the forefront of my brain.
My heart was beating erratically as I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the words fly back into view. Images and ideas started to form behind my eyes. With every passing second, I could feel the knot in my stomach tighten.
The skin on my stomach and back that he had ran his hands over just hours ago started to throb like a burning iron was pressed against it. Sweat started to form around my hairline as I felt the skin on my neck tingle. I could still feel his lips. I could still hear the growl leave his throat when I bit down on his bottom lip.
I could barely breathe as I felt his arm wrap around my waist. I was terrified of what could happen. I didn’t want to ruin whatever we had again. I didn’t want to feel the heart ache when he left Winnipeg after his game. If we did this, if we finally took this step we had both been dreaming about, what would be left?
Was this it?
“Jon,” I whispered, my voice shaking.
The brunette gently pulled me into him, pressing a soft kiss to my temple. “What’s wrong, Blondie?” His voice was calm as it floated through my head. The breath that left his lips tickled my ear, causing a shiver to rush through me.
“What are we doing?”
“Going to bed.” Jon stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We have client things tomorrow, you need to get some rest.”
I nodded, my eyes wide as I looked out at the room across from me. “Thanks, my brains a little foggy.”
Jon hummed as a response. Readjusting his grip on me, he pressed another kiss to my hair and then stayed still. I could feel his heartbeat slow down. I could hear his breathing steady and fall into a slow rhythm.
I tried to will myself to sleep. I tried to think about being exhausted and having to meet clients. The clients that had given me my biggest job in years. The clients that I would be spending more time with than my own family in the upcoming months.
Sleep didn’t hang around for long. After falling in and out for a few hours, I realized the sun had come up. Running my eyes over the sunshine poking through the cracks between the blinds, I carefully pulled Jon’s arm from my waist and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.
Every part of me felt stiff as I pressed my feet into the hardwood and pushed my body up. Once the weight of my torso was pressing down against my legs, a long sigh fell from my lips. Although my brain was swimming in a half-awake fog, I made my way across the room, into the hallway, and down to the kitchen.
My mind was empty as I went about the normal morning routine of making coffee. After I hit the button to start brewing the liquid, I walked over to the living room and grabbed my laptop and cell phone that were still lying on the coffee table.
Before I could control my fingers, I was dialing Abby’s number, my heart thudding roughly in my chest as I thought about the brunette waking up and hearing me talk about all of the things in my head to the woman on the phone.
She picked up on the very first ring.
“Morning babe, what’s up?” Abby’s calm voice relaxed me for a moment. The relaxation was ruined when I parted my lips.
“Jon came home and kissed me last night, but not like just a kiss, you know? It was heavy, like heavier than anything that had happened before and I stopped but I… I didn’t want to stop it.” I was shaking as I turned from the coffee maker and started pacing, involuntarily pulling at the sleeves of my jersey. “I asked him to the dinner with Mike and Maria. I slept in his bed.”
I could barely feel my lips as I looked out into the apartment.
“I thought about it, Abby.”
The phone was silent for a few seconds before the woman’s voice came tearing through the other end. It was a higher pitch than normal, like she had just been injected with adrenaline straight to the heart. Through her hysterics, I found myself leaning against the counter, a hand over my eyes as I tried to pick a few words out.
“I need a mimosa for this conversation,” Abby laughed as her voice went back to her normal tone. Rustling sounded from behind her voice. “Are you going to do it?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea.” I admitted, my body growing warm from the thought.
Abby huffed as the sound of liquid pouring into a glass filled the gap between words. “Aspen, you’ve both been waiting for this since you were, what, sixteen? You’re both single, you’re both in love with each other, what’s the problem?” I listened as Abby took a sip of her drink, “We’ve been waiting for this for years, Aspen!”
I couldn’t help but to roll my eyes as Abby went on and on about how everyone was tired of waiting for things to happen between Jon and I. She told me again about the wives and their bets. She reminded me of how happy I was with him, how everyone saw the look we gave each other. She brought up our parents, how relentless they were with trying to get us together.
She said all signs pointed to yes.
She said that everything in the universe was trying to bring Jon and I together.
“You wouldn’t be calling me if you thought it was a bad idea. It’s all in your cute little head.” Abby took another sip of her drink. I wished I had some of my own. I wished I was sitting across from her, Madelyn running around, a glass of wine in hand. I wished I was back in the summer. I wished this was all different.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I heard the ring of the coffee pot from behind me. Grabbing the coffee pot, I moved my mug closer to me and poured the dark liquid into it. Setting the pot back in the maker, I went to walk myself over to the couch when I heard footsteps echo from the hallway.
“So tell me about the kiss.” Abby said dreamily, “Pat hasn’t kissed me like that since-”
“Abs, I should go,” I could barely breathe as I watched Jon poke his head into the kitchen, spot me and then smile. He was in nothing but his boxer briefs. My imagination didn’t need any room to run wild.
“He’s awake!” Abby said excitedly. “What did he sleep in anyway, he seems like a-”
“Boxer briefs… only,” I breathed lightly as Jon sent me a wink and walked over to the living room. Turning the TV on, he turned and went to walk back over to me. As I watched him, all I could hear was Abby screaming through the other end of the phone.
When he was close enough to me, his eyes widened as he looked over at the iPhone in my hands. After a minute of listening, he leaned in and smiled.
“Good morning, Abby. How’s the little one?”
Abby silenced herself almost immediately. The sound of her drinking filled the phone, causing a small laugh to escape my lips. The woman on the other end composed herself and informed Jon that she was doing better, but I was stuck with him. Without hesitation, she informed us that one of the kids woke up and she needed to go.
Abby mumbled a quick goodbye and hung up almost immediately after. When I pulled my phone from my ear and set it down next to my coffee mug, Jon looked up at me and lifted his eyebrows. “She okay?”
“You know I turn to the Sharp’s whenever I have a crisis.” I shrugged a shoulder and remained calm until I realized what I had admitted.
“Crisis?” Jon echoed the word back at me that was now setting fire to every thought in my brain.
A heavy weight landed on my shoulders. My teeth started to grind against my bottom lip as I slowly looked from my hands up to Jon’s eyes. When they met, I felt all of my organs start to ice over. He looked worried. He looked scared. He looked defeated.
He thought I was scared again. He thought everything was going to go back to how it was the last few weeks. I could see the regret swimming in his eyes. I could feel the tension radiating from his body. It looked like he was getting ready to catch me if I started to run. It looked like the world was falling down around him.
“Jon, it’s nothing.” I watched the destruction continue in his eyes.
“What did I do?” His hands were shaking as he looked down at them, his eyebrows meeting in the center of his forehead as he looked back up at me.
“Jon, it’s all in my head,” I smiled at him and watched as his big brown eyes rose to mine. “I call Abby so she can tell me whatever I’m worrying about isn’t-”
“Is it because I kissed you last night?”
I felt my body tense from the sound of his voice. His words floated in through my head and started to suffocate my brain. All of the words I could have said disappeared. I could feel my heart race as words crawled up my throat and made me sick. There were so many answers on the tip of my tongue.
I couldn’t think of the consequences. I couldn’t think further than this conversation.
“Yeah,” I breathed and watched as Jon’s eyes darkened. Swallowing hard, he tilted his head to the side and nodded a few times before parting his lips.
“Bad?”
I shook my head. My eyes were wide, lips slightly parted as I struggled to take in air as the darkness in Jon’s eyes lifted. They were bright and clear as he looked at me, inspecting every pore on my face.
The corners of his lips twitched for a moment before they settled in a soft smile.
He nodded.
“Good.”
The conversation was over.
Without another word, Jon poured some coffee into his mug, walked away from me, and into the living room. Setting his mug down on the coffee table, he dropped his body onto the couch and started flipping through the channels on the television.
I couldn’t stop staring at him, the image of him smiling at me burning the back of my eyelids. Every time I blinked I could see him looking at me, my words clearing the storm in his eyes. He was happy his kiss had brought on those thoughts. He was happy I spent the night dreaming of him running his hands all over me. He knew where I stood now.
He knew how bad I wanted him.
Instead of pressing the subject, I took my mug of coffee in one hand, my laptop in the other and made my way over to the couch. Sitting down next to him, I crossed my legs, put my hair up in a messy bun and took a long sip of coffee.
As I adjusted the laptop against my legs, Jon’s heavy arm settled down against my shoulders. Leaning into me, he pressed a soft kiss to my temple and then went back to sipping his coffee and watching whatever show was airing on television.
In between sips of coffee and getting sucked into small scenes in the show on the TV, I went through my emails and flagged ones that were important and answered a few inquiries.
Halfway through writing out an estimate for an office room renovation, I heard my phone start to buzz from the kitchen. Galning up at the screen, I watched as Mike’s name popped up.
“Jon! Can you grab my phone! It’s Mike, he’s the-”
Jon was up and jogging into the kitchen. As he grabbed my iPhone, he jogged backover and right before he handed it to me pressed the green button. Mouthing a thank you, I turned from him and stuck my finger into my ear.
“Hey Mike,” I smiled as the man on the other end of the phone gave me a warm welcome.
“How was the flight in, Miss Pyatt?” I could hear the smile in his voice.
“Not bad. I’ve done it a few times.” I shrugged a shoulder and glanced over at Jon who was standing in front of the couch, his arm twisted so he could put his hand on his shoulder blade. The other hand was moving the coffee mug to his lips. My eyes were roaming around the defined muscles in his back, trailing down every hill and valley until they reached the waistband of his underwear.
My face was burning up as I turned away and tried to focus on Mike’s words.
“Ground break at five, dinner reservations at seven, sound good? Are we meeting your guest?” The man didn’t even know me, we had never met in person, and I can categorize him in with literally every other person in my life who was knee deep in the happenings of my love life.
It was almost comical.
“I will be bringing one of my good friends.” I watched as Jon’s head whipped around and shot me a smirk and a wink as he saw the blanket of red on my cheeks. “We will be there at five, do you need me to bring anything?”
“Just a smile, thanks for the confirmation, Miss Pyatt.”
“Of course, see you later, Mike. Always a pleasure.” I hummed and watched as Jon peered over at me again, a wide smile on his face.
After a few more words, Mike and I hung up. As I set the phone down on my leg, Jon sat back down and looked over at me, his eyes playful as they watched mine struggle to stay on his face. “You never talk to me like that.” Jon huffed as he wrapped his arm back around me and pulled me into his side.
Closing the laptop, I set it and my iPhone down on the coffee table and leaned into the burnette. Resting my head against his shoulder, I closed my eyes and let the smell of his skin warm my body.
We sat in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m really proud of you.” Jon pressed a kiss to my temple. “I know I never really say it anymore, but, I am.” My heart was pounding in my chest as I looked up at Jon and watched as he gave me that look. The same look he gave me whenever he spoke about my career or accomplishments. The bright eyes, warm smile, you’re the only thing I want, look. The look that made my knees weak. The look that made me dizzy.
I could feel the world stop spinning as he leaned into me and pressed his lips to mine.
When he pulled away, everything in the world was void of color but him.
“I don’t want you to leave, Aspen.” Jon breathed, his lips lightly brushing against my own. “What do I have to do to keep you here?”
My mind was silent as I looked at him. I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to see the hurt in his eyes when I said no or shook my head. I didn’t want to wake up to an empty bed anymore.
I didn’t want to go a day without feeling his lips on mine.
Lips trembling, I swallowed hard and shook my head. “I don’t know.” I whispered and watched as Jon shut his eyes, defeat washing over him as he leaned forward and kissed me again. Instead of pulling away, he pressed into me, his heart racing under the palm of my hand as my eyes fluttered shut.
As the intensity of the kiss nearly tripled, he gently leaned me back, his hand guiding me down against the cushions on the couch. Hovering over me, he left a trail of soft bites from my chin to my collar bone. As he bit down on the skin in the crook of my neck, a soft moan left my throat as my hips jerked up, pressing into his.
A groan left Jon’s throat as he pressed his face into my skin, his heavy breathing making every nerve in my body explode. I was shaking as I felt his teeth lightly sink into my skin again.
“Later,” I could barely believe the words that were coming from my lips as Jon pulled his face from my neck and looked down at me. His eyes were shimmering in the sunlight pouring into the living room now. I could see every warm yellow and deep brown spec in his iris. I could see every emotion rushing through his head.
I could feel myself getting lost in him.
“Aspen, I-”
“Later, please.”