Forever With You: A Contemporary Romance (You and Me Series Book 4)

by Tia Lewis

  My heart stuttered. We both felt it a second before we heard it. “What are you doing here?”

  His eyes snapped to mine. They were swimming with moisture. “What the hell are you talking about? You were hit by a car.”

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes; I thought it would hurt too much in my current condition. “Yeah, I know that much. I mean, why did you come?”

  He dropped his hands as if they’d been burned. His lips quivered for a moment before he collected himself, hardening his expression. “Would you rather I not have?”

  I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “Guess that depends.”

  “On what?” he fired back.

  “I heard what you said to Sharon.”

  “To who?” He shook his head in confusion, running both hands through his hair, tugging at the ends. It was an honest mess. I preferred it, but couldn’t let it distract me. “What the hell, Jade?”

  “That reporter girl, Sharon. I heard what you said about—us. Me. About press tours.”

  He shook his head again, his irritation spilling onto his expression. “I don’t know what the hell you’re—” realization dawned on his face, and he narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you left through that goddamn alley because of what I said to Sharon.”

  I shifted my eyes away, pressing my lips together. I could feel tears threatening.

  He groaned, long and low, nearly a keening sound that made me wonder if he had somehow been the one to hurt himself. “It was just—she’s tabloid, Jade. She’s the tabloid; it was just—shit. It was just shit I said to keep this,” he swept his hand between us, “separate. How can you not see that? How can you not see that I’m always just trying to keep you separate?”

  I glared at him. “How can you not see that I don’t want to be separate?”

  He groaned again, though this time it was clearly out of frustration. His muscles tightened, broad shoulders tense. “But I need you separate. Not because I don’t want you to be a part of all that but because I don’t want that to be a part of you. Of us. This is mine, Jade.” He took hold of my good hand, kissed it, and brought it up to his heart.

  The door creaked open. Chris popped his head in, frowning and sliding into the room quietly. He surprised me by being here at all, much less coming into my room, but Grayson hadn’t relaxed or looked away. When I caught his gaze again, he continued speaking like his manager hadn’t interrupted them.

  “You—you said yesterday you went there for me.”

  I swallowed. “Yes,” I whispered.

  Grayson tilted his chin up, but his eyes gave away the fear. My heart accelerated at the sight, the machine letting everyone in the room see how much he affected me. “I came here for you.”

  He was offering me something, something that I had already tried to refuse. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to refuse it twice.

  “I said those things to the reporter,” he repeated. “But I didn’t do it to hurt you. And—and if you want, I’ll tell every reporter the truth, I’ll tell them everything about you. Or I’ll quit, and I’ll never talk to another reporter again. I—you matter, diner girl. You’re enough for me, no matter what else we have to decide.”

  I considered the resolve I’d had in the diner those months ago when I pushed Grayson as far away from me as I could. I thought about my determination to do whatever it took to help him.

  I decided, swiftly, that I had been an idiot. My heart thundered on the monitor, and Grayson’s attention flickered to the screen, watching, before turning back to me.

  I slowly grinned. “I guess you’ll do.”

  His answering smile was radiant enough to warm my soul. Dare I hope? “You mean it?”

  “Entirely.” He jumped from the chair, about to throw his arms around me before he realized he wasn’t going to be able to do that. Instead, he settled for resting his hand on the top of my head, running his fingers through my hair, beaming.

  Chris cleared his throat, and we both jumped a little, having forgotten he was there. I hissed at the feeling in my ribs when I jolted, and both men turned to me, concerned before I waved them off.

  “So,” Chris said, raising one eyebrow as he appraised us. I braced myself, expecting the worst. “How long will you be staying here, then?”

  Wait.

  “You’re not going to try and break us up again?” I blurted before I could stop myself. My face burned when Chris turned to me, smirking.

  “Wasn’t going to,” Chris said, folding his arms. “Why? Would you prefer that?” he asked with a smarmy grin.

  Grayson laughed, running his hand up and down my arm in reassurance. “Shut up, Chris.”

  “Make me, Sparling.”

  I watched them apprehensively. Chris seemed to be okay with this but…

  “Really?” I just didn’t believe him. I had been so sure a few months ago. His reasoning was solid enough that even I had bought it.

  Chris rolled his eyes, but it lacked the venom he usually put behind it. “Really,” he confirmed. “I want what’s best for Grayson. I always have.”

  Grayson smiled broadly. “You were just wrong about what that was, is all.”

  “Yeah, for like, the first time ever,” Chris grumbled. “Besides. I’ve just spent three months with him moping around.” Chris shook his head. I looked at Grayson from the corner of my eye, disbelieving. Surely, he’d been fine. “You should have seen him after he tried to call you and some other guy answered.”

  Grayson’s face blushed red, shrugging. I barked out a quick laugh, which was short-lived when my ribs protested. “That,” I stifled my laughter, my aching ribs barely taking the humor out of the situation, “was the worst date I’d ever been on.”

  He dropped his hand to my shoulder, squeezing it. “Good.”

  I wasn’t sure what was going to come. I didn’t know what had been happening in Grayson’s life the last few months, how far he was in this movie if our confessions meant that he’d relocate or if we’d just try our hand at long distance. I didn’t even really know how the diner was going to stay afloat while I recovered from these ridiculous injuries.

  But I did know that I loved Grayson Sparling very much and that he seemed to love me too. I knew that we were going to make it work, no matter what needed adjusting. He had fit so smoothly into my life. I was just going to have to have faith that I’d fit into his as well.

  All I really knew was that this was enough for the both of us.

  Chris cleared his throat again, getting our attention. “How long are you staying here, then, Grayson?”

  Grayson shrugged, smiling down at me. His eyes were bright, and the small freckles on his nose were illuminated from the window across the room, reminding me that I still needed to trace the constellations that they made.

  He dropped a kiss to my forehead and then smiled a little wider as he looked into my eyes. “Indefinitely.”

  Epilogue

  Jade

  I had many great things in my life. I owned a small diner I inherited from my uncle where I worked with my cousin, Alana, just down the road from my best friend, Madeline. I had perfect health, even after just a handful of short months of physical therapy to help me after I was hit by a car in the pouring rain. I had a nice nest egg that promised a good retirement if I kept things up. I had my life back after the grief over losing my mother and uncle threatened to trap me in my own mind. I had a wonderful boyfriend in Grayson Sparling, movie star, and backrub extraordinaire. I had a love with him that I thought only existed in fairy tales or for people so worthy it was impossible to measure up to.

  And, most recently, I had my late uncle’s pancake recipe.

  The little index card was yellow with age; the pencil scratches nearly faded. But I knew Kyle Hunter’s handwriting as well as I knew my own, almost, and I could make out perfectly the secret ingredient.

  “What is it?” Grayson asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. He had never met Kyle, of course, but he was nearly as excited
as I was. Though that probably had more to do with the fact that my boyfriend was absolutely obsessed with pancakes. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that my recipe could get any better.

  I tucked the card in the safe where I had found it, buried behind literally years’ worth of paper napkins. “No way,” I said, spinning the dial and tugging on the handle to make sure it was locked. I had also spied an old photo album and a few letters, but I’d wait to go through it all until Alana, Kyle’s daughter, and my cousin could be there with me. As eager as I was, I knew I wasn’t the only one who would want to devour the information Kyle left behind.

  “Come on,” he pleaded, wrapping his arms around my waist, pressing close to me. “I can keep a secret.”

  I laughed. I knew that he could. Even after our secret courtship in the beginning, Grayson and I had decided to keep our relationship as secretive as possible until after the first of his action trilogy came out. Though that had been a bit difficult, considering the scene he had caused when he’d practically beat down my hospital door to get to me when I’d had my accident.

  I pressed my lips to his, kissing him lightly.

  “I don’t want you getting any fancy ideas,” I murmured. “You’re a terrible cook.”

  His head lolled back as he laughed, the short, surprised one that I liked the most. He tightened his grip on my hips, and I dropped my hands to his waist to keep him steady as he laughed.

  “Too true,” he agreed, grinning. I smiled back.

  No longer laughing or hiding the recipes, I couldn’t help but notice how close we were pressed, hips aligned and chests touching. We were in the supply room at Kyle’s, but the diner had been closed for an hour, and considering I was the owner, I didn’t think anyone would mind if I kissed my boyfriend for a while against the shelves.

  Decision made, I pushed him a little, and he responded immediately, backing up until his back pressed against the shelves. I crowded him, capturing his lips.

  Grayson kissed back just as strongly, his hands weaving into my hair. He tugged, eliciting a throaty moan from me; he swallowed it and slipped his bottom lip between my lips, parting them enough to deepen the kiss.

  My fingers dug into his shoulders. I tilted my head, pushing hard with my lips before grabbing the dominance of the kiss with my tongue. My hands ghosted lower, pushing the thin material of his shirt up so the pads of my fingers could delicately trail across the bare skin. His skin was hot to the touch, burning me as I softly ran my hands over his abs and the sexy, sharp V that dipped below his jeans.

  When my thumbs pressed hard into the corners of the V, Grayson jutted his hips, rotating them in a quick, desperate thrust. His mouth fell open as he gasped, throwing his head back and hitting it hard against the shelves. Other than tightening his grip in my hair, it didn’t seem to affect him. I took advantage of the new position, leaving Grayson’s mouth to kiss and suck on his neck and collarbone. I kissed the area, wide, open-mouthed kisses that had Grayson rutting against me deliciously, before sucking the skin between my teeth, gently nibbling. I let it go and ran the flat of my tongue over the area.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he gasped. I chuckled into his neck.

  I pulled away to catch my breath.

  Grayson’s chest heaved as he struggled to catch his own breath, lips swollen and parted as he rested his head on the shelf behind him. I could barely see the blue of his eyes, as hooded and dilated as they were. But his top lip was shiny, and his cheeks were flushed, small purple bruises raising on the pale skin of his neck. I loved him like this, hips still subconsciously rolling softly, hands too tight as he gripped me.

  His hands slid down my neck, down my sides to rest on my hips as I continued to run my fingers up and down his abs. But he didn’t hesitate, not even briefly, and he slipped his hands underneath my shirt.

  His hands burned. I hissed at the sensation, eyes clenching shut. Grayson pressed a kiss to the middle of my throat, nipping at my neck as his hands trailed up and down my sides, one teasing at the sensitive skin near where my panties sat, the other scraping nails down my back.

  I was going to melt, right here, in the middle of my supply closet if he didn’t stop.

  As if he had heard me, he dropped the hand that was teasing the waistline of my panties, raising it to grab my face hard, thumb stroking along my cheekbone softly as he pulled me into another kiss. It was a thousand tiny feelings at once. I would never get used to his mouth on mine, his lips moving hard and his tongue begging for entrance. I would never get used to the desperation that pooled in my stomach or the eagerness that sped from my fingertips as I tugged him as close to me as possible.

  Each of our kisses delivered a new message to me. I had experienced the hot ones that would surge through me as if screaming and banging on the walls inside my skull for me to hurry up, for me to take notice and to clutch at him desperately. I liked the quiet ones, too, that were slow and deep, eyes that stayed open a little too long and hands that clutched firmly but didn’t wander. Even the gentle ones, pressed lightly against lips or foreheads or cheeks, best when one or both of us were sleepy, had a permanent place of reverence in my mind. My favorites were probably the ones that were made half of laughter and half of pure happiness. The first time I had one of those kisses, Grayson had laughed so hard that tears were streaming down his face and his mouth tasted like cherry from a candy he had been eating. I had told a bad joke, kept telling it, too, until he shut me up with a kiss and I had to swallow my words and his laughter.

  There were many more kisses—the “it’s been raining, and you walked here” kiss, the “I’ve been sleeping all day, don’t judge me” kiss, the “You’re wearing a t-shirt that I purposefully washed wrong so it’d shrink but now it looks really good” kiss. Every day seemed to bring us a new type of kiss, a new reason to have heart palpitations, and to be thankful for falling in love. Today, it seemed, was the “I finally have the recipe I’ve been trying to get my whole life, and in a way, this feels like my uncle’s stamp of approval on my boyfriend” kiss.

  I really liked this kiss.

  Pulling away, Grayson nearly fell as he stretched toward me, eyes still closed, as he tried to keep our lips connected. I laughed lightly against his lips and took a step back; we’d hide out in here forever if one of us didn’t stop and from the pout forming on his face, it didn’t seem like he’d be the one to cool things down.

  “Come on,” I said, rolling my eyes when he huffed. “They’re going to be here any minute.”

  “But I’m not done with you yet.” Grayson winked.

  Grayson

  Pressed tightly against Jade, I felt around quietly to see if there was a way to make more space for us. We both stood silently as I struggled in vain, and I couldn't help but feel her ass grinding against me as I shifted around.

  "What now?” Jade whispered, turning her head toward the back of the closet to face me slightly.

  "Now?" I replied, "you’re mine. You belong to me."

  She blushed. "We should really get going.”

  “Shhh,” I whispered into her ear. Jade shifted in front of me, apparently trying to readjust. Her ass backed firmly into my dick and pressed it up against me, and she held there as she found a more comfortable position. I started to chub up, my cock stuck upright between her ass cheeks. Within a few seconds, I was full on rock hard, and there was no way she couldn't feel it as she shifted slightly on her feet.

  "Grayson..." she breathed out softly. “Take me.”

  Quickly, I pulled down my pants, and my cock sprung free, tapping her on her lower back. I slid it down her ass crack, leaving a trail of precum until it found a new resting place between her thighs.

  Our shifting continued as we tried to find a better position, and I found myself more stimulated than ever. Every slight movement was jerking me off between her thighs, and my precum was dripping off the tip of my dick.

  I don't know if I zoned out or just got lost in pleasure, but before
I knew it, I found myself moving slightly back and forth, essentially fucking her thighs. The need to cum started to win the battle with my rational brain, but I was still able to hold back from forcing myself on her.

  Before I knew it, I started to feel a different sensation. Her underwear hadn't shifted, but I felt a distinct wetness seeping down onto my cock. Next, the unmistakable sweet smell of woman hit my nose, and my dick got harder than I knew was possible.

  “You’re so wet, Jade.”

  She said nothing right away, but she subtly pressed her ass back into me. I felt a tremor in her thighs, and at that point, I was convinced she wanted it as bad as I wanted her. My thrusts became way less subtle, and I felt the head of my cock drag across her wet pussy with each stroke.

  “Mmm, you’re teasing me, huh?”

  "I'm not a tease..." she meekly replied. I cued off her tone and leaned in, pressing my lips against her ear.

  "Prove it," I whispered as forcefully as I could.

  Her hands shot down to her panties and yanked them down, and my cock snapped back up against her as they rubber banded. The slap of it against her pussy was the loudest sound we had made so far, but neither of us seemed to care.

  The green light was flashing in my mind, and I knew that no more words were needed. I backed up as much as I could manage and lined my cock up as she arched her back obscenely. The tip slid in easily, and I bent my knees slightly to make sure I could get all the way in.

  "Fuck me," she dragged out, but I didn't need to be told. I sunk myself balls deep in her, moved my hands to her hips, and took in the moment. Here we were, in the supply closet, with my cock buried in her pussy.

  "Damn," I breathed out as I started to fuck her, moving relatively slowly in order to keep the noise down.

  Her warm pussy was like a velvet vice grip, every inch of her felt divine on my cock. I slid in and out easily despite how tight she was, her wetness begging me to fuck her harder.

  "You like that, baby?" I asked.