by Beth Maria
“You don’t have to lie to us, sweetie. If you ever need anything, whether it be a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen, you know where we are. We will always be here for you, won’t we, Michael?”
“Of course. We love you, little lady.” My Granddad pulls me into a hug this time, making sure not to squash me. I realize in this moment that I’ve missed them so much. I really should make more of an effort to call them and just talk to them every now and again. “We won’t hog you to ourselves. Go and speak to other people. We’re staying for a few days to make sure your mother is doing okay, so we will have plenty of time to catch up.”
I nod, giving them both another hug before making my way to speak to the other guests.
That took longer than expected. Most of the guests have left now, leaving only family behind and Jake, Jesse, and Maisie.
For the last hour, I’ve been repeating myself. I was constantly asked, ‘how are you feeling?’ or ‘it will get easier with time’. Do they not think that I know that? I know that it will take time; I don’t need people to keep telling me. I know it’s not their fault. I’m just really tired, so my patience is running low.
We’ve all started tidying up, putting away plates and drinks that were left lying around. Luckily, most people put theirs in the kitchen, so there isn’t too much to tidy, which I’m thankful for. My eyes are literally closing.
“Princess, you’re falling asleep. You go head to bed. I’ll clean up the rest,” Jake says, taking the plastic cups from my hands. I look up at him through tiny slits where I’m trying really hard to keep my eyes open, and open my mouth to protest, but he silences me. “No arguing with me on this. You’ve had a busy day, and now you need your rest. I’ll help clean the rest of this, and then I’ll head on home. There really isn’t that much left to do, so I’m sure your mother will understand if you leave.”
I sigh. There’s no point arguing with him on this. Plus, I’m really tired and just want to sleep. “Okay. Let my mother know that I’ve gone to bed. Please explain that you sent me to bed and that I didn’t dodge out of helping. I don’t want her thinking that I wasn’t pulling my weight.”
“I will. Don’t worry. Now get that pretty behind up the stairs and into bed.” He playfully swats at my bottom, causing me to chuckle. I start walking toward the hallway. “Hey Chloe,” he calls, stopping me on the spot. “See you tomorrow?” he asks with a hopeful smile on his face.
I smile back sleepily. “Yeah, I would like that.”
Jake nods before heading into the kitchen to dispose of the plastic cups. I stand staring at him for a few seconds until he’s out of sight. I sigh. He really is sticking to his word about making it up to me. It’s like someone has swapped the Jake from the last few months and replaced him with a completely different person; a person who cares about other people’s feelings, and is sweet and romantic. If he carries on this way, I may just end up giving him my heart again, which could be dangerous.
I shake my thoughts away, not quite ready to think about that just yet. I want to take each day as it comes for the mean time.
When I’m in my room, I change into my PJs, go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then hop into bed, reveling in the comfort. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I feel myself falling into a deep sleep. The last thought I have is that I hope tomorrow brings better things. I’ve had all the drama I can handle for a long time.
Chapter 12
Jake
It’s been a week since the funeral, which means we’re all back at college. We’d already missed quite a few days, from having to attend the funeral and because I wanted to make sure that Chloe was coping before I left to come back here.
I arrived back at college a couple of days after the funeral, but Chloe returned yesterday. She had to make sure that her mother would be okay without her there, and even now, she still wants to go back home to look after her.
So today, I’m going to take her mind off of it. It’s Saturday, meaning we’re both free for the day. She doesn’t know yet though. I need to call her and let her know.
“Hello?” Chloe answers, her voice groggy from sleep. It’s such a cute sound. I can’t help but laugh.
“Hello, princess. Did I wake you up?”
She groans. “Yes, you did. What time is it anyway?”
I check my cell. “It’s ten-”
“Eurgh, seriously Jake?” Chloe interrupts. “It’s Saturday, meaning day of rest, a day where we can sleep till the afternoon, and you go and wake me up at TEN? I’m so pissed off with you right now.”
I burst out laughing. I love it when she gets all feisty.
“Aw, but baby. I wanted to do something today. We need to leave soon, or most of the day will be wasted,” I put on my voice that she can’t resist and hope that it works. I have the perfect day planned for us.
“What did you want to do? And this better be good. I could have stayed in bed.”
I roll my eyes. Chloe and her bed are best friends. “It’s a surprise. Dress warm and I will pick you up in an hour.” I end the call, not waiting to hear her protest. Now she has no choice, and if I get there and she’s not ready, I will drag her out as she is.
I spend the next thirty minutes getting ready, then quickly make myself some breakfast before heading out the door.
****
I jump out of my truck, race up the stairs, and knock on the door. Chloe answers near enough straight away. The wind is knocked out of me the moment she opens the door. She’s wearing a pair of light blue skin-tight jeans that hug her legs perfectly, with a baby pink sweater. It’s simple, but stunning. She really is a sight to behold, and hopefully all mine in the future.
I can’t seem to take my eyes off the way the jeans hug her legs. I really want to see what her ass looks like in them. Could I ask her to turn around?
“My face is up here, Jake,” Chloe says, snapping me out of my ogling. I slowly lift my eyes up to meet hers, a mischievous smile on my face from being caught. Even though her voice sounded stern, there is an amused look on her face.
“Sorry, princess. Your legs, wow, they look incredible in those jeans. Why have I never seen them before?” Yeah, why haven’t I?
“I bought them a few weeks back. We’re weren’t talking then, so why would you have seen them?”
“I’m sure if I had of seen you around campus wearing them, I would have been on my knees in public, begging for you to give me another chance. You’re legs… They do things to a man, Chloe. I don’t think I can be held responsible for my actions today. I’m just warning you in advance.” I hold a straight face, letting her know that I’m serious. I really can’t be held accountable for my actions, when I just want to squeeze her ass and feel her peachy cheeks in my hands. I already know that they fit perfectly in my hands.
Chloe points her finger into my chest, pressing hard. “You so much as touch me inappropriately, Mr. Peterson, and so help me God, I will chop off your hands. Do I make myself clear?”
I remove her hand, rubbing the tender spot. “Oh, baby, you know how much I like a challenge! You’ve just made this a hundred times harder to not touch your ass.”
She turns around and grabs her bag before shutting the door behind her. “Let me remind you that if you don’t have any hands, you won’t be able to touch my ass ever again, let alone anyone else’s.”
I follow behind her, rushing to keep up. Jesus, she’s in a rush today. “I don’t want anyone else’s ass, just yours.” I slowly move my hand toward her ass, trying to get a sneaky squeeze in while her head is forward. Her hand snatches out, grabbing onto mine just before I can make contact. I groan. So fucking close.
“Last chance. I’m not warning you again.” She lets go of my hand, walking off. I just stand on the spot, staring at her ass. Her hips are swaying, and I’m sure she’s doing that on purpose because she knows that I’m watching. I can feel myself getting hard, my cock straining against my pants. Oh, what I could do to that edible ass of hers…
&nb
sp; I rearrange myself as best as I can so that it’s not so painful before walking down to my truck.
“You alright there?” Chloe asks when I meet her at my truck, a smirk on her face which says she knows why I was held up.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” I open her door, closing it when she’s seated, and then make my way around to my side.
“So… You going to tell me where we’re going yet?” Chloe asks after being silent for a few minutes.
I quickly cast a glance at her, seeing that she’s looking out her side window.
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it, Princess?”
I hear her sigh when she realizes that she’s going to have to wait to find out.
As we get closer to the destination, my nerves start playing up. What if she doesn’t like it? I’ve never asked her what she thought of it before. I just have to hope and pray that she does in fact like it. Until she says that she does though, I know I’m going to be on edge.
We pull into the parking lot ten minutes later. Luckily, the traffic wasn’t too bad considering it’s Saturday, but from the limited parking spaces left, I know that it’s going to be busy inside.
Chloe’s busy on her cell when I put the truck into park, so it takes a while before she realizes where we are. The whole time I was waiting, my palms started sweating and my knees started jiggling, a nervous habit of mine.
I watch as confusion takes over her face before being transformed into an excited smile. Oh, thank you, God, she likes it!
“We’re going ice-skating?” Chloe asks excitedly, turning to face me.
“Yes. Is that okay?” I ask, my smile mirroring hers. It’s so infectious; I can’t help but smile back.
“Is it okay? Of course it’s okay. I love ice-skating!” She’s practically bouncing in her seat.
I release a long breath. I can finally get rid of the nerves. “I’m glad. I was having a crisis on the way here. I didn’t even know if you liked it.” I laugh uncomfortably at admitting that I was nervous. I’m hardly ever nervous, though, these days it seems that I’m always nervous around Chloe. She makes my lady’s man image fly right out of the window.
Chloe grabs my hand, holding onto it tightly, and gives it a reassuring squeeze.
“Stop being so nervous. You have nothing to worry about. I pretty much like anything, except hiking. You take me on a hiking trip, and I will beat your ass.” I laugh, grateful for her attempt to make me feel better.
“Thank you, Princess. I just want you to enjoy yourself. You deserve it after the last few weeks.” I watch her eyes go downcast. “We better go inside. Otherwise, it’s going to get too busy,” I say, changing the subject before she goes into herself like she has the last few weeks since her father passed away. I should have kept my big mouth shut!
Chloe’s eyes meet mine, a weak smile on her face. “Let’s go see your skills then, shall we, Mr. Peterson.” I just laugh. I suck at ice-skating. I hope she’s good, so she can pull me along.
I pay for our entry. We both tell the clerk what size skates we need, and then we put them on. I stand up, already wobbly, and we’re not even on the ice yet.
“You can’t skate, can you?” Chloe asks, standing up perfectly next to me. Show off.
“Pfft. Of course I can skate. I’ll show you.” Why did I just lie? I’m going to look like even more of an idiot now when she finds out that I can’t. I’m going to spend most of my time on my ass. Oh well. All I can do is try. I need to prove to her.
“Whatever you say, loser.” She laughs and starts walking toward the rink, leaving me standing next to the bench.
Erm, how on earth am I supposed to get onto the rink when I can hardly even stand up? They don’t expect me to walk over there, do they?
I look around for another way to get onto the rink, but I don’t find anything. Do you think they have a wheelchair to wheel me over there? No, didn’t think so. I look out and find Chloe halfway around the rink, skating like a pro. She could have given me a hand! She would have if you had’ve told her the truth, that you couldn’t skate! I mentally groan. Who’s stupid idea was this again? Oh yeah, that’s right - it was mine. I should leave the ideas up to Chloe next time, or at least choose something that I can do too.
Realizing that I can’t stand here all day, I slowly lift my foot up and take a step. Well, that was easier than when I first stood up. Maybe I can do this. I repeat the process until I’m at the entrance of the rink. Chloe stops next to me, giving me a knowing smirk. I’ll show her that I can do this! I take a step onto the ice, my foot barely touching it before it starts sliding. I take it back off and put it next to me. Come on! You can do this! It’s only ice. It’s not going to kill you. Stop being a pansy ass! Now that I’ve psyched myself up, I try again. My foot doesn’t slide this time. Wooo! I hold onto the side with one hand, and move my other foot onto the ice faster this time. Bad move… As soon as my foot touches the ice, it slips, causing my other foot to start slipping. I should have held onto the side with both hands, because before I know it, my legs are giving out underneath me, causing me to land on my ass. Oh, sweet Jesus, that hurts like a motherfucker!
All I can hear is Chloe’s howling laughter. I turn, giving her a knock it off look, but she isn’t looking at me. She’s laughing so hard that she’s bent over. Well, I’m glad she finds this amusing. I don’t. I’ve been here five minutes, and I’ve already got a soaked and numb ass. Could this get any worse?
“Do you need a hand getting up?” Chloe asks, still laughing, holding her hand out for me to take.
“No. I can do this, thank you,” I tell her determined. I put both hands on the side of the rink and start to pull myself up. I didn’t think it through though, did I, because as soon as my skates touch the ice, I slip again, landing on my ass for the second time in a matter of a few minutes. I think I might have broken my coccyx this time! Tears sting my eyes from the excruciating pain shooting through my body. I quickly blink them away before Chloe sees that ice-skating has reduced me to tears, and then just stay sitting on the floor. If I have to wait here until Chloe’s finished skating, so be it.
“Jake, give me your hand. It’s okay to admit that you can’t skate, you know?”
I ignore her out-stretched hand. “I’ll just wait here until you’re finished.”
She puts her hands on her hips, looking down at me with a no nonsense expression on her pretty little face. “Jake Peterson, will you stop acting like a child? So, you can’t skate? It’s not the end of the world. Just give me your freaking hand, so I can help pull you up. I will show you how to skate.” She stretches out her hand again, giving me a look that tells me not to argue with her. I begrudgingly take her hand, my big one enveloping her tiny one, the warmth from hers seeping into mine.
Chloe pulls with all her might to pick me up, but I’m too heavy for her little frame to lift up. She ends up toppling right on top of me. Luckily, my body took her fall, meaning she didn’t hurt herself.
We both end up laughing at our failed attempt. We both know there is no way I’m getting up off this floor. We stay like this for a couple of minutes, trying to calm down. I notice that people are looking at us funny. I don’t care; they can get on with it. It’s not my fault I can’t skate, and right now, I’m glad that I can’t skate because I get to have this beautiful woman flush against my body. My mind is so sensitive to her touch that I don’t feel the coldness on my bottom anymore. All I can feel is the heat radiating through my body from our contact. It’s a feeling that I will never get tired of.
Chloe looks up at me through her long lashes, her eyes shining with happiness. It’s a sight to behold. I haven’t seen this look on her face in nearly a year. Oh, how I’ve missed it!
I put my hands on the side of her face and slowly lean forward. I have to kiss her, especially when she looks this beautiful. I move slowly, giving her time to tell me to stop if she wants me to. When my lips almost touch hers, I tell her huskily, “I’m going to kiss
you now. If you want me to stop, this is your last chance to tell me.”
Chloe swallows, but she doesn’t tell me to stop. I take that as the green light. I close the gap between us, feeling the heat from her breath just before my lips land on her soft plump ones. It’s an innocent kiss, but I can feel it all the way to my core. My whole body comes alive with this tiny bit of contact, sending sparks shooting through my body. I moan quietly into her mouth, loving the feel of her lips on mine. They fit perfectly together, like she was made for me.
Oh, how I want to deepen the kiss, to feel her tongue in a slow dance with mine, but we can’t. With all the strength that I possess, I move my head back to stare into her lust filled eyes. I wish I didn’t have to pull away, but we’re at a family venue, and there are little kids around. I’m sure we would get kicked out if I stuck my tongue down her throat. I will just have to be patient and wait until we are in private to revel in the sweetness that only Chloe can provide.
“Thank you,” I whisper, gently stroking over the lips that were just on mine, feeling wetness lying there.
Chloe doesn’t respond, but just gives me a smile. She doesn’t need to say anything. I understand what she’s trying to tell me; that I don’t have to thank her. I will constantly thank her for the little touches and stolen kisses until she is officially mine, and even then I will probably keep thanking her for the rest of my life. I need her to realize how special she is to me.
The wetness from my clothes is starting to seep into my bones, chilling me. Even Chloe’s body heat isn’t preventing the coldness from seeping in anymore.
“Shall we go? I don’t think I’m going to be able to skate, Princess,”
“Yeah, I can’t put you through this. That would be torture.” I watch as she leans forward and gives me a chaste kiss before gracefully hopping off of me, like she’s been skating her whole life. I didn’t even have time to acknowledge the kiss before she was getting off of me. I was too shocked that she was initiating the kiss to respond, and now I’ve missed my damn chance.
