Sweetness

by Lindsay Paige

rest crashing down.

  I was standing just before the elevated portion of the floor and Emily came over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “That is how you bowl,” she said with a kiss. I laughed and shook my head. “Hey, I like it up here,” she said, noticing that she was taller now that I was standing on the lower level.

  I laughed, gave her a quick kiss, and got my game on. The rest of the game, I bowled either strikes or spares. Emily continued to granny-roll the ball and got quite a few strikes. She did a little happy dance each time and the night was filled with laughs.

  I won the first game and Emily won the second. We returned our shoes and headed to leave.

  The bowling alley was connected to a strip mall and outside something caught Emily’s attention. “Jake! C’mon!” She took my hand and broke off into a run down the sidewalk.

  “Where are we going?” I asked just as she stopped in front of an ice cream place, Cold Stone.

  “You’ve never been, right?” She asked. I shook my head and excitement took over her as we headed inside. “You sit right there and I’ll be right back. You are going to love this place.”

  I did as I was told and watched her as she ordered. She seemed so relaxed talking to the girl behind the counter. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and my eyes travelled down her body, down to her shapely, fit legs and back up. She caught me watching and a blush took over her cheeks, making me smile.

  Minutes later she walked over with two spoons and a waffle bowl dipped in chocolate and filled with ice cream. She sat down beside me and told me to dig in. I spooned some up and stuck it in my mouth as Emily took her first bite. Emily closes her eyes and moaned. It was really good.

  She opened her eyes and looked at me. “Isn’t it a piece of ice cream heaven?”

  I grinned and said, “It sure is. What is it?”

  “It’s their birthday mix. It’s my favorite.” We ate the ice cream in silence with the exception of an occasional moan from Emily.

  “Well, this certainly ruins my dinner plans,” I said once we started eating the waffle bowl.

  Emily looked at me with wide eyes. “Oops. I’m sorry, Jake.” I laughed and told her that it was fine and that it only meant that we could skip ahead to part two of our date.

  “Jake?” I looked over at Emily and she leaned in, kissing the corner of my lips and flicking her tongue out. “You had some chocolate,” she said when she leaned back.

  If I wasn’t turned on the other night, I was now. Before she could lean back completely, I placed a hand behind her neck and pulled her to me. I kissed her, flicking my tongue over her lips to get her to open to me. She did and our tongues were moving with urgency. She sighed into my mouth.

  I kissed her for a little bit longer before releasing her. She stared at me for a moment, and then it must have hit her where we were because she looked around at the adults giving us shocked glares. She picked up our trash and threw it away.

  When she came back to the table, she held out her hand with a big smile on her face. “I’m most definitely ready for part two.” With that, we returned to my car and left for our next destination.

  15

  Emily

  That kiss was all I could think about on our way to wherever we were going. I had seen a change in Jake’s eye after I got the chocolate off of his face. That kiss ignited a fire in the pit of my stomach that was still ablaze. Everything over the past few years just melted away and all that existed was Jake and those lips.

  I saw that we were heading towards the beach. We weren’t really going, were we? I saw that I was right when we parked at a public access.

  “I thought we could walk down the beach to the pier,” Jake said looking over at me. “We can just leave our shoes in here,” he added, taking off his shoes and socks. I slipped off my flip-flops as he got out of the car and came to open my door. He held out his hand and I took it. We walked over the walkway and down to the beach.

  The sand was cool beneath my feet. Jake tried to pull me out to the water. I shook my head, “Jake! It’s going to be freezing!”

  He laughed and said, “Okay. You’re going to make me do this the hard way.” He pulled me to him and picked me up.

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and begged him to let me down. “Jake! Please! It’s going to be so cold!” All he did was laugh and walk closer to the water. He sucked in his breath as the water ran over his feet. I tightened my grip around his neck. “Jake! You will regret this,” I warned him as he set me down.

  I tried to resist, but he was stronger than I was and soon my feet touched the freezing water. I squealed and Jake laughed harder. He allowed me to run back to the cool sand and he followed me. I started walking down the beach, leaving him behind and hoping that he thought I was upset.

  “Em, wait up,” he said.

  I kept my steady pace and he jogged to come up behind me. He grabbed me from behind and twirled me around. I let out a laugh and he set me down, turning me to face him. He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear and smiled at me.

  “How can I even pretend to be mad at you when you look at me like that?” I asked.

  He leaned in, his lips brushing mine as he talked. “You are really beautiful standing in the moonlight with the ocean and stars behind you.”

  I involuntarily sucked in a breath, feeling his arms going around my waist and pulling me to him. I didn’t know what to say so I decided to let my lips do the talking. I stood on my tiptoes and crushed my lips to his, wasting no time in deepening the kiss. I ran my fingers through his hair and down his neck, and then started the descent down his back. He groaned into my mouth and slid one hand up my back while the other made a trail of fire up my arm. The blaze in my stomach intensified, running throughout my body and slipping into my blood.

  Reluctantly, I pulled away. I needed air, and I was afraid of what would happen if the fire inside took over me. That look in Jake’s eyes from earlier had returned. “C’mon,” I said, tugging his hand and walking towards the pier.

  “Emily, sometimes you drive me insane.” I glanced sideways at Jake, but he wasn’t looking at me. Before I could say anything, he started talking again. “You’ve taken over my life and my mind. All I can think about is wanting to hold you in my arms and make sure nothing ever hurts you again. Then you kiss me like that, making my mind go into overdrive. It’s… crazy. You’re amazing, you know that?”

  A blush took over my face and I was speechless. I wrapped my arm around his waist and gave a light squeeze that he returned. I leaned into him and we made the quiet walk through the soft, cool sand to the pier.

  We walked up the steps and down to the end of the pier. Between the lights on the pier and the moon shining down brightly, we weren’t in the dark. I placed my hands on the railing and Jake stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. The stars looked dim with the lights around us. Nevertheless, the scene before us was beautiful. The salty air and the waves crashing below us relaxed me.

  I leaned into Jake and decided to ask a question that had been on my mind for the past few days. “Jake? Can I ask you a question?”

  He kissed my neck and said, “Of course.”

  “Where’s your dad? Like, Drake is always with you and you never mention him.”

  Jake sighed and was quiet for a few minutes. “The day my mom died, I didn’t come straight home like I usually did. I wanted to hang out with the guys and, when I got home, I found her collapsed on the floor. She was already dead, but I tried to save her.

  “My dad got home and found out I wasn’t there when it happened. He was devastated and angry that she died alone. The blame was on me for not being there to save her. My dad started drinking heavily. He goes to work, comes home to get trashed, and then repeats it all the next day. I keep Drake with me because he doesn’t need to be around that any more than he already is. Plus, with me he will be watched. Since then, Dad goes to work to make the money and
I take care of everything else.”

  I leaned my head against his. “Oh, Jake. I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m used to it now. I just wish he would get over his anger and quit drinking. Drake misses him. Hell, I miss him.”

  “You don’t blame yourself, do you?” I asked concerned.

  “I did. Sometimes I still do.”

  I turned around in his arms and placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned into my hand and closed his eyes. “You can’t think that. You didn’t kill her. Her cancer took her. Not you. It’s not your fault. She probably wouldn’t have wanted you there when it happened anyway.” A tear fell from his closed eyes and I wiped it away. He leaned his forehead against mine and I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. I waited for him to open his eyes and after a few minutes he did.

  He gave me a soft kiss and said, “Thanks. Now let’s enjoy this view, before we have to leave.” He turned me around and placed his chin on my shoulder again.

  We stood in comfortable silence and I felt closer to him than I did before. It said something when you could stand in silence with someone and be content with it.

  I lifted his hand from my waist and looked at his watch. It was a quarter to ten. Wow, time had flown by. “We should probably head home,” I whispered, not wanting that at all.

  “Just a few more minutes,” Jake said into my neck, kissing it softly. I leaned into him relishing the feeling of the security he gave me. Jake continued to adorn my neck with soft kisses that didn’t last long enough.

  “C’mon. I don’t want to upset Mike,” he said with a small smile.

  I let him walk me down the pier, down the steps, and onto the beach. “This has been perfect,” I told him. He smiled at me and I felt the flame inside me start up again.

  “It has, hasn’t it?” I wrapped my arm around his and hugged it to me keeping our fingers interlocked.

  Too soon, we reached the walkway that led to Jake’s car and we walked over the sand dunes, leaving the beach behind. Jake opened the door for me and I got in. My eyes followed him as he walked around the front and to his side of the car. Once he was inside and had the ignition on, I turned on the heat just now realizing how cold it was without Jake’s body heat.

  I took his hand and held it in my lap as we rode home. Every now and then, I kissed his hand or his knuckles. He would repeat the action on me each time I did so. I started to do it more frequently to see if he would keep going. He did and when he caught on to my game, he glanced over at me and chuckled firmly planting our hands against his chest.

  I giggled and tried to bring them back to me, but his grip won’t allow me to budge our hands. “Jake,” I faked a whine.

  “Emily,” he said in the same tone. I couldn’t help but laugh. I let it go since part of my arm was resting against his strong chest.

  We pulled up at my house and I sighed. Jake chuckled, but still got out and opened my door. He walked me to the door and pulled me to him. “I had a fantastic time,” he told me.

  “Me too,” I said, a little dizzy from the heat radiating from his body. I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a short, sweet kiss since the living room light was still on.

  “I’ll probably come by on Sunday. The guys want to hang out tomorrow, so I figure I had better do it before they start hounding me. If you want to come over tomorrow night, let me know and I’ll be here.”

  I felt a twinge of disappointment at not seeing him tomorrow. He had become a regular occurrence in my everyday life. “Okay. Good night, Jake, and thanks for tonight.”

  He smiled and gave me another kiss. “Thank you. Sweet dreams, Emily.”

  I opened the door and went inside. I locked the door behind me, knowing that dad would ask me to anyway.

  Dad was sitting on the couch and turned to look at me when I come in.