An entire night alone with Sophie? This was too good to be true, so I had to assume the parents were not going to let this happen. I couldn’t be this lucky. “Um, what should we do? Should I bring Sophie back home?”
“I spoke with Sophie’s parents, and we decided it’s better if the two of you stay put. The snow is piling up, and the roads are getting icy. Will you be okay there? Just for the night?”
It took a great deal of effort to contain the elation I felt, but it was tempered by worry about my brother. “Of course. We’ll be fine, but I’m worried about Dylan, Dad. What’s going on?”
“He’s…he’s not good, Jake. But he’ll get through this. I’m sure of it.”
I swallowed hard, not certain if he tried to convince himself or me. “Okay, Dad. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” he said, and sighed. “Make good choices, son. Okay?”
“I always do.”
As soon as I hung up the phone with my dad, my gaze met Sophie’s. She came up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. “My mom texted me as you talked to your father. She told me about Dylan. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I’m sure he’ll be fine. He has to be.”
She put her hand on my cheek. “His hospital is one of the top facilities in the country. My mom said he couldn’t be in a better place.”
I nodded. “I know. You’re right.”
I couldn’t tell her the small, selfish part inside me rejoiced at the fact my parents were detained. To say something like that out loud would make me seem like a bad person, and a horrible brother. Even if it were the truth, I could never let her know what I actually thought. Instead, I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.
“So, what do you want to do?” I asked. “We could play cards, or we also have some board games here. The TV reception here isn’t fantastic, but we have lots of movies…”
“Nah, let’s make out.” She pushed me onto the couch and climbed on top of me. Her knees rested on either side of my thighs, and she sat on my lap, staring at my face, tracing the line of my jaw with her finger. “Jake Hunter. It’s not fair. You are the prettiest boy I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”
Before I could respond, she leaned down and kissed me, her lips sweet and warm and perfect. She took the lead, touching me, tugging at my lower lip with her teeth, tasting me with her tongue. I leaned back and enjoyed it, my hands on her hips and my thumbs caressing the enticing bit of skin between her jeans and the bottom of her sweater. She was…intoxicating. With each touch of her lips, with every sweet sound she made deep in her throat, I was drawn in, my head spinning and my breathing erratic. I was getting drunk on Sophie Barnes. She did that to me.
She pulled away, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright, and slowly unbuttoned my flannel shirt. Who knew a seductress lurked behind those freckles and dimples and her head of tousled brown curls? I sat speechless, motionless, and allowed her to undress me.
“Would you be okay with me taking your clothes off?” she asked, her voice husky and low.
I gave her a crooked smile. Was she asking for permission? So typical, and so adorable. “Uh. I’d like it. Very much.”
She kissed the skin she’d exposed on my chest, her breath warm against my bare skin. “I think I’d like it, too. I’ve been dying to see you naked, Awesome-sauce. I’ve been a little obsessed with it, actually.”
She pulled my shirt off, and slowly unbuttoned her sweater as well, pausing to give me a sultry look before tossing it onto the floor.
“Game time.”
Chapter 21
~Sophie~
I am obviously a terrible person. When I’d heard Dylan wasn’t well, and the Hunters delayed, I wasn’t sad or worried. I was thrilled, a selfish response, but I couldn’t help it.
The idea of spending an entire night alone with Jake? Yes, please.
Jake, apparently, felt pretty much the same. It was obvious in the way he reacted in the car as soon as I’d mentioned the hot tub, and it was even more so now. His eyes had darkened as soon as I removed my sweater, and when I stood up and wiggled out of my jeans, he made a sound in his throat like a stifled sob.
I’d been worried he might be disappointed with my body. Silly me. I certainly wasn’t disappointed with his. He was all lean muscle, with broad shoulders and a smooth, hairless chest. He did have hair below his belly button, however, and when I saw where it led, right after he removed his own jeans and boxers, my eyes widened.
“Sorry,” I said, embarrassed. “I’ve never seen one of those in person before. It’s not what I expected.”
“What did you expect?” he asked, his voice husky.
“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s strange. I thought it would freak me out, you know, seeing it in person, but it doesn’t. Not even a little.”
He laughed, cupping my cheeks with his hands so he could kiss me over and over again. We were totally naked, and it should have been awkward, but it wasn’t. I pressed my body against his, gasping at the sublime pleasure of skin against skin, and he groaned in response. “Do you realize how much I love you?”
“Of course, I do. You’re my yang.”
He paused, staring at me in surprise. “I’m your what?”
“The yang to my ying. The jelly to my peanut butter. The hot fudge sauce to my ice cream. My other half. My better half, to be honest. I don’t know why you like me, Jake, but I’m sure glad you do.”
“I’m sure glad you like me, too.” I was surprised to see tears in his eyes. “But I’m not your better half. Before I met you I was…empty. Alone. Like some kind of hollow shell.”
“Oh, Jake—” I began, but he silenced me with one finger placed gently on my lips.
“So don’t call me your better half, Soph. Never call me that.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I did what came naturally. I kissed him over and over and over again.
We ended up on the floor right in front of the fire, on top of a big, soft blanket. The fire was warm, the cabin cozy, and the snow falling outside made the mountains surrounding us seem quiet and still, like we were the only two people left in the world.
Jake learned my body as I learned his, and we touched and explored each other. In spite of his being as much as a virgin as I was, or close at least, the boy must have watched some instructional videos or something. He seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Soon, I arched against him, wanting him so badly I felt almost like I’d gone somewhere beyond cohesive thought and reason…to a place where only sensation existed. When he moved between my legs, positioning himself right where I pulsed with desire for him, I nearly screamed.
“Jake. I need you right now. Seriously. I mean it.”
He laughed, but he sounded on the edge as well. “I should get a condom. I brought some with me. They’re in my suitcase.”
I shook my head and lifted myself slightly so his tip was right at my entrance. “I’m on the pill. I started right before Christmas. Surprise.”
He groaned, squeezing my hips with his hands and trying to hold me still. “Are you sure?”
“Hell, yeah,” I said, repeating our favorite catch phrase and making him laugh again. “You’ve never done this before, and I’ve never done it before. I want there to be nothing between us.”
I kissed him, deeply. Passionately. And shifted so his tip rested just inside me, at last, and the laughter stopped and we both focused on what we were doing.
I thought it would hurt when he entered me, but it didn’t. Not even a little bit. It felt perfect, and so right.
My friends had told me a lot about what my first time would be like. They said it would feel strange, I wouldn’t climax, it would be messy and awkward and weird. They also promised I would get used to it eventually, and someday I’d even start to enjoy it.
They were wrong. It was perfect, from the hungry noises Jake made deep in his throat, to the way he caressed and kissed me, to the way he moved inside me. He magically found
some instant orgasm button in there I hadn’t even known about, and I came with a suddenness that shocked us both. Jake followed soon afterward, his body slick with sweat as he whispered my name over and over again, his lips touching the curve of my ear and his breath coming in gasps.
Afterward, we lay side by side on the floor, holding hands and staring up at the vaulted ceiling of the log cabin. He turned his head to look at me in surprise. “We did it.”
“And we are so good at it.” I raised my other hand to give him a fist bump. He laughed and tapped it gently with his own before pulling me close so I could snuggle in the curve of his arm. “We should do this all the time. Like non-stop. I can see now why people are so into it. It feels…”
I frowned, trying to come up with the right word. “Good?” he asked, filling it in for me. I shook my head.
“No. Pizza is good. Chocolate is good. This is like, so far beyond good. We need a new word to describe it.”
“Sextastic?”
I giggled. “That’s it. It was sextastic. And you are sexiliciously sexy,” I said, and he groaned and covered his eyes. “Too much?”
“Definitely too much.”
I ran my hand up his arm, enjoying the fact I could touch him so freely, that there seemed to be no barriers left between us. “Do you know what I want right now?” I asked.
He didn’t hesitate, not even for a second. “Food?”
I laughed. “Yes. How did you know?”
After eating more pizza while sitting naked by the fire, we decided to give the hot tub a try. It was past midnight when we bundled up in blankets and headed out on the deck. Fortunately, Jake had turned it on to warm it up as soon as we arrived, so the water reached the perfect temperature. And, bonus, it felt good on certain never-before-used body parts of mine that were currently a bit sore and achy. Those body parts came right back to life as soon as Jake reached for me, his eyes dark and hungry. It wasn’t pizza he wanted this time, though. It was me.
Sex in a hot tub with Jake under a winter sky full of glittering stars? Not a bad way to end the day.
Even better? Going back to the blanket in front of the fire, exhausted and spent, but not able to sleep because we had so much to talk about. So we watched the fire die in the hearth as we chatted, drowsy, warm, and utterly happy, until the wee hours of the morning. I finally fell asleep, my cheek resting on Jake’s bare chest, his heartbeat like lullaby in my ears.
Chapter 22
~Jake~
I fell asleep in heaven, curled up naked next to Sophie, and woke up with my parents hovering over us as sunlight streamed in through the windows. My mother looked furious. My father seemed more exhausted than anything else. For a second, I wondered if something bad had happened with Dylan, and then I realized my parents had come to the cabin earlier than expected and Sophie and I were in serious trouble.
I sat up, making sure Sophie was covered before shaking her gently. “Sophie. You’d better wake up.”
“Why?” she asked reaching for me. “I’m still sleepy. You wore me out last night…” Her words trailed off as she opened her eyes and realized exactly what was going on. She made a strangled little noise and ducked under the blanket. “Oh, my God. Your parents are here. Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter.” Her voice came out muffled since she was under the blanket, and the whole situation would have been kind of funny, if it weren’t so incredibly terrible.
My mother didn’t respond to Sophie’s greeting. She stomped to the kitchen, muttering under her breath. My father looked sympathetic. “Maybe you two should get dressed, and we’ll all have a little chat.”
As soon as he left the great room, we sprang into action, gathering our clothing from where it had been scattered and dressing as quickly as we could. Sophie’s cheeks burned bright red, and her eyes filled with tears. As soon as we both had our clothes on, I pulled her into a hug.
“It’s okay, Sophie,” I whispered. “These things happen.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m messing it all up. Your mom liked my sister, but she can’t stand me, and I understand why. You’re the most important thing to me, and I want to do this right, but I’m a total screw up.”
I patted her back and kissed the top of her head. “You are not a total screw up. Someday, we’ll all look back on this and laugh. I promise.”
“I doubt it very much. She hates me, Jake. She honestly hates me.”
I tried to reassure her no one could possibly hate her, ever, but when sat down to have the dreaded talk with my parents; I had to admit Sophie had a point. My mother, her face white and pinched, couldn’t even look at Sophie, who sat next to me on the couch. Sophie tried her best. She apologized over and over again, but she got nowhere with my mom.
“We want to make sure you’re being safe,” said my father. He looked as mortified as I felt, and I couldn’t blame him. Not the most comfortable topic of conversation.
My mom got right to the point. “Did you use protection?”
Now my cheeks got hot. “Yes. Of course.”
“What kind?” my mother asked, her hands clenched in her lap.
“I’m on the pill,” Sophie stammered.
“It figures,” said my mother, her lips pursed.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean—” I began, but she held up a hand to silence me.
“Enough, Jake. I’m going to go take a nap. We were up most of the night with your brother, who is not doing well. The last thing I needed was to come here and see this,” she said, indicating the pile of rumpled blankets in front of the fireplace. “Have some breakfast, go ski, and try to keep your clothes on for the rest of the day. Please.”
My mom walked up the stairs, her footsteps angry and loud. Slow, sad tears fell down Sophie’s cheeks. I put an arm around her shoulders.
“She’s tired,” I said. “Come on, Soph. Let me get you some breakfast.”
Her lips wobbled. “I’m not hungry.”
I laced my fingers with hers, and for the first time, real worry pierced my heart. I’d never seen Sophie refuse food before. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
She wiped a tear away with the back of her hand. “No, Jake, it won’t.”
Sophie left to get dressed for skiing, and I prepared breakfast with my dad, just in case she changed her mind and decided to eat. My father cleared his throat. “It would have been a good idea if you’d slept in a bedroom, but I guess hindsight is twenty-twenty, right?”
“Yes, it is.” I looked at him across the counter. “We didn’t plan this, Dad. It was the first time. For both of us.”
“Oh,” he said, blinking in surprise. “We kind of assumed you’d done it already. You seemed so…mature. And you were always hanging out with girls.”
“Friends,” I said. “Nothing more. Sophie means the world to me, and this whole thing with Mom is turning into a nightmare.”
He let out a sigh. “What’s going on with Dylan...it’s a nightmare, too. Your mother isn’t herself right now, and you have to be patient with her. We all do.”
I looked at him closely. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his shoulders seemed stooped from exhaustion. He’d aged at least ten years since Dylan was admitted to the hospital a few short months ago.
“I’m sorry. For everything,” I said.
He gave me a sad little smile. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Jake. Yes, you could have made a better decision, and yes, I wish we hadn’t found you this morning the way we did, but it’s small potatoes. In the scheme of things, is it so important? I don’t think so.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
He gave my shoulder a slap. “Go take Sophie skiing. I’ll deal with your mom. Hopefully, by the time you get back, all will be well again.”
I managed to get Sophie to eat a few bites of toast before we took off for the slopes. Although still shaken by what had happened, it was hard to be sad when the sun shone and the hills were blanketed in pristine white snow. Surprisingly, for someone wh
o lacked any normal coordination at all, Sophie turned out to be a natural skier. After some basic lessons and a few runs on the bunny slope, we tried several of the more challenging runs, and she did fine.
“Skiing is fun,” she said, her cheeks pink and her eyes shining as we stopped in the lodge for lunch and hot cocoa. “And I didn’t break anything. Yet.”
“Knock on wood,” I said, tapping on the wooden table in front of us. We ordered grilled cheese and chips for lunch, and the hot cocoa was rich and thick and topped with melting marshmallows. Sophie dug in, and I was glad to see her appetite had returned.
“This is the best grilled cheese I’ve ever eaten in my whole life,” she said. “And the best hot chocolate. And the best potato chips. I love this place.”
“I’m glad,” I said. “When do you want to head back?” As soon as the words left my mouth, her face fell.
“Uh, never.”
She put down her cup of hot cocoa and stared out the window at the people in their colorful gear skiing on the hillside. Her own ski suit was hot pink and adorable, a loaner from one of her friends who skied regularly.
I reached for her hand. “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. My mom needed a nap, and my dad promised to talk with her. By the time we get back, things will be normal again.”
If “normal” meant hostile and cold, I would have been right. After a dinner of pasta and garlic bread, during which my mother barely spoke, she said she had a headache and went to bed early. Sophie’s lip trembled, but she didn’t cry. Instead, she ducked her head and cleaned up the dishes. My mom didn’t stop her, nor did she thank her. She looked around the room, as if searching for the quickest escape route, and marched up to her room.
“I tried to talk to her,” Dad said as Sophie went up to her own room to grab a sweater. “She didn’t want to listen. I’m sorry, Jake. I wish I could make things better.”
“I know, Dad. Thank you.”
That night, even watching reruns of old Star Trek episodes didn’t cheer Sophie up. She sat next to me on the couch, curled up in a ball, her brow puckered. She appeared in deep in thought, but I didn’t push her to talk. Part of me honestly didn’t want to know what was going through her mind. It frightened me.
Sophie and Jake (Passports and Promises) Page 10
