back to my apartment.
"Hey, Ivy," she says when she picks up. "I can't really talk. I'm heading into the library. What do you need?"
"I was just over at the house and Dad got three more medical bills. All overdue. I don't have the money to pay them. Do you?"
She sighs. "No. But I could see if I could pick up some extra shifts this weekend. That might be enough to pay for at least one of the bills."
"If you could, that'd be great. I just paid rent and it cleared out my account. Did Dad tell you he's quitting physical therapy?"
"No, but I figured he would. He keeps telling me it isn't working."
"Liza, you've got to talk to him. He needs to keep going."
"He won't listen to me. You know how stubborn he is, almost as stubborn as you. Hey, I gotta go. I'll call you later."
"Yeah, okay. Bye."
Back at my apartment, I hurry to get ready because it's getting late and Jake will be here soon. I shower and put on dark skinny jeans and a soft cream-colored sweater Liza gave me last Christmas. Tall black boots complete the look. I dry my hair, deciding to wear it down, then put on my makeup, finishing up just as Jake arrives. I hit the buzzer to let him in the building and moments later he's at my door.
"Hi," I say, smiling when I see him there. Tonight he's wearing a dark wool coat, dark jeans, and a thin black sweater. He looks hot, but also nice. Sophisticated. Last fall, I'd sometimes see him change into clothes like this at work before heading out to pick up a girl.
I try not to think about that and instead focus on the here and now. And right now? I'm really happy to see him, those butterflies dancing around my stomach and telling me to yank him into my apartment and kiss him.
But before I can, he reaches behind my neck and pulls me to his mouth and kisses me with an intensity that causes sensations to shoot down my middle, all the way down to my toes, lingering between my legs. He walks forward, so I walk back, our mouths still connected. He kicks the door closed and puts both hands along the sides of my face and softens the kiss.
"Hi," he whispers, his lips touching mine as he speaks. "I forgot to say that earlier."
"Yeah, you did," I whisper back, loosening my grip on his sweater, which I had clenched in my hand.
"You look gorgeous," he says, then tilts his head slightly and brings my mouth back to his and kisses me again, slowly, gently coaxing my lips open so his tongue can slip past.
We keep this up for at least several minutes, and if we keep it going a minute longer, I'll be dragging him off to my bedroom, breaking the no-sex rule I made. Now I'm wondering why I made that rule. I haven't done it forever, and I can tell from the way Jake kisses that the sex would be amazing. The way he moves his lips, where he puts his hands, tells me he knows what women like.
But I promised myself we wouldn't have sex. If we do, this is over. I'll be just another notch on his bedpost.
That wasn't the plan. The plan is to prove to him this will never work so that he'll stop asking me out and leave me alone. Except now I feel like I have to prove to myself this won't work out. Because at this moment? Kissing him? It feels like we're made for each other.
CHAPTER NINE
Jake
The moment I saw her at the door I had to kiss her, and now I can't stop. So I wait for Ivy to end it, which she eventually does, but it doesn't seem like she wants to.
She slowly pulls away. "We should probably get going."
"Yeah." I step back, my eyes trailing over her. She's wearing a cream-colored sweater and black boots that come up to her knees. It reminds me of the girl who sat across from me at lunch with her cream-colored scarf and those boots. I kept imagining Ivy in those boots, wearing nothing else, and I haven't been able to get that image out of my head. It's the reason I took an extra long shower before I came over here. So seeing her dressed like this is nearly torture. But I can't think about that. This isn't about sex. I'm dating her to
"Hey, Ivy," she says when she picks up. "I can't really talk. I'm heading into the library. What do you need?"
"I was just over at the house and Dad got three more medical bills. All overdue. I don't have the money to pay them. Do you?"
She sighs. "No. But I could see if I could pick up some extra shifts this weekend. That might be enough to pay for at least one of the bills."
"If you could, that'd be great. I just paid rent and it cleared out my account. Did Dad tell you he's quitting physical therapy?"
"No, but I figured he would. He keeps telling me it isn't working."
"Liza, you've got to talk to him. He needs to keep going."
"He won't listen to me. You know how stubborn he is, almost as stubborn as you. Hey, I gotta go. I'll call you later."
"Yeah, okay. Bye."
Back at my apartment, I hurry to get ready because it's getting late and Jake will be here soon. I shower and put on dark skinny jeans and a soft cream-colored sweater Liza gave me last Christmas. Tall black boots complete the look. I dry my hair, deciding to wear it down, then put on my makeup, finishing up just as Jake arrives. I hit the buzzer to let him in the building and moments later he's at my door.
"Hi," I say, smiling when I see him there. Tonight he's wearing a dark wool coat, dark jeans, and a thin black sweater. He looks hot, but also nice. Sophisticated. Last fall, I'd sometimes see him change into clothes like this at work before heading out to pick up a girl.
I try not to think about that and instead focus on the here and now. And right now? I'm really happy to see him, those butterflies dancing around my stomach and telling me to yank him into my apartment and kiss him.
But before I can, he reaches behind my neck and pulls me to his mouth and kisses me with an intensity that causes sensations to shoot down my middle, all the way down to my toes, lingering between my legs. He walks forward, so I walk back, our mouths still connected. He kicks the door closed and puts both hands along the sides of my face and softens the kiss.
"Hi," he whispers, his lips touching mine as he speaks. "I forgot to say that earlier."
"Yeah, you did," I whisper back, loosening my grip on his sweater, which I had clenched in my hand.
"You look gorgeous," he says, then tilts his head slightly and brings my mouth back to his and kisses me again, slowly, gently coaxing my lips open so his tongue can slip past.
We keep this up for at least several minutes, and if we keep it going a minute longer, I'll be dragging him off to my bedroom, breaking the no-sex rule I made. Now I'm wondering why I made that rule. I haven't done it forever, and I can tell from the way Jake kisses that the sex would be amazing. The way he moves his lips, where he puts his hands, tells me he knows what women like.
But I promised myself we wouldn't have sex. If we do, this is over. I'll be just another notch on his bedpost.
That wasn't the plan. The plan is to prove to him this will never work so that he'll stop asking me out and leave me alone. Except now I feel like I have to prove to myself this won't work out. Because at this moment? Kissing him? It feels like we're made for each other.
CHAPTER NINE
Jake
The moment I saw her at the door I had to kiss her, and now I can't stop. So I wait for Ivy to end it, which she eventually does, but it doesn't seem like she wants to.
She slowly pulls away. "We should probably get going."
"Yeah." I step back, my eyes trailing over her. She's wearing a cream-colored sweater and black boots that come up to her knees. It reminds me of the girl who sat across from me at lunch with her cream-colored scarf and those boots. I kept imagining Ivy in those boots, wearing nothing else, and I haven't been able to get that image out of my head. It's the reason I took an extra long shower before I came over here. So seeing her dressed like this is nearly torture. But I can't think about that. This isn't about sex. I'm dating her to
Similar Books
