And I couldn’t stop anticipating what it was going to feel like to say good-bye to him again. This trip wasn’t supposed to happen; it’d seemed like it had taken some convincing.I feared what next time would be like.How intensely I would miss him.My heart needed to prepare for it.I cared for Jenner. I wanted a future with him. I wanted this feeling—this pulsing in my chest—to own me all the time, not just when I was physically with him.But is it impossible?I turned toward him, not at all surprised that his eyes were already on me.“Music looks gorgeous on you, Jo.”My lids shut for just a second. “It’s not the music.”As if he heard my thoughts, he brought his mouth to my temple, pressing his lips there, staying like that for the rest of the song.Monica danced like there was a spotlight shining on her. The crowd held up their phones, shining their flashlights at the stage.Jenner and I didn’t move.We stayed snug until the end of the show, our arms linked as we walked out of the
She smiled knowingly. “I make a blueberry cake. Some call it a doughnut; some refer to it as pie. I think of it as cake because it’s more savory than sweet.” She slid the glass aside just enough that she could slip her fingers inside the case. With a pair of tongs, she picked up a piece of the cake and set it on a plate, adding a fork. “See if you like it.”I cut off a small sliver of the corner. “Oh my God,” I said from behind my hand as I chewed, the flavors of the dense cake bursting on my tongue. “This is exceptional.”“I thought you’d like it.”She took out several more pieces and added them to a box, closing the lid. “And for you, my dear boy, I’m going to give you a half-moon cookie. I know you love the combination of flavors and some chocolate-coconut fudge.”“Coconut?” I asked, looking at Jenner, surprised that was his flavor of choice.“Trust me,” he said, “you’ve never had anything like it in your life.”She placed several squares of fudge along with a few cookies into a se
But it was just ingredients, baked to perfection.“How often does Brett come here to see her?”He swallowed and chewed off some cookie. “All the time, but if it were up to her, he would live here again.”“Again?”Jenner explained how Brett’s agency had started in Miami and how he’d opened an office in LA when he started dating James. I could understand the desire to relocate if you were dating a Hollywood star, but having lived in both cities, Miami took precedence, in my opinion.The taste of South Florida just couldn’t be beat.And Gloria didn’t have a franchise in LA.“It’s so nice that you make an effort to see her when you’re here.”“I didn’t visit her last time, and I felt guilty about it.” He laughed. “And Brett gave me a boatload of shit for not stopping in.”I took out another piece, moaning through the bite. “You made up for it.”He stared at me, still. “She got to meet you.”I didn’t know how to respond, so I said nothing. I just let the words hang in the air, listening to
They all knew I had been in Miami to see Jo.It wasn’t a secret.I wasn’t playing a pronoun game. I was just avoiding the conversation.“Why tell you something you already know?”Brett laughed. “I see what’s happening here. You’re hoping by avoiding the topic altogether, we’re going to let it go and that we’re not going to point out that you’ve now made two trips to Miami to see a girl you don’t want to have a relationship with.”I drained my glass, hoping the waitress would appear any second so I could order another one. “That hasn’t changed.”“Really?” Ford asked.“Really,” I answered.“Bullshit,” Dominick barked. “I don’t believe you.”I glanced at my older brother. “I’m not lying. I don’t have any more trips planned to see her.”“Yet,” Brett chimed in.Fuck me, they were relentless.“Long-distance is not for me, and even though she’s from LA, I don’t see her moving here anytime soon. How many times have I told you guys that?” I looked down at my plate, at the bits of batter the ca
Jo: Don’t know. Probably not. I have to plan my next move—remember, that whole job thing? ;)I stared at the screen. So many thoughts were filling my head, so many replies I wanted to type.Nothing felt right.Nothing felt worthy.Jo: I’ve missed you.And then those three words came across my phone.Ones that had so much meaning.Ones that resonated so hard because I felt the same.Damn it, Jo.Jo: I have to run into class … I’ll talk to you soon.She ended her text with an emoji. The face with puckered lips and a red heart coming from the mouth.She was sending a kiss.And, fuck, I felt it.SixteenJoanna“I’m losing him,” I said to Monica as I crawled onto her bed, snuggling up next to her, our feet matching in the same fuzzy pink socks.“Impossible.”The emotion in my chest caused everything to tighten. “Not impossible. We haven’t had a real conversation in two weeks. Just some awkward text exchanges.”“He’s busy, right?” She set her textbook on her nightstand. “Didn’t you say he’
Surprising Jenner wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped because, as it turned out, I didn’t have his address, and Google wasn’t giving it up. My only option was to ask someone for it, which meant I had to reach out to one of his brothers. Dominick was the easiest to find, his profile coming right up on Instagram.I was so hesitant to send that message.Maybe Jenner had a life in LA that I knew nothing about. Maybe I was on the verge of walking into an avalanche.Maybe he wouldn’t want me there.But as Monica had put it, the only way I’d ever know was if I tried, so I sent Dominick a quick note and received a reply almost immediately. He gave me the address and gate code that would gain me access to Jenner’s front door. He’d even asked for my flight information and promised Jenner would be home.As the ride-share drove me to his street, part of me didn’t know if this was a good idea, but I still had the car drop me off a block before his house, so his camera wouldn’t alert him that there was a c
When I finally stilled, he stood, licking me off his lips. “Jesus …” He paused, shaking his head. “Watching you come is so fucking sexy.”His hair was ruffled because of me.His body was ripped.His cock so hard that the bead at the tip was ready to drip.“I can’t get enough of you.”It was like he was reading my thoughts.My feelings identical.And the truth was, I didn’t want him to be able to get enough of me.I wanted him to want me.I wanted him to need me.I especially wanted him to crave me.“Show me, Jenner.”His finger landed on my lips, one that had been inside me, the wetness still there. “Don’t move.”He left me on the counter, and when he returned a few seconds later, he was lifting a foil packet toward his mouth, tearing the corner with his teeth. Once the rubber was in his hand, he pumped his cock a few times and said, “Suck it.”I couldn’t do that from this position, so I slid off, landing on my feet, and knelt on his kitchen floor.The moment I had his cock in my hand
I glanced over my shoulder, giving him my eyes. “Yes.” My voice turned even needier, adding, “Lots more.”That earned me another slap, this one on the other side of my ass, sending the heat even higher through me, even more so as he rubbed my clit.“Jenner!”This man knew my body like it was his own. He knew how to make me feel sensations I’d never experienced. He knew how to send me so far over the edge that I couldn’t return.That was where I was now—dangling, seconds away, my stomach trying to hold off before the peak came blasting in, exploding, and I was shuddering over the back of the couch.“Yesss!”“Fuck yes,” he roared.I gripped the pillow, squeezing the cushion into my fingers, holding on because it was the only thing I could do while he slammed into me.“Fucking come!”And I was.I couldn’t stop.The tightening in my muscles, the bursting in my clit—none of it was letting up, and when it finally did, my body reaching the bottom of this long climb, he was pulling out of me.