Jo
The amount of time I’ve spent up close and personal with Jamie’s T-shirt has skyrocketed in the past twenty-four hours or so. I can’t say I’m complaining, but it’s not just a simple observation, either. There are definitely emotions behind it, and even with a nap I’m so wrung out that waking up with his arms around me makes me tear up again. I can’t tell if he’s asleep, but my back’s starting to hurt, so I try to shift as little as possible.
Jamie kisses my hair. “Feeling any better?”
I groan, but since he’s clearly awake I sit up to properly twist out my spine and wince as it crackles. “Too soon to tell.”
Jamie sits up, too, and his hands go to my shoulders and start massaging. This is a different kind of groan, and seriously, he’s good with his hands. I don’t know if cooking automatically gives someone an advantage as a masseuse or what, but man. He can keep this up as long as he wants.
He chuckles a little. “I’m told there’s supposed to be oil and candlelight.”
“My rental agreement says no open flames,” I murmur, then open my eyes. “Wait, who told you?”
This one’s more of a snort. “Ricky. I guess it’s real middle school stuff, right? Can you put sunscreen on my back? Gosh I’m all tense.”
I’d turn around to see his grin, but that would stop the massage. “Does he keep using those lines on you?”
“Oh, yeah.” Jamie pauses, then adds, “I’ve actually been wondering where back rub falls on their Monopoly list. Ricky, uh … God, I can’t say it that way.”
“Very much prefers to receive?” I guess.
That was clearly both the right and wrong answer, because Jamie starts laughing and drops his head to my shoulder. “That’s why I wasn’t going to say it!”
I lean back enough to kiss his temple. “You should totally ask him. It’d make his day.”
“It’s not my job to make Ricky’s day,” he protests in a voice that means he’s said this many, many times before. “It’s my job to look after you and report back to your mom.”
That makes me close my eyes. “Fine. You want to take me for a walk so you can report I got some fresh air?”
“I’m sorry, do you have a leash?” he asks, trying to contain more laughter.
I can’t help my grin. “Maybe Ricky has one we can borrow.”
The path’s along the lake, which is colder than the air and generally kicks up a good breeze, so I put on one of my sweatshirts and loan him the other. “Gender roles are dead,” he observes as he accepts it.
“I’ll just steal one of yours later.” Except I haven’t even been upstairs in his house, much less anywhere near his closet. He clearly owns sweatshirts, and there’s probably a blue one with the food truck outline and the name in Comic Sans, but I haven’t been to the source yet. It’s personal, inviting someone into your bedroom, except my bedroom here is still more Amanda that it is me. Plus it’s not like it was going to give away anything more about me, especially after I told him the one thing I don’t even have proof for.
We reach for each other’s hands at the same time, and catch each other’s eye, and look away again, but we don’t let go. My God, I’m like a giggly teenager again, except it’s more for the first time. Of course I had some issues relating to kids my own age up through high school. I’d been on my own too much, with too many adult concerns, and I guess looking back on it, it’s a surprise I ended up with a guy like Jake who’d been babied his entire life. Sure, I could take care of him, and I probably did it because I like being needed, but there are so many things I overlooked, or made excuses for, or just accepted, because I loved him.
Right. Maybe get out of your head a little, Jo, and pay attention to what’s going on here and now. I’ve got Jamie next to me, his hand in mine, as we turn right along the path. It’s a paved trail, nice and smooth and flat because it’s right along the water, so it’s an easy walk. The wind is brisk, and it’s cloudy, but everything’s fresh.
I didn’t grab my headphones, though. Usually when I go out for a walk I only wear the one, because a woman with two earbuds in is just asking to become another murder statistic, but I don’t have them at all today. There’s no music, so it’s just the voice in my own head, unless I can think of something I actually want to talk to Jamie about.
I mean, I’ll talk to him about anything, but right now it’s going to be harder to focus. The fact that he’s holding my hand is only a small fraction of what’s distracting me, and I really wish it were a bigger part of things. If I’d told him just because yeah, okay, Ricky’s right and I should do that before anything really starts up between us, then maybe things would’ve toppled in the right direction. But that’s not how things stand.
With a sigh I pull my phone out of my pocket and hand it across to Jamie. “Would you hold onto this for me?”
“Uh.” He takes it and slips it into his hip pocket. “I’m not sure I actually prevented you from getting it back.”
“Well.” I slow down enough to make sure he sees me checking out his ass and then laugh when he pulls me up next to him again. “What, I’m not allowed to look?” I tease.
“Okay, you might be allowed to touch, but …” He winces a little. “Not today.”
I laugh, transferring his hand to my other one so I can tuck myself under his arm and give him a half-hug. It doesn’t last long, because our strides are so not the same length and really we just jostle each other, but he kisses my temple before he lets me pull away.
Chapter Twenty-Eight – coming October 28
