Part 10 (1/2)

We instead went to a j.a.panese steak house. They sat us in this cute private room with curtains and a couch and we had steak, chicken, shrimp and sake. Even though it wasn't a ”real” date, it was the best date I'd been on in years maybe my entire life. When the bill came I tried to pick it up, but he wouldn't let me. I thought that was really sweet.

It started to rain on the way home. We both got soaked just running from the driveway to the house. It was so dark outside, even though it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. In the summertime, it doesn't get dark until about ten and Michigan had the most fabulous summer storms. They came in quick, and everything got pitch black, and they left just as fast and everything got bright and dry again, like it never even happened.

As I stood at the bay window and watched the storm, I remembered GLL Challenge #17 was to play in the rain. Maybe it was the sake, but I thought it was as good a time as any to complete that challenge.

”I'm going outside,” I told Jake.

”Huh? What? Why?” He looked confused.

I shrugged. ”I don't know. I've always wanted to play in the rain.”

I ran upstairs and dug in my closet for the rain boots I'd bought years ago and hardly ever wore. Minutes later I was outside in the street splas.h.i.+ng in puddles in my yellow rain boots before Jake even knew what to think. He followed me out and shook his head at me as I splashed in the puddles beside the curb.

”You're crazy!” he yelled over the sound of the rain. He had on a white t-s.h.i.+rt and the rain gave a whole new meaning to the wet t-s.h.i.+rt contest. I had a grainy view of the tattoos on his chest and the sides of his abdomen. I hadn't seen those particular tattoos in years and suddenly my mind was filled with flashes of images from The Summer of Jake and Roxie. I saw us in the shower, in my parent's pool in the middle of the night, laughing under the covers in his room, napping on the couch when no one was home, eating pizza in bed. I could still remember the very first time, that night I asked Jake to take me home with him. Getting his s.h.i.+rt off that night had been a struggle because he didn't want to stop touching me or kissing me for long enough to get it over his head. When he tried to take mine off, it was the same thing. I could still remember how good it felt once our clothes were finally off and we were skin-to-skin for the first time ever. Sigh.

The tattoos brought back many memories and so many feelings, too. I especially loved the tattoos on his side. They were tribal astrological symbols one for Leo and one for Scorpio. Those were his grandparents' signs. His grandparents had raised him until they died in a plane crash when he was six. Those tattoos made me feel closer to him because n.o.body knew what they meant except Adam and me. Anytime I'd ever heard anyone ask him what they were for, he'd made up some silly story. But for some reason he didn't feel like he needed to be fake with me, and I loved that.

It was one of those ninety percent humidity days that begged for rain to put us out of our misery, and the rain finally breaking through was such a welcome relief. To have it falling directly on me was even better. It was the perfect ending to a pretty perfect day. There was only one thing that could make it better.

It wasn't like me to be spontaneous and reckless anymore. Everything fun I'd done all summer was because of Hope. But in doing so, I had rediscovered how fun life could be when I threw caution to the wind and did whatever the h.e.l.l I wanted.

I didn't give it a few hours of contemplation or formulate a pros and cons list. I just did what felt right to me. I stepped closer to him, and he backed up until his feet met the curb. His hands were at his side and I reached down and lightly grabbed onto them so he wouldn't move any farther away. That was when he understood my intentions. But he still made me work for it.

Our faces were so close. I only had to move about an inch forward and our lips would meet, but I hesitated for a moment. It wasn't because I was unsure if I wanted to finish what I'd started. I definitely did. I just wanted to give him a chance to back away, to make sure that he wanted me, too.

He didn't back away. Instead he tugged my hands to pull my body closer. That was when our lips met. It was just like in Breakfast at Tiffany's, minus the trench coat and wet cat squished between us. Seriously, the best director in Hollywood couldn't have created a better kissing-in-the-rain scene than we did. If I've done one thing right in my life, it was that moment right there.

Next thing I knew we were in the house. Up the stairs. In my room. He closed the door behind me and pushed us into it with all the pa.s.sion and urgency I'd been looking for the day before. We couldn't get our clothes off fast enough. Just like that night so many years ago, neither of us wanted to let go of each other to get anything off. Even when we did try, it's very difficult to get wet clothes off wet skin. It was like trying to untie a knot in your shoelaces in the dark with one hand. With every second that went by, we got even more desperate and frantic to get them off.

Once our clothes were in a soggy heap on the floor, he stood back and looked at me. He had that intense look in his eyes again that I'd seen while he was taking pictures of me. I got the impression that he had stopped to give me a chance to back out, but I wasn't going to.

I knew it wasn't the brightest idea. There were so many reasons why we shouldn't do this. But I couldn't stop if I tried. The way he had bit my neck and sucked on my lips made me feel like a wild animal let out of my cage for the first time. There was no going back in I was feral.

Once he seemed sure I wasn't going to change my mind, his urgency returned and he pushed me up against the back of the door by my shoulders. Wet skin smas.h.i.+ng into wet skin. It should have been uncomfortable, but it was the opposite. Touching from head to toe, it felt like I was finally where I was supposed to be.

In one fluid move, he put a hand behind each of my thighs and literally picked me up and slid me down right on top of him. Just like that perfect kiss at his frat house so many years before, there were no injuries or ”oops” moments. He got it right on the first try. I'm telling you, the guy is smooth.

Caleb and I had moved far away from pa.s.sionate, I-want-you-so-bad-I-can't-wait-one-more-second-or-I'll-die, kind of s.e.x. We had FWP during ovulation only. It was a lot like getting an oil change on my car; the free coffee was nice, but I was only there for maintenance and hoped the guy would do his job as quickly as possible so I could get back to Rachael Ray.

Being with Jake was so much better. Since I was using automotive a.n.a.logies, I'd describe it as an expensive full-body exterior and interior auto detail that was about eight years overdue. Our hands and lips never left each other. I didn't want it to be over ever because I enjoyed falling off his cliff. Then again, when it's that good, it can be quick and still satisfying. By the time we collapsed onto the floor about ten minutes later, I'd already been satisfied twice.

We lied on the floor side by side and looked at the ceiling while we tried to catch our breath and compose ourselves. I knew it was coming, that awkward OMG-WTF-did-we-just-do moment. We couldn't just cuddle and fall asleep and put the moment off until the morning. We weren't even on a bed! And even if we were, it wasn't even dark out yet. And how were we supposed to get dressed when our clothes were wet? As hard as it was to get them off, there was no way they were going back on without an even more embarra.s.sing struggle. Oh, s.h.i.+t, this was bad.

After years and years of planning perfect moments and avoiding the awkward ones, I had developed a certain amount of skill in this area, and I couldn't help but give this one my best shot. When he seemed pretty much back to normal, breathing-wise, I sat up and silently held up my hand toward him for a high-five.

He turned his head toward me and laughed as his tired hand made its way over to meet mine. ”Nice play, Rox,” he said as he sat up, nodding his head in approval.

And that was it. Tension cut. Awkward moment avoided. I should seriously do this s.h.i.+t for a living.

”I've never gotten a high-five after s.e.x before,” he said. He looked pretty proud of himself, probably for earning the high-five.

”I've never been thrown up against a door before, either. With moves like that you should get a high-five every time.”

”Ha. If you ever want to try it again, so I can really master the move, just say when.”

Is it too early to ask? That's what I should have said. But I didn't. I bit my lip to keep myself from speaking and sounding totally desperate. He was probably only kidding anyway.

”I'm just messing with you,” he said.

See?

”We both know this was just a fluke,” he said as he dug through the pile of wet clothes, ”so there's no need for us to have any weird conversation about it later.”

”Excellent,” I said, handing him his t-s.h.i.+rt. Weird conversations weren't on my to-do list either.

”I gotta get on the computer and start setting up appointments so we can make some money,” he said.

He stood up and managed to get his wet boxers back on. The jeans and t-s.h.i.+rt, we both knew, were hopeless.

I remained seated on the floor and pulled my legs up to my chest just to stop being so exposed.

He kneeled back down to my level so he could look me in the eye.

”Can I kiss you one more time?” he asked.

Gosh, he made my heart melt! He could kiss me anytime he wanted. Any. Time. But I didn't say that. Another thing I should have said, but didn't. I smiled at him to let him know it was okay, and he kissed me once more before I scooted away from the door and let him out.

Once he was gone, I got up, threw on my robe and headed down the hall to the shower.

Jake sleeps in the master bedroom with his own bathroom, so I knew I didn't have to worry about running into him when I left my room. I definitely wasn't expecting to run into Adam, though! The guy has seriously been home a total of maybe five hours since I'd moved in but, of course, he was there now. He was just coming out of his room with a laundry basket of dirty scrubs when I walked out of mine.

”What's up, stranger?” he asked with a nod.

”Nothing, just getting ready for a shower.” I tried to act normal, but inside I panicked. How long has he been home? Did he hear anything? Does he know? OmiG.o.d!

”From what I hear, it's about time.”

”WHAT?!” I practically screamed.

”Jake was telling me you had stopped showering. I'm just kidding, man. Relax.”

Breathe out. What a relief.

”Lemme know when you're out of the shower so I can start my laundry,” he said.

My afterglow started to fade once I got into the shower. I had so many questions in my head, bouncing around in there like it was a pinball machine.