Discussing the diner situation would involve me asking Jackson if he wanted to get married and I didn’t want to freak him out.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m just glad to be here now.”
“Me too.” He leaned forward, giving me a soft kiss.
“See?” I whispered. “All better.”
He cupped my face in his hand and I leaned into his palm. We sat there, just staring at one another for a moment until the door opened and Leighton walked in with apology written all over her face.
“Hey, Leighton,” he greeted.
“Hi, Jackson.”
“I’ll give you two a minute.” He slid off his stool, kissing my forehead. “Are you hungry?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t eat.”
“Okay. I’ll make you something. Be back.”
Leighton took the seat Jackson had abandoned as he strode behind the bar and disappeared down the hall toward the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” we both said at the same time, then laughed.
“You were right,” she said. “It’s your relationship. Don’t let any of us tell you what’s right or wrong. Just follow your heart.”
“He is my heart. He always has been.”
Leighton smiled. “I know. And there’s nothing pathetic about that.”
“June thinks so.”
She scoffed. “June is jealous and always has been, which makes her opinion invalid.”
“Maybe,” I muttered. “I still feel bad for snapping at her and Hannah.”
“Don’t feel bad. They deserved it, we all did. I’m glad you stood up for yourself.”
It wasn’t so much me I’d stood up for but my relationship with Jackson. Where he was concerned, I had a lot more spirit than usual.
“I’m starving.” Leighton’s stomach growled. “Would you care if I invited Brendon down to share a pizza?”
I smiled. “Not at all.”
Two hours later, my bad mood from the diner was gone and my stomach was full of my favorite pizza.
“I like the way he looks at you,” I told Leighton after Brendon excused himself for the restroom.
She giggled. “I was just thinking the exact same thing about Jackson.”
I looked down the bar, where Jackson was cashing out a customer’s tab. He gave me a wink when he caught me watching.
“Can I ask you something?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“When did you tell Brendon you loved him?” The pair had said it a couple of times throughout the night. It had been lovey-dovey and so cute.
Leighton and I had been talking constantly about our boyfriends, but I hadn’t asked her for specifics about when they’d exchanged the words. I just knew they said them and often.
“About a month ago. Why?”
I shrugged. “Just curious. Did he say it first?”
“Technically, no.” She smiled. “We were at his place one Friday night about a month ago and we’d each had a few glasses of wine. He was all glassy-eyed and smiley. We started kissing, but then he stopped and asked, ‘Do you love me?’ I couldn’t lie to him so . . . I said it. Then he said it back.”
Leighton looked over her shoulder to make sure Brendon wasn’t coming back, then she leaned in close. “He was so happy that he let me sit on his face for almost an hour.”
My cheeks flushed as she giggled and took another drink of her beer.
“I, um . . . we haven’t done that before,” I whispered.
“You’re missing out.”
I made a mental note to ask Jackson about it later. With him, all of our boundaries had been erased and I felt comfortable asking him about sex. June might judge him for his “experience,” but I was reaping the benefits.
“Ready to go, sweetheart?” Brendon asked, appearing at Leighton’s side. They really were a beautiful couple, each tall with dark hair. Their babies would be enormous.
She nodded, drinking the last swig of her beer. “All set.”
They each pulled on their coats and hugged me good-bye before saying the same to Jackson. Then they left us to an empty bar, walking out the door hand in hand.
“Let’s close up,” Jackson said, leaning across the bar.
I stood on the railing, meeting him in the middle for a kiss. “My place?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
It wasn’t like the two of us didn’t see each other every day, but with Ryder and all the other things happening, it hadn’t just been us.
We closed down the bar in record time and Jackson followed me in his truck back to my house. I missed our summer strolls along the sidewalk, but with winter coming, we wouldn’t be walking again until spring.
The minute we got inside my apartment, Jackson attacked my mouth, his lips ravenous for my own. Just like always, I met his ferocity beat for beat, stripping off my own clothes as he shrugged out of his.
“Jackson,” I panted between kisses. “I want to try something.”
His mouth moved down the column of my neck as he whipped off his flannel shirt. “What?”
I unzipped my jeans. “I want to sit on your face.”
He stilled, leaning back with a grin. “Yeah?”
My cheeks felt hot. “Yeah.”
“Fuck, yeah.” His hands gripped my hips, picking me up off the floor. In two fast strides, he’d tossed me onto the bed.
I giggled at the wolfish grin on his face. “When did you decide you wanted to try this?” he asked as he yanked off my knee-high brown boots.
“Leighton.” I tugged my sweater over my head and unclasped my bra.
“I knew I liked her.” He chuckled. “Get your jeans off.”
I did as I was told, wiggling them free from my hips so he could pull them to the floor.
“Up.” He ordered me to my knees. “Panties off.”
I obeyed, the excitement running through my blood making my fingers fumble on my thong. But as soon as I had it around my ankles, I kicked it to the floor.
Jackson still had his jeans on. They were unbuttoned, hanging from the delicious V that I loved to trace with my tongue. When I reached for the zipper, he grabbed my wrist and stopped me. “Leave them.”
He climbed on the bed, lying right in the middle on his back. His gorgeous face looked up at me like I was his last meal.
“Get over here, babe.”
“Okay,” I breathed. “Where?”
He pointed to his mouth. “Right. Here.”
A shiver ran over my shoulders as I straddled his waist. Then inch by inch, I scooted my knees forward. My center hovered over his washboard abs, then over the valley between his hard pecs. Finally, he helped me over his arms so my knees were planted right by his ears.
“Grab the headboard.”
I nodded, placing my hands on the frame in front of me. “Like this?”
“Mm-hmm.” He hummed right against my pussy. “Hold on tight.” The feel of his hot breath on my clit made my inner walls quiver.
Jackson dragged his tongue along my slit in a slow, torturous motion.
“Oh. My. God.” My head lulled to the side as he did it again.
“You taste so fucking good, Willa.”
I moaned as his hands came from underneath my legs, gripping the curve of my ass. His fingertips dug in hard, sending a rush of heat to my core.
“Now ride my face.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but as his mouth latched onto my clit, alternating between sucking and lapping me up with his flat tongue, my body figured it out fast.
My knees and legs were shaking as I rocked against his mouth and his stubble tickled the insides of my thighs.
The cries that came from my chest were free and loud, filling my small apartment with pure ecstasy as Jackson added his own groans.
“I’m going to come,” I gasped.
He responded with a hard suck on my clit, sending me over the edge. Pulse after pulse, I came over his mouth. He kept me from falling with his hands, and when I was a boneless mess, still quaking from the aftershocks, he carefully helped me off his face.
“Wowzah.” I swiped the sweaty hair from my forehead as I took Jackson’s place with my back on the bed.
“Liked that, huh?” He smirked as he worked off his jeans. When his thick, hard cock bobbed free, I licked my lips.
“My turn?” I suggested, but he shook his head.