Jessie laughed, causing a tear to release and drip down her cheek. With a small smile of her own, she nodded. “Yeah, of course.”
They made quick work emptying Jessie’s truck. With several of the larger pieces of Gran’s stuff, they had to bypass the elevator and use the stairs. When they got a dresser wedged in a corner, they both laughed pretty hard, and Kai jokingly told her that he was at her mercy. Growing quiet, Jessie gave him an odd look full of longing and pain. Kai had to remind himself for the millionth time that she wasn’t some beautiful girl he could flirt with whenever the mood struck him. She was so much more, and so much less.
After a couple hours of sweaty work, they finally moved in all the furniture: two dressers, a nightstand with a lamp, a large bookcase, and a frame and headboard for his mattress. Considering the size of Jessie’s truck, it was amazing that they’d been able to fit everything in only one trip. Looking over at Jessie as she blew a loose curl off her shiny forehead, Kai smiled. It was easy to fit things into place with her. Too easy.
When all the furniture was arranged, they lowered his mattress onto the frame and replaced the sheets. The same sheets they’d had sex on. After they were finished, they both stared at the spot that had changed everything in their relationship. An awkward tension began to build, and Kai found himself whispering, “Who is Jeremy?”
Jessie flinched, and Kai felt heat rush into his face. He really hadn’t meant to ask her that, but curiosity had driven it out before he could stop himself. She’d mentioned something about a man named Jeremy, right before she’d shoved her hand down his pants. She’d been comparing his size to that guy. At the time, she’d seemed pleased with what she’d found.
Color stained Jessie’s cheeks as embarrassment flashed through her. Walking over to one of Kai’s boxes, she opened it and started pulling out his clothes. She was going to stay and help him put his stuff away? While he was grateful for that, since he really wasn’t looking forward to doing it, he was pretty surprised, too, especially after what he’d just asked her.
Jessie let out a long exhale as she folded some crumpled T-shirts and placed them in a dresser drawer. Not looking at Kai, she answered, “He was my last boyfriend, who found it very difficult to keep it in his pants.” She glanced over at him as he blinked in surprise. “I caught him with another woman once, and that was enough for me.” Her gaze washed over the front of Kai’s jeans, and her face colored even more. “I think he was just insecure,” she muttered, a devilish smile twisting her lips for a second.
Kai laughed, then sighed. She was comparing her ex to him…this was all so weird. Reaching into a box, Kai started putting away some of his books. Jessie shook her head as she watched him. “God, I can’t believe I said that to you last night.” Looking horribly embarrassed, she stopped unpacking his clothes and stared at him. “I’m generally not that…”
She bit her lip as she let her thought trail off. Kai smiled as he remembered. “Aggressive?”
Jessie groaned and let her head fall back. Then her hands came up to cover her face. She looked mortified. Kai wanted to reassure her, let her know that she had no reason to be embarrassed about her actions. Everything else aside, the physical part of their night had been amazing. Quietly, he told her, “I’ve never had anyone be like that with me. It was amazing, you were amazing.” Deciding to be perfectly honest with her, he admitted, “It was the best sex I’ve ever had.”
She slowly lowered her hands; her face reflected his own sadness and revulsion. “That makes me feel wonderful…and horrible.” Kai gave her a sad smile. He knew just what she meant. Shaking her head again, she stuck her hand back into his box of clothes. “This is so messed up, Kai.”
Returning to his box of books, he muttered, “I know.”
After another hour or so, they had emptied all of Kai’s boxes. Jessie laughed at several of his private things. A mug he’d made in art class one year—it had an obvious lean to one side. A photo of a group of his friends tossing him into the ocean. A Tiki statue with a gigantic schlong. One of his friends had found it in an adult shop, and had thought it would bring Kai good luck in the girl department. Kai wasn’t sure if it had or not.
Jessie smiled to herself as she flipped through one of the photo albums his mom had made for him. She stopped on a picture of him and his friends standing shirtless on the beach. Her finger languidly traced the swirling pattern of Kai’s tattoo peeking up over his collar bone. As he came over to sit beside her on the bed, his chest ached with the memory of her soft lips touching his tattoo last night. “Does it mean something?” she asked, her finger pointing to the black ink in the picture.