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-Chapter Forty Eight-

I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my head against his broad chest. I was finally back. A couple of weeks ago, I would’ve lied and said that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near him. But here I was once again, in his arms, never wanting to let go.

          We were pulling away from our hug that lasted at least twenty seconds when Jake spoke up. “Alex, I want you to meet someone.” Jake gestured to Audrey.

          “Hi,” she said. I looked at her. She looked so different when she wasn’t unconscious. She wasn’t pale, at all, her eyes were a stunningly bright blue color, and her hair wasn’t greasy and flat. She was almost my height, just a bit taller, and she looked like she wasn’t weak-looking. She wasn’t stick skinny and fragile anymore. She looked healthy. It looked like she had put on a few pounds by eating actual food after her departure from the hospital. “I’m Audrey.”

          I smiled at her. “I know. And I’m Alex, but you probably already knew that.”

          She laughed and smiled. Jake wrapped one of his arms around my waist, “You see Alex, Audrey helped me with this whole set up. She helped me come up with the idea, and helped me sort everything out. She even called construction workers to do all of this.”

          “She did a good job.”

          “Tell me about it.” He heaved a content sigh. “But that’s not the point. The point is that there’s nothing between Audrey and I. We’re just friends, okay? We talked it out, and we’ve moved on…  I know I was a jerk back at the party, and when I got mad at you for kissing Brent. I-I don’t know if you and Brent are anything more than friends. If you are, then I—”

          “I’m glad to hear that. Brent and I are nothing but friends either. At a point, we almost had something, but he knew I wasn’t over you, and broke it off before we could be something serious. That was a good thing, too, because I would be using him only to forget about you. But we both knew that that was never going to happen…”

          I gave him a smile. So much emotion swarmed in his emerald green eyes, and the only thing I had left to add was, “because the only one I want is you,” I said in almost a whisper. And that was the truth. Jake was the only one I wanted. He was the only one that made me feel the way I did when I was with him. He was the only guy I couldn’t go a day without thinking about.

          “Does that mean I’m forgiven?” he asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

          “I forgave you a long time ago.”

          “And I forgave you, too.” I smiled. We just stood there, so close to each other. It was almost painfully unbearable not to lean in and press my lips to his soft, pink ones. The feeling was practically foreign to me now, and I missed it. He said in a low voice, “Alex?”

          “Yeah?” I answered in nearly the same volume.

          “Are you willing to make me the happiest guy alive by being my girlfriend?”

          “You should know me well enough to know the answer.” I brought my eyes up from his lips and looked into his eyes. He was smiling at me with a wide grin that reached his eyes like I was the most important thing in his life.

          Standing on my tiptoes, I swung my arms loosely around his neck and just before I was about to kiss him, Audrey interrupted, “Okay, so I don’t know if you want me to stay here and watch you two make out, or if that would be awkward… um…”

          “Yeah, you should probably get going,” Jake said. I laughed.

          “Well, I’ll let you two continue with your date.” She walked past us and patted Jake’s back. “You better not let her go again.”

          “I won’t.” As he said that, he looked back at me, his eyes completely serious, too.

          “I’ll see you guys later. By the way, Jake, you’re welcome!” Audrey was already out the door, not leaving any time for Jake to give her a correct reply. He gave me a lazy smile, “So now, I guess now we can—”

          “Also!” Audrey chimed, coming back through the doors, “Jake, I’m taking your bike home. I don’t have a ride.” I saw Jake roll his eyes, with slight annoyance in them. “And you two kids have fun!” On that note, she was out the door, and I was able to kiss my boyfriend without another interjection.

          The first thing Jake did when Audrey closed the door was pull me flush against him and give me a way-past-overdue kiss.

          My eyes fell shut as I immediately kissed him back. There was the feeling again—the one that I hadn’t felt in so long… too long. Heat pooled into the pit of my stomach, all of my thoughts were in a blur, my cheeks grew warm, it felt like electricity was coursing through my veins, my heart started pounding at a rapid and increasing pace, and all I could think about was how glad I was to call him mine again.

          One of his hands moved to my neck, the other one staying at my waist. He let out a low moan, something that always made my heart beat even quicker. I wondered if he was able to feel my heart pounding against his chest. His kisses were so addictive; I would never be able to get use to them.

          I held on to him tighter as our kiss deepened, our tongues meeting gently somewhere in the middle at first, but the kiss became more and more heated as we continued.

          Jake and I were up in this tree house, and there was no place I would rather be at the moment. It was like the rest of the world wasn’t so important right now, and all I could focus on was him. This seemed kind of like a dream, being able to hold Jake tightly, and being able to kiss him. I was afraid that this actually was a dream and that if I woke up from it, I would be disappointed, and would have to face reality again. But I knew for a fact that it was real. This was really happening.

          We kissed each other with more passion, more intensity than we probably ever had before. I missed him so much, and this kiss made up for the time we were apart.

          I wanted to be closer to him somehow, like this wasn’t enough. I slid my hands down his shoulders and grazed them down his back, enjoying his reaction, his muscles tightening as I teasingly went over them with just the tips of my fingernails. He put his hands under my shirt, but kept them at my waist and rubbed in circular motions with the warm pads of his thumbs, leaving goose bumps behind with every touch.

          Jake took my lower lip gently in between his teeth and bit it. Three words: Oh. My. God. I groaned. He smiled, knowing how that gesture made me feel and gave me a peck before his lips left mine, traveling soft kisses up to my ear. “Sadly, we have to bring this to an end. The food will get cold.”

          I frowned and nodded. “Fine.”

          He chuckled and gave me one last, sweet kiss. “Come on.” He offered his hand.

          I sighed and grabbed it, letting him pull me along to wherever we were going to go. I didn’t even know he brought food. I then realized how hungry I actually was. The last thing I ate was that breakfast sandwich and that was this morning.

          The sweet aroma of something delicious wafted through the air, getting stronger and stronger the closer we drew near. What was that smell?  

          We walked out of the small house through this back door, and onto another deck. A small, round table for two with a white tablecloth spread over it was in the middle of the deck, and sitting on the table was a large dinner cloche. Plates were set in front of each chair, silverware placed neatly and correctly on either side of them.  The same string Christmas-like lights dangled around the railing of the deck.

          Jake pulled out a seat for me to sit down. “Oh? Now you pull out chairs for people?”

          “People?” He winked at me. “Nah, only for you.”

          A goofy smile crept up onto my lips, and I could feel the blush blotching my cheeks and tinting the tips of my ears. “So what’s for dinner?”

          He lifted the lid from the cloche. The smell that swarmed out from under the lid was almost heavenly. “Bon appetite,” he said.

                                              *                  *                 *

          “I think I’m going to be sick,” I uttered, pushing my plate and fork away. “I’m so full. I’ve never eaten so much delicious food in one serving.”

          “Me neither.” He chuckled, but after that sound, a warm silence filled the air. I didn’t mind, nor did I feel like saying anything at the moment. That was the best food I’d had in a long time. His mom can really cook.

          When I looked up, I noticed Jake was staring at me. “What?”

          “Nothing…”

          “Nothing? Yeah, okay,” I drawled sarcastically.

          He rolled his eyes. “I was just thinking about something, that’s all.”

          “And that was?” I hope I didn’t sound too nosy, asking him something like that. Maybe I was invading his personal thoughts. Maybe it was a really important matter with his family.

          “How happy I am to have you again. You can’t even begin to understand how much I missed you during the time we took away from each other. I never noticed how much I needed you.” I didn’t know what to say, and deciding that he had more to say, I just nodded and agreed. It was like the same to me as it was to him, if that made any sense. “You don’t realize how much you need someone until they’re gone.”

          “I know how you feel,” I gave him a light smile, “And you know what else?” I paused. “There wasn’t a day that you didn’t cross my mind.”

          “You’re all I thought about, Alex,” he said. “It only took me about a hundred ideas to go through my mind before I got this one. Yet, I still didn’t get a thank you? Cruel.”

          I laughed. “Thank you, Jake. For all of this.”

          “You’re welcome.” He gave me his million-dollar smile.

          I returned his smile. “Well,” I sighed. “Now that our little heart to heart is over, want to go for a little swim?”

          “Sure. I’ll clean up later. Let’s go.” Offering me his hand, I took it in mine, interlacing our fingers. We stood up from the table, walked down the stairs and to the river.

          After kicking off my Toms, I stripped off the small, navy blue casual-looking summer dress I had on and stood there in my bra and panties. I was glad a decided to wear a good looking set today—black lace from Victoria’s Secret. Jake was just taking his shirt off, pulling it over his head.

          I watched as he slung the shirt onto the ground and went to work on the button of his shorts. His body was bathed in the yellow light from the house. I scanned from his face, down to his abs and stopped at a sinful V that stopped where his shorts began. I was totally checking Jake out.

          No shame, no shame.

          “Like what you see, Alex?” he smirked at me.

          I nodded. “Mhmm…”

          “You’re not too bad either. I like the lace you’re rocking over there.” He gave me a once over, stopping in a certain spot before meeting eye contact again. I blushed, but hoped to God he couldn’t see it in the very dim lighting.

          “Would it be better if you took a picture?” I mused.

          “Maybe I will,” he said teasingly. I shook my head at him and went to dip my toe in. “I don’t know, Alex, maybe you should wait thirty minutes before swimming.” The sarcasm was practically dripping from his tongue.

          “I’ll be fine.” I laughed. The water was warm and inviting. I jumped in. When I resurfaced, Jake was still on the shore, staring at me. “Come on! What are you waiting for? The water’s great!”

          “What? Oh-okay.” It seemed like he had just snapped out of some kind of trance. “Cannonball!” he shouted and jumped right over my head, plunging into the water behind me. I laughed at him when he came up.

          “What was that?”

          “A cannonball.” He smiled. “Let’s go over there, it’s a lot deeper.”

          We swam somewhere off to the right, and the depth was a big difference. It was about a foot deeper. Maybe more. I could hardly stand up though.

          “I didn’t mean that, I meant when I jumped in and you didn’t. What were you thinking about?”  I questioned. “It was like you were in a trance.”

          “Here,” Jake said, and pulled me close to him, probably sensing I could hardly stand up. He held me against him with his strong arms and into the hard plains of his stomach. I instinctively put my hands around his shoulders. He was standing comfortably here, being a lot taller than myself. “That was nothing. Just trying to plan more dates like this.” He brushed it off with a comfortable laugh.

          I cut my eyes at him, suspicious for a second. But I didn’t want to ruin the night with a lot of questions. Plus, why would he lie to me? “You know, I’m starting to think you brought me into the deeper side for a specific reason,” I laughed, glancing down at our bodies that were pushed so tightly together. I wrapped my legs around his waist for extra support, and all I could do was pray and hope to God that he didn’t think I was too heavy… Especially after eating all of that food? Oh my… I thought to myself.

          Jake put his hands under my bare thighs, holding me up. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

          “You probably did.”

          “Yeah, I did. But I’m not hearing any complaints from you, Alex,” he said lightly.

          “My only complaint is that we’re not close enough, Mr. Carter.” I ran my hands through his hair and got so close to him that my lips were only just millimeters away from his. “And you still haven’t kissed me again.”

          He held me tighter with a smirk on his face. “Oh, is that so?” I gave him a smile, hoping that it came out “sexy.” Pfft, yeah right.

          “Yes, yes it—” I wasn’t even unable to finish my sentence when Jake crushed his lips onto mine.

*

          We swam/made out until we both looked like shribbled up prunes (not literally) before deciding to clean up and go home.

          “I should probably get going now,” he said as we pulled up in the driveway. “It’s getting late.”

          “Aw, no…” Then a thought popped into my head. “Why don’t you spend the night?”

          His face broke into a grin. “Really want me to?”

          I nodded. “Yes!”

          “Alex, we don’t have to rush into anything… I hope you know that,” he said cautiously.

          What did he...? Oh! Oh my gosh, no. My face heated up at what he thought I was talking about. "N-no... I didn't mean it like that...” I told him, playing with the hem of my shirt to distract me. “Just spend the night. Please.” When I looked up at him, he was smiling at me. 

          "You're so cute when you're all flustered," he stated.

          And of course, he had to make me blush even more. Oh my gosh, I probably looked like a freak. "Are you going to spend the night or not."

          “Okay, I will.” He rang his mom, telling her that he would be staying here tonight. He hung up the phone soon. “I guess I’m staying with you.” He kissed my temple lightly and held my hand. “Come on.”

          I jumped as I entered the house through the front door, letting out a little yelp in fright. “Congratulations!” everyone yelled in unison. Lily, London, Audrey and Brent and Mason were all here. Jake’s parents were even here.

          Jake smiled brightly next to me. I recovered from shock, and a smile stretched over my features. Danielle ran up to me and gave me a hug, then whispered into my ear, “See, I knew this would happen. Told you were in love with him.” She winked at me and gave Jake a hug, too. I gave her a baffled look as she walked away.

          “Good job, lil bro,” London said to Jake then gave him a stern look. “Don’t do something stupid like that again.”

          “We knew you two couldn’t stay away from each other for too long,” Vicky said with a wide grin on her face. “You guys are just perfect for each other. Now shall we get a picture for the album?” She held up her Canon camera that was dangling from her neck by the red and black strap.

          “Of us?” Jake asked.

          Vicky nodded. “Of course! Now Jake, kiss Alex on the cheek, and Alex, you look surprised.” I laughed and we got into the pose she told us to get in. Jake kissed my cheek and I widened my eyes, covering my mouth with one of my hands, mocking surprise. Vicky snapped the picture. “Now a real kiss.”

          Jake smirked at me. What surprised me the most was when he dipped me, holding all my weight, with my wet hair almost touching the floor, and gave me a kiss. After Vicky took the picture, I came up laughing. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” I asked him, raising one of my eyebrows.

          Soon after our little congrats surprise, everyone fled to wherever. Vicky, Matt, and my parents retired to their bedrooms, Jake parents left, and the group of teenagers that were left went downstairs to the basement.

          We watched two movies and went through at least three bags of popcorn before the people that didn’t live here left. Except for London, she spent the night, too.

          I went to get ready in my room, changing into a pair of old shorts and a tank top. Once I had brushed my teeth, I crept into my bed, playing stupid games for about ten minutes before Jake came in. He had to get a different pair of shorts because his were soaked. I yawned when he came in.

          “Tired?” he asked. I nodded. “Me too.”

          This was the first time Jake would be spending the night with me. Yeah, he’s spent the night here before, but he would always sleep upstairs in one of the guest bedrooms. One of the rooms was actually kind of his. He even kept some of his clothes here.

          “Is it okay if I sleep with my shirt off?” I nodded again absentmindedly, my mind focused on Angry Birds. All I heard was sleep and shirt. Next I knew it, Jake was crawling into bed on the opposite side. “You sure are concentrated on Angry Birds.”

          “Sorry, what?” I turned my phone off and looked at him. My God, he was shirtless again.

          “Are you going to be ogling me like that all night?” he asked, smiling.

          I glared at him. “No. I would much rather play Angry Birds, thank you very much.”

          “That’s a lie,” he said simply.

          “So what if it is?” I unlocked my phone again and began playing the next level.

           He laughed and pulled the covers up to his chest. “You’re impossible.”

          I smiled and turned over so that my whole body was facing him. I made my head comfortable on my pillow. “If I am, then you are too.”

          “Come here,” he instructed, holding up the covers next to him. A sloppy grin made its way to my face. I snuggled closer to him, putting my head on his warm, hard and bare chest and entangled our legs together. I wrapped my arms around him, sneaking one of my hands past his abs nonchalantly. He put an arm around my shoulders. He was comfortable. I noticed how fast his heart seemed rto be pounding. Was that because of me? Just at the thought of that, I could feel my heart race faster.

          “I’m glad we’re like this again,” I murmured into him.

          “So am I,” he said into my hair. “I was starting to miss those hazel eyes of yours.”

          “And I was beginning to miss your million dollar smile,” I smiled into his chest, my eyes closing for a few seconds. Wow, I was tired. Today was exhausting. And the fact that Jake was slowly rubbing my hair didn’t help at all. I was slowly falling asleep. But before I was completely out of it, I felt Jake kiss the top of my head and say something, but before I could determine what he had said, I completely forgot about it and fell into a deep slumber with ease.

Author’s Note: Aren’t you guys happy? This chapter was so fun to write! You can thank @LDDuke923 and @smileyfacesrawsome for spamming the last chapter with comments, lol. How about 110 comments on this one and 230 votes for this one? First person to comment gets a dedication.