EIGHTEEN

Jameson had been staying with me for a week.

After things got a little too heated, he started taking the air mattress at the start of every night, always ending up in my bed anyways. I didn't mind waking up with his arms around me one bit.

It was hard, not just planting a kiss on his lips every morning, or when he brought me a drink so I didn't have to get up, or when we were mid-conversation and I zoned out on his face. I wanted to move this along, of course I did. But I wanted to be sure that my feelings weren't strictly physical before escalating it.

Obviously, being his mate meant more to him than he let on. I could tell when I brought it up and his eyes lit up with hope. He must have been taught at an early age that soulmates were forever.

I didn't want to kiss him because it felt right in the moment and then regret it.

Jameson meant so much to me and I was more than happy to have him back in my life. We were attracted to each other on a physical level, to say the least. I constantly wanted to attack his neck with kisses when he was shirtless and sit on his lap when he was minding his business. I saw the way he looked at me, too.

So we were taking things slow. We were just trying to catch up on each other's lives, get to know the new and improved us, and adjust to having each other in our lives again.

It was the following Saturday and I was catching up on some homework at my desk. Jameson was, ironically, hooked on Teen Wolf and was mindlessly watching season four on my bed.

"Petals?" he said, making me swivel around in the chair. "I'd like to take a drive today, if you'll join me. I found something I think you'll love."

I quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. "What did you find?"

"It's a surprise," he grinned. "So finish your work so we can go."

He didn't have to tell me twice. I rushed through the last of my assignments and packed it up. I stood over him at the edge of the bed with a shy smile, showing him that I was done.

Jameson paused his show and smiled up at me. "Is someone excited for their surprise?" he teased, climbing off the bed to find some pants and his shoes. I shoved him by the arm, which only made him laugh.

I waited for him to get dressed and blushed when he kissed my cheek out of the blue. Once we were bundled up and ready to go out into the nippy winter air, we headed out to his car. I settled into the passenger's seat and buzzed with excitement.

I loved surprises. The anticipation was my favorite part.

We drove for fifteen minutes or so before I was told to close my eyes. I couldn't fight the smile for long as I closed my eyes and placed my hands over them. I had no idea where we were going.

Another five minutes must have gone by and I was getting antsy. "I'm gonna peek," I lied.

"Don't you dare," Jameson said and I yelled when he ruffled my hair. "We're pretty much there, just be patient."

I hummed annoyingly, messing with him to push his buttons. The car came to a stop and I waited for instruction. I heard him unbuckle his seatbelt, so I did too, eyes still shut tightly. Then I heard his door open and shut, then mine opened beside me.

"Do I have to keep my eyes shut?" I whined. He reached for my hands and tugged, helping me out of the vehicle.

"Yes, my love," he said, which had my whole body on fire. He didn't let go of one of my hands, just dragging me with him across uneven ground. "Just a little bit of walking but be careful."

I almost tripped seven times, each time stumbling into his back. Thank God he held my hand because I probably would have eaten dirt already. We walked for just a few moments until he stopped. I tried to listen for any indication of where we were.

My heart pounded when I felt his warm body move in front of mine, blocking the vicious wind. He grabbed both of my hands, which were resting over my eyes, and squeezed them. "Okay, you can open."

I grinned while I opened my eyes, first only seeing him directly in front of me. His eyes were trained on me, watching my reaction to wherever he took me with his teeth sunk into his bottom lip.

My eyes feasted on the sight in front of me. We were in a field of some sort, acres and acres surrounding us. I turned behind me to see a little farm house, but under our feet were thousands of flowers. I felt like I was in some sort of dream.

"What is this?" I asked, the corners of my mouth edging up.

"Do you remember . . . in Edgewood? When we were driving to the city, and you said it would be nice to lay in a field of flowers?"

I gasped, meeting his eyes. "You did not remember that," I said, not able to hold in my excitement.

"Of course I did. I actually went to the one you were talking about back then and asked if we could go there, but they said it was private property and we'd be trespassing," he chuckled. "But then when I was driving around while you were in class I passed this place and I just knew you'd love it."

"I don't even know what to say right now."

It was so beautiful, even in the winter. In the distance, there were hundreds of oak trees scattered around with ample space in between.

"I know most of the flowers are dead, but I thought it was still so beautiful, so . . ."

I smiled so big at him. He stood there in his flannel jacket and dark jeans, looking so out of place in such an unadulterated setting. He had a blanket under his arm and he was looking at me with a sense of uncertainty. I knew he was too smart for that, he knew I'd fucking love it here.

So I grabbed his hand and yanked him in the direction of where I saw the most colors. There were a lot of bare spots, many of the flowers no longer in bloom from the cold weather. But one section in particular had some buds and older flowers that survived through December, so I pointed there for him to put the blanket.

We laid down, side by side, staring up at the sky. I let out a deep sigh of satisfaction, in disbelief that I had found someone as perfect as Jameson.

"I like how you make me feel like we're the only two people in the world," I confessed, turning my head just slightly so I could see his profile.

"Well, for me," he said without looking at me, "we are."

I laced my fingers with his in between us, bringing his hand up to my lips. Jameson smiled up at the sky. I turned my head to the other side to look at a beautiful daffodil. I plucked it from the earth and sat up, looking down at Jameson.

He looked up at me, his eyes half closed in bliss. It was so quiet here, just the birds chirping and the wind rustling the bare branches of the oaks. I put the flower behind Jameson's ear and admired my work, loving the way the yellow flower petals contrasted with his hazel eyes.

The way he was looking up at me, like I was a gift from the skies, made me feel strange. There was a clear magnetic pull between us and I couldn't fight it much longer.

I pressed a hand flat on his chest and leaned down, hovering my face right over his. Under my palm, I felt him stop breathing. His eyes flitted between my eyes and my lips and I couldn't take it anymore.

When I closed the gap between us, pressing my lips softly against his, I felt the ground rumble. The sky was crumbling, the flowers were singing, and the wind shielded around us like a bubble. He put a delicate hand on my arm, his head lifting up from the ground to press harder into my mouth.

I raised a hand to push his hair back from his forehead, careful not to crush the flower adorning his head. We moved our lips together in a careful tango, sweet and slow, soft and sensual.

When I pulled away, he nudged my nose with his intimately. I could see the smile on his mouth from here so I matched it, laughing breathily. "Wow," he said.

"Yeah, wow," I mimicked pressing my forehead against his.

I kissed him again, this time with a bit more force. He gently pushed me back, laying me down on the blanket so he was over top of me, not breaking our lips apart. I touched his hips carefully, sliding up towards his ribs. My fingers grazed each rib bone like they were skimming the tops of mountains.

He cupped my jaw, licking my lips with his tongue until I opened up and rubbed it with mine. I felt the daffodil fall down beside me. We laid like that for what felt like forever, making out with so much passion in the middle of a field of flowers.

When we came up for air, he slumped on the ground beside me. I could feel his eyes on me so I looked over. "You're the most beautiful boy I've ever seen," he whispered, reaching up to twirl one of my curls between his fingers.

My cheeks betrayed me by heating up. "So are you," I replied shyly.

He just laughed to himself, covering his face with his hands and peeking at me through his fingers. "I thought you would never kiss me," Jameson said giddily.

I couldn't stop the giggle that came out. "Bold of you to assume I have that much self control," I joked while interlacing our hands. He rolled over and threw his arms around me, pulling me into his chest.

We might have lain there for hours, days, or years, maybe. I wasn't sure, but if it weren't for the drops of rain that fell on our skin, I would have stayed forever.

~:~:~

"And this one?"

"I just thought it looked cool."

Jameson and I were sitting on my bed and I was looking at all of his tattoos. He was practically naked while I was fully clothed, per my request so I could see all of his ink. I moved to sit behind him and couldn't help myself as I ran my hands over his muscular shoulder blades. Jameson straightened his back, looking down.

I pressed a kiss to his neck. "What's this one?" I whispered, tracing the outline of a tattoo on his shoulder. It was the silhouette of a wolf with wings on its back and LLMBC next to it. Jameson turned his head to try to see it.

"That one's for Matt," he said quietly.

I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind, resting my head next to his. "Do you miss him?" I asked, holding him tightly.

He leaned into me. "Every day of my life."

"I'm sorry," I whispered in his ear. He shrugged.

"Keep going," he said, changing the subject. I just wanted him to open up to me and talk about it, but every time it was mentioned, he shut down.

I pulled myself off of him and ran my fingers along the biggest piece on his back that I always wondered about. It was a woman-like figure that almost appeared to be like the Virgin Mary, but instead of her face it was a skull head. It took up most of his back. I dragged my finger across the blacked out eye holes and then traced her praying hands.

"This big one?"

He softened under my touch the more I did it. "Also thought it looked cool," he said, making me laugh.

"Is it safe to assume they all just look cool?" I asked because that was at least the fourth time he said that. He turned around to face me and looked down at his waist. I followed his gaze to his left hip, where a tattoo I hadn't even noticed was.

"Not this one."

It was what looked like a lily with its flower petals beginning to shed, falling daintily down below the waistband of his boxers. He shivered when I touched it, looking up at his face.

I knew the answer, but I still asked. "What's this one for?"

Jameson looked into my eyes, making me hold my breath. I bit back a smile. I saw him watch my mouth, seemingly distracted by the way I scraped my teeth onto my bottom lip. He leaned over and took over the action, gently biting my lip and tugging it backwards before remedying it by kissing me softly.

"It's petals for my Petals."