His mouth found mine just then, quieting everything I no longer cared to say. Nothing else mattered. Jake was kissing me, and all other thoughts were silenced. Complete euphoria had hijacked every sensation in my body. Relief filled my chest as one of his hands moved its way up to my neck and to my cheek before getting buried in my hair, while his other hand kept me close.
The rope we’d held so taut all summer long had finally snapped.
This was now the third time I had been kissed by Jake Evans. And it was already my favorite. There were no more doubts. No more fear. This time, the hands that cradled my face did so because they wanted me there. Me. This time, I wasn’t imagining that Jake was thinking of anyone but me when he kissed me. This time, I ran my hands up his chest and around his shoulders and neck without needing any encouragement. And when Jake pulled back to whisper beautiful things to me, I let his words rain over me like confetti.
Jake felt both familiar and new, hot and sweet, and I drank him in, kissing him back with everything I had to give. We were two souls connecting in a way we’d never allowed ourselves to before. When the intensity of our kisses had slowed, along with the rain, Jake simply held me. He tucked me close, my head under his chin, and his arms wrapped comfortably around mine. And there we stood, not a care in the world beyond this moment.
That is, until a thought niggled its way into existence.
I tried to push it aside but found I couldn’t let it go. I pulled back, out of his embrace, determined to speak, but his lips chased mine, and when I opened my mouth to ask the question,I became distracted in the most enjoyable way. It was sometime later before the thought came back to me. Finally, he let me speak.
“Did you really want a haircut?”
Brown eyes of amused exasperation met mine. “When have I ever wanted a haircut?”
“But you said?—”
Jake laughed, rolling his eyes. “I was coming out here to have my way with you, woman. But then you had your scissors and told me to sit. I’ve never related to poor Briggs so much as I did right then.”
Heat bloomed on my cheeks as I covered my face with my hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I gave you my hat! It was flirting 101. A guy shouldn’t have to spell out every dang thing. Besides, Sophie was right there. Have you learned nothing?”
Laughing and too embarrassed to look him in the face, I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head against his chest.
In a softer voice, so sweet I could drown in it, he added, “Do you know how many girls I’ve given my lucky hat to in my lifetime?”
I bit my lip, attempting to tamp down my smile. “Five?”
He lifted my chin and brushed his nose softly against mine. “Just one.”
Our kisses were slower this time. Achingly soft. Both of us having something to say with each slide of our lips. Each gasp of our breath.
“Why now?” I whispered sometime later, when we had grown content to just hold each other. “Why didn’t we ever happen earlier?”
“I remember making out with you in my shed once.” He smiled as he tucked a lock of my rain-drenched hair behind my ear.
I poked him. “Doesn’t count.”
“Dusty always told me I put you in a box. Back in high school. You were the hangout friend.”
“I know. You told me several times.” I gave him a look that made him smile.
“You were always a safe place for me, Shelb,” he whispered, his arms tightening around my waist. “I didn’t want you anywhere else. Growing up, I needed you just like you were. I don’t think it was something I consciously thought about at the time, but looking back…I never even allowed my thoughts to stray in that direction. And they probably would have, if I had let them. I dated lots of girls. But it always ended. They went away. I couldn’t do that with you. You were so much a part of my life that I couldn’t risk you.”
I stood stunned for a long moment as the effect of his words began trickling down my cheeks. All the parts of me that seemed hollow or broken or less than were suddenly gone at one pretty speech.
“I’m sorry if what I needed back then made you doubt yourself. I was pretty messed up for a while. After my dad. And then after Miranda. Until an old friend came back and needed me to teach her how to kiss. And then she couldn’t keep her hands off of me and?—”
I scoffed and pushed at a grinning Jake before he went on soberly, his arms tightening around me.
“My dad's leaving broke me. Miranda's leaving nearly broke Sophie. I was determined not to let that happen again. I’ve tried to deny all of this. I’ve tried to push you away. Ignore you. Told myself you were moving and that I had to leave you alone. Told myself I was doing it to protect Sophie. I’d promised myself thatI’d never give my heart to another woman ever again. Except, in all my grand schemes, I forgot to account for one thing.”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
“You already had my heart.”
Another tear fell, getting lost with the rain sliding down my cheeks. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. It was too sweet. Too much. Especially for Jake. A part of me kept waiting for him to grin and tell me it was all a joke. Tease me about how gullible I was and how I couldn’t read a room. But he didn’t laugh. He didn’t tease. He kissed me instead.