Seventeen
Jason closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of Joslyn’s hair. He lay on his back with his arms wrapped tightly around her, her head nestled against his neck and jaw as she lay half on top of him, half next to him. Sunlight slanted through her blinds and he stared at the shafts of light as they played against the walls of her bedroom. She was still fast asleep, or asleep again—he wasn’t sure if she’d been there when he’d woken up early in the morning when he’d heard his phone buzzing on the bedside table with a text message from his brother.
Stay as long as you need to. That’s what Peter had needed him to know at five in the morning. It shouldn’t have surprised him that his brother was awake at the early hour—four AM back home—since Peter’s sleep patterns had always been strange, even when they were kids. That was the way it had always been and Jason didn’t see much chance of it changing.
Now, hours later, he lay awake with Joslyn in his arms, wondering not why his brother had been up so early in the morning, but why his brother felt like he needed to tell him that again at that very moment.
Did something change back home? Jason frowned at the shafts of light he lay watching, shafts that faded as clouds eclipsed the sun. Joslyn was still fast asleep, comfortable and warm against him. There was something deeply comforting about her presence, about being there with her.
How long will I need to stay? He didn’t have an answer for that question. He’d been guessing he’d know when the moment would come.
Jason sighed and closed his eyes. He must have dozed, because the next thing he was aware of was Joslyn shifting against him, stirring.
“Mmm. You’re still here,” she said, her voice heavy with sleep.
“Where else would I be?” he asked softly, nose buried in her hair. “I’m right where you left me.”
“I’m always surprised,” she whispered, twisting so she was laying on her stomach, still half on top of him. One of her toes grazed the inside of his calf and Jason smiled, reaching to run his fingers through her hair. She smiled back. “I keep wondering how the hell I got lucky and met a guy like you—and how the hell I could’ve ever been so freaking stupid.”
“Stupid?” His brows shot up. “What do you mean?”
“If you hadn’t told me your name, I don’t think I ever would have told you mine. I never would have found the courage and never would have dreamed that there was anything more between us than just two characters who fell in love and players who became friends in the process.”
His heart wrenched and suddenly his throat was tight. “Joss.”
“I mean it,” she whispered. “I am so damn lucky.”
He wrapped his arms around her again, pressing a kiss to her forehead, then her lips as she inched higher and closer, burying her fingers in his short-cropped hair. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “I love you, I love you.”
Her tears hit his cheeks and his throat seized. All he could do was keep on kissing her, holding her tighter as she pressed closer. He shivered, heart pounding a little faster.
“I love you, too,” she breathed, kissing him back, hard, fingertips digging into his scalp. Chills shot up and down his spine, danced along his nerves.
His phone buzzed on the bedside table and he ignored it as Joslyn arched, one foot sliding along the inside of his calf, leaving goosebumps in its wake. Jason’s breath caught, his eyes coming open to stare at her.
“I want you,” she whispered, their lips nearly touching, her nose brushing against his. “I want you so badly I can almost taste it.”
“Well, you have me,” he whispered back. “You have me for as long as you want me—as long as you need me.”
“Right back at you,” she said, then leaned in to kiss him again.
Jason’s eyes slid shut. His phone buzzed again. He groped for it as he kept on kissing Joslyn, caught hold, silenced it, then dropped it. It fell somewhere on the floor, covered a few seconds later by her nightgown as she pulled it off, her hands sliding up beneath the hem of his shirt half a second later.
Nothing else mattered, just the girl who said she loved him, wanted him. He’d never had that before.
It was nice.
Whatever the call had been about, it could wait. His team would understand. Peter would understand.
Stay as long as you need to.
What if he never wanted to leave?
After the second round, they lay cuddled together in her bed, facing each other, foreheads touching, hands threaded through each other’s hair and legs tangled together beneath the covers. Joslyn was looking at him with eyes half-lidded, a faint, satisfied smile on her face.
“Wasn’t too much, was it?” he murmured to her, thumb brushing against her cheekbone.
She shook her head slightly. “Not at all. You’re incredible.”
Jason choked on a laugh and shook his head. “Not really. You sure are, though.”
Joslyn laughed, her eyes sliding closed as she shook her head. “Goddamn flatterer.”
“Just telling it like it is.”
“Liar.” She was still laughing, though, and her lips brushed against his.
On the floor, beneath discarded clothes and a spare blanket, his phone buzzed again.
Calming, Joslyn took a slow, deep breath, settling down again against him, running her foot up and down one of his calves from the midway point down to his ankle. “That thing keeps ringing. Someone must need you pretty bad.”
Jason blinked. “What do you mean?”
“It’s gone off at least four times since the first time,” she said. “Maybe you should answer it. They wouldn’t be this persistent if it wasn’t important, right? Whoever’s calling?”
“It might be more than one person,” he murmured. “I didn’t exactly tell my team that I’d be gone.” He started to move, unwinding his arms from her, but his phone stopped buzzing then and instead he wound his arms around her again. “I didn’t tell much of anyone.”
“Really?”
He shook his head. “Just my brother.”
“Peter,” she said softly. Jason nodded.
“Yeah. He knew something was bugging me before the event but I didn’t tell him what it was until after I told you—until after I decided.”
“Decided what? To talk to me?”
“Until after I decided to come to you,” he said. “Until after you and I planned it.”
“Oh,” she said. Her palm rested against his cheek and Jason closed his eyes for a second, sighing.
“I’m glad I did,” he whispered. “And I’m glad he didn’t think this was ridiculous—I’m glad he didn’t try to talk me out of it.”
“What did he say?”
“In essence? That it was about time.” Jason grinned. “If there’s one thing that’s important to understand about my brother, it’s that he wants to see the people around him happy, no matter what. That’s like life to him. It means everything—making people happy.”
“Your brother seems like a pretty nice guy,” Joslyn said. Her thumb brushed against his cheek and Jason was surprised to find himself crying.
When did that start?
“Peter’s probably one of the best people I’ve ever known,” he murmured, resting his forehead against hers, reaching up to catch her hand in his. He squeezed her fingers gently. “He’s always been there when I needed him, even when he needed someone more than I ever could. He always puts everyone else before himself.” His throat was tight and he squeezed his eyes shut against more stinging tears. Joslyn wrapped her arms around him and drew him close.
“Shh,” she soothed gently. “It’s okay. It’s okay, Jason. Let it out. You don’t have to pretend everything’s okay.”
“But it is,” he whispered. “Everything’s fine.”
He couldn’t shake the sick feeling in his stomach that it wasn’t, though.
“Are you sure?” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he said, holding her and forcing himself to relax. “Yeah. Everything’s fine.”
He left his phone on the floor where it was buried, trying to convince himself that it was nothing, that it was just people calling because they didn’t know where he was. Peter knew. Peter would handle it.
He always did.
Everything’s fine. He said it was and he told me to come, and to stay.
Everything’s fine.
