AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jem slumps to my side, both of us out of breath, and I pull her closer to kiss her deeply. I can taste myself on her, and know she can taste herself on me and this is how it should always be. I’m losing the fight not to fall head over heels for the queen of caffeine in Felt, even when I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here.
* * *
Loose-limbed and more relaxed than I think I’ve ever been in my life, I fry us up some eggs for breakfast. Jem hopped in the shower after we both caught our breath and hasn’t emerged since. I made a cup of coffee and swiped on some of the antibiotic cream the doc prescribed me to help combat the itch while I cooked us breakfast.
A good portion of the snow is cleared from my driveway, and I dread the sight of it. Jem’s going to go back to town today. There’s nothing that I can do to stop her. I know that she needs to work—Ally’s probably swamped at the store—but I don’t want her to go.
“Holy wow. Did you see the roads? They’re almost clear.” Jem comes into the kitchen holding her phone. She’s got the community Facebook page pulled up and is scrolling through posts. I plate her eggs and set them down at the island with the cup of coffee I made for her.
“Yeah?” I ask.
“Yeah. It looks like the highway is still closed though. They’re trying to get it opened by the end of the day if they can. Ally texted me and told me to swing by later to help with the lunch crowd. Stacy is out with two sick kiddos, so she can’t make it in.”
And there it is. The exact reason I knew that she’d have to leave today.
I try not to let it get me down, but I must not cover my expression well enough because she asks, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say, not ready to admit that I want her here with me. If I’m stuck out here for another week and a half, spending that time in bed with her would have made for a hell of a distraction.
“Your face doesn’t look like it’s nothing. Talk to me.” She tries again and I shake my head.
Jem stands up and walks around the island in the kitchen until she can wrap her arms around my waist. Dropping her head to my chest in a hug that feels way too right, she says, “I’m not a mind reader, Boone. I don’t know what you’re thinking unless you tell me. Did I do something wrong?”
Fuck. She’s right and I’m fucking this all up.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I just don’t want you to go.”
She tips her head back until her chin is resting against my sternum and smiles at me. “I don’t want to go either, but I have to work.”
I nod. “I know.” I run my hands down her arms just to touch her.
“Buuuut…I can come back tonight. Maybe after I’ve actually got some of my own clothes and toiletries packed. I’m off for the rest of the weekend too, so that would give us a few more days.”
A weekend with Jem, not attributed to massive quantities of snow or her being stuck? “I’d like that.”
She smiles at me again. “Perfect.”
I plate my own breakfast and come around to sit with her at the table when I get a crazy idea.
“You said that you wanted to know more about my brothers, right?”
She swallows a sip of coffee. “Yeah. Why?”
“Wanna come home with me for the weekend? You can meet them in person that way.”
She holds up a hand. “Wait. You want me to come home with you for a weekend?”
Getting fully into the idea, I say, “Sure. Everette is nice this time of year, and my Dad plans to drive up to the mountains on Saturday for Mom’s birthday, so I know my brothers will be around.”
“You don’t think that’s too fast?” she asks.
I shake my head. “It’s fast. But it feels right. At least to me it does. Does it feel too fast to you?”
She blows out a breath. “It feels fast. But not in a bad way fast. But you said that you struggle with going home. Why the sudden change of heart?”
I reach out and boop her on the tip of the nose. “I’ve had this beautiful brunette talk some sense into me, and I want to try to close the gap between my family and me. Figure it can’t hurt to start with a trip back home. And who knows, maybe this time it’ll be easier for me.”
She smiles at me and snags my hand in her own before pressing a kiss to my fingertip. “Well, I guess we’re going to Everette this weekend. I mean, I did tell you to use me as a buffer for you and your family, so meeting them isn’t the worst thing. When did you want to leave?”
