“Look, I’m gonna break it down nice and easy for you, okay? I promised her we’d just talk, otherwise I wouldn’t be this patient, so keep that in mind, you little shit.” Steve pointed a finger at him and came forward, crowding Alex’s space, “I give fuck all with what you think you can give her that I can’t. History doesn’t matter now. What matters is here and now, and right now, Jordyn is with me.” He jerked his head back to the closed door, and continued, “And I don’t like my girl getting bothered at home. Got it?” He crossed his own arms in a gesture mirroring Alex’s.
Alex stared nervously at the ink on Steve’s arms as if he were seeing it for the first time. He wasn’t seeing art, not like Jordyn and just like she’d said, people like that didn’t matter. This man didn’t matter.
“This is crazy. This is all insane.” He threw out an arm gesturing towards Steve and then back towards Jordyn’s apartment door. “None of this makes sense. You don’t even know each other. You can’t possibly be fooling yourself into thinking this is going to last.”
Steve knew this guy, as much as he disliked him, had a point. He was probably right. Things like this shouldn’t last and weren’t meant to happen, but the thing about that is it had. He’d met Jordyn, she’d chosen him, wanted him around. He wasn’t going to waste that, so even if something inside of him agreed with her ex-boyfriend, it didn’t mean he was right. He didn’t have to be right.
Not about this.Not about them.
“Good thing nobody asked you,” Steve replied, his jaw set.
Alex scoffed, throwing his shoulders back in what Steve guessed was supposed to show him confidence. Instead it made him look ridiculous, like a chicken with his arms thrown out wide. “I’m going to make her fall back in love with me, and when she does, everything is going to go exactly back to normal.” He aimed a cruel smile at Steve. “You’ll be out on your ass, back in whatever shit bar she found you in because a girl like her doesn’t belong with trash like you.”
Steve rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t let on that this little shit’s words got at him because she had found him in a shit bar. A bar that she shouldn’t have even been in, wouldn’t have if she hadn’t been hurt by this sorry excuse for a person.
“You got half of that right,” he said, instead of confirming her ex’s words about where they had met. Where he would most likely end up if things went South with Jordyn. “She doesn’t belong with trash, but you and I both know she took care of that when she dropped you.” He started forward again, forcing Alex to retreat. He was done having their talk, it was time to end this so he could get back to morning he’d been having a damn good time enjoying. “If I find you here, or if she tells me you’ve been after her, I’ll find you. Swear to god, you even breath in her direction wrong and you’ll regret it.”
“Are you threatening me?” Alex spat, but he backpedaled quickly. He nearly tripped when he realized that Steve was moving faster than he was and scurried away with a quick look over his shoulder.
“No, that’s a promise, and let me tell you…a little reputation lost at church is going to be the least of your worries when I find you. I don’t think you are going to want to come home to find me waiting for you. You’ll find out just how annoying and dangerous it is to show up at people’s homes when you’re uninvited. Don’t think I won’t find you, because I will. You ready for that?” Steve stopped advancing, but Alex continued to hurry toward the stairwell. He didn’t respond, but the fear in his eyes was answer enough for Steve.
“Go ahead and fool yourself into thinking you get to keep her,” Alex tossed haughtily over his shoulder before he started down the stairwell. From the sound of his footsteps, he wasn’t just walking, he was practically sprinting and Steve leaned over the railing to see that yes, he was running. He leaned forward on his elbows, not even bothering to hold back the laugh at the sight of the other man running away.
How the hell had Jordyn wanted this douche?
“Drive safely!” Steve called down to him, raising his hand in a wave. The blond stopped right in front of his car, one hand on the door, keys in hand and looked like he was thinking of how to reply. Steve rested his chin on his hand waiting for whatever comeback the other man was deliberating on. He hoped it was good with all of this thinking. Turned out it wasn’t because after another long minute or two, and only with the distance of four stories and half a parking lot, did Alex have the courage to flip Steve off.
Steve laughed so loud that Jordyn opened the door in confusion.
* * *
Jordyn was clearingthe breakfast plates when Steve came to stand behind her, trailing a hand slowly up her back. His touch was light, and he smiled, watching her close her eyes before setting the plate down and leaning into him. He pushed her hair to the side and kissed her neck.
“Did you mean what you said?” he asked, his mouth just behind her ear. He kissed her there too and put his other hand on her side, pulling her close to him. She felt so good in his arms and he moved, wrapping them around her, holding her against his chest. He could feel the rise and fall of her and moved, hooking an arm across her breasts, the steady beat of her heart tapping out a rhythm against his skin.
This was a good morning. Any morning with her in his arms would be good, though. He knew it then. Didn’t matter if they had just met. Jordyn was good.
“Hmm?” Jordyn swallowed hard and blinked, looking up at him. He could tell she was having a hard time focusing, and he smiled, tilting her head to the side so that she could look at him easier.
“What you said about me out there.”
She nodded immediately. “Yes. Of course, I meant it.”
He closed his eyes and dropped his head, chin to her shoulder. “What do you want, Jordyn?” he asked.
“I want to keep seeing you,” she admitted. He opened his eyes and looked at her, the arm across her chest tightening briefly before he turned her to face him.
“You want me to keep coming back?” He would give anything to hear her say yes.
Jordyn nodded. “Yes…I don’t think I’m good at one-night stands. Oops,” she joked.
Steve felt his chest go tight, thinking about her taking someone else home. The thought of anyone else in her bed, having their hands on her, having her go sweet and hot for them. No, he didn’t want that. If she wanted him, she could have him.
“You don’t need to be if I keep coming back,” he said. “Good at the one night stand thing, I mean.”
“Do you want to, um, keep coming back?” she asked, moving her hands to his arms. She looked down at the skin beneath her hands, tracing a finger along the bold lines of an unfamiliar cityscape and she paused, hands going still before she spoke. “I don’t want you to feel obligated just because my life seems like a mess or anything.”
“What are you talking about? Nothing about you is messy.”
