Jeremy might have started off as my own annoying, blackmailing bully, but he ended up being so much more.
He called me his cielo,his sky, but to me, from that day on, no matter what life tossed our way, Jeremy Fletcher was my everything.
11JEREMY
Ikept a close eye on Teresa that week. Or a closer eye than I already had. Last night after practice, Coach had pulled me aside and told me my girl had nothing to worry about after the school announced Professor Gage’s immediate resignation.
I didn’t ask questions. Especially about Coach’s knuckles and hand being cracked open, the scabs slowly healing. All I’d said was that I owed him. He shot me a look, and I knew one day, I’d get a call and would do anything he or Ferguson and Marquez asked of me.
But I didn’t care.
I didn’t lose sleep over whatever the hell happened to that motherfucker. It might make me sick and twisted, but I’d heard him. I’d read his intention when it came to my woman and hoped to god there weren’t more of his victims on campus where nobody had been able to get to them on time.
My girl, though, had lost sleep. She woke up in cold sweats, her heart racing and body trembling like the last leaf on a tree at the end of fall. She’d turn to me regardless if it was in her room or mine and ask me to hold her closer.
Then, last night, when she’d woken up, she reached for me, cupping my face with her delicate hands, and kissed me.Something I’d avoided doing because I hadn’t wanted to push her into something she wasn’t ready for after being accosted that way.
“I love you.” Her whisper-soft words brushed against my lips, and I groaned.
“Cielo.”
“I know. It’s crazy fast and?—“
“Shh…” I pressed my mouth to hers, flipping us over so she straddled my lap and I could hold her, both my hands on either side of her face. “I wanted to be the first one to say it.”
“Say what?” she adorably sassed, leaning down and pressing her lips to my cheek.
“That I love you.” My voice sounded deeper than usual. And through the moonlight that drifted in through the window, I watched as my girl’s face transformed. Teresa was a lot of things. Strong. Fierce. Sassy and loyal. But there were only a handful of people she let see a different side of her. A softer, tender one she held at bay, protecting it from ever getting hurt. And right then and there, I was honored to know I was one of the fucking few.
“You love me?” she asked, vulnerability radiating off her. All I wanted to do was put myself between her and anything in the world that might ever hurt her.
“With all my heart.”
“Mmm, that’s good, I guess.” I grinned and shook my head.
“Good. Because I wasn’t kidding, cielo. You’re stuck with me.” Her eyes flared, and I knew exactly where this late-night talk was headed.
“There could be worse places to be stuck at.” Damn, I loved that smart mouth.
I’d flipped her over and slowly took my time worshiping her body all night long. Exploring every tan line, kissing every freckle, old scar, and beauty mark from the bottom of her feet tothe top of her head, knowing I wanted to do that every day for the rest of my life.
EPILOGUE
JEREMY
My body was still tense from the visit to meet Teresa’s family. No matter what I did to try and relax, I couldn’t.
It was nine months since we had saidI love youto one another. I’d thought I was obsessed before, but that kicked up my fixation with my girl. Amped it up to unfathomable levels. There wasn’t a step she didn’t take without me knowing. Not because I forced her to share it with me but because I kept closer tabs on her. Tracking her location on her phone, slipping an air tag in her duffle.
And this time, she wasn’t clueless about it.
“What is that?” she’d asked, the memory clear in my head. It’d been two days since the incident, and when I’d told her clearly what it was, she nodded and kissed my cheek. No arguments or fight.
She accepted my crazy ass exactly as I was.
It had taken about a month for the nightmares to stop and for Teresa to sleep soundly next to me. There wasn’t a night throughout that month I wasn’t next to her. Even when she traveled for games, I headed out on my own, got a hotel, and made her stay with me. That night, seeing her from afarbeing manhandled and then so terrified when I approached had changed something inside of me.
This obsession, this primal need for Teresa, didn’t fade, nor did I grow bored with her like she thought I would one day. Hell, it wasn’t going anywhere. If anything, it had tripled. She was my everything. I might call her my sky, but she was my moon and stars and everything in between.
