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It made having to leave even more difficult, though. I wanted more of her, more time to enjoy this new discovery of being with someone who really wanted to be with me. Who wasn’t just going through the motions until something better came along.
With a sigh, I forced myself to get out of bed. I tried to distract myself from my misery by figuring out just how I was going to get back to my own room without Janet or Andrew seeing me. As much as they liked me, I didn’t think they’d be thrilled that their house guest had deflowered their daughter.
As quietly as possible, I started to get dressed, stepping carefully over the clothes we discarded the night before. My knee protested as I put my weight on it, but I took in a sharp intake of breath instead of cursing out loud. Putting my clothes on was a challenge when it hurt to bend my leg, but I managed not to crash into anything in my struggle. I was just pulling on my shirt when I heard Isabelle let out a small whimper as she rolled over. I froze. I hadn’t made a sound, but she was opening her eyes.
She was going to kill me.
Isabelle blinked a few times. It was still dark, and it took a moment for her to fully focus on me. When she did, she smiled sleepily.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I tried to be quiet.”
“You were,” she mumbled. “But I woke up anyway.”
“Go back to sleep. We’ll pretend you didn’t see me.”
She shook her head. “Come here.”
Time was a little short, but I didn’t care. I sat down beside her, and she wriggled herself closer to me. She took one arm out from under the covers, and reached for my hand.
“I’m glad I woke up,” she said.
“Me too.”
She squeezed my hand with as much strength as she could find since she’d only just been roused from sleep, and I said, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay. You?”
I smiled down at her. “Yeah. I’m good.”
I hadn’t had a lot of practice with the morning after, and finding the right thing to say wasn’t as easy as I’d assumed. The whole embarrassing concept of saying something like, “Was it good for you,” actually crossed my mind, and I had to stop myself laughing at my ow
n lameness. Nobody says that kind of thing. I was pretty sure that line only ever came up in old movies.
“Jesse, can I tell you something?”
“Sure. Anything.”
She smiled again, and my heart did a weird jolt. She’d really got me.
“Last night … I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “And I was scared. But I’m really glad it happened. I’m glad it happened with you.”
Yup. She’d got me.
I leaned over and kissed her softly. “I had the best time with you. I don’t just mean last night,” I added, making her laugh. “The whole time with you has been awesome. And I can’t wait until I get to see you again.”
She giggled. “You haven’t even left yet.”
“Well, and excuse me in advance for saying something completely cheesy but, I miss you already.”
She took a deep breath, like maybe my words knocked the air out of her for a second. “I miss you too.”
I closed my eyes, wishing with everything I had that we had one more hour. Just one more hour to sit beside her, exchanging sappy sentiments and denying the very real truth that I had to go. I kissed her one more time, and she said, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Izzy. But-”
“You have to go,” she finished, “I know.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
