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Chapter 16
JD had a truck parked near the restaurant, and he gave me a ride to my apartment. I had ridden in his truck a few times before, but not until recently. Our relationship had built slowly. Both of us treated the other as a friend because we each thought that was the right thing to do.
And maybe it had been. Maybe we had taken things at an appropriate pace after all. Either way, it had seemed to take an eternity for me to get this close to him. My body was on fire with all of the attraction and emotion that had been building up. I felt a perpetual urge to cling onto JD when we left the restaurant—to physically be situated in his arms.
My apartment came with a parking spot in an attached garage, and JD parked his truck in my assigned spot. We walked into the building and then into my apartment.
I went straight to the shower, leaving JD in my living room. I went as quickly as I could, trying to hurry while still getting the restaurant smell off of me. I scrubbed my hair and body twice with shampoo and shower gel before rinsing quickly, drying off, and getting dressed.
I barely had clothes on my body when I heard voices that sounded close by. I listened for a moment to make sure I wasn't hearing things. I thought JD might be on the phone, but sure enough, there were multiple voices, and they all sounded like they were in my apartment.
I abandoned towel drying my hair, and instantly jogged out of the bathroom and into the living room. I was planning on wearing a sweater, but all I had on at the moment was jeans, a bra, and an undershirt. I didn't mind. I was decent, so I went straight out there to see what was going on.
JD was standing near the door, talking to someone. I could see as I got closer that it was Rachel and her brother. Tristan was exactly what I expected—he looked like a commercial for Martin Outfitters with all of his name-brand all-weather gear and earth-tone accessories. I was relatively sure he drove a Subaru back home in California. He was a handsome enough guy, but JD blew him out of the water.
"Hey," Rachel said, seeing me come up behind JD. "I texted you so many times."
"Oh, sorry, I haven't even looked at my phone," I said, honestly. "I think it's in my purse. What's up? This must be your brother. Tristan, right?"
"Yeah," she said. "We're about to head over to The 2ndAvenue Inn. I thought you said you were thinking about coming with us."
"Yeah, I'm so sorry. I forgot to text you back earlier. It's been a busy afternoon at work, and then JD met me over there, and we made plans. We're planning on hanging out. This is JD Alexander. This is my neighbor, Rachel, and her brother, Tristan."
We all shook hands. I even shook Tristan's hand since we were just meeting. I knew I should have invited them in, but we stood in the doorway with them in the hall.
"I made plans to hang out with JD," I continued. It wasn't at all awkward because I was confident with my choice.
"We could all hang out, if you want," she said. She looked at JD. "If you're hungry, the place where we're going has great food. It's pub food, but it's really good."
"JD has a place in the Berk Building."
"You live in the Berk?" Rachel asked, looking impressed.
"I own a couple of properties over there. I have a place between tenants, so I was going to take Jordan over there to see all that action."
Rachel knew of the Berk Building. It was a famous, trendy building with an exclusive nightclub on the first floor and then eight stories of upscale apartments. The suites were all owned by the rich and famous.
JD could afford to live there if he wanted to, but he would sooner stay in a more modest apartment and rent the Berk suites to someone who would pay a premium. I knew all of this from talking to Claire and Isaac, both of whom took investment advice from JD.
"We're not set on going to that one place if you wanted company," Rachel said, inviting herself to come along with us. She stared at JD with a hopeful expression, and he smiled and shrugged, looking at me like he didn’t care if I invited them.
"I need a few minutes to finish getting dressed," I said. "I was in the shower. Do you need to go back to your apartment before we leave, or do you just want to come in and wait for me here?"
"We'll come in, if that's okay," Rachel said. "We were heading out the door when we stopped by, so I don't need to go back to my apartment.
I started to move, and they followed me, coming into my apartment. "JD's coming to my room to help me choose a sweater," I said, pulling JD by the arm toward my bedroom. "We'll be right back."
I held onto him until we made it to the other side of the door, and then I turned and took hold of him by his arms. I smiled and made a wide-eyed expression when he brought me in. He caught me in his arms, pulling me firmly into his embrace.
"I'm sorry about this," I said, whispering to him. I held onto him closely, staring at the side of his face and feeling like I might actually melt.
"Why would you be sorry?" he asked, speaking softly and slowly. He leaned in and took a breath in through his nose like he was smelling me.
"I'm not even dressed," I said, holding onto him. "I still have to dry my hair for a minute and put on a swea—"
I was going to talk about my clothing, but JD kissed me. I was so desperate and hungry for his touch that I didn't even try to finish what I was saying. I kissed him back.
This wasn't the same as it had been before. I had kissed him on two other occasions, and neither of them were open-mouthed. This time, JD went straight to that. He tugged my lower lip into his mouth, sucking on it and coaxing me to open to him. I did so willingly, tilting my head back and pulling him in by using my hand on the back of his head. It was glorious. JD opened his mouth even further when I gripped him, and the two of us connected in a way we had never connected before. I felt and tasted his kiss. It was warm and silky and my insides turned to hot honey as he continued moving, holding me and kissing me. He broke away gently and then kissed me again and again—lazy, hot sticky kisses. Our contact was light and gentle, but I was pressed against him, holding onto him. I let my hands roam over his shoulders. He had taken his coat off, and a thin t-shirt was all that separated my skin from his.
