I shift a bit, wincing as I find a comfortable angle for my knee. Jersey crawls closer toward me and tucks herself into my side, leaning her head on my shoulder and snuggling into me.
Her breath fans across my lips as I regard her. She traces the angles of my jaw with her thumb, eyes staring soulfully into mine.
“What did you think?” she asks me, her voice a whisper.
“I think you amaze me more and more every day,” I tell her honestly.
“I wish everyone at the label felt that way when I sang for them,” she tries to joke. I can hear the sadness in her voice and it makes me sad for her. Especially knowing what kind of talent she has, what kind of creative touch she possesses for music.
“There’s no question in my mind now that Cal and your label are intimidated by you.” She pulls back a little, waiting for me to explain. “Your song is amazing, and your voice is... unmatched. Together, you’d be the complete package. Can you imagine what kind of power that would give you?”
She shrugs one shoulder, but I can see she’s hanging on my every word.
“You’d have people falling at your feet, traveling across the world to see you, to get apiece of you.” My voice falls soft. “The power you’d wield would send the entire place into a tailspin. They’re only telling you no because they’re not willing to let go of their control over your career.”
“You think so?”
“Jersey,I know so,” I say with conviction.
Something shifts in her gaze and she leans forward, closing the distance between us until our chests are pressed together and her nose runs along the length of mine. I guide her to move from my side onto my lap. Once settled, her thighs on either sideof mine and her hands resting on my shoulders, she pauses for a moment, letting the tension build between us before she presses her lips to mine, kissing me tentatively.
I can’t seem to help myself though, and my hand snakes up from her waist to cup the back of her neck. She makes a mewling sound as she kisses me, wrapping her arms around my neck and arching her back.
My fingers tangle in her hair and I angle her head to the exact position I want her in so I can kiss her deeply. I pour everything that I can’t say with words into this kiss, and I hope she can feel it.
I want her to know how awestruck I am by her.
I want her to know that I think she’s the most amazing and wonderful woman I’ve ever met.
I want her to be confident that she can be whatever version of herself she wants to be, even if it seems impossible right now.
There’s so much more I wish I could put into words, but they seem to escape me the longer she kisses me—flitting from my brain like a whisper in the wind.
Maybe it’s the painkillers doing their magic, or maybe it’s her, but I barely feel the ache in my knee, too transfixed by this woman sitting on my lap.
Her nails gently scrape down the length of my arms, and she threads our fingers together.
I’ll never tire of Jersey’s touch all over my body. Every inch she graces comes alive with desire and yearning for her. I pull away, staring down at her with hooded eyes, and wondering how the fuck I got to be so fortunate to get to have these quiet moments with her.
My life has never felt more complete than it does right now with Jersey in my lap and her hands all over me. God, now that I’ve experienced what it’s like to have her here, I can’t imagine a world where she’s not.
The mere thought has my heart constricting to painful levels, and to ease some of the ache, I untangle our hands and wrap my arms around her, drawing her closer to me until there’re only inches between us.
Finding her lips again, I kiss her tenderly, breathing her in and memorizing her taste. She kisses me back, matching my enthusiasm.
It’s all I can do to commit this moment to memory—focusing on how absolutely flawless she is. Her passion and her depth, her thoughtfulness and her dedication. I’m the luckiest man in the world to have the privilege of experiencing the intimate parts of Jersey Matthews—both physical and otherwise.
I wonder if she was meant for me all along, if all these years I’ve had so many failed relationships, all in the name of finding her someday.
I’m one lucky fool.
“Fuck, you look so hot right now,” I mutter, and she preens with the praise. My fingers tow with the curled ends of her hair, twisting the silky strands between the pads of my thumb and forefinger.
“Am I hurting you?” Worry appears in her gaze.
“Absolutely not.” I can’t imagine the disappointment of her stopping. I appreciate her worry for my post-injured self, but really, she’s up high enough on my thighs that her grinding over my cock isn’t hurting me at all, in fact, quite the opposite. “There’s too many clothes between us still.”
She arches a dark brow and she bats her eyelashes at me. “Oh yeah?”
