Getting Schooled (The Wright Brothers Book 1) (18 page)

“I’m exhausted, and we have class, and it’s late. We can talk about it another time. Not tonight, please.”

Jason let out a little sigh, but didn’t push it. Once we were back in his bed, I snuggled close and cautiously closed my eyes, hoping to only see blackness. That hope was fulfilled – my desire for sleep was not. Jason managed to drift off, but I tossed and turned, shaken out of my calm by every clap of thunder or jolt of lightning. Instead of soothing, the sound of the rain was like nails on chalkboard tonight, grating to my ears.

“Have you talked to anybody aboutt this before?”

I flinched at the sound of Jason’s drowsy voice in my ear. I hadn’t realized he wasn’t still asleep.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding in the dark. “It hasn’t happened in a really long time, but yeah… I talked to somebody. They gave me ways to cope, ways to get to sleep.”

Jason grunted. “You
definitely
need some sleep. You’ve been tossing for hours. Is there something I can do?”

“Not really. If I was home, I’d probably take some melatonin, and I have tea.”

He sat up. “Give me your keys. I’ll go—”

“Hell no!” I exclaimed, sitting up with him, blindly feeling for his arm. “You can’t go out there in that.”

“It’s just rain, why—”

“Because it’s not just rain! You can’t go out in that storm, not for me. What if you… no. Just no, okay? Please?”

Jason pulled away from me, and then suddenly the lamp was on, and his eyes were filled with concern as they scanned my face. “Reese… what aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t do that shit right now.” He hadn’t snapped at me, but his voice was firm as I looked away. “Just tell me.”

I swallowed hard, closing my eyes as they welled up with tears. “I was in the car with him. I… was so stupid. Dating this guy who slipped something in my drink one night. But I knew as soon as I tasted it that something was off. I locked myself in a bathroom, called my dad to come and get me, and he did. I was the only one there once he got to house, boyfriend was gone. My dad was driving me home, back to my mom’s when the storm started. Somebody hit us on the driver’s side, so hard that the car rolled into one of those drainage ditch things.”

Jason’s face fell as he reached for me, pulling me against his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

I sniffed, hard. “I know I’m not supposed to think this, but he’d still be here if it wasn’t for me. I walked away without a scratch, and he—”

“Shut up,” he rumbled softly in my ear. “I’m not gonna sit here and listen to you blame yourself for that. You did what you were supposed to do, call your father to get you out of a situation like that. It was
not
your fault that there was a car accident.”

“I know. I
know
. But sometimes it really, really feels like it.”

He drew me a little closer, holding me tight while I cried quiet tears. After a while, they subsided, and I buried my face against his chest.

“I’m not usually like this, I promise,” I mumbled, my voice muffled against his skin. “The thing with the necklace, and then hearing that accident earlier, and the storm… It was just a tough day for me. I’m sorry.”

He chuckled, then kissed my forehead. “You don’t have to apologize for showing a little vulnerability, especially about something like this. Hell, I’m glad to see it. Reminds me that you aren’t as Teflon-coated as you pretend to be.”

“You trying to say I’m not tough?”

“That’s not at all what I’m saying.” I smiled as he used the pads of his thumbs to swipe tears from my face. ”You’re the toughest princess I know.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“What?”

“Princess.”

Jason groaned, and then laid back. “I mean… that was my first impression of you. Sitting in front of the class, not saying anything to anybody except the professor, with this sophisticated look on your face. Clothes, jewelry, shoes, always perfect. You already seemed to have that bougie vibe, and then we bumped into each other, and your reaction just sealed it in.”

“My reaction?” I lifted an eyebrow, confused.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. You wrinkled that cute little nose when you saw my shirt, and immediately checked to make sure the dirty mechanic hadn’t gotten anything on you.”

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, shaking my head. “It wasn’t even like that! I mean, yes, I saw your shirt, and thought about motor oil, but it wasn’t on some “ewww, dirty mechanic” thing. More like, “goddamnit, I knew I shouldn’t have worn white, why the hell do I keep bumping into people today”
.
Earlier that day, at lunch, I almost came to blows with this white boy dripping ketchup everywhere. I’ll admit to some bougie, but I’m not
that
much of a snob. I was paranoid about my shirt.”

Jason chuckled. “See? Princessy.”

I sucked my teeth, and then reached over him to turn off the light. “Whatever,” I grumbled, and he grabbed me around the waist, pulling me on top of him.

“Hey… you okay?”

Even though he couldn’t see me, I smiled, and pressed my lips to his. “Yeah. I’m okay.” I let out a soft, inaudible sigh, thinking about how that might not have been the case if I were at home by myself. Yeah, I’d dealt with the panic attacks before. Enough in the first few years after the accident to be somewhat used to them, even if it had been a while. I’d talked to therapists, who wrote down stuff like PTSD, and depression on their little pads. I’d gone through bottles and bottles of mood stabilizers, anxiety and depression meds before I got back to a reasonably good place.

I knew the anniversary of his death was a hard time, so I could prepare myself, know that I needed to stick close to the bed, use natural remedies to cope. Melatonin and tea, maybe some drinking, anything to avoid the stuff that made me feel like a zombie after. Tonight had caught me way off guard.

“You think you’re gonna be able to sleep?”

“Probably not. But I still don’t want you to go out.”

“Reese, you
need
to get some sle—”

I kissed him first, stopping his protest. “No,” I murmured, gently nibbling at his bottom lip before I traced it with my tongue. I dipped my head, kissing his stubbled jaw, down to his neck. My hands drifted up over his chest, up to his ears, gently pulling and tugging.

He chuckled, trying to move his head away. “Don’t try to distract me, woman.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, giggling as he flipped us over to rest on top of me. A contented sigh escaped my lips at the pleasant weight of his body on top of mine. I brought my hands up to his shoulders, resting them at the base of his neck as he lowered his lips to meet mine.

His kisses were gentle at first – soft, barely there. Little by little, the pressure increased, my lips parted, and our tongues met. Hands moved lower, gripping and squeezing and kneading my ass cheeks, pulling me against his growing erection.

I gasped a little as his hands moved under my shirt to cup my breasts. He tugged the soft fabric upward, exposing my breasts before he dove in, licking and sucking my nipples into hard peaks that he teased with his fingers as he kissed his way down.

Pressure was already building in my core by the time he eased my legs apart. He ran his tongue along the inside of my leg on one side, kissed the bare juncture of my thighs, and then licked his way down the other side. He peppered the insides of my thighs with kisses, nibbled the crease of my butt cheeks, building anticipation and making me wetter. I was squirming underneath his touch, anxious, ready to beg him to stop teasing when he pressed his whole tongue to me in a broad, slow lick, and then closed his mouth over me.

I nearly came right then.

My fingers raked over his scalp, and a high-pitched moan escaped my throat as he lapped at me with his tongue. He perched my legs over his shoulders, burying his face between my thighs as he dipped his tongue in me, making slurping noises that sent a thrill of pleasure up my spine. Suddenly, he pushed my legs up higher, knees to chest, opening me up wider, noisily devouring me like I was the best thing he’d ever tasted. His mouth was everywhere on my slick flesh, sucking my lips, kissing, nibbling, licking me until my thighs began to tremble.

I tried to ease back, to calm my racing heart, quiet my yelps and moans of pleasure, but it was pointless with his arms locked around my thighs, holding me in place. He licked me – savored me – until an orgasm wracked my body, leaving me trembling with joy.

Faintly, I heard him open the drawer beside the bed, and then he was between my legs again. His mouth came down to mine as he parted my thighs, sinking into me with a confident stroke that made me gasp. He plunged his tongue into my mouth as he began to stroke, giving me a sex-laced kiss that made me dizzy with passion. His tongue against mine, exploring, caressing, getting me high on him, if I wasn’t already.

Something about being enveloped in nearly complete darkness made everything else more… intense. The sensually wet sound of flesh on flesh, his fingertips on my ass as he gripped and squeezed. His hot mouth on my neck, his breath in my ear as he growled about how good I felt around him.

For a while, his strokes were slow, measured, but eventually they picked up steam, until he was driving into me with deep, blissful strokes that made it hard to breathe. I hooked my legs around his waist, opening for him to get deeper, and digging my nails into his back when he did. His mouth went to my neck, sucking and biting as he burrowed himself deep, grinding into me. My eyes stung with tears of pleasure as I pressed my face to his shoulder, trying not to scream as he began driving into me again, with fast paced strokes that made me feel like I was right on the edge of combusting.

And then I did.

Jason’s mouth crashed onto mine as I came, swallowing my scream of ecstasy. He slammed into me one last time a few moments later, groaning as he locked his arms around my waist, holding me tight against him.

Sleep came for me quickly after that. I felt Jason leave the bed to get rid of the condom, clean himself up, and then come back with a towel for me before he climbed back into the bed. I was barely conscious as he moved the warm terry cloth over my skin, more gentle than I would’ve been with myself, but I smiled. Who would have thought that our literally running into each three months ago would lead to
this
? Me, falling asleep against a man who so obviously cared for me.

I used the last bit of energy I had and turned to him, snuggling close against his chest.

“Hey,” I murmured, with my eyes already closed. “Thought you only did that for people who “belonged” to you.”

“What?” he grunted back.

Our conversation in my mother’s office seemed so long ago, but it flashed in my mind.
“The other stuff is reserved for someone who belongs to me. You trying to belong to me?”
We liked each other, had had a
lot
of sex in the month since we started dating, but both agreed that oral sex was a whole other level of intimacy.

“You ate the cookies.”

I smiled at the warm rumble in his chest as he laughed at that, and then moved a hand down to squeeze my ass. “I guess I did, huh?”

“Yep. All of them. Were you trying to send a message? I belong to you now?”

His hand fumbled a little in the dark, before he grabbed my chin, tipping it up so he could press his lips to mine.

“I think you already know the answer to that question.”

fourteen.

“Come on. Get your lazy ass up.”

“Fuck you.”

“I’ll let you do that later. But for
now
, get up. Come on. The sooner you do, the sooner it’ll be over.”

Reese shot me a scowl, rolled her eyes, and then pulled herself up from her seat on the edge of the fountain. “Fine, lets go.”

We ran for a few more minutes before she slowed down, but this time, she kept moving instead of completely stopping. The light jog would at least keep her heart rate up, and gave us a chance to talk.

“This is why you don’t eat two sweet potato pies by yourself over Thanksgiving,” I teased, jogging little circles around her, but being careful not to break her pace. “Cause then, you get mad at yourself, and ask your man to help you—”

“And you end up contemplating killing his ass for forgetting that
you
weren’t in the fucking army like he was, and that this isn’t basic training.”

“Says who?” I grinned, ignoring a couple of the strange looks I got as we jogged across the Blakewood campus. I was used to people’s reaction when I worked out by now, and hell – I’d probably be looking too if a big dude ran past me with one leg encased sweats and a running shoe, and the other replaced by my running prosthetic from the knee down.

It was early in the morning though, and still pretty quiet. Reese shot another scowl in my direction.

“Says
me
. You’re pushing too hard, again.”

“Nah, baby. You’re tough. My baby thug, remember? You can snatch a chair from under somebody, you can take a little tough-love training. Now come on. Move it.”

I smacked her on the ass, hard, and ran past her, grinning at the murderous look she gave me. It accomplished my goal though, and she started running a little, and then a lot faster, trying to catch up to me.

A few minutes later, I stopped her, and checked her heartrate from the tracker on her wrist. “Aiight, let’s walk a little bit. Let your heartrate come down before this last stretch.”

Reese used the arm of her running jacket to wipe away the sweat that had built on her forehead. It was cold outside, in the late November weather, but we were more than warm enough from running.

“So… I heard back about that internship in Cali this morning,” I said, carefully watching her face for a reaction.

She kept her eyes averted, head pointed to the sky as she sucked in air. “Yeah? What’d they say?”

“I got it. They were really impressed with my credentials… excited to have somebody who was former military. Asked me to finish spring semester at a school out there. Paid internship, with a job upon graduation. And the salary is bananas.”

Reese dropped her head, and tugged her lip between her teeth, before she looked up, turning to me with glossy eyes. “That’s amazing, Jay. I’m so proud of you.” She stopped walking to step in front of me, grabbing my face as she pushed herself up on her toes to kiss me. “That’s really, really good. I’m happy for you.”

I believed her. I could see the pride in her eyes, see the genuine delight she felt for me. Right behind the dejection she was trying to hide.

“Thank you,” I said, grabbing her hand as she tried to pull away. “They were in my top three choices, so it’s pretty cool that they actually made an offer.”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “Oh please. You’re
you
. They would have been crazy not to give it to you.”

I tugged at her, trying to keep her still, trying to get her to look right at me, but she wouldn’t. Instead, she slipped her hand away from mine and turned around, quickly brushing her eyes before she spoke.

“Let’s finish this up,” she said, her voice carrying a slight strain that she cleared her throat to try to conceal. “Let’s race. Last mile.”

I chuckled. “You really want to do that?”

“I can beat you.”

“Yeah, sure. What do I get when I win?”

“I’ll treat you to Batter Up.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Really, Reese? Waffles after a run?”

She shrugged. “If I win, you treat. Celebration breakfast for your internship.”

Yeah.

More like
comfort
breakfast, after the news I’d just dropped in her lap. Win or lose, I was paying anyway. “Fine. I’ll count, because I don’t trust you.”

“Whatever Jason.”

I shook my head as we walked to the next light post that lined the sidewalks of the campus. I looked at her for confirmation. “We’ll go on three, aiight? You ready?” She nodded. “Okay. One. T—”

I
knew
she was going to do that shit.

My mouth was barely making the “T” sound before Reese shot off, at an honestly impressive pace. I blew out a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second before I took off behind her. It didn’t take me long to catch up.

I grabbed her around the waist, pulling her off of her feet. She screamed as I pulled her against me, planting a kiss against the back of her neck.

“Put me down!”

I obliged her demand, laughing at how hard she scowled at me once her feet were back on the ground. “You know you forfeited by cheating, right? No Batter Up. Scrambled eggs and oatmeal.”

She sucked her teeth. “Whatever. I’ll probably be ending the night with a pint of ice cream anyway.”

Reese pulled her hood up over the two fat cornrows she’d tamed her hair into. Not because she was cold, because she was trying to obscure her face. I talked to her, teased, tried to get her back to playful, but she was all one-word answers as we headed back to the car.

We were just a few feet away from the parking lot when I grabbed her hand again, pulling her against me. I tugged her hood down, bringing her face out, and I wasn’t surprised that it was wet, or that her eyes were rimmed in red from crying. I brought my hands up, wiping her cheeks. “I don’t think I’m taking the internship in Cali.”

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. “What? How can you pass up that kind of opportunity?”

I shrugged. “It’s a nice opportunity, but a company here offered something similar. Only difference is that the internship isn’t paid, but that’s not a deal breaker for me. I have savings, and it’s only six months. I like it
here
. With my family, in the city where I grew up.”

Fresh tears sprang from Reese’s eyes as she shoved me away. “So you knew that, and you made me think you were leaving?!”

“I was just telling you about it! And… I won’t lie. I wanted to see your reaction, see if you cared.”

She twisted her face. “For what?! Is it funny to you?”

“No!” I scrubbed a hand over my head. “Not funny, not at all. I’m saying… I wanted to know how you’d be upset by the thought of me leaving, because you matter in the decision, Reese. If you’d been all blasé about it, that would’ve let me know that you’re not wrapped up in me like I’m wrapped up in you. And that would have made it a helluva lot easier to leave!”

“So you
are
leaving!” Reese shook her head. “Fifty time a day, I’m thinking about you, wondering about you, hoping that I’m showing you that I care! As much as I care about you, do you really think I’d be okay with you leaving? Is that the impression I’ve given, that I want to be without you? Cause I don’t!” She covered her mouth with her hand, turning to walk away, but I caught her again.

“
No
.” I pulled her flush against me, one arm around her waist, one hand gently gripping her chin. “No,” I repeated. I’d made that decision, just then. What sense would it make to move thousands of miles away, away from a woman who made me feel like Reese did?

We were barely approaching two months, but in that time, we’d grown so close that I barely remembered what it was like to be without her. We read, cooked, worked out, slept, chilled, damn near everything together. She’d challenged and encouraged, nurtured and insulted her way right into my heart, and I was no expert on it, but… something told me she was the woman I was going to be spending my life with.

Not that I was going to be saying that shit out loud any time soon, but still. It mattered.

“I’m
not
leaving,” I said one more time, just to reinforce it to her. “I’m taking the internship
here
, not just because I like it here, not just because I want to be around my family. Because I want to be around
you
, princess.”

Her hard expression immediately softened, and she nodded, sniffling as once again, her eyes welled with tears. “Thank you.”

I pressed my lips to hers for a kiss, and she eagerly kissed me back. Full tongue and everything, right in the middle of campus. We laughed our way back to the car, hand in hand, and as we approached the passenger side, Reese squeezed my fingers.

“Please don’t ever scare me like that again,” she murmured, looking up into my eyes.

I gave her a smile, then kissed her sweaty forehead. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Good. Cause I’m gonna kick your leg from under you if you do that shit again.”

My eyes went wide, and met hers as she lifted an eyebrow at me. “What the
fuck
, Reese?” I laughed, shaking my head. “You are… I swear… I love you.”

Her lips parted in a little gasp, and then the corners of her mouth tipped into a smile that made warmth blossom in my chest. “You have no idea how glad I am to hear that, Sgt. Wright. Because I love you too.”

- the end –