#Kissing (Rock and Romance #1) (24 page)

Chapter 66

We order take out. He pulls on shorts, and I toss on one of his T-shirts that grazes the bottom of my butt. Lying on the bed, he bites it when I pass, and I giggle. While we wait for the food, I recline next to him and check my phone.

He lazily strokes my still warm pussy. "If dinner doesn't get here soon, I might have to—"

"Eat pussy for dinner?" I lean into him, liking the idea, and wanting more, but the food delivery arrives. We get a knowing glance from JQ's roommates when we shuffle into the common room, glowing and sleepy. I grab a few bottles of water.

JQ laughs when the door closes behind him, returning us to the privacy of his room. "I've been thinking about getting an apartment." His smile fills with hope, like there's finally a future in the city for the two of us to share.

"You want to keep me here?" I try not to think about how we'd manage the expense. I suppose I could talk to Penny.

"We could have our own private haven," he says and then his manly smiles transforms into a boyish one. "Remember the forts we used to build in the woods behind our houses? I'd rob things from my parents' garage and you'd steal snacks and juice boxes from your kitchen."

"I always wanted my dad to build one in the maple tree."

"Ours were better, secret, our own." He billows the blanket on his bed and tucks it into his bookshelf. Then he drapes the sheet over the side. I get the idea and prop up some pillows. A towel hangs over the back of a chair, and I spread it out so there aren't any cracks. We crawl inside with the Chinese food, water, and memories while we create new ones.

He clicks on his phone, which he rarely does in front of me, always lending me all of his attention. Instead of social media or sports scores, he puts on music. The blue light from his phone and the chill beyond the window makes it as if we're inside an igloo.

My phone buzzes from his desk, but I ignore it.

We talk about school, photography, and music. Naming some of our favorite bands of late. I leave out the Halos. He tells me how he'd like to be a professional photographer, but it's tough to break into.

"And I'd like to be a pianist, but you know—"

His smile widens and says, "Then again, sometimes the best things come to those who wait." He shows me the slip of paper from his fortune cookie and delicately puts half the cookie in my mouth.

"You always give me the last bite whether it’s a cookie or a piece of pie—"

"Pie? I love pie: cherry, apple, and pumpkin. I cannot get enough pie. Mmm. Cream pie."

We both start laughing.

I add, "I should learn how to make a dough and filling or find a good bakery."

He takes one of my fingers into his mouth. "I like the way you taste the best." His kisses trail down my neck and behind my ear. He continues down my chest before landing between my legs.

When my eyes blink open next, the blankets from the fort cover us. I roll over, nuzzling close to JQ. I admire his chiseled jaw with a sexy amount of stubble coming in. I glance down to his defined chest and abs to a little trail of hair leading toward his giant bulge. I slip my hand under the sheet and grip his cock. I begin to stroke and a smile lifts on his lips.

"Good morning," he says in a sexy, husky voice, sending shivers across my skin.

I lick my fingers and then rub my hand up and down, increasing the pace and gripping tightly. He gets harder, and I sit up, straddling him.

He blinks open his eyes and lifts my hips, kissing my stomach and then my pussy, tonguing my clit. I strain in his arms, wanting his dick inside me so bad, but he holds me firmly.

"I want you," I moan.

"When I'm done," he teases. "I told you last night, I like the way you taste."

His tongue glides along my folds, his lips spelling desire without words. I buck against his mouth as he licks me, inside and out.

"JQ," I pant. "I'm—" but the rest of the sentence to alert him I'm going to come doesn't come as an orgasm rockets through me.

He lies beside me, stroking my hip as my eyes flutter open and closed and open. I could drift off, but his cock is thick and hot, radiating between us.

I push the call of sleep away and grip him in my hand. He pulls me across his chest so I'm straddling him. "I'd rather have you here," he says as he lowers me on top of his cock. He grips my hips, pumping me up and down.

"I like the way this looks from this position," he says, watching with a smirk as our bodies move in rhythm. My breasts jiggle and he takes them in his hands. "You're so sexy," he adds, lifting his pelvis slightly.

Around a moan, I say, "Even in the morning?"

"Especially in the morning."

He'd told me loved me after the sunrise on the hill, and it was morning when I woke up, weeks ago now, and he was in my bed watching over me. He watches me still, his eyes lidded and sultry, like he adores everything he sees.

With this, my pussy throbs. I swivel and shimmy my hips until we both come.

Chapter 67

My phone vibrates insistently while we talk about what we want to do this weekend, planning on a gallery show, a taco place that just opened, a walk around the South Pier, and a trip to see the tree lit up—it was tall and dark when we went last week. When he goes to shower, I check my phone to see all the messages are from Niko.

Some of them are his attempt at being sexy, but most of them are of him begging and pleading with me to return to him. While I'm clicking delete, the phone rings in my hand. It's him.

"Please stop texting and calling."

"Babe. I can't. I miss you."

"Find someone else to miss."

"But you're the sexiest," he slurs.

"Are you drunk?" I ask, realizing I haven't had alcohol all week. For once, there's nothing I want to escape.

"Babe." His voice borders on pathetic. "We're going to be in New York this weekend. Come to the show. I'll leave a ticket for you. I'll leave a ticket at every show in the entire world until you show up."

I'm silent.

"Mitty and Jill, Kenji and even Slade miss you. They say it isn't the same without you here."

I exhale my irritation. "I doubt that. Listen, you and me, we're done. You should forget my number."

"Even if I did hit delete, I'd never forget you: your curves, your tits, your laugh…"

A laugh, wicked and disdainful is what I leave him with as I hang up, flinging my phone across the room.

JQ and I spend the weekend traipsing around the city, unable to keep our hands off each other and end up having sex in more public places than Niko and I did last time we were here together.

JQ proves to have a sexier side than I imagined. Studious persona aside, he's wild and lusty, and in command when we're having sex, but balanced out by tenderness and a genuine interest in my pleasure and in making me feel like a goddess.

The Village streets and shops display their winter light, flickering candles in cafes, strings of twinkle in the windows, and the stubby trees bedecked and merry. A shop filled with hip and funky collectibles invites us in. In the center, a shelf displays menorahs, dreidels, and Hanukkah greetings.

"When your dad still lived with you, I remember watching for a new candle to start glowing in the window every night." He scoops up a silver menorah with blue glass on the base. "Shall we start a tradition?"

When we get back to the dorm, we use the
Shamash
to light the first candle. When the wick flickers to life, it's almost like I see my father's image in the dim light, the two of us with our heads bowed close. Then in my vision, his new family appears, pushing aside our old one.

"He called the other day to say his new family wanted me to come for Hanukkah. Blah, blah, blah. He's probably just feeling guilty."

JQ squeezes me close and kisses the top of my head.

"Should we have a tree too?" I ask. "We always celebrated both; one of the many things my parents couldn't agree on."

"There's nothing saying you have to pick. It makes life richer. But I wanted to know if you'd come home with me for Christmas."

"I couldn't impose."

"Are you kidding? You spent most Christmas mornings at our house anyway."

I swallow back a couple of tears. "You remember so much of our history. It feels like another lifetime to me. Like I was another person."

"Josephine, whoever you are, right now, I like you. I loved you then. I love you now. You may change, but that won't. I may change too. What if I start balding or grow an abundance of chest hair, take up badminton, or develop bad breath?"

I giggle.

"Would you still like me?" he asks.

"Yeah." I grin.

"See? It's no different."

As I whisper a blessing over the candle, JQ takes a few photos of me in the glow of the first light of Hanukkah. We chat about old traditions and new, Christmas's past, and the upcoming holiday break.

While we lay in bed, the minutes counting down to him getting a decent amount of sleep for exams the next day, he tucks his head under my shirt, kissing the curve of my breasts and then sucking on my nipple.

I wrap my legs around him, and he works his way down, down, lapping at my vagina until I cry out. He doesn't expect me to return the favor, but I do. I start by licking his shaft, taking his strong cock into my mouth, and sucking until he comes.

Afterward he says, "Should we count that as our first gift exchange?"

I giggle. "JQ, you're too perfect. You're too good. Show me your flaws."

He chuckles and scrubs his hand down his face before clasping my fingers in his. "You really want to know?"

"I do."

"I fart and burp a lot. You'll have to tell me at least a hundred times to put the toilet seat down. If I'm watching a basketball game, I probably won't hear a word you're saying. I might even temporarily forget your name." His smile hitches in the dim light. "Ok. Not that one; I'll never forget your name. But let's see. Sometimes I have road rage. When I get hungry, it's not always pretty. When I'm with my family, I'm the baby." He pauses. "Josie, I have loads of flaws. I'm nowhere near perfect."

His lips meet mine and then he adds, "Trust me on that, but also believe me when I say being with you is worth me trying to be a better version of myself, every single day. I'll show you my flaws, but I'll also show you how much I care about you and that means not giving you anything short of awesome."

And I want to be a better, brighter, and truer version of myself too.

Chapter 68

The sky can't make up its mind as it shifts from freezing rain to snow and back again and neither can I. I've outgrown JQ's dorm room, pacing the small floor space. I've given myself free time, but without some kind of structure—aside from my afternoon solo concerts at the music shop, my thoughts veer toward misbehavior. This dorm doesn't need a rebel, but if it did, at this point I'd put myself on the ballot, no matter that I'm not a citizen.

My phone buzzes. It's my dad.

"Hi sweetheart, have you decided if you'd like to come for a visit? Karen already made up the spare bedroom."

"Yeah, um."

"The kids are all excited to meet you. It'll be fun. We've just barely started celebrating Hanukkah. You've hardly missed a thing." His voice hums with excitement. Maybe he really would like to see me.

"Yeah. Sure."

"Let me know when you're getting in, and I'll pick you up at the train station."

"Dad, I don't even know where you live. You moved right?"

The line is silent for a beat. "Right." He goes on to relay the details.

"If you get in tonight, we're doing books. Oops. Probably shouldn't have mentioned that. Anyway, Karen gets really into the holiday. You'll see. It'll be great."

I imagine a Type-A throwback to my mother, micromanaging everything or a super secular woman who'll insist I go to temple.

Selfishly, one of the reasons I'm agreeing to this is so I can do laundry and not in the basement of the dorm. I'm not particularly good at sorting or measuring the soap, but some of the resident didn't get the memo that you can't put soccer cleats in the washer or wet books in athe dryer.

When JQ returns after his classes, he instantly spots my bags and his face falls.

I press my hands against his chest and lift onto my toes for a kiss. "Don't worry. I'm just going to my dad's house down in New Jersey for a few days. Laundry, Hanukkah, and the painful reminder that my parents divorced and he's moved on to a new family."

JQ pulls me close for a hug. "Want me to come? Be the buffer? A shoulder to cry on or to hold you off in case you feel the need to throw punches? I can get my assignments—"

"Thank you, but I've distracted you enough. I'll either come back here before break or we can meet in Cranville."

"I've already told you, you make the best kind of distraction." He kisses me and then tugs on the hem of my shirt.

I loop my fingers between the waist of his pants, pulling him close. A smile grows on my lips as he bulges against me.

"Do we have time?" he asks.

My pulse rises. "Only if you won't be late for your next class."

"I don't need to eat lunch." He bites his lip. Without waiting for my answer, he kneels down and takes off my pants. Gliding his hands along my thighs, his thumb strokes the sensitive skin between my legs. Then he nudges me back on the bed. After taking off my panties, he smooths his hands down my middle, sliding one in one finger into my pussy and then another.

"You're already wet."

"You have yourself to thank.

"I can't imagine being away from you for the next few days." He slides his fingers in and out, rubbing the softest, most sensitive parts of me, and it's all I can do not to explode as I grind against him, rubbing against his dick, still sheathed in his pants. He brings me to the edge, but I stop him, and pull down his zipper.

The bed squeaks as we rock back and forth, but for once, no one else is in the suite. My moans escape, getting louder when JQ flips me over and lifts my hips so I'm on hands and knees, and he enters from the back. I tilt my pelvis so the angle feels delicious.

He lays over me, kissing the rim of my ear, the crease of my neck, and whispering, "Let's come together." He reaches his hand around to rub me while thrusting back and forth.

JQ, a solid mass against me, makes me feel adored and anchored. He continues to pump, and I press against him as his cock glides in and out, massaging my walls, forcing me wider.

He squeezes my ass and says, "You're so tight. I could do this all day."

I contract and release the muscles deep inside as his thick, hard cock presses deeper until it finds that perfect spot that fills me with thought-erasing heat.

"JQ," I call and repeat his name until we both climax.

Afterward, we lay there longer than we should. JQ plays with a strand of my hair.

"You're late for your class," I say.

"This is better. I'll get notes later."

"I don't want to be responsible for ruining your college education."

"No, you're making it more interesting. Steamier. Sexier. Plus, there's just the rest of this year. Then I'm done. What will I do without you here for the next few days?"

I point to the stack of books and folders on his desk. "Catch up on your assignments. Speaking of that, how's the light project coming?"

"Brightly."

"You're such a dork," I say, laughing.

We get dressed and say a lingering goodbye in front of the dorm as the sky, finally settling on snow, sends puffy white flakes drifting down around us.