Sky High (Three Contemporary Novella's) (14 page)

“Hey, Mar, have you seen Sydney?”

Marin turned to him, giggly, glowing, and only a little glassy-eyed. “Jesse! Why are you looking for Sydney? Is everything okay?”

“We just… We’ve got some stuff to talk about.”

Marin rolled her eyes. “Hey, Jesse…I love you, but if you’re just looking to get laid, leave her alone. She doesn’t need that from you, of all people.”

“What? No, of course not. Jesus, Marin, give me some credit.”

“So you like her?”

He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. “Really, Mar?”

“Jesse…”

“Okay, fine. Yeah, I like her. A lot.”

Marin sighed and her face lit up with a smile. “Thank God. Finally. Although you could have made this easier on everybody if you hadn’t been such an idiot sophomore year.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“She likes you, you idiot. She always has.”

“No, she has not. I was there. I remember. She’s always hated me.”

“Not always. Just since you picked her roommate instead of her.”

“What? What’s her roommate got to do with this?”

“Don’t you remember that party sophomore year when you hooked up with Jessica?”

“I remember. You told me you were bringing your friend, who was into me.”

“No, I told you I was bringing
Sydney
, who was into you.”

“No, Marin, I remember it specifically. You never said Sydney.” He remembered it very clearly because it had been such a crushing disappointment. He’d invited Marin to their house party that afternoon. She’d said she’d come because her friend was really into him. He’d thought she’d meant Sydney, and she
had
brought Sydney…along with Sydney’s roommate, Jessica. And then
Jessica
had cornered him in the kitchen and kissed him. Jessica was the one who’d been into him. Sydney, the girl he’d really wanted, wasn’t interested and had left the party after half an hour.

Marin scowled. “I didn’t say Sydney? Because I totally meant Sydney.”

Jesse grabbed her shoulders and crouched to look into her eyes. “Marin, this is important. It was Sydney? She was the one who was into me?”

“Yes, you idiot! And then the next thing I knew, you were making out in the kitchen with her roommate. God, that Jessica was a real piece of work. She knew how much Sydney liked you and she threw herself at you anyway. Sydney was so upset that she left.”

He groaned as it all finally clicked into place. “And she’s hated me ever since.”

“She doesn’t hate you. You know how she is. She’s reserved. She’s just protecting herself.”

“Marin, where is she?”

“Jesse, I’m serious. Don’t fuck around with her.”

“I’m not. I’m really not. I’m trying to fix this.”

Marin studied him for another moment, then she pointed off to the left. “I saw her heading down the beach that way a few minutes ago. “Don’t screw this up, Jesse. I’m a pacifist, but if you hurt her, I’ll mess you up.”

“If I hurt her, I’ll do it for you, Marin.”

As soon as he left the dance floor, the light and the music receded. The beach was washed in blue moonlight and he strained to make out anything that might be Sydney. Finally, he thought he spotted her, at least a hundred yards up the deserted beach, thankfully alone. He took off running, his feet making no sound as he closed the gap to her. She’d never gotten her shoes back from Marin, so she was barefoot, looking oddly vulnerable in just her little black dress.

“Sydney,” he called when he was only twenty feet away.

She spun in shock, slapping one hand to her chest. “Jesus, Jesse, you scared the crap out of me. What do you want?”

“You.” That came out sounding like something of a declaration, so he amended it. “I came after you.”

She snorted a laugh and turned away again, trudging through the sand away from him. “Go back to the party, Jesse. I’m sure Briana’s looking for you.”

“Briana’s probably throwing up in a hotel bathroom by now. She was really drunk.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

“And Max was coming on to her pretty strong.”

Sydney stopped walking, but she didn’t turn around. “Max?”

“He was on the prowl and she was in no shape to make that decision, so I told her mother she was sick and handed her over.”

Sydney chuckled. “She’s going to
kill
you.”

“Probably. Once the hangover wears off.”

“No, she was so intent on getting together with you tonight. It was all she was talking about today.”

“Me?”

“She’s had a crush on you since she was a kid. Now she’s all grown up and she came with a plan to get you.”

“Well, I have no interest in being a part of her plans.”

Now Sydney turned to face him. “Why not? Isn’t that what you wanted this weekend? A little no-strings action?”

He sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “No, that’s what Kyle, my asshole work friend, said. And it’s what you assumed about me. But I don’t want Briana or anybody else. Sydney, can we just deal with what happened?”

“Nothing happened.”

Jesse hiked an eyebrow and smirked. “Nothing? I was in that bathroom, too, Syd, and I’m pretty sure something happened.”

She closed her eyes and shook her hands anxiously. “We need to forget that. That was just a thing that happened, and it doesn’t… I don’t want to… We need to forget about it.”

“No.”

She opened her eyes and looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“I said no, I don’t want to forget about it. Who says you get to decide what we’re going to remember and what we’re going to forget?”

“
I
want to forget it!”

“And
I
don’t! So hey, if you don’t want to talk to me about it, maybe I’ll go talk to someone else.”

Sydney’s eyes went wide with horror. “You wouldn’t!”

Jesse paused and pretended to give it careful consideration. “Maybe I would. I bet lots of people would be interested in it. Marin and Wyatt, maybe? I bet they’d love to hear about it. Ooh! Or Max! He’d love to hear about what went down in that bathroom. This is better than those subreddit threads he loves so much.” He turned and made as if he was about to head back up the beach.

“Jesse!” Sydney lunged forward and grabbed his arm. He let her swing him around to face her, since he’d never intended to go in the first place. “Why are you so set on pursuing this?” she asked in exasperation.

“Because I want you.”

Her eyes went wide and she blinked at him. “What?”

“I want you. And I’m pretty sure you want me, too.”

“What makes you think that?” Her words were cocky, but her voice was unsteady and a little breathless.

“Just a hunch. Plus Marin told me so.”

“Fucking Marin,” Sydney muttered under her breath.

This far away from the hotel lights, the moonlight was nearly as bright as day, lighting up her pale skin in its blue glow, and picking out the white orchid against the inky darkness of her hair. “I’m glad she told me. Seems you and I have had a pretty serious miscommunication for a long time.”

Sydney rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. But he could read her better now. That imperious tilt of her chin, the deathly cold stare, those were her defense mechanisms. She hid behind them whenever she felt scared, and apparently he’d been scaring her for a long time.

“So that’s why you’re here. Marin told you I’ve had a stupid, pointless crush on you for years and you decided you might as well get a little action and—”

“For God’s sake, I’m not just here for sex.”

“Then why are you here, Jesse?”

Jesse squared off in front of her and raised his chin. He was shaking inside. Never in his life had he laid so much on the line. He was pretty sure she wanted him back, but he wasn’t positive, and that tiny sliver of doubt was enough to have him quaking in fear. “I’m here because I don’t want to cross paths with you at somebody else’s wedding five years from now and realize that my life just passed me by because I wasn’t brave enough to go for it and you were too scared. So here I am. Going for it. Are you gonna meet me halfway?”

She shook her head. “You’ve never…”

Fuck this. He reached for her, sliding one hand around her waist and another behind her neck. Then he pulled her close and kissed her, one hard, lingering kiss. When he pulled away, it was only an inch, so his words still whispered over her mouth. “I’ve
always.”

“No, you haven’t.” She pushed on his shoulders, enough to make him release her. “Everybody else but me, that’s who you’ve always wanted.”

He grabbed her arm. “No, everybody else because I couldn’t
have
you. It’s your dumb roommate, Jessica, isn’t it?”

“Jessica? That’s ancient history.”

“Except that ancient history seems to have determined everything about the present.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It all goes back to then, right? You hating me? God, I was so stupid. You were nice enough to me before that party. It was after that when you started to hate me, and I never made the connection. Marin told me her friend was into me and she was bringing her to that party. I wanted it to be you.”

Sydney blinked at him. “It
was
me.”

“Yeah, and then your stupid roommate, who was
also
Marin’s friend, showed up, and she tackled me in the kitchen.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,
oh
. I was crushed when I realized it wasn’t you.”

She shifted her weight, and for the first time in days—hell, in
years—
the expression she aimed at him was soft, that same lovely vulnerability other people got to see in her and he never did. “You wanted it to be me?”

“Jessica was a pretty miserable substitute for the girl I really wanted.”

“God, I hated her for that.”

“I should have manned up and asked you out in the first place. I wanted to, but Sydney, you were a terrifying nineteen-year-old.”

“So I’ve been told. I could have said something to you, too. But there were so many girls after you. Not just Jessica. Everywhere I went, girls were talking about you. Right up until today, with Briana plotting all afternoon about what she was going to do to you.”

“I only wanted one. You. Sydney, we’ve wasted five years being pissed at each other over a dumb misunderstanding. Let’s not waste any more time.”

“So, what? You want…?”

“I want to stop yelling at each other and try this. You and me. Together.”

When he pulled her into his arms this time, she came willingly, and when he kissed her, she kissed him back. It was different than the plane. That was its own kind of magic, borne out of lust and surprise and a healthy dose of rum. It was an explosion at the end of a long, slow-burning fuse. This was softer, sweeter, something blooming, not detonating—a beginning, not an end.

Being with Sydney the day before had been good. Hot and urgent and a little dirty. But this… She ran her fingers through his hair and over his face like she was learning him, and he liked that idea. Tonight was only the first step on a long journey of discovery for both of them, undoing the anger and hurt of the past and figuring out how they were going to go forward.

Unlike yesterday’s frantic attack, today her kisses were slow, deep, and thorough. Jesse felt like he could kiss her—just kiss her—for the rest of his life. But soon he became aware of her body under his hands, that silky little black dress sliding over her skin enticingly. He could hardly help but notice her breasts pressed to his chest, her hair slipping through his fingers… And
God,
he wanted her. Slowly, the hem of her dress inched up, his fingers finding her thigh. His other hand moved down, toying with the tiny little strap on her shoulder. The kissing got sloppy and their breaths grew labored. Sydney’s fingers loosened his tie, and unlike earlier with Briana, it never crossed his mind to stop her.

He kissed her everywhere he could reach, her cheek, ear, and neck, nuzzling into her hair, getting drunk on the scent of her. She’d managed to get most of his shirt unbuttoned and her warm palms slipped inside and smoothed over his chest.

“Sydney,” he sighed, kissing the beautiful hollow where her neck met her collarbone.

“We’re not having sex on this beach,” she murmured.

He drew back, blinking. If she really wanted to slow down or stop, of course he would. But it had felt like they were headed in that direction, and he’d be lying if he pretended he wasn’t disappointed.

“Um, okay, if you want to slow down—”

She tugged on his loose tie, pulling his face back down to hers and nipping at his bottom lip. “Oh, we’re having sex tonight, just not on this beach. Sex on the beach is one of those things that’s never as good as you think it’s going to be. Like sex in an airplane bathroom.”

“I disagree. Sex in an airplane bathroom was pretty fucking awesome. I think I ruined my back, but it was totally worth it.”