The Complete Memories Series (50 page)

I feel her shoulders shudder and bury my face in her hair. It tickles but I don’t care, ‘cause all I can feel is the desperate way she’s holding on to me, and the hot wet tears against my neck.

“Shit, Jen, don
’t cry,” I whisper, pulling her even closer to me. “Don’t cry.”

She shakes her head a little and sniffs. I squeeze my own eyes shut, because I still feel the anger. I haven
’t felt the pain yet, but there’s so much damn anger inside me I know if I did feel the pain, I’d probably be crying right along with her.

I sigh, and reach up and untangle her arms from my neck. I tuck her into my side instead kick the car door shut. I let us into the block, ride with her up the lift, and grab her keys from her coat pocket, all without letting her go.

She pulls herself from my side once we’re in, and she shrugs her coat off angrily. Her fingers swipe under her eyes, wiping away that wetness.

“We need to talk,” I say, pulling my coat off.

She storms into the front room. “There’s nothing to talk about,” she says wearily. “I can’t deal with your psycho bitch ex, and that’s it. All there is to it.”

“Nah, nah there isn
’t. There’s a hell of a lot more to it than that, or you wouldn’t have just broken down into tears outside and clung to me like your life depended on it.”

“Bi – Sam… Just leave it, okay? Just go. I have nothing to say right now,” she whispers.

I chuck my coat on the table and storm towards her. “Yeah, well I do. I’m not done with this, babe, not by a long fucking shot, so we are gonna talk about this!”

She shakes her head and moves away from me, holding her hand up. “I said I
’m done!”

“As long as I
’m in love with you, we’ll never be done!”

She freezes, her head turning slightly. “What?”

I walk to her, stopping right behind her. I push her hair from the back of her neck with my hand, pushing it over her shoulder. “I said, I’m in love with you,” I repeat softly, my mouth close to her ear. I trail my fingertips down her arm until they reach her hand. “I don’t know why, and I don’t know when it happened. I just know that it did, and I hit every damn soppy bastard branch as I fell.”

“Not so much the bastard part,” she mutters. I smile a little, lacing my fingers between hers. I wrap our arms around her stomach, pulling her back right against me.

“Bastard or not, Jen, I love you. And that’s why I can’t let you go. I believe in us. I have ever since that night at Dad’s party. If I wanted you a year and a half ago, then I need you now.” I ghost my lips over her shoulder. “You were hurting before, and we all say stupid things we mean when we’re hurting, but please, please don’t walk away now. I don’t know if I can let you.”

“I don
’t think I can fight her, Sam. I told you that.” She turns her face into mine a little.

“
You
don’t have to do anything. We’ll do it all together, ‘cause that’s what this is. It’s me and you, babe. Nothing more, nothing less. Just us.”

Her cheek rubs against mine, and I turn my head, pressing my lips against the smooth skin there. She wraps her other arm around herself, sliding her hand up my arm that
’s stretched across her.

“I can
’t believe you just told me you love me.”

“Yeah? Well I can
’t believe you didn’t say it back,” I tease, nipping her ear.

Jen
’s head turns to me, her bright blue eyes meeting mine. I put my forehead to hers.

“I love you,” she whispers. “I must need to visit the mental health centre, but I do.”

I tug her head back and kiss her, my lips firm against hers. She leans back a little, and my other arm holds her up. The kiss is soft, and even though it’s only been a day, I know I never, ever want to do that again.

Perhaps I need a little bit of that relationship superglue.

~

“What if it
’s not that easy?” Jen traces circles on my hand with her fingertip. I sigh, resting my head against hers.

“I never said it would be easy, babe. I just promise it
’ll be worth it. Every time we fight, every time she sticks her nose in, – because she will – every time you wanna pack it in, that’ll all be hard.” She tilts her head back, her still-sad blue eyes causing a pang in my chest. I run my thumb across her cheek softly. “But the laughs, the smiles, the moments like this, they’re what’ll make it worth it because they’re ours.”

Her head dips slightly, her eyes leaving mine. “What kind of moment is this? Because it just feels like a desperate grasp onto something that could slip away in seconds.”

I cup her chin, forcing her to look at me, and say in a soft voice, “It’s the kind of moment when I look into your eyes and know they’re the only eyes I wanna look in for the rest of my life.”

Her lips pull up in a small twitchy smile, and I pull her face towards mine, kissing her gently.

“Love makes you mushy,” she mutters. “I think I like it, but I also kinda don’t.”

“You don
’t like my mushy side?” I grin crookedly.

“Well, sometimes. Sometimes I like your cocky side, sometimes I like your sexy side, but mostly I think I still want to knock you out with my frying pan.”

I laugh. “I’ll take a pass on the frying pan.”

“Really? I
’m pretty sure the wok would do the job, then.”

“No knocking out, Jennifer.”

She grins, shifting so she’s straddling my lap. “How about when I’m mad at you? Can I do it then?”

I run my hands along her thighs to her back, my fingers settling on her spine. “Hell no. If you
’re mad at me, you’re gonna go in the next room and calm the hell down, then you’ll get your ass back out here so we can talk it through. No more of this walking away or sleeping on it shit. This ain’t a secondary school relationship passing notes in class, this is the real thing where it’s me and you. Forever.”

She links her hands behind my neck, a smile on her face. The sadness is slowly leaving her eyes and the spark I love is replacing it.

“Forever is a long time. Think you can put up with me for that long?” she asks, dropping her forehead to mine.

“It won
’t be easy, but I think I can suffer through it.”

She tugs on a lock of my hair. “Suffer? The only one that has to suffer here is me.”

“Oh yes.” I smile cockily. “It must be so hard for you to be with someone like me. You know, sexy hair, sexy body, sexy smile…”

“Sexy ass… Sexy personality… Sex God reincarnated…” she finishes, rolling he
r eyes. “Gosh, yes. How on Earth am I supposed to cope with all of that?”

“I can think of several ways.”

“I’m sure you can,” she says dryly, sitting back a little. “Aside from your undeniable sexiness…”

“What?”

“Saph said she banned her from Red. Or, she got Mick to.”

“She did.” I smile a little, remembering.

“Good. Can’t we ban her from London?”

“Unfortunately not, babe.” I run my hands up her back. “But we can ban her from us, and that
’s all that matters.” She kisses me lightly. “Come stay with me tonight. I’ll take both you and Lexy to Uni before I go to work.”

“Okay,” she murmurs. “But only if I get to have the first go on the Wii.”

I smirk. “I guess I can deal with that.”

~

“I don’t understand why they continue to play this game,” I mutter, watching Alec laugh at the way Lexy’s arms are swinging around her head.

“Because Lexy is determined to beat him at tennis one of these days,” Sam replies, amusement lacing his voice. “She
’s lost a thousand times, but she just doesn’t get it.”

“I. Will. Beat. Him,” Lexy grunts as she swings her arm. I grin, running my tongue along my bottom lip.

“Game, set, and match!” Alec taunts her, bowing. Her eyes narrow and she drops the controller.

“I give up.” She falls back onto the sofa. “I
’m never gonna win.”

“Oh, Princess,” Alec coos, mischief twinkling in his eyes. He sits next to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. “Do you want another try?”

“No. I don’t want another try. I think the little Mii men should stick their rackets in an unsavoury place.”

I laugh at her as Sam
gets up. He grabs my hands and yanks me up with him, grinning.

“We
’ll play tennis,” he says.

“Oh no.” I shake my head. “I only do bowling, you know that. No tennis.” I shake my head again.

Sam nods, grinning, and I purse my lips. He slides a controller into my hand and moves me so I’m in front of the television.

“I can
’t play tennis,” I lie.

“She
’s lying!” Alec yells from the kitchen. “She played on the tennis team when we were in school!”

Sneaky little surfer shitbag.

“You did?” Sam looks at me, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Maybe once or twice,” I mumble.

“Or for the whole five years we were at school!” Alec steps back into the room.

“Well, shit, Alec!” I cry, spinning around. “Why don
’t you just tell him when I started my period, huh?”

Alec grins. “Well…”

“That was called sarcasm, Johnson.” I grab a pillow and throw it at him. “Wait. You know when I started my period?” I frown a little.

Alec
’s lips twitch. “Lilac Bay knew when you started your period and when you got it every month thereafter. You turned into a little demon.”

“Pretty sure I
’ve mentioned that before,” Sam mutters, selecting tennis two player on screen. I elbow him.

“I am not that bad when I
’m on my period,” I protest, looking at Lexy for help. “Am I?”

“No worse than me.” She smiles.

“Oh, great.” I sigh. “You’re the Queen Bitch when you’re on, so I must be the Bitch Princess.”

Lexy smiles wryly. “Isn
’t that your title anyway?”

I glare at her. “It can be arranged, you know.”

A hand grabs my waist and spins me round. I bite back my shriek of surprise, steadying myself again Sam’s chest.

“You
’re serving first,” he breathes into my ear.

“I
’ll serve something up in a minute,” I mutter, pushing myself away from him. One side of his mouth curls up, and damn, for twenty-two, he’s kind of immature sometimes.

I guess
that’s why he’s the cream to my strawberries.

I serve, flicking my wrist in the air. Goddamn, there
’s a reason I don’t play tennis on the Wii. Playing it on the Wii is too hard with all the wrist flicking and sensory issues. My remote never, ever,
ever
co-operates with the damn sensor when I’m playing tennis. Bowling? No problem. Boxing? On a good day. Tennis? Kill me.

Miraculously, I win the first set from a disgruntled Samuel. He spins the remote in his hand, his eyes fixed on the screen. I
’m a little amused, I won’t lie. The buffoon wants to win, and he means business. I flick my eyes towards him, fighting my smile, and ready myself for battle

The sensor is working with me today, for the first frickin
’ time ever. And Samuel Edwards is goin’ down.

~

I swing my legs from the kitchen table, grinning. Sam pours a glass of coke, his shoulders slumped slightly.

“It
’s just a game,” I say through my grin.

“You beat me. Four times.” He shut the fridge door and turns, looking at me with disbelief.

I put my hands either side of my body on the table and lean forward slightly. “It’s just a game,” I repeat. “But winning was
sah
-weeeeeet.”

“Jennifer.” A slight growl is in his voice.

“I mean, you always beat me at bowling, so to sneak up behind you on tennis and win was just like “Pow, boom, wham! Take that!”” I giggle. “And your face. You looked like a cat that had just had his cream taken away. Mind you that is a change from the smug “cat got the cream” look on your face usually.”

He puts his glass down and storms across the kitchen towards me. He slips his body between my legs and frames my face with his hands before pressing his lips firmly against mine. I squeak, gripping his arms and wrapping my legs around his calves. He nips my bottom lip as he pulls away.

“What was that for? I’m pretty sure you’re too pissed for that to be a congratulatory kiss,” I mutter, blinking at him.

“That was a “shut the fuck up” kiss.” The glimmer returns to his eye
s a little and he trails his hands down my body to my waist. “Because God knows kissing you is the only thing that shuts up that smart mouth of yours.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Hey, you like my smart mouth.”

He grins a little lopsidedly. “I love your smart mouth. It’s good for kissing. Like this.” He brushes my lips with his, his breath falling heavier than his touch.

“It
’s not all my mouth is good for,” I tease quietly.

“I know, babe, I know.” He ghosts his mouth along my jaw towards my ear. “Your mouth is good at a number of things, and I remember each and every one.”

A shiver snakes down my spine as heat pools in my low stomach. It’s like my body is a puppet and he’s pulling all the strings, controlling my reactions with a few simple words and touches.

“Good, then you don
’t need a refresher course.” I kiss his jaw, the slight stubble there grazing my lips.

“You know…” He pulls back, a thoughtful look on his face. “I think I forgot it all. Would you believe that?”

I smirk. “No, no, I don’t believe that.”

He shrugs a shoulder and tightens his grip on me. He pulls me forward a little, hooks his hands under my thighs, and lifts me up. I wrap my arms around his neck and link my feet behind his back.

“Well, I want reminding.” He carries me from the kitchen to the living room, stopping in the living room.

“Night,” he says to Lexy and Alec. They both turn and smirk.

“Help,” I mouth to Lexy over his shoulder as Sam turns away. She shakes her head, giggling quietly. Alec winks and looks back to the television.

So much for helping a friend out of a sticky situation, guys. Okay, so it
’s not sticky as yet, but I have my money on the fact it will be very, very soon.

And that isn
’t the roaring flame in my stomach speaking, or the clenching of the muscles in my lower body. It’s my hopeful and smutty mind speaking. One hundred percent.

He walks casually up the stairs, pushes his bedroom door open, and kicks it shut behind us. He crosses the room in a few long stri
des and deposits me on the bed.

My eyes travel up his body as he moves away from me, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it into the corner. Slob. The muscles in his back ripple as he stretches, and he
’s doing this deliberately.

Two can play at this game, Mr. Edwards.

The mattress squeaks as I get up, and his head twitches round slightly.  The mirror is perfectly positioned that he can see my every move without turning – and I’m gonna use this to my advantage. While hiding my smile, of course.

I unbutton my cardigan and turn away from him, sliding it over my shoulders and down my arms. My fingers hook under the hem of my top and I slowly pull it up and over my head, revealing the lacy black bra I changed into before we left my flat.

Mhmm. I said this was game fucking on.

He swallows audibly across the room. The floorboards creak a little. I undo the button on my jeans and roll them down my legs, bending at the waist. I bite my lip and run it between my teeth, trying to hide my smile.

Sam’s hands rest on my waist, warm against my skin, and I step from my jeans. As I straighten up, my bare back presses against his chest. He drops his head and kisses my shoulder, his lips dragging gently along my skin. His hands explore my body, cupping my breasts and massaging them softly. I let out a soft sigh and relax back into him, snaking one of my arms behind his neck.

“You,” he breathes into my ear. “… are so beautiful, Jennifer Mason.”

I turn my face into him and brush my lips against his. I shift my body round so my front is against his and I tangle my fingers in his hair. His mouth dominates mine as he pulls me closer to him, shuffling back towards the bed. He sits down, pulling me into his lap, and I straddle him. My body presses against him, my core rubbing against his erection, and tonight I need this.

I need to be close to him. I need him to be close to me.

And both of us need to not let go.