The Exception (14 page)

After everyone got over the spectacle of those two, we all glanced around and got a good look at each other for the first time. We looked ridiculous. There was mud everywhere.

“All I’m saying is all this mud slinging made me work up an appetite,” Spencer said. “Plus, Alli needs a shower.” He made a show of sniffing his girlfriend and then waving his hand in front of his nose, which earned him a playful shove.

“I could definitely eat. Someone didn’t allow me to eat my sandwich earlier.” Jake pulled me into him and kissed me square on the lips before I could protest. “But first we shower. Trust me when I say that none of you want the wrath of my mother to come upon you for tracking mud in her house,” he laughed and then motioned for me to hop on his back, a request with which I readily complied.

By the time we got back to the house most of the mud on us had dried, but Jake still insisted we take off our shoes and leave them by the door. I tried to hop down so I could remove my shoes, but Jake tightened his grip, preventing me from slipping down. He motioned for me to stick one leg out at a time, and then he removed each of my shoes. We all walked as gingerly as possible back to our rooms so that we didn’t get the floors any dirtier than they had to be.

I assumed Jake would put me down when we got back to our room, but he didn’t. He walked in, shut the door with his foot, and then went straight through to the bathroom. Again, he shut the door with his foot then leaned slightly forward to keep me on his back as he turned the lock. The sound of the click caused my pulse to race. Neither of us had said a word since we walked into our room, and I prayed he couldn’t hear my heart beating frantically in the silence.
Stupid betraying body, and all because of one little click.

He walked us over to the counter and turned around to set me down before turning on the shower to let the water heat up. When he walked back to me the look on his face let me know what he was thinking, and I bit my lip in anticipation.
Breathe, Emma. Slow. Deep. Breaths.
He placed one hand on each side of me on the counter and then leaned his forehead against mine, pressing against my legs with his body. My legs seemed to fall open on their own accord, allowing him to sink closer to me and causing me to suck in a breath.

I wrapped both arms around his neck and he lowered his lips until they were inches from mine. “I swear if you say point Jake, I will never speak to you again.” I whispered breathlessly.

“Shut up and kiss me,” he murmured against my lips.

I smiled at the use of my own words, and then did exactly what he asked. I connected my lips to his, and he instantly deepened the kiss. I tangled my fingers into his hair and was suddenly brought back to the reality of the situation. “Jake, there is dried mud everywhere,” I laughed.

“I guess we’re gunna have to fix that,” he countered in a husky rasp, causing my giggles to fade. He secured me to the front of him and walked us over to the shower, opened the door, and stepped in, closing the door behind him. He walked us until my back was pressed firm against the wall and then crashed his lips into mine.

I no longer cared where there was dry mud. He kissed a trail across my jaw and then down my neck, sending my mind once again into that blissful, hazy, fog. I wiggled my legs until he let them drop and then adjusted my hands at the bottom of his shirt, tugging it up before I lost my nerve. He quickly shrugged out of it, making me feel braver and more eager than I had before. With my newfound audacity, I reached down and grabbed my own shirt, pulling it up and over my head in one swift move. Then, I reached back, unhooked my bra, and let it fall to the floor.

His eyes instantly went wide and he sucked in a sharp breath. He took a step forward, causing me once again to have my back against the wall, and then placed one hand on either side of me. His eyes took their time scanning down my chest before slowly coming back up to meet mine.

I silently took pleasure in the obvious effect I was having on him. Not wanting it to stop, I leaned forward until my lips met his and then reached out and hooked my fingers in his belt loops – pulling him closer. As soon as my bare chest hit his, he let out a low growl before wrapping one hand around the nape of my neck and the other around the small of my back. He secured me firmly to the front of him as he kissed me, only stopping when I sunk my thumbs into the top of his jeans and began to pull down.

“Emma,” he let out in a throaty whisper, grasping both sides of my face and looking into my eyes. “You don’t have to do that.”

I took my bottom lip in between my teeth trying to decide if I was brave enough to follow through with what I so desperately wanted.
It’s now or never. Deep breath.
I smiled a small smile and pressed my chest into him as I whispered in his ear as seductively as I could, “I thought today there were no promises.”

He gulped, “Are you sure, Emma?”

I placed a kiss on his neck and let my lips spread in to a smile before leaning back and letting my shorts fall to the shower floor.

His eyes drank me in as they moved over my almost completely bare body. “Beautiful. You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I plan on taking my time with you. I don’t ever want you to forget our first time.” His words alone caused my stomach to do a flip, but when he began running a soapy loofah over my body, gently cleaning all the mud off, I thought my heart might stop. “Perfect,” he murmured against my neck once every inch of me was clean, sending a chill down my spine.

Nerves rose up my chest as I reached out and took the loofah, planning on wonderfully tormenting him the same way he had me. When my fingers wrapped around his to pull the loofah from his grasp, the corners of his mouth stretched into a smile. I ran my hand over his back and down his chest, stopping when my fingers hit the top of his soaked jeans, and let the loop of the loofah slip around my wrist. Using both my hands, I managed to easily undo the button, causing Jake to clamp his mouth shut. He reached out and braced himself against the wall as I tugged his jeans down, and then he slowly stepped out of them as I stood back up. He let out a groan as I ran the loofah over the rest of him and barely let me finish cleaning him off before reaching down and taking hold of both of my arms to once again pin me against the wall.

He crashed his lips to mine and slid his arms around the small of my back, pulling me back with him until I was directly under the water. I never would have imagined that kissing someone while they shampooed your hair could be so sensual until I experienced this with Jake. Once he was finished, I eagerly returned the favor.

When I was done, he wrapped me tightly in his arms and kissed me until I was breathless. “Don’t move,” he uttered, hopping out of the shower and reappearing with a towel in hand. “Turn off the water, Emma.”

I turned the handle, shutting off the water, and took the few steps that closed the gap between us and into the towel that Jake held open. “Arms up, Em.” I lifted my arms and he wrapped the towel around me, tucking the end in so that it would stay in place before lacing his fingers through mine and stepping out to lead us into the bedroom. He walked us over to the door. No sooner than he had turned the lock, he was pulling me into his chest and crashing his lips into mine.

He had both hands gripping each side of my face as he backed us into the wall – not once breaking the kiss. I ran my hands down his back, digging my fingers into his skin as I attempted to pull him closer, needing him closer. My head fell to the side as he dropped his lips to my neck, causing my back to arch forward and a moan to escape my lips. Jake let out a low growl and placed one hand against the wall while gripping my rear with the other, pulling me forward until my body was again fully pressed against him.

A nervous adrenaline surged through me as I snaked my hand between our bodies and pulled my towel free. Jake stepped back just enough to let it fall to the ground before pressing his chest back into mine. Placing both his hands on the wall, he lowered his lips to my ear. “I love the way your skin feels pressed up against mine,” he breathed. “It drives me the best kind of crazy.”

His words caused a smile to tug at the corners of my mouth while I reached up and circled my arms around his neck, kissing him as I pressed up on my toes. He must have known exactly what I was thinking because in one swift motion he was lifting me up, allowing me to secure my legs around his waist and then reconnecting my lips to his. My hands formed fists in his hair as I kissed him with everything that I had. Eventually, he walked us over to the bed, and I broke the kiss so that he would let me slide down once he had stopped. Before I lost my nerve I reached down and shimmied out of my panties, silently praying he couldn’t hear my heart that was now beating incredibly fast.

Jake looked like he was in awe while his eyes gazed up and down before once again closing the distance between us. He cupped my cheeks with his hands and lowered his lips to mine. “I love you, Em,” he murmured against my lips. “I don’t know how it happened, but from the moment I met you I knew I would never be the same.”

My entire body warmed as he kissed me. If I had thought my mind was in a haze before, I don’t even know what you would call what it was in right now. Time seemed to slow as Jake reached down and removed the last piece of clothing that stood between us. All I knew for sure was that there was nothing I wanted more as he pressed his lips against mine and lowered us to the bed.

Chapter Twelve

After dinner, Maya insisted we build a campfire. She was convinced that there had to be some kind of unwritten rule about ranches and campfires going hand in hand. Alli squealed in delight at the idea, and I found myself rolling my eyes at her reaction.

It’s not that she isn’t super nice, it’s just that somehow she keeps finding a way to redefine perky. I honestly don’t know how Spencer keeps from putting a muzzle on her every other minute. I didn’t realize I was gawking at her until Maya broke me out of my train of thought.

“Hello? Em? Marshmallow hunt? Yes?” She snapped her fingers, cueing me to listen to what she was going on about.

“Marshmallows? What?” I craned my neck to focus on Maya as my brain attempted to piece together what she was saying.

“Good Lord. Jake said that there might be marshmallows somewhere in the pantry. Help me look while the boys build the fire?”

“Well, don’t just stand there,” I teased. “We have marshmallows to find.” I jumped up and walked toward the kitchen with Maya in tow.

“Anything you care to share, love? You’ve been quite distracted ever since we got all cleaned up,” she pried with a suspicious stare.

I opened the pantry door and motioned for her to walk in first. She watched me curiously as she walked by. “Speaking of sharing.” I closed the door to the pantry and then crossed my arms as I leaned back against it. “You have some explaining to do. Now spill.”

Her expression turned into a wicked grin. “Moi?” She gestured to herself with her usual dramatic flare.

“Uh, don’t even. You, ma’am, know exactly what I am talking about.”

“It was just a kiss, Em. It didn’t mean anything. Evan and I are just friends.”

“Mmmhmm. And is Evan aware that you are just friends?”

She let out a sigh as she gazed over to one of the pantry shelves and adjusted a can of green beans. “He knows how I feel about Dylan, and we’ve talked about it. We agree that we are better as friends.”

“Y’all agreed or you did?” I pressed.

“Will you stop with the third degree? We agreed, OK? It was just a kiss.”

I could tell by the look on her face that it most certainly was not just a kiss, but I decided to leave it alone. She clearly is not ready to discuss whatever it is that is going on. “OK.” I held my hands back, signaling my surrender. “I’m just saying; it looked like a whole heck of a lot more.”

“Em!”

Laughing, I dodged the package of hamburger buns that she threw at me, then we both focused on searching for the marshmallows.

“Seriously? How are we supposed to find one little package of marshmallows in this thing? They could be anywhere.”

“No freaking kidding,” I let out.

We both sank against the back wall as we realized for the first time just how big this walk-in pantry was. As our eyes scanned the room that was bigger than my closet at home, I decided this was about to be more of a treasure hunt than a simple marshmallow-finding mission.

“Alright, let’s start from the bottom and work our way up,” she suggested.

What felt like ten minutes later, we admitted defeat and walked out of the pantry to rejoin the group outside. We were almost out of the kitchen when Maya piped back up.

“By the way, don’t think for a second that I didn’t notice your question dodge earlier. I know for a fact something happened with you two because it took y’all longer than anyone to “clean up”, and Jake hasn’t been able to keep his hands off of you.” I snapped my head in her direction. “Oh yeah. I noticed. So tell me…did you?” The betraying smile that broke out on my face said it all. “Ahhh! I knew it!” she screamed as we stepped through the door.

“Maya. Oh my God. Quiet down. I don’t want the whole freakin’ group to know,” I hissed.

She was grinning like an idiot. “You got it, boss. These lips are sealed.” She zipped her lips and then flicked away the key. “So how was it? Are you sore?” she whispered.

“Maya!”

“OK. Got it,” she said clearly amused, “But you know you are not going to be able to keep it from me forever. And I can’t wait to hear all the juicy details!”

I stopped and looked directly at her. “Seriously? Don’t make me get a muzzle for you too.” Maya looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. “Don’t act like you haven’t thought about muzzling Alli yourself. You forget how well I know that evil mastermind of yours, my dear.” Maya busted out laughing, falling forward and having to catch herself on her knees.

“Touché, my friend,” she laughed.

“And maybe I am a little sore,” I whispered.

“Ahh! It’s literally going to kill me until you spill all the dirty little details!”

“And yet, I think you’ll somehow survive.”

“Bitch,” she muttered under her breath.

“I heard that,” I laughed.

Giggling, she threw her arm over my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get back over there. I’m sure by now Jakie is going through withdrawal and needs his Emma fix.”

I rolled my eyes as we began walking back toward the group. “Remind me again why I claim you as my best friend?”

“Because you love me.” She put her head on my shoulder and walked her fingers up my arm.

“Right.”

The fire was going strong by the time we rejoined everyone with the news that the marshmallows were a no-go. After the initial letdown of not getting more food, the boys resorted to finding random things to throw in the fire. It became an all out competition about who could find the item that would burn the fastest.

In the middle of all the chaos, I stopped and watched Maya with Evan for a second. She was genuinely having a good time and seemed happier than I had seen her in a while. There was definitely something starting between those two, and I think the only person who didn’t see it was Maya.

***

There were no nerves this time when we all separated for bed. I was actually looking forward to lying next to Jake, who greedily snatched me up and draped his arm over me after pulling the covers up over us. As soon as I closed my eyes, Jake began to lightly run his finger in little circles over the side of my hip.

“Jake, there is no way I am going to be able to sleep if you keep doing that.”

“So I probably shouldn’t do this either?” He placed a soft kiss on the sensitive spot right below my ear that caused goose bumps to break out across my skin.

“I’m not sure you’re understanding the severity of this situation,” I teased. “You see, I happen to be a sleeper. And as much of me that wants to turn around and kiss you, a bigger part of me is currently much more attracted to the sleep option.”

“And what happens if I don’t let you give into the latter?” I could hear the smile in his voice as he let his fingers trickle up and down my side.

I turned to face him, “Bad, bad things. Murderous things.”

Jake chuckled and then placed a kiss on my forehead. “Alright, Blondie. I see your point.” I began to turn back around, thinking he consented to letting me sleep. I was barely able to turn because in an instant Jake had me on my back, hovering over me wearing a sexy grin. “But I think I’ll take my chances.” He bent down and pressed his lips to mine, and wouldn’t you know my stupid, betraying body was on his side.

***

I woke up the following morning the same way I had the day before. Voices. The difference was this time they were accompanied by knocks and coming from the other side of the door. I sat up and looked at Jake, whose eyes were still closed, as I began to process what was happening. Jake’s lips broke into a grin.

“Come back, Em. I sleep so much better when you’re tucked in my arms.”

“Trust me, nothing sounds better than sleep right now, but by the time I lay down those two are going to come barging in,” I half whined.

Still refusing to open his eyes, Jake reached up with one arm and pulled me into him. “Nope,” he nuzzled into my neck. “I locked the door last night, so we are safe to sleep and stay in this bed all day if we want to.”

I relaxed when I realized those two freakin’ alarm clocks of human beings couldn’t enter my chamber of sleep. “Good, because I feel like I need at least eight more hours.”

“Someone is grouchy this morning,” Jake said with a small laugh.

“Yeah. Well, I did try to warn you that your own personal safety was at stake if I didn’t get an adequate amount of sleep.” I was now full on whining but was too tired to care.

“You’re adorable when you’re cranky,” he mused.

“I hate you.”

Jake chuckled as he adjusted his head on the pillow, pulling me firmly against him. “Go back to sleep, Emma. You are a little scary when you’re tired.”

I didn’t protest. I shut my eyes, and as soon as I felt Jake’s breathing even out, I drifted back to sleep.

The next time I woke up, I had no idea how long I had been out. It felt like I had been asleep for hours, but the bacon scent that was assaulting my nostrils told a different story. I reached over and grabbed my phone off the nightstand and checked the time.

10:00

I realized everyone else was probably just getting up as well and making breakfast. I looked over at Jake to find him still out cold. Leaning down, I slowly began to place kisses all over his face. When I placed my lips on his, I could feel him smiling and knew he was awake.

“Mmm. I could wake up like this every morning,” he spoke, wrapping his arms around me. Then he squinted one eye open, “Unless scary Emma is still out there. In that case, I may just hide under the covers.”

“I got more sleep. So you’re safe…for now.”

“Is that bacon?” Both of Jake’s eyes were wide open, and I couldn’t hold back my smile over how easily he was distracted once he smelled the food.

“Smells like it.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Jake jumped out of bed and dug a pair of sweatpants out of his bag: the kind that set right above his butt, allowing you to appreciate every abdominal muscle on display above them. If my stomach wasn’t so busy telling me that I was hungry, the rest of my body would have attempted to lure him back to the bed.

We walked into the kitchen to find Heath coming in from the other hall at the same time we were. Everyone else had found a seat around the large island watching Maya cook up eggs and bacon while sipping on their cups of coffee. Upon that observation, I immediately found the coffeepot and poured myself a cup. I was leaning against the counter, enjoying my first sip when I realized everyone was still in PJs except for Maya and Evan. In fact, it looked like they had gone for a run…or something.

“What time did you two get up?” I asked Maya at the same time Evan hopped up and offered to help, taking over the eggs.

She kept her focus on the bacon she was flipping over. “Oh, I don’t know. A couple hours ago maybe?”

“Uh huh,” I let out slowly, “I see.” I watched as the two of them finished cooking breakfast. They were too occupied with each other to even pick up on the fact that I was really asking why they were wearing athletic clothes and why Maya had grass in her hair while neither one of them appeared to have broken a sweat. I watched them intently as I sipped on my coffee until they told everyone to make a plate.

I couldn’t tell you what happened over breakfast because I was too busy watching those two canoodle each other. I almost dropped my fork at one point when Maya literally fed bacon to Evan. Like. Fed. Him. That girl was either lying to herself or lying to me because I have never seen her act so lovey-dovey with anyone. Not even Dylan.

When everyone got up from the table, I followed Jake back into our room. “Did you notice anything weird between Maya and Evan?” I asked once the door was closed.

“So that’s where you were,” he teased, while grabbing a fresh shirt from his bag.

“What?”

Jake chuckled and walked over to me as he pulled the shirt over his head and then kissed the top of my forehead. “You were completely checked out at breakfast. I tried to get your attention a few times before I realized you were in your zone. You do that sometimes when you’re really focused,” he smiled.

“Oh,” I blushed, “I didn’t mean to ignore you.” I didn’t even realize this was a regular thing for me.
I wonder how often I just “check out” around people. Around Jake.

“Don’t apologize for being you, Em. Don’t ever apologize for doing the little things that make you so perfectly Emma.” The way he was looking at me caused me to turn a deeper shade of red.

How is it that Jake seems to know me better than I know myself? And why does that make me feel like I love him more than I already do?

“So, are you going to change or do you plan on going in that?”

“Change for what?”

Jake let out a small laugh, “Town. We decided at breakfast to go into Fredericksburg for the afternoon.”

“Right. Of course.” I turned to my bag and pulled out a shirt and pair of shorts.

I quickly changed and then ran a brush through my hair, throwing it up into a ponytail before putting on a little makeup. I had just applied a coat of lip gloss when I realized Jake was leaning against the door frame watching me.