Nothing delighted me more than to be able to roll over and wrap my arms around Jared. Waking up in his arms was definitely something that I wished to do more often, but we still hadn't discussed what we were yet. Shannon would be moving out soon, and even though I was thrilled he was leaving, I still caught myself thinking about him, which was utterly ridiculous. Still, with him gone, I was hoping that my relationship with Jared would grow stronger.
After rolling around between the sheets, enjoying some private time, free of ringing phones or prying eyes, it was time to get up. Jared leaned back against his pillow, quietly watching me get dressed. My mind kept replaying the events of the night before over and over, and I grinned when my eyes met his. "What?" I inquired with a yawn.
"Nothing." He was unusually quiet this morning and I was beginning to wonder if maybe he was regretting last night. "Have breakfast with me." It was more of a statement rather than a question.
I smiled and was certain he'd recognize the warm glow of happiness on my face as I looked at him. "Uh, more like brunch. We slept late, remember?"
When I sat on the end of the bed to put my socks and shoes on, he leaned over, sliding his arm around my waist. Pulling me back, I slouched against his warm chest. "Okay then, brunch." I felt his hot breath on my neck followed by the tender brushing of his perfect lips. "I've really missed this."
"Me too." He moved in for a kiss and I knew that if I didn't get up right away, I'd just end up back between the sheets. "I'll tell you what, you get dressed and I'll go cook us something."
I brewed some coffee to go with the french toast I made and nodded at Jared as he came in the kitchen. "Sorry, I only have apple juice, if I'd have known you were coming by, I'd have picked up some tea and orange juice."
"What do you have against apple juice?" He asked like I'd hurt his feelings or something.
I carried my coffee cup to the table and sat down. "Nothing, I love apple, I just personally prefer orange juice in the morning."
"It's fine." Glancing down at the breakfast I made us, he smiled big. "Goddamn, this looks great! Totally professional and shit. Where did you learn how to do this?" He picked up the fork and took a large bite.
I realized that in the ten years that had passed, Jared and I both changed, we grew up a little. "Well, cold pizza in the morning is only good when you're young. One day you wake up and find out that you're old. It's finally happened, I've turned into my mother. The thought of ice cold pizza is revolting."
He cocked his head to the side and smacked my ass. "I'm pretty confident that your mother doesn't do the things you did to me last night."
"You've got a point there." We carried on playful, flirty conversation before he inevitably carried my suitcase down to my car and we parted ways. The ride to the airport wasn't long, but I still hated to go. There was just no way that I was driving back to LA every night from Vegas. Jared promised to come have dinner with me one night, but frankly, I didn't actually expect him to show up.
After a few days on the job in Vegas, I was starting to get homesick. It's not like this was an unusual thing, my traveling for work, but I didn't normally have someone to miss. AJ and I were semi serious, but I was obviously much more invested in the relationship than he was. It was me who was putting in all the effort, so I suppose that's why going away never bothered me before. I was already falling hard for Jared.
I'd had a very stressful day and was trying to decide what I wanted to eat when Jared text me to let me know he was ten minutes away. Immediately, I responded with my hotel and room number.
