Between You and Me

Chapter 25

She slept so well that night, she never wanted to get out of bed.

Dreams of Tristan, being in his arms again, and all those kisses.

That made her sit up quickly in bed. Then she remembered she was in her sister's bed. It sat up a lot higher than hers. She jumped down to the floor. Zee was gone, probably off to school. She stepped out of the room and walked down the hall, past her room to Tristan's room. She knocked on the door and then waited.

He was not there.

She went to her room, used the bathroom, brushed her teeth, fixed her hair, and dressed in something cute. She had a boyfriend now after all. After going through all her things and finding nothing cute, she grabbed another one of her grandmother's summer dresses. Pink with red trim. It was strappy, and she had to find a cute bra to wear underneath.

It was long, down to her mid-calf. She added some basic flip-flops to it. Then she put on some eyeshadow and lipgloss. She could not wait to go downstairs and see Tristan.

When she made it to the living room, he was not there. She went to the kitchen and he was not there either, but she saw that his bathroom door was closed, so she left to give him some privacy.

She sat in the living room and turned the TV on. After a few minutes, in walked Tristan looking drop-dead gorgeous in a tank top and jeans fitting him so perfectly. His braids were pulled back, and he'd cleanly shaved his face and looked good enough to eat.

"Hey," was all he said when he saw her.

"Hey," she said back. Oh hell, she could not control herself.

She jumped up and went to him, hopping on him as he laughed and held her in his arms when she kissed him all over his face.

"I missed you."

"Yeah? I just kinda saw you last night, but you miss me already?"

"You didn't miss me?"

"You know I did." He pulled her into a kiss as he carried her over to the couch, placing her down on it.

Their kisses were intense, both greedily taking each other mouths. Feasting on each other. She liked feeling his hard, muscled body next to hers on the couch. She liked the contrast of his height and larger build versus her petite body. He could crush her with his body, but he was being so gentle, hovering over her as he planted kisses all over her face and neck.

"I can't stop kissing you, Jo."

"Then don't stop."

He slid a hand down her face, staring into her eyes. "I don't want to ever hurt you."

"You won't."

"You don't know that." He sat up on the couch and pulled her up. "I told you I don't do this girlfriend-boyfriend thing."

"Like ever? You've never had a girlfriend?"

"No. Like, I have girls. I see girls. I've never just had...you know, one."

She took his hand and held it. "Why?"

"I don't know. No one I cared about that much I guess."

She let that sit for a moment. She never had a boyfriend either. Why? Surely she could have tried, but no guy ever made her want him bad enough to have the nerve to say it to him. Tristan changed everything for her.

"Look, Jo, I know you're...inexperienced in all this as well. In everything really, I guess." He looked at her. "I won't rush you to do something you're not ready for."

He meant sex.

"You hear me, Jo? I just...we'll see how things go, okay?"

She nodded.