Page 5 of Yours, Finally

"You mean my exes?" My hand was still around his forearm, and I squeezed harder.

He shook his head, eyes fixed on the ground.

My blood rang in my ears, and my mind went blank.

"Jake… could you be someone who loved me like that?"

The words escaped my lips. I was the one to gasp at hearing the question hanging between us. Any surprise I felt at baring my heart unexpectedly like that faded into the background— my attention narrowed on him and what his response might be.

He stilled. His eyes locked again with mine. Tension rose between us, the tiny hairs on my arms reaching for him, for the sky, like lightning might strike in the next few seconds.

"Fuck," he said again, before he took a long step to me, grabbed me with one hand in my hair and the other around my waist, and pulled me to him.

His lips on mine rocked me on my feet.

Chapter 2

Jake

Kissing Vi was everythingI had ever dreamed of. In the back of my mind, a little voice insisted I was weak for giving in, but I silenced it for one more second. And another. I needed her mouth for a bit longer. Enough that I could etch every sensation and move of her against me into my brain, and remember it forever.

Her hands found my waist, and grabbed at the soft flesh there as if she needed a place to moor herself. It drove me wild and I licked her lips, asking for more.

She gave me more. The kiss deepened, and time ran at a different pace, both too fast and a tad slow. My fingers twitched where they grasped at her, like I needed the confirmation thatshe was indeed in my arms. I'd waited for far too long, and a part of me wondered if I could be making it up.

The way her tongue moved against mine told me it was reality. Her soft moan made my heart spin. Her hands traveled from my sides to my back in a hug; her arms couldn't quite surround the full expanse of my torso and stomach, but it didn't matter. She pulled from me like she wanted it all.

I wanted it all. With her, from her. Give it all to her. All of me. I had wanted it for years.

But when she broke the kiss— slowly, as if she was in the same daze I was in— I remembered. There were reasons why it hadn't happened before.

The hand in her hair fell to her shoulder; the hand on her back latched at her soft hip. I pushed back from her in a wobbly step.

"Fuck," I said again.

"What?" Hurt laced her voice.

"I'm sorry. I promised I would never do that."

"To whom?!"

"To myself."

"What? Why? Jake—"

"I hate seeing you sad and not being able to make it better. I hate that you were wondering if anyone could ever love you and here I am, feeling…" The sentence died halfway. "But I can't be that person for you. I shouldn't. It's not fair to anyone. Not you, not me…"

"You know what isn't fair? That you finally kissed me and regretted it right away!"

I straightened in place, my hands in fists. "Or that I kissed you right when you're getting a promotion that puts you above me in the company, Vi."

The anger on her face melted away. Her mouth turned slack as she put the pieces together.

"Fuck. I know that," she said. "I can't be with you if I'm higher up in the hierarchy."

"No, you can't. And I put you in an awkward position by kissing you."

She frowned. Some of her frustration shone through again; she crossed her arms, my suit jacket still on.