Withered (Westwood High Book 1), page 18
I immediately respond, “No.”
He bursts out laughing and buries his face in my neck, his warm breath tickling me, and his hair feels silky against my jaw. He moves back, and I admire his body. The more I look at his chest, the more I admire his tattoos. It makes me want to have a tattoo. My nipples are painfully hard, and Jake looking at them is making it more embarrassing for me.
“Please stop looking at them.” I shut my eyes.
He kisses me again and then follows me down. He strokes my right breast while sucking on the other. He licks it with his tongue, sucks on it, and then playfully bites on it. He pinches the other one, and I shriek in pleasure. This is too much to handle. He showers the same attention on the other breast, and I use my time to touch his abs and shoulders.
“Jake,” I call him out of breath.
“Yeah?” He looks up from my right breast, the nipple popping out of his mouth like a child’s mouth. The scene is so erotic yet amazing.
“Please don’t stop,” I plead. My mind is constantly chanting stop, but I don’t want to.
“I have to. If I don’t stop now, there is no turning back,” He tells me, and I get what he means. Am I the one rushing here?
After one more kiss, he gets up and lies beside me. His tattoos shine brightly, and my gaze is drawn to the ones on his chest. The clock and the tree, with a bird flying away
I prop myself on one elbow, and my breast bounces, catching Jake’s eyes. He grunts and pulls the cover over me. “There, all is well,” he says.
“Was that for me or you?” I ask with my eyebrows raised.
“That was for me.” He sounds irritated in a good way. “One look, and all I want to do is fucking suck and lick them again.” He grins.
My gaze returns to his tattoos, and he asks, “What are you thinking?”
“Why do you have so many tattoos?” My gaze shifts from his tattoos to his green orbs.
“No one has ever asked me this before. Some of them are just random,” he says, “while others have their own story.” He sounds distant.
I don’t press further, but he surprises me by asking, “Which one do you want to know about?”
“You don’t have to tell me,” I say.
He shrugs. “I might as well. Go on.”
“Let’s start with this clock. It’s fascinating.” My eyes are glued to the broken clock.
“I got this one randomly, but it reminds me of how I wasted my time. It’s like, you don’t value time, and then all you can do is regret that phase of your life,” he explains.
I nod in understanding. I want to know more, but I don’t want to push him too far. “What about this tree that has no leaves? And why is there a bird?”
The tree tattoo starts from his abdomen, with the branches spreading across his stomach and the small bird flying away from the tree. As if it was sitting on one of the branches and just left?
“That’s quite a story. Perhaps later? You should sleep; it’s getting late.” He stares at me.
I respect his decision. At least he said later rather than no. That’s a start. The fact that he is telling me is sufficient.
I close my eyes and fall asleep, but not before I feel a light, feathery kiss on my forehead.
It’s lunchtime, and we are both happily munching on our food when Kristy says, “You look happy today.”
I smile. “I am happy.” Last night’s events are still fresh in my mind.
“Oh, hell yes,” Kristy says, before wondering, “Am I missing out on something?”
I give her a sly grin. I enjoy having the upper hand from time to time, but I eventually tell her everything. That doesn’t mean I can’t build suspense. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Kristy shouts, attracting a few eyes to our table.
She glares at me, expecting me to spill everything, but her gaze wanders to something behind me. I turn around to see what everyone is staring at. Jake and Tyler walk into the cafeteria as if they own it. They turn every head on their way.
Everyone, including Kristy and I, is fixated on them both. As my gaze meets Jake’s, he is already glancing my way. He is wearing his usual outfit, and this guy looks like a goddamn model without trying. He keeps eye contact, nearing us. Tyler takes a seat beside Kristy, and Jake takes a seat beside me.
“Hey.” He pecks my lips, startling me and everyone around us.
I certainly did not expect him to kiss me in front of Tyler and Kristy, let alone in the middle of the cafeteria. If he keeps doing things like this, he will confuse the heck out of me because I have no idea what we are yet.
I woke up next to a shirtless Jake after falling asleep last night. I was afraid he’d leave, but he didn’t. I accidentally woke him up while playing with his hair.
He tried to kiss me, but there was no way I was letting him near my morning breath. He said, and I quote, “I don’t fucking care,” but I did. He eventually gave up and instead kissed my neck while playing with my breasts.
“I get it!” Kristy shouts, snapping me out of my thoughts. We all turn to her.
“You got what?” I asked her, even though I had a feeling she would figure it out.
She cleverly dodges the question by saying, “Tyler’s chocolate cake.”
As we have lunch, everyone’s attention is on us. Tyler and Jake talk about something, and Kristy is smirking at me.
“What?” I whisper. I know exactly what’s going on in that head of hers.
“I need every single detail,” she whispers back.
“I’ll call you. This is not the time,” I say, knowing full well that she will text me until I blurt out every single detail.
We finish our meal and leave. Tyler and Jake walk in front of us, and I can feel daggers thrown at us girls. Olivia is staring at me from the corner of my eye, her finely manicured fingers tightly wrapped around the fork.
“Meet me in the parking lot after school,” Kristy says.
“Okay.” I nod.
Tyler and Kristy leave first, leaving Jake and me behind in the hallways outside the cafeteria. At this time of day, most people are in the cafeteria, on the bleachers, or on the ground. So, it’s not busy here.
“Let’s get to the class,” Jake says.
“What are you up to, Henderson?” I ask him, confused. I’m leaning against the wall while Jake stands in front of me.
He looks at me, eyebrows creased in confusion, and asks, “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what. You kissed me in front of our friends and everyone else. And now you want to get to the class 5 minutes early? What are you up to?” I smirk. For Christ’s sake, I’m smirking. He is rubbing off on me.
He smirks and says, “Oh, I am up to so many things you can’t imagine.”
“Huh?” I’m confused.
He chuckles and shakes his head. I turn my head to the right, and some hair from the left falls out. Before I could move them myself, Jake tucks them in for me. He starts leaning forward, which means only one thing.
“Let’s go,” I say, turning.
A hand quickly blocks my vision before I can move any further. On my right side is just a wall, which means I am trapped.
“Jake, we’ve got only five minutes until the bell goes off,” I tell him.
“Five minutes is enough to have a quickie.” He is staring at me.
“A what?” I ask. I’m still getting used to his foul, indecent words, and then he has to drop some words like a quickie.
“Nothing.” He laughs lightly.
Before I could ask him what a ‘quickie’ means, he silences me with his lips. His lips are soft and warm against mine. He pulls me close to him by quickly wrapping his hand around the base of my neck. I tiptoe, wrap my hands around his neck, and kiss him passionately.
He tries to part my lips with his tongue, but I don’t let him today. He groans against my lips, and that sensation travels through my body, igniting it at various parts. If I cave, I won’t be able to stop now, especially since we are in the middle of the hallway.
A few gasps could be heard from people nearby, but I don’t care. The bell rings, and we part breathless.
I lean against him and look at him, taking in his features while his eyes remain closed. His long lashes… God! Why do boys have longer lashes when they don’t need them?
He blinks, opens his eyelids, and lets me go. He glares at the people around us, and they scram.
“Let’s go,” he says this, grasping my hand in his.
“Why are people so afraid of you?” I ask.
“I’ve got a reputation to keep,” he answers. Idiot.
I tug at his hand, stop him, and start giggling. He gives me a skeptical and confused look.
“You have my chapstick all over your lips,” I say, gently wiping away the chapstick from his lips with my thumb.
He watches me intensely, his eyes full of desire. Forest green orbs staring right into me. His warm breath fans my thumb as his lips split.
“All done,” I say, and then we walk to our next class.
We’re a few minutes late since we had to stop by our lockers to get our books. Lucky for us, Professor Williams has not arrived.
Whispers break through the class when Jake and I arrive together. One glare from Jake, and they all quiet down straight away.
We settle down, but the people won’t stop looking; their stares make me nervous and uncomfortable.
Jake grunts and shouts, “Don’t you have other things to do than just stare at us?” His voice booms through the class.
Everyone looks away from us and goes about their business. The professor arrives shortly after and begins the class.
In the middle of the class, I feel Jake’s eyes on me. I turn to see him, and indeed, he is staring.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“You’re oddly quiet. Is it because of what happened earlier?” He asks.
“No. Why would you think that? I got busy solving this.” I say, “They’ll talk about us now and someone else tomorrow.”
“Okay.” He nods, then smirks, “Just a reminder; I’m taking you home.”
“You drove me to school, so of course you are the one dropping me home.” I grin.
After our little encounter this morning, he told me he’d pick me up for school. He left after that, and I got ready. As promised, he did come to pick me up, ten minutes later than my usual time. We arrived at school just before the second bell rang, so no one noticed us.
I almost panicked when the bell went off, but I didn’t get to yell at Jake. This idiot found a way to silence me with his kisses. Because I was late for the first time, the professor let me in. And now, here we are.
Math went well, but nobody would stop staring. I don’t care what they think, or maybe I do. But it bothers me when they gaze. They just stop and stare at me wherever I go, which is a little concerning.
Jake is beside me as I come to a halt at my locker. We have different classes now, so we’ll meet in the parking lot after school.
I meet up with other friends of mine and go to Physics. The lecture goes by in a flash. Emily and Ava are both hilarious and know every gossip story about our school. They sit next to me and inform me of the recent talk regarding me and Jake.
I guess we’re trending right now. Whatever.
I stroll to the parking lot with Ava and Emily. Kristy and Tyler are standing alongside her Honda Accord. We all talk for a while as I wait for Jake.
Tyler notices me and asks, “Rose, where’s Jake?”
“I don’t know. We agreed to meet here,” I say, shaking my head.
Kristy pipes in, “What do you mean by meeting here?”
Tyler seems to know; he crosses his hands and smirks at me. Ava and Emily stop talking and stare at me.
“Uhm, I came to school with him today.”
“What?” Kristy, Ava, and Emily shout at the same time.
Ava and Emily start squealing, and Kristy looks around the parking lot and says, “Oh my gosh. Your Mercedes isn’t here. How did I miss that?”
Tyler speaks, “There he is.”
I turn and see Jake walking toward us. Ava and Emily are still squealing. What the hell?
“Calm down, you two. You’re acting weird,” I tell them.
Emily comes to a halt as Ava rolls her eyes. Kristy begins to laugh at them, and Tyler simply shakes his head in amusement.
Jake joins us, and Tyler goes, “Man, you’re late.”
Jake sighs. “That chemistry dude won’t let me go. He assigned me this task.”
Tyler breaks into hysterics, and Jake glares at him. “Fuck you, man.”
I hit Jake’s shoulder. “Be nice. That’s your friend.”
He touches the spot where I smacked him, pretending to be hurt. “Yes, ma’am.”
Kristy is all smiles, but Ava and Emily start squealing again.
“C’mon, stop it, you guys.” I glare at my friends.
We wave goodbye and leave. Jake opens the door for me like he did in the morning and I get in. He gets into the driver’s seat, and off we go.
That same English rock music is playing in the comfortable silence.
Jake turns off the engine when we get to my house and stares at me.
“Come to my house in an hour. We need to work on our biology report.”
“Nice idea. Thanks for the ride,” I say, and then get out.
Mrs. Rivera asked each team to submit a report on each experiment we perform. We are already done with two experiments and have yet to begin our report.
I freshen up and change into comfy clothes. I quickly grab something to eat while calling Kristy, who picks up after a few rings.
“Finally, I was waiting for your call,” Kristy says.
“I knew you’d do it. So, what exactly do you want to know? Let me take a guess… everything?”
“Hell yes!” Kristy screams.
I tell her everything, as it’s pointless to hide anything from her. I told her how Jake left, how I found him, how I helped him, our physical intimacy, and how he spent the night at my house.
“You slept with him? Jake Henderson?” Kristy yells so loudly that I had to remove my phone from my ear.
“I did not. Well, I did. Wait, what?” I say, but I confuse myself.
“Listen, I slept in the same bed with him. But we did nothing,” I explain.
“You do realize we’re talking about Jake Henderson, right?” Kristy asks.
“Yeah?” I ask, confused.
“He never just sleeps with anyone and does not have sex with them,” she goes on. “Are you getting my point here?”
I shake my head no, then remember she can’t see me and say, “Nope.”
“You are impossible,” Kristy huffs on the other side.
“Kristy, do you think I’m rushing here?” I ask the obvious question that has crossed my mind a trillion times now.
“Every relationship is unique, Rose. It’s been barely a week and a half. You simply have to see where it goes. I can’t say anything because my own went down the hill,” Kristy states.
“Okay. I gotta go; I’ll call you later,” I say it and hang up.
I grab my stuff and walk over to Jake’s place. I knock on the door and wait for Jake to open it. He motions to enter but says nothing. I notice his jaw is clenched.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I ask.
“I just got off the phone with my mum,” he says it firmly.
We go upstairs to his room. I sit on the edge of the bed and put my bag down. “What happened? Same thing?”
He just nods and huffs. “Forget about it. Let’s work on that report.”
I nod and take out my book. Jake, on the other hand, takes off his shirt. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like to you?” He raises his eyebrow.
“But why?” I ask him, and he shrugs his shoulders.
“Does it bother you, Rose?” He smirks, knowing exactly how much it distracts me. I bet he is doing this on purpose. Game on, Henderson.
“Nope. I have seen better,” I tell him confidently, but my eyes betray me by taking in his body.
“Is that so? Who?” He folds his arms, flexing his muscles.
“Uhm, it doesn’t matter,” I say desperately to avoid this topic.
“Just admit it, Rose,” he tries to coax me.
I shake my head and chuckle, “No.”
“Admit it, or I will make you,” he says it with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“No-” Jake traps me on the bed before I can finish, my hands above my head, and our lips dangerously close to each other.
“Say it. I’ve seen you staring at me from your window a few times,” Jake states, and my eyes go wide. Crap.
He runs his fingers down the side of my body and comes to a halt near the hem of my shirt. For a second, I think he's going to pull the shirt or something, then he does something completely unexpected.
He tickles me, and I am a ticklish person. I burst out laughing, and tears well up in my eyes.
“Jake. Please. Stop.” I manage to get the words out between laughter.
“Admit it,” Jake demands.
“Fine. Stop first.” I beg of him.
He stops for a second, and I say, “Your body is distracting, and it does bother me.”
“See, was it that hard?” Jake smirks and lets me go. “Now, let’s get down to some biology.” He chuckles.
We spend twenty-five minutes studying, and I discover that this egoistic, self-centered, attractive guy is far smarter than I am. We simply revise the topic, and he has everything sorted out. I finish my schoolwork at his house while he works on his chemistry homework.
It was an odd scenario in my eyes. Jake always struck me as arrogant, obnoxious, and with an ego that couldn’t go any farther. I never thought of him as a studious person. But then there he is, in front of me, twirling his pen between his fingers and focusing on his book.
This boy never ceases to amaze and surprise me. Just like the day I got a glimpse of his soft side when he showed up at my house to drop off his sister. That was the day I realized he was more than his tough exterior.
“You do know that a picture lasts a long time, don’t you?” He smirks, his gaze fixed on his book.
