Текст книги "To Love Jason Thorn"

Автор книги: Ella Maise

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Текущая страница: 19 (всего у книги 22 страниц)

And boy was there pressure.

He pulled slightly back, but then pressed his entire length into me.

My legs were shaking when he pressed his knees against my hips, caging me under him. I lifted my arms up and hugged my pillow, burying my face into it.

When his abs were pressing against my back and his elbows were propped on either side of my shoulders, I took my face out of my pillow.

“It must feel good having all of me inside you like that. Being inside you…” He took a deep breath. “Fuck, but it feels amazing, Olive.”

“Too good,” I managed to say in a whisper.

“I think I owe you an orgasm. They are ahead of us, sweetheart.”

“What?” I had completely forgotten about the audio couple. Every inch of my skin was prickling with awareness under Jason. I was too far gone to hear anything other than his breath and my own heavy breathing.

He pulled back, almost to his tip, and pushed back in—hard.

My breath hitched. “Yes!”

“You liked that, huh?”

Another hard thrust and I was clawing at my pillow. He picked up speed.

As he kept fucking me into pure bliss, he lowered his head next to my ear and said, “I think I would love to come home to this every single fucking day for the rest of my life.”

My heart stopped.

Then it started back up again as my orgasm caught me off guard when Jason pushed all the way in and started grinding into me.

My screams were definitely louder than the girl’s, I can tell you that much.

There will never be enough words to describe sharing the perfect moment with the person you love, with the person you’ve been in love with for most of your life…but…as sweat dripped down from Jason’s forehead onto my shoulder and his hips kept slamming into me through my spectacular orgasm, I decided that I didn’t need any words.

Hearing his deep moan, knowing that he was enjoying it just as much as me was enough on its own.

He slowed his movements and I managed to stop trembling underneath him. His teeth grazed my shoulder and another shiver went through my body. I was a mess.

“Ah, sweetheart… The sounds you make when you come for me? So fucking dirty.”

A deep thrust from him and a shameless mewling from me.

“I love it. I can feel it my bones. And the way you clench on my cock, the way you pull me in? It kills me every single fucking time.” He kissed my neck and gently slapped my ass, pulling a gasp out of me. “I think we are caught up on the orgasms. Do you want me to lick you all clean again, as I’m guessing from the sounds they are making they are doing too, or do you want to ride me?”

He pulled out of me, but his heat didn’t leave my body.

“Have to say, my vote is on you riding me, baby. I want to watch your face when you come all over my cock. I can always lick you clean at the end.”

I didn’t make him ask twice. While we could still hear the guy licking his girl, I pushed Jason onto his back and sunk down on his cock.

“Yes, sweetheart. Oh, fuck! Yes. Just like that, Olive. Take it all in, baby.” My hands found the headboard and without playing around, I started riding him. I was all shaky and definitely was muttering some obscenities at some point, but it was all perfect. Being with him felt perfect. Our kind of perfect.

Beautiful.

Just like I’d always dreamed.

When I came all over him, I let him watch what he did to me, what he gave to me.

Everything.

***

“If I’m not helping you with your research in one way or another the next time you’re writing a sex scene, I think we’re gonna have problems sweetheart.”

At the end, we had held on longer than the audio couple, I had come more times than I could count or remember, and each time I’d been louder than her.

We had definitely won, on all counts.

“I think I’m having a stroke or something. I can’t feel certain body parts.”

Jason chuckled and his finger trailed down from my shoulder toward my hip. I was already half passed out and lying on my face. When his finger hit the curve of my ass, he pushed the covers off my back and his hand started massaging. I tried to wiggle away from his hand, but before I could...

“Hey,” he admonished me with a serious voice. “You’re staying right there.”

I groaned. “If you start doing that, I will start feeling things, and I’m not sure I’m functioning enough for that.”

Continuing to massage my ass firmly, he kissed my neck and shushed me. “Thank god the audio doesn’t replay itself; it’s dangerous to listen something like that with you around.”

“Mmmm,” I mumbled, acting like I was half-asleep.

“Come on,” he said in an amused tone. “Don’t get shy with me. I love that you like playing. You were burning for me the entire time. I bet hearing them be so vocal didn’t hurt either.”

He gathered me up in his arms and I nestled against his chest. It wasn’t even seven o’clock, but I snuggled in closer.

When I didn’t make any comments, he chuckled again and brushed a kiss on my temple. “Okay, have it your way. For now. What did you do today? I missed you on set.”

“Lucy came over for an hour or so.” Then I remembered that I hadn’t asked his permission for that. “Is that okay? Her coming over?”

“Of course it’s okay for your friends to come over, Olive. You don’t need my permission for that.”

“But I know you said you don’t like having people in your personal space.”

“I meant industry people. Unfortunately, I don’t have that many friends. It’s hard to trust people when you are out in the open as much as I am, and since I prefer a relatively quieter life , I don’t have that many people close to me. Speaking of  friends, there is someone I met very early in my career, Devlin. He lives in New York so I don’t get to see him that often, but he is opening up a club/lounge here and he invited us. Would you like to go? We can invite your friends, too. I feel bad that you’re having trouble meeting with them without a sea of cameras following you around.”

I extricated myself from his arms, pulled the cover over myself to make sure nothing was showing, and stared at the ceiling.

“If you’re okay with it, that could be fun. Lucy would love to come, and maybe I can convince her to invite Jameson, her on-again, off-again one-night stand. But Charlotte…I’m not sure about that right now.”

Jason propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at me.

God… What was it about this guy that affected me so much? Even when he wasn’t showing off that damn dimple of his, you kept staring at him just for the sheer pleasure of it, and of course the promise of that dimple wasn’t something to turn your nose up at.

“Is everything all right with you two?”

Forcing myself to look away so I wouldn’t tackle him and climb on for one last ride, I said, “Apparently, Lucy saw Char and Marcus kissing in the apartment.”

“And…”

“And she is my friend. Isn’t there supposed to be a girl code of some sort that says you shouldn’t date your friend’s ex?”

His tone was different, both softer and tighter at the same time when he asked, “Do you still have feelings for Marcus? Are you jealous of her, Olive?”

I glanced at him. “The answer to the first question is a definite no. Being jealous? Not sure, but I don’t think so. Marcus and I… We’ve been over for a long time, and…heck. No, I’m not jealous of him. It’s just sort of a weird thing for Charlotte to do behind my back. If she had at any time told me that she had feelings for Marcus, I would’ve gotten over it, and if they love each other…I would be happy for them. I mean, she hasn’t even talked to me about it so I have no idea what’s actually going on. Just a few short months ago, the day I was meeting with the production people, Marcus came to my room to tell me he thought we would get back together once I’d finished my book. And now he is with Char? I don’t know. It’s not anger or jealousy I’m feeling. It’s something else, but I’m not sure I can name it.”

“I understand. The way Marcus acted when I came to get your little drunk ass from their apartment, I wouldn’t have guessed he had his eyes on anyone but you.”

“Yeah, I heard about that from Lucy, too.”

“Well,” he started as he got up from the bed, completely naked.

Don’t look, Olive. Don’t do it.

But of course, I looked.

At least don’t look down.

Oh, but I did.

“The invitation is open; you can invite whomever you want to invite. Devlin will have a VIP room reserved for us so we’ll have privacy.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine Olive

Two days later, we were getting out of the car in front of Devlin’s club, Mad Play. The logo for the club was two Ms intertwined with each other in a geometric shape. I had no idea what it meant since it wasn’t the initials of the club, but it was cool as hell.

Jason and I had met with his friend over dinner before he headed to his club ahead of us. Even though we had barely spent an hour together, he was very charming throughout the entire diner—maybe a little too charming, the kind that would sweet talk you out of your panties if given the chance.

Imagining him wreaking havoc in New York with a single Jason had led to a multitude of scenarios going through my mind. Those two would break hearts left and right, and they probably already had. On a side note, I had loved how Jason had introduced me as his wife. I wasn’t sure if he would let him know this was all a play for the public eye. Since my best friend knew, I’d assumed he would share that with Devlin, just like Alvin was in on the whole thing.

Speaking of Alvin, he was supposed to meet us at the club with his girlfriend, but as far as we knew he hadn’t made it yet.

The biggest surprise of the night, however, was getting a text message from Lucy that said Char and her friend Lily were coming with her. Not having any idea how that would go down, I decided not to dwell on it for the time being.

Since there would be drinking involved, Jason had a driver drop us off. When I saw all the paparazzi huddled in front of the club, I held on to Jason’s hand tighter and exited the car right after him.

Wrapping his hand more securely around mine, he put his other hand at the small of my back and guided me toward the entrance. The bulky guard at the front didn’t even check our names as we were ushered in before the paparazzi could swarm us.

“Does it ever get easier?” I asked, slightly breathless from jogging the short distance. The music was loud enough that Jason had to lean down to hear what I was saying. I repeated my question when he was close enough.

“The paparazzi, the constant following…does it ever get easier?”

He shook his head in a distracted manner and curled his arm around my waist, pulling me close to his body as a beautiful blonde approached us with a smiling face. Of course, she only had eyes for Jason and ignored me completely. I was getting used to it.

Really.

I definitely didn’t wanna gouge her eyes out or anything.

That would be gruesome.

“Hello Mr. Thorn. My name is Drew. We were waiting for you. If you can follow me, I’ll take you to Devlin.”

Jason didn’t reply, gave her a stiff nod, and pretty much shattered the girls dreams, judging by the look on her face.

Smug, I stood a bit straighter and gave the girl a brilliant smile when she finally gave me a dismissing glance.

Fuck her.

After walking through a hallway filled with mirrors and lights, we found ourselves at the mouth of the club where you could see the sea of bodies dancing under the flashing lights. A remix of the latest song by The Weeknd was blasting through the speakers and from what I could see, it looked like everyone was having the time of their lives.

As we started following the girl, skirting around the gyrating bodies, Jason positioned me in front of him and kept his hands on me at all times.

Trusting him to guide me in the right direction, I took out my phone from the small clutch in my hands and sent a quick text to Lucy asking if they had arrived.

By the time we made it to Devlin’s side and the blonde gave Jason one last longing look, Lucy had texted back, saying they were already inside. After sending one last text that asked her to meet us at the bar area where we were, I gave all of my attention to Jason.

“Your friends are here?” he asked as soon as I tucked my phone back into my purse.

“Yes. I told her where we are.” I looked around me and noticed that no one was bothering Jason. No one was coming at us, begging to take a picture with him or have him sign any of their body parts.

“Marcus?” he asked, his voice tighter than I would’ve liked.

“No,” I said shortly and turned my eyes to Devlin. “Are you sure it’s safe for Jason to be down here?”

Devlin let out a sexy laugh. If Jason hadn’t been my Jason, the guy I wanted to have babies with, I would have been content with just watching his friend. “Aww, how sweet of your little wife to be worried about you, Jason,” he yelled to be heard.

Jason’s thumb brushed the underside of my breast.

“So, what do you think of my new place?” Devlin asked, opening his arms.

Sure, let’s ignore little Olive.

Despite feeling annoyed at being dismissed again, I had to admit, his place did look amazing. The general color scheme of the venue was black, white, and gold. There were white balloons dipped in gold paint floating around the place and my hands were itching to steal a few of them.

“It looks amazing,” I said, looking at the female bartenders that were wearing pretty gold dresses. The guys were wearing black slacks with white button downs, complementing the girls perfectly. The whole concept was simple, but sexy.

“What she said,” Jason said with a sexy chin lift.

Looking satisfied with the answer, Devlin nodded. “What can I get you guys?” he asked, leaning toward us.

“I have to be on set tomorrow so I’ll only have one and I’ll take that later,” Jason answered his friend before glancing down at me.

“I’ll have a Long Island,” I murmured, looking up at him.

God, was it a good time to lick that dimple? Or those lips, I would have been content with licking those lips…

Smiling at me as if he could hear my thoughts, he fitted his hand around my neck and brushed a small kiss at the edge of my mouth.

“Happy?” he asked, showing me a bit of his dimple.

Holding on to his forearm, I leaned up and kissed his dimple as my answer. When I leaned back, his dimple was out full force. Taking my drink from Devlin, I rested my back against Jason’s chest and listened to them talk as I waited for the girls to find us.

Despite the thumping music, I heard Lucy yelling my name before I actually saw them. Jason took my drink from my hand before I splashed it all over my pretty dress.

“You look amazing,” I said to Lucy, twirling her around to check out her dress. She was wearing a black lace dress with a plunging neckline. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that short. “I’m guessing Jameson is coming?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes, but her lips tipped up with a smile. “Maybe.”

“Maybe is good. I’ll take those odds.” She gave me a brief hug and then I saw Char and Lily coming through the crowd behind us.

When Char spotted me, she gave me a small smile. For the life of me I couldn’t see anything wrong with it. Letting go of Lucy, I hugged Char and said hi to Lily. I’d only seen her a few times around campus, but she looked kind.

After the girls said hi to Jason and Devlin, they ordered their drinks. When Jason’s arm sneaked around me while I was talking to Lily, I turned my head to look at him, but his attention was on Devlin telling him a story about their mutual friend.

“Can we talk for a few minutes when we find a quiet spot?” Char asked, leaning toward me.

I smiled. “Of course.”

So what if they were together? I wasn’t Marcus’ keeper, and if Char actually had feelings for him, even if they’d started when we were dating… Well, I hoped they were happy, or at least would be. So, I would listen to her and be okay with whatever she wanted to tell me.

“Come on. Let’s dance,” Lucy said, pulling Lily to the dance floor with her. Motioning for me to follow, she turned her back and started dancing with a more than ready to let loose Lily.

“Do you want me to show you the private rooms, Jason?” Devlin asked, saving me from humiliation. As much as I loved the atmosphere of a club, I wasn’t the best dancer out there. Sure, I could shake my ass, do a dip, jump around, and that sort of stuff, but I wasn’t drunk enough to jump on the dance floor quite yet.

“You can stay with your friends if you want,” Jason said, pushing my wavy hair away from my face.

I fitted my hand into his. “No, I want to come with you.”

After letting Char know that we were going up to check out the private rooms, we left the girls downstairs and followed Devlin up to the third floor where the VIP rooms were located.

“There is a security guard waiting right outside every occupied room, and you’ll have your own bartender to prepare you whatever you want from the bar,” Devlin said, letting us into a dimly lit room.

To my surprise it wasn’t cut off from the rest of the club at all. At the right side of the room, there was a small balcony with a railing where you had a bird’s eye view of the entire club. Since the private rooms were located only on the left side of the building, there was no way anyone could see who was in the private rooms or what they were doing in there. I doubted anyone looking up from the dance floor could make out anything in the dark either.

A huge leather sectional covered an entire wall and in front of it, there was an equally big leather ottoman. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling was the only light source in the room. In the far left corner of the room there was a small bar, fully loaded, presumably for those A-listers who didn’t want to waste time waiting for their drinks to arrive.

A security guard came inside and pulled Devlin to the corner of the room, speaking in hushed tones.

“You want to bring your friends up here?” Jason asked, coming to my side as I took in the room. “It’s nice, but you will be pretty isolated from the crowd, though.”

“Guys,” Devlin said, grabbing our attention. “Is it okay if I join you later? The guys are having a problem at the door. I better go handle that. Please, invite your friends up and use the room in any way you want, Olive. If you call out to Anthony, who is guarding the door, he’ll make sure to send a bartender up here.”

“Everything okay?” Jason asked.

He gave him a nod and patted him on his shoulder. “Nothing to worry about. A few uninvited people making a ruckus outside. I’ll come back when things are more settled down, okay?”

Devlin left and I braced myself on my elbows on the railing as I gazed down at the dance floor. The DJ changed the music and the dark notes of Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” filled the space. It was a more erotic remix of it, the bass lower and more powerful.

When I couldn’t hear Jason, I looked over my shoulder to see him closing the door and turning the lights off. Then he came toward me and positioned himself behind me. His arms went around my waist and he straightened me up from the railing.

“Don’t hang over the railing like that,” he murmured next to my ear. I turned my head and showed him my neck. When he ghosted small kisses on my skin, I could feel his lips tip up to a smile.

“Thank you for inviting my friends,” I said, feeling the music working its way into my bloodstream.

Jason must’ve felt the change in my mood because his hands started traveling lower and when he got a hold of my hips, he pulled me back and let me feel his lengthening erection.

“You look beautiful. I like your dress.” He bit into my earlobe and I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped my lips.

“It’s one of the dresses your stylist left with me for the London premiere.” I was wearing a black and brown Alexander Wang V-neck dress. More than sexy, I felt beautiful in it. The hem of the dress was also shaped in V, and there was an open slit in the back, too. Feeling Jason’s shirt brush my bare skin through that small opening heightened my pleasure.

“Hmmm,” Jason murmured. I guess he didn’t care about the dress that much. “We should get your friends up here. I don’t think I’m a fan of sharing you, but we did invite them after all.” My toes curled in my shoes from the pleasure his words were causing.

I linked our hands together and pulled them back up to my waist, or more like just under my breasts.

“I’ll go get them,” I said, closing my eyes and moving my hips along with the rhythm of the music.

I didn’t want to go anywhere.

“Does my baby want to play again?” Jason asked as he bent his head down to my neck and gently sucked on my skin.

I groaned and let him push my lower body against the railing. “Don’t say that when we can’t do anything about it.” Letting go of his hands, I lifted mine up and wound them around his neck. Pulling his head down to my lips, I kissed him slowly. Then with a growl he slipped his tongue inside my mouth and took things further.

The music pounding in my head, I already felt drunk. The funny thing was, I had only taken a few sips from my drink.

“Who says we can’t do anything about it?”

He gripped my chin, a little more aggressively than I was expecting, which only caused more wetness to seep into my panties. He kissed me until I was seeing stars behind my closed eyelids. When one of his hands skimmed my dress and cupped one of my breasts, I moaned into his mouth and threaded my fingers into his hair.

When we separated to take several gasps of breath, I was smiling.

“What are you smiling at?” he asked, his voice raspy from all the kissing.

“Nothing.” He gave me a disbelieving look. “Nothing,” I repeated. “It’s just, I think I like kissing you a little too much, and somehow you seem to like it almost as much as I do.”

“And that surprises you?”

“Yeah.” He wouldn’t understand, but yes…finally kissing someone you’d longed to kiss for so many years and actually having him kiss you back with just as much passion…it was indescribable. The only thing I could say was that it did something to your heart, something that knocked you on your ass with the unexpected force of it.

“My heart is beating just for you, Jason,” I whispered against his lips as I made sure to look into his eyes. Did he understand how much I loved him? How long I had loved him? Because I could almost feel it pouring out of me.

The door opened and the connection between us broke.

Lucy’s head appeared in the doorway. “Is it okay if we come in?”

I took a step away from the hot body that was plastered to my back and went to open the door wider so the girls could get in. Lucy had the biggest grin on her face, but managed to keep her mouth closed.

Two tequila shots and one and a half Long Island Iced Teas later, Char pulled me away from our little group to the small bar at the corner.

“I know Lucy told you that she saw us, but it’s not what you think, Olive,” she said, putting down her pink cocktail on the glass surface.

“Honestly, I’m not thinking anything. I’m trying not to. If you guys have started something, I’ll be happy for you.”

Her eyes hardened for a moment, but before I could even guess what it was that I saw in her eyes, it disappeared. “You don’t understand, Liv.”

Again with the name…

When Lily let out a big laugh that reached across the room to us, I looked over my shoulder to see her laughing with Jason and Lucy. I smiled when Jason caught my eye, took a sip of his drink, and gave me a wink.

Char touched my arm so I turned back to her again.

“Marcus and I…” Stopping mid-sentence, she picked up her drink and took a big swallow. “We might have slept together…while you were still with him.”

My stomach dropped and my eyebrows reached almost up to my hairline. I swallowed and gently put my drink down.

“Please say you didn’t do that.”

She gave me a small, sad smile. “I don’t know how it happened, Olive. I swear to you, it wasn’t more than a few times, but I know that doesn’t make it any better. I’m sorry I haven’t told you before today.”

A few times?

“You slept with Marcus while I was still with him? When you knew I loved him? No way Charlotte. You wouldn’t do that to.”

“You guys were growing apart.” She took a deep breath. “Remember the time you went back home to San Francisco for a week, after one of your fights?” I didn’t say anything, didn’t even nod. She sighed. “It happened then. We were both half-drunk the first time it happened—not so drunk that we didn’t know what we were doing, but you know…it made it easier to overlook the fact that you were together, I guess.”

How nice of them.

“I’m assuming not so drunk the other times it happened,” I said in a stony tone.

She shook her head and looked down. “I’m sorry, Olive. I never thought this would happen to me.”

“To you? What happened to you, Charlotte?”

“You’re my best friend, Olive. Do you think I was thrilled to realize I had feelings for my best friend’s boyfriend? Can you understand how much it hurt to see him with you after what happened between us?”

“Wow. Should I say sorry for the inconvenience?”

I took a step back.

She grabbed my arm and stopped me before I could get away from her.

“Please don’t be angry with me, Olive. You didn’t love Marcus. We both knew it. You never loved him like you love Jason.”

“How can you decide that for me, Charlotte? Of course I loved Marcus. Maybe I should remind you that he was the one who dumped me, not the other way around.” I pulled my arm back and she dropped her hand. “Why did you think it was a good idea to tell me this now? Why bother? So much time has passed and you can actually have Marcus all to yourself. Why not just keep it to yourself?”

“I think Marcus is holding himself back because he thinks you’ll go back to him. Whatever you decide I wanted you to have all the facts. We got together—”

I lifted my hand up and cut her off. “I don’t think I want to hear anything more Charlotte.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Are you about to tell me that I should talk to Marcus and tell him that we are never getting back together? Is that why you told me this? To make sure I would never go back to him if Jason dumped me?”

“Girls? What’s going on?” Lucy came up behind us. I hadn’t realized that our voices were carrying over to them.

“Olive,” Charlotte said, ignoring Lucy. “It’s not like that. I didn’t think you—”

“That’s the problem, I don’t think you are thinking at all,” I said and turned my back to her. “Can we go down to the bathroom or something?” I asked Lucy. I was just realizing that my hands were shaking. She looked into my eyes and nodded without asking anything.

My eyes were starting to water.

I glanced at Jason, but he was in a conversation with Lily, his brows furrowed, so I slipped out before he could see the state I was in. I didn’t want him to think that this was about Marcus.

Lucy grabbed my hand as soon as we were out of the room and steered me downstairs.

We found a bathroom one floor down that was just for the private rooms, so as soon as we got in, Lucy guided me to sit down on the bench in front of the mirrors. If my mind hadn’t been reeling with what Char had just told me, I would’ve enjoyed the décor in the bathroom, but unfortunately, I could barely see Lucy kneeling in front of me.

“What’s wrong, Olive? What did Char say?”

A few tears escaped my eyes and slid down my cheeks before I could wipe them away. “She slept with Marcus while we were still together.”

Lucy straightened up then sat down next to me. “Say that again?”

I nodded and wiped away more tears. Why was I even crying? Was I really sad because Marcus had lied to me, had cheated on me with my friend? I thought about it, but it didn’t take hold. It wasn’t what Marcus had done that was breaking my heart. It was Charlotte.

I got up and started to pace in front of Lucy. “Why am I even crying? This is so stupid.”

“Can you start from the top and tell me exactly what she said to you?”

I nodded and told her everything Char had said.

“I’m sorry, Olive. I don’t know what to say. All I can think is where the hell was I when they were sneaking into each other’s rooms?”

“Looks like I was wherever you were. I would never have thought Char would do something like this.”

“Are you going to talk to Marcus?”

A girl stumbled into the bathroom, heading straight toward the stalls.

“Why would I?” I asked, getting out of the way before she could take me down.

Lucy’s phone started to vibrate in her hand, so she held up a finger to me and answered her phone.

“Jameson, where are you?” Her brows drew together and she shot up from her seat. “What? Which hospital?”

At her words my body froze.

“Yes. I understand. Thank you.”

Ending the call, she sat back down, then shakily tried to stand back up.

“Hey, easy there,” I said, helping her up. “Tell me what he said.”

Instead of answering me, she said, “He was supposed to be here by now.”

“Lucy,” I snapped my finger in front of her face a few times. “Focus. What did Jameson say?”

“It wasn’t Jameson. It was a nurse. Jameson was in an accident, he…he is going into surgery in half an hour.”

I waited to hear more, but she just stood there, staring at me helplessly.

“Come on, we are leaving,” I said, pulling her along with me.

We exited the club in a hurry and jumped into the first cab we saw sitting at the curb. Thankfully, there were no paparazzi around to capture our departure.

“Jason,” Lucy said in a tearful voice. “You didn’t tell Jason you were leaving.”

“I know. I don’t have my phone with me so I’ll have to text him from your phone. Let’s just focus on getting to Jameson before he goes into surgery, okay? The hospital is close enough, we should make it there in time.” I gave her hand a squeeze. She hadn’t let go of it ever since we’d run out of the bathroom.

Her grip tightened on mine and I heard her breath hitch.

“Can we please go a little faster?” I begged the cab driver.

Lucy dropped her head on my shoulder. “You were right, the other day. I love him,” she confessed, then more heatedly, added, “And I hate him for making me fall in love with him.”

“Baby,” I said gently, trying not to laugh. “I’m sure he is already aware of that fact. Even your professors know.”

“I always push him away.” Her voice broke. “I didn’t even tell him that I hate him. He should know how much I hate him for making me fall in love with him.”