“Why did you come in?”
“In solidarity,” she said. She was quiet for a moment. “Did you really mean what you said?”
Jonathan nodded his head vigorously. “I wish I could do it all over again and choose you. It has always been you. I am so very sorry.”
“Besides that,” she said. “Something about a shot.”
He didn’t question the science, but he suddenly felt warm, even though he was in frigid temperatures.
“I would kill for another shot with you,” he said. “I meant every word.”
She moved closer and looped her arms around his neck. He found her waist and lightly pressed against it at first. As she swam closer, she hooked her legs around him and pressed against him some more. She was topless, her nipples hard against his chest. If he could feel his chest. Their foreheads touched. He gulped and then let out a long sigh.
“This feels like a terrible idea,” she said.
“I love this idea.”
“For me, I meant,” she said.
“Maybe for me too,” he said. He wasn’t sure who leaned in first but their mouths were on each other’s. Her lips felt soft but strong against his. Jonathan kissed her tenderly at first, moving his face from side to side lazily, her lips parting slightly for his tongue to play with hers. He forgot about the frigid waters. All that mattered was her.
Her legs wrapped tighter around him, and they fell into the kiss, back into their connection. He could’ve stayed all night in this lake with their heat to keep them warm.
“Zoey.”
“Jonathan.” Her breath was labored.
“Can we go back to the house?”
“Yes. I’m freezing.”
“Oh good, I am too. I was trying to play it sexy, but really I just want to be warm and dry.”
“I can agree with you there.” They started swimming back to shore, but he caught her ankle and pulled her back, just to cover her mouth with his one more time, in case the magic drifted away on the way back to the vacation rental.
11
Jonathan and Zoey got in the back of the Uber, soaking wet and shivering. Zoey sat in the middle seat to be close to Jonathan so they could get warm. The night air was a shock to their wet bodies as they dressed back in their clothes. Zoey’s front was completely wet, but thankfully, her bun stayed perfectly with the late-night dip in the lake. Her body shook uncontrollably, and the Uber driver turned on the heat for them even though it was mild outside.
Caroline had told them there was an extra key in the mailbox, so they opened the house, dark except for one light on. Zoey found an afghan and wrapped it around herself and unfolded another for Jonathan. Her tequila haze had lifted. She wasn’t sure if it was the lake’s cold waters or the heat of the second first kiss with Jonathan, but she was now completely sober.
She had been so mad, so vengeful. She had pied him, for fuck’s sake.
Still, the minute he apologized, said he regretted it, and seemed like he was genuinely sorry, she was putty in his hands again, ready to give in to whatever happened. He came around the corner.
Fuck.
He had no shirt on and a pair of pajama pants slung low on his hips. His muscles were defined and sculpted, with deep ridges and abs she wanted to run her fingers down. It was a crime he wore a shirt at all, to be honest.
“You’ve been working out a little bit,” Zoey said, her eyes fixed on his torso.
His smile beamed. “Maybe a little.”
He sauntered toward her, and Zoey held out her hands and stopped.
“You’re not completely off the hook yet,” she said.
“Oh?” he asked, rubbing his hair with his hand, making his bicep contract. The area between her legs contracted as well.
“I expect certain things,” she said. She held up a finger. “First, I need you to do nice things. Reminders that you’re thinking about me. You weren’t great at that when we dated.”
“Done.” He took a step forward and she backed up, putting her hands up as a shield.
“Second,” she said. “I’m not young and dumb anymore. I now know what I’m missing. So, you need to go down on me, frequently. Your face will be numb. I don’t need to shave.”
“Do you want to start now?” he asked. He crooked a smile at her, and she felt an ache between her thighs again. She shook her head. She held up her hands again, like she was fending off a friendly racoon.
“Third and lastly, we don’t talk about the future.”
“Done,” he said. He rushed her, and their lips were on each other’s again, hot and wanting. Her hands touched his jawline, his stubble rough against her hands. He picked her up by her ass, and she hooked her legs around his waist.
He sat down on the couch with her straddling him as he pulled her wet hair out and it slapped against her back.
There wasn’t much to her jumpsuit, so she felt his hard length against her. The friction sent heatwaves through her body as she rolled her hips. He laced his fingers in between strands of her hair and lifted it from her shoulders so he could kiss her neck. His lips felt searing on her cold skin, still chilled from the lake water. His hand ran the length of her spine to her bottom, and he rounded his hand so he could clasp her flesh, then took her lips again, Zoey moaning lightly in his mouth. He growled in response.
Zoey took his hand in her hair and placed it to her breast, and he looked at his hand, like he was making sure this was real. He rubbed her nipple with his thumb as his mouth kissed the neutral crook of her neck, not daring to go lower.
“Put your mouth on me,” she whispered to him. He dutifully kissed down her chest and to her breast, untying the strap of the jumpsuit with minimal effort. When he revealed her small but round breast, he treated it like the most delicious treat he had ever tasted. He put his mouth on her, lapping her pebbled, cold nipple with his tongue, taking it in his mouth as he lightly sucked.
“That feels so good,” she said as he worshipped her, untying the other strap, letting the top fall down and pool at her waist. He focused on the other, letting his thumbs work the nipple wet from his mouth, and Zoey moaned again against his hair.
“Should I eat your pussy now?” he whispered into her ear, biting her earlobe.
A loud clearing of the throat echoed through the room.
They looked over to find Dan in pajama pants and a Lady Gaga concert shirt, holding a handful of turkey deli meat in one hand and a sparkling water in the other. He pulled his ear buds from his ears.
Zoey scrambled to cover her chest, one arm across them as she tied one of the straps. She jumped off of the couch so violently, she almost went backwards into the coffee table.
“Zoey, I’ve seen all of that before. And I’m pretty sure we did this exact set-up like three years ago.” Dan looked at Jonathan’s naked torso. “Bro, you look great.”
“I thought you were still at the club,” Zoey said, with her hands on her hips. Jonathan walked to his room, probably to put a shirt on.
“Nah. When Makenna left, I was over it. I just wanted to read my book,” Dan said. “I thought you two would make it to the bedroom, at least.”
“We thought we were alone,” Zoey said.
“I can always find somewhere else to sleep tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to cockblock my ex-girlfriend,” Dan said, taking a bite of turkey.