Saving jay, p.20
Saving Jay, page 20
part #3 of Breaking Free Series
“No, I can’t say that I have.”
“Perfect! Then, I can pop another cherry.”
Jade
Jay and I were sitting in the Laundromat down the street from my apartment. He was dressed in a pair of worn jeans and a plain white T-shirt with a day’s worth of stubble growing on his jaw. When he’d gone to shave that morning, I’d asked him not to. He’d seemed surprised by my request, but when I’d told him how sexy I thought he was with facial hair, he’d put his electric razor away without hesitation. I loved the way he always tried to please me and keep me happy. He had no problem showing me how much he cared, and it made me feel like the luckiest woman in the world.
After Jay dropped quarters into the large washing machine full of my clothes, he turned to me and asked, “Now what?”
“Now, we wait,” I said, going to sit down in an empty seat.
Jay looked around the room before taking a seat next to me. “I guess you can’t really leave your clothes here, huh?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No way. I don’t mess around when it comes to my clothes.” I paused as I started looking for the deck of cards I’d put in my bag. “But I do have cards to keep us busy,” I said, holding the deck up in front of me.
Jay smiled, his dimples making an appearance. “Okay.”
“Come on,” I said, motioning toward an empty table meant for folding clothes.
Standing up, Jay followed me to the table, and I started shuffling the cards.
“So, what are we playing?” he asked.
“You know how to play Rummy?”
“Yeah, I think so. It’s been a while though.”
I started dealing out the cards as I explained the rules to him.
Jay nodded. “Okay. Yeah, I remember now.”
“When I was younger, my mom and I used to go to the Laundromat every weekend. We’d always play Rummy and Twenty Questions. It was our quality bonding time. I think it was her way of keeping communication open between us.”
Jay glanced up from his cards after arranging them in his hand. “Are we playing Twenty Questions, too?”
“Only if you can handle it,” I said, challenging him.
Jay scoffed, “Bring it on, baby.”
“Okay, you asked for it,” I said before picking up a card from the deck. “What is your favorite flavor?”
Jay studied me for a second before saying, “You.”
I laughed and put a card down. “Okay, your turn.”
He picked up a card. “What was your first tattoo?”
I lifted the sleeve of my T-shirt over my shoulder and showed him the chrysanthemum covering it. “This one.”
He glanced at it and smirked before looking me in the eye. “I like the way that one tastes.”
I laughed and shook my head as he discarded. “Such a dirty man.”
Jay winked at me before focusing on his cards.
I picked up the king he’d put down and played a queen, king, and ace.
“Shit,” he muttered.
I smirked. “What’s one thing you’ve never done but want to do?”
Jay peered up at me through his thick lashes, and I felt those butterflies in my stomach again.
“I’ve always wanted to get a Harley, take a month off of work, and just ride.”
“Where would you go?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Would you come with me?”
I could feel something warm spreading through my chest as I looked into Jay’s deep blue eyes. “I’d love to.”
Jay
I never imagined I could have such a good time at a Laundromat, but when I was with Jade, we always had fun. After two hours of playing cards and folding her clothes, she and I decided to get some food before heading back to her apartment to drop off her clothes. Jade asked me to stop at a grocery store where she collected ingredients for chicken fajitas. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been in a grocery store.
“Just wait until you taste these. My chicken fajitas are the best,” she said, smiling at me, as she tossed some cheese into the metal cart I was pushing.
She continued walking down the aisle, and I couldn’t help but stare at her ass and legs as her hips swayed from side to side. I loved her style, and her blue heels were so fucking sexy. I couldn’t wait to get her back home.
“What do you think about hangin’ with the guys tonight? I’ve been promising them a meal for a while now, and I’d love it if we could all hang out together.”
All thoughts of sex drained from my mind as I looked into Jade’s hopeful eyes. “Yeah, sure,” I said, shrugging.
Jade grinned and walked over to me. I let go of the cart to put my arm around her waist as she pressed herself against me. With her heels on, she was only a few inches shorter than me.
She moved her hands behind my neck to pull me closer. “Thank you,” she whispered before she softly pressed her plump lips against mine.
My hand slid under the hem of her shirt to feel her skin. I groaned when she pulled away.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Clarke. I’ll take care of you later,” she said, winking before sauntering toward the sour cream.
She was using my own tricks against me, and I loved it.
Later that night, we were in my apartment with Trix, Dustin, Cee Cee, Jackson, and his wife, Cindy. They’d all looked shocked when they first walked in, but they’d seemed to relax a little as time went on.
“So, what do you do for fun, Jay?” Cindy asked, clearly trying to move past the awkwardness in the room.
I looked at her as she stood next to me while I poured drinks for everyone in the kitchen. Jade was busy cooking, and the guys and Cee Cee were sitting on the other side of the breakfast bar.
“I don’t really get much free time, but when I do, I like surfing.”
Cindy’s face lit up as she took one of the glasses I’d just filled with beer. “Really? That sounds fun,” she said, glancing at the guys before she took a sip. “Dustin, didn’t you say you’ve been wanting to learn?”
Dustin was taking a swig from his beer, and he looked at her before glancing at me. He let out a loud burp before putting his cup back down. “Yeah,” he muttered.
He obviously wasn’t concerned about the awkwardness.
“Your apartment is amazing,” Cee Cee gushed as she looked around the room behind her.
“Thank you.”
“How much is rent for a place like this?” Trix asked after wiping beer from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Cee Cee smacked his arm, and his eyebrows furrowed.
“What the fuck?” he shouted before looking at me. “What did I say?”
I laughed and shook my head. “It’s okay. I think rent would be about three or four thousand a month.”
Dustin almost choked on his beer.
Trix’s eyebrows shot up. “Come again?”
Jackson and Cindy laughed.
Cee Cee asked, “What do you mean, you think? You don’t rent this place?”
I looked at her curious eyes and replied, “No, my father owns the building.”
They all exchanged glances.
Trix whistled and muttered, “Holy shit.”
Jade came over, wrapping her arms around my waist, and I hugged her as she leaned against me.
“Dinner’s ready,” she announced.
After eating Jade’s fajitas, which were definitely the best I’d ever had, I told her not to worry about cleaning up. Leslie, my housekeeper, would be by tomorrow anyway. We all moved to my living room and sat down, the awkward silence building around us again.
“You smoke weed, Jay?” Dustin asked.
“It’s been a long time,” I admitted.
“You know it!” Jade said.
We both looked at each other and laughed.
“I was talking to him. I already know you smoke, J,” Dustin muttered.
“You cool with us smoking some?” Trix asked, moving to sit on the edge of the couch.
“They don’t have to. They could go out to the car if you don’t want it in here,” Jade said.
I shook my head. “No, it’s cool. I don’t care.”
“Are you sure?” Jade asked with concern in her eyes.
I smiled at how sweet she was, and I leaned over to kiss her lips. “It’s fine, really. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Jade’s eyebrows lifted as she looked at me. She still didn’t know all the wild things I’d done in my past. It was cute that she thought I was so straightlaced.
“As a matter of fact, I think we should all smoke a little. Things are way too tense in here,” I said.
A smile broke out on Dustin’s face as he reached into his pants pocket. “I like him.”
Everyone laughed, and just like that, the tension was gone.
After smoking a blunt in my living room, we were all completely relaxed. I watched as the guys teased Jade about all the clients who had come in purely because they wanted time with her.
“I swear, that one dude asked you to tattoo his ass just to say you touched it,” Dustin said before taking a sip from his beer.
Jade shuddered. “Ugh, that was gross. I put on two pairs of gloves for that one.”
Jackson and Trix started laughing.
“I’m serious! He had all kinds of pimples and shit. It was awful.”
I started laughing and nearly spit beer all over my three-thousand-dollar rug. Jade nudged me with her shoulder, and when I peered over at her, she was watching me.
She smirked. “You keep laughing, and I’ll tattoo your ass.”
I swallowed my beer and shook my head. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
“Let’s play Asshole!” Trix shouted, getting off the couch and jumping to his feet.
Cee Cee laughed, and he paused to look over at her.
“Oh, shit. You’re too young to drink, aren’t you?” Trix asked.
Cee Cee opened her mouth to respond, but Dustin spoke first, “Yes.” He gave both of them warning glares.
“Oh, shut up, Dustin. You were drinking at fifteen. Cee Cee can have a drink if she wants,” Jade said.
Dustin’s glare moved to Jade, and she laughed.
“It’s cool. I’ll just drink a soda or something. I have to drive these guys home anyway.”
“I can have my driver take you all home later, if you want,” I said to the room.
All eyes were on me again.
“I’ve got a limo.”
They all exchanged glances before Cee Cee smiled and said, “Hell yeah!”
Jade
It was midnight, and I could not stop laughing. Jay was currently the Asshole, and I was the President. We’d decided the Asshole had to wear a pair of Cee Cee’s big pink-framed sunglasses and an empty case of beer that the guys had cut at the top to look like a crown. Seeing Jay drunk with pink sunglasses on his eyes and a box on his head was one of the funniest sights I’d ever seen. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him laugh so much either. He was clearly drunk, and he was getting along flawlessly with my friends. He seemed so much younger and carefree.
“Hey, Asshole. I need another drink,” I said, shaking my empty beer bottle in front of Jay’s face.
He stood up and said, “Yes, ma’am, Madam President.”
That was another rule I’d made during my presidency.
Cee Cee, Cindy, and I all laughed as he stumbled toward the kitchen.
“I need one, too!” Cindy yelled toward the kitchen.
She nudged me with her elbow as Jay came walking back into the room with five bottles of beer balanced in his arms. Cee Cee’s glasses were perched on the end of his nose as he tried to see where he was going.
He successfully set them all down on the table, opening mine before he handed it to me. “Madam President,” he said with a sexy grin.
I winked at him and took a sip. I was definitely digging this role-playing. I wondered if Jay would let me be President in bed, too.
“Hey, you two! Focus,” Jackson said, pointing at Jay and me.
“Hey! You take a drink for talking to me like that!” I said, pointing back at him.
Maybe I was enjoying my new power a little too much.
Jackson groaned before taking another swig from his beer.
Around two in the morning, we were all drunk and standing in front of Jay’s building as his driver pulled the limo up to the curb.
Jackson had his arm draped over my shoulders. “You did good, J. He’s a keeper for sure,” he said as we watched Jay talking to his driver.
“I’m one lucky girl,” I said as I admired Jay from afar. I couldn’t wait to get him alone.
Jay started walking back toward us.
Jackson moved his arm from around me to shake his hand. “Hey, man. Thanks for the ride.”
“No problem.”
“Yeah, thanks for everything. I had a great time,” Cee Cee said.
Jay moved to my side. Dustin and Trix were already climbing into the limo and yelling at us about how awesome it was. Jay slipped his arm around my waist as we watched my friends get in, and his driver closed the door behind them.
Trix opened the window and yelled, “You’re cool, man. We’re gonna go surfing together, right?”
“Sure thing,” Jay said.
I glanced up at Jay and smiled. I was so happy he liked my friends, and they’d warmed up to him. It meant a lot to me.
Dustin squeezed his head out of the window before shouting, “Me, too!”
Jay and I laughed as the limo drove away.
“Well, that was fun,” I said, peering up at him.
His glossy eyes came to mine, and he gave me a lopsided grin. “Yeah, it was. I can’t remember the last time I got this drunk.”
“Well, we’d better get inside. You have to work tomorrow, Mr. Clarke.”
Jay sighed and stuck out his bottom lip as I pulled him toward the door.
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you go to sleep happy.”
Jay’s lips curved into a sexy smile. “Yes, please, Madam President.”
Jay
Two Months Later
Jade and I were on our way to my parents’ house. She was sitting next to me in my new Audi A7, looking gorgeous in her black dress. She’d picked out the most conservative one she could find. It stopped right above her knees and had a high neckline, but she still looked sexy as hell. Reaching over, I took her sweaty hand and brought it to my mouth before kissing her knuckles. It was something I did every time we were in the car together. Even after two months, I still couldn’t keep my hands off of her.
Jade meant so much more to me than I’d ever imagined. When I wasn’t with her, my body craved her touch, my heart felt half empty, and my mind wandered. My ambition at work had dwindled. I would still take care of business, but my passion for success seemed insignificant when compared to Jade. My world, my thoughts, and my desires all revolved around her now.
Jade’s hazel eyes met mine, and she gave me an anxious smile.
“Relax, baby. You don’t need to impress anyone, okay? Just be yourself.”
I’d been saying that ever since I told her that my mom had invited us over for dinner. I wasn’t sure if it’d helped, but I kept trying.
She nodded and muttered, “Okay,” before turning to look out her window.
I didn’t like seeing her so nervous and stressed, but as time had gone on and my father’s condition had gotten worse, I’d felt a need to at least introduce her to my parents. I wanted my mom to see how happy Jade made me, and I needed Jade to know how important she was to me.
I pulled up to my parents’ gate and waited as it slowly swung open. As I drove up their long driveway, I peeked over at Jade and saw a look of wonder in her eyes as she took everything in. My mother was known for overdoing things, and it looked like nothing had changed. The entire drive was lit up with Asian-style lanterns hanging from the trees.
“Whoa,” she breathed as the mansion came into view. She turned to look at me, her eyes wide. “You grew up here?”
“Yeah. This house has been in my family for generations. It was built in the early eighteen hundreds.”
“It’s beautiful.”
After parking my car and getting out, I opened the passenger door for Jade and held her hand as she stood. The fountain in front of the house was lit up, and lotus flowers were floating in the water. I’d told my mom that Jade liked sushi, so Mom must have decided on a Japanese theme. I shook my head as I guided Jade past the fountain and toward the front steps.
“Oh my God.” Jade stopped, her head tilted back, as she looked at the large columns lining the front of the home. “What if they hate me?” she whispered.
My eyebrows furrowed, and I took her face in my hands. Her panicked eyes were bouncing back and forth between mine.
“Do you want to leave? We don’t have to do this—”
She started shaking her head. “No. No.” Jade took a step back and ran her hands over her thighs as she took a deep breath. “It’s cool. I’m cool.”
I slipped my right hand into my pocket as I grinned at her.
God, I love her.
I thought I’d fallen in love with Jade during the first week, but I still hadn’t told her. I’d catch the words lingering on the tip of my tongue every time I saw her, but I never said them. I had a feeling she knew how I felt anyway.
Looping her arm through mine, Jade turned us back toward the house and took another step.
Jade
I was a nervous fucking wreck. I was about to meet Jay’s parents for the first time, and I already knew I wasn’t the type of woman they would have chosen for him. They were old money. They spent their time at country clubs, playing golf with the world’s elite, and here I was, a half Cherokee, quarter Jamaican, and quarter white, parentless tattoo artist.
Jay’s father barely even spoke to him, so there was no way his father was going to like me, but I knew this was important to Jay. He was letting me see this side of his life, the part that he rarely showed anyone, and there was no way I’d let him down.
The past two months I’d spent with Jay were some of the best of my life. He always treated me like a princess, so protective and attentive. I’d never had a man put me first, never had someone make me feel like I was the only thing that mattered. I felt like I was living a fairy tale complete with my own Prince Charming.
