"Yes."

I didn't hesitate. I needed this.

"Lay back. Don't let your mind drift anywhere else but on my voice."

It sounded like she was getting comfortable in her bed. "I love your voice, by the way, always have. It's so deep and raspy. s.e.xy."

"I'm glad you feel that way because it's all I'm going to be using to make you come. I'm not going to be doing a lot of talking, though, because I want to hear you breathe and the sounds you're making."

"My legs are shaking," she said. "G.o.dammit, Jake. What are you doing to me?"

"Are you touching yourself?"

"Yes."

I gripped my shaft. "Good. Me, too. If my c.o.c.k is this hard and wet from just looking at your picture, I couldn't imagine what it would feel like inside of you."

Her breathing was uneven. My own was even worse. I was starting to lose my ability to speak as my hand slid up and down along my hardness to the sound of her whimpering. We were letting ourselves get completely lost in each other. Intense pleasure fueled by the longing the distance between us caused made it like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

The ongoing vivid image in my head of her legs spread open while she rubbed her fingers along her wet c.l.i.t was driving me wild as I pumped my slick c.o.c.k into my hand. The sighs of pleasure coming out of her were bringing me closer to the brink with each second. But mainly, knowing that she was thinking of me, wanting me inside of her as she did it made me crazy.

When her breathing suddenly became ragged, I knew. "You're coming..."

"Yes. Yesss."

Painfully aroused, I'd been struggling to hold my o.r.g.a.s.m back from the get go. So, when she told me she was coming, I jerked off faster and within seconds, hot c.u.m shot out onto my stomach, my release so intense I was practically seeing stars.

We both sounded like we'd run a marathon as we breathed together.

The faint sounds of cheering and horns coming from downstairs snapped me out of my stupor. The timing of that briefly freaked me out until I realized the cheers weren't for me. I looked over at the clock, and it made perfect sense.

"It's midnight," Nina said.

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year. That was the craziest thing I've ever done," she said, sounding exasperated.

"Yeah...it wasn't a New Year's kiss, but it was pretty f.u.c.king awesome."

"If that start was any indication of how the rest will go, it's gonna be a great year."

Her words haunted me as I came down from the euphoria of our first s.e.xual encounter. My heart suddenly started to hurt. This year had the potential to be the best or worst of my life, depending on how things went. I'd find out sooner than I was ready for which way it was going to go. It wouldn't be long before everything came undone.

CHAPTER 17.

Past The following work week flew by, and before I knew it, my a.s.s was on the train back to Boston for the final time before I'd see Nina again. She'd be arriving in Brooklyn sometime over the weekend while I was gone. We had plans to go out Monday night, and that was when we'd have the talk.

I was on edge the entire ride. I'd never wanted to stay back in New York more than this weekend, but Ivy apparently had a bad week and with Nina possibly not home until Sunday, it didn't make sense to stay behind. I forced myself to make the trip. So anxious to get the talk over with, I wished I could have just waited at the apartment for the moment she walked in, though.

On the train, the sounds around me seemed amplified as my head spun. My feelings alternated between excitement, dread, arousal and nausea.

I'd just arrived to South Station when my phone chimed as I exited the train. It was a text from Tarah.

Nina's birthday is this Sunday. Even though she never told anyone, Ryan just happened to remember. We're throwing her a surprise party downstairs at Eleni's. I think it would be cool if you showed up. 7 pm. Let me know.

I hadn't moved from my spot on the busy Amtrak platform since the message came in. Swarms of people pa.s.sed by me as my eyes stayed glued to one word: Sunday.

Sunday.

Sunday was January eigth.

My birthday.

Her birthday.

We had the same birthday?

That was friggin wild. She was two years younger than me, so she'd be turning twenty-three. My reaction quickly turned from amazement to disappointment that Ryan knew about her birthday when I didn't. She'd never mentioned it to me. It dawned on me that it probably had something to do with guilt over Jimmy. I understood too well the feeling of not wanting to celebrate a birthday when you lost a sibling who would never have the privilege of marking that milestone again. I'd never told her about mine because I never fussed about my birthday. The eighth of January was historically just another day to me. Not anymore. Now, it would always be Nina's birthday. If for some reason we were not together, I still knew I'd think of nothing but Nina on my birthday for the rest of my life.

Even though I normally left Boston late on Sundays, I wasn't going to miss Nina's party for anything. I'd have to catch a train by three in the afternoon to get there in time.

This development would now change a couple of other things. My family had planned a little get together for me at Allison's since this birthday was my twenty-fifth. They would have to postpone it now. Also, my original plan was to have the Ivy talk with Nina the next time we saw each other. There was no way I was going to ruin her birthday, though. Our birthday.

Now that I'd be seeing her earlier than planned, the extra time we'd be spending together Sunday night before the talk would mean having to exercise a lot of control. The s.e.xual dynamic of our relationship had changed since New Year's Eve, but I still vowed not to touch her until she knew everything. Even though we'd experienced that amazing phone s.e.x, it was hard to believe we still hadn't even kissed.

I returned Tarah's text.

Jake: I'll be there.

Tarah: Great! That's gonna mean a lot to her.

The bracelet I'd ordered her on Christmas Eve was delivered to the apartment yesterday. The plan was to give it to her down the line if things worked out between us. I now knew I wanted to give it to her Sunday for her birthday instead.

Frigid air nearly choked me as I ran down Lincoln Street. I missed the 2:30 train, and that meant arriving at the apartment an hour later than planned. Since Nina didn't know I was coming, I didn't bother to text anyone.

As I pa.s.sed by the entrance to the restaurant, my pulse raced because I knew she was inside. Still needing to shower and get dressed, I couldn't join the party yet. It would be close to eight by the time I finally got downstairs.

I practically flew through the door to the apartment and took the quickest shower of my life. After slicking my wet hair back, I threw on some jeans and a navy b.u.t.ton down shirt, rolling the sleeves up. After a couple of spritzes of cologne and a quick look in the mirror, I had to admit that I looked pretty d.a.m.n good considering the time it took me to get dressed.

Before heading downstairs, I stopped in the hallway outside Nina's empty room then walked inside. Sitting on her bed, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, but it had the opposite effect because the air was filled with her vanilla scent, and that just made my body react when I should have been trying to calm my d.i.c.k. I'd quit smoking weeks ago. Otherwise, this would have been the opportune time for a cigarette. My eyes landed on one of her lace bras that had fallen on the floor, and my body buzzed again with an urgent need to see her. Probably not a good idea to make my entrance downstairs with a hard on. Under the circ.u.mstances tonight, the buffer of other people being around us would probably be a good thing.

My feet hurriedly skipped down the steps. The faint sound of Mrs. b.a.l.l.sworthy's television could be heard on my way down.

The cold air that hit me as I stepped outside was replaced seconds later by the heat of the crowd as I entered the restaurant. Eleni's was packed. A live Greek band played in the corner while a belly dancer stood in the other corner as she prepared to perform. The smell of garlic and barbecued meat filled the air, causing my stomach to rumble in hunger despite my nerves. I hadn't eaten since breakfast.

Squinting my eyes, I looked around for the right table. When I spotted the back of her, my heartbeat accelerated, almost rivaling the drumbeat vibrating through the room.

Her long hair was draped over the back of the chair. She didn't see me.

I heard Ryan shout, "Jake!"

Nina quickly turned around, and all of the action in the room seemed to fade away when our eyes met. Unable to get to her fast enough, my stride got bigger with each step forward.

It had been so f.u.c.king long, too long.

"Sorry I'm late. Happy birthday, Nina."

She stood up, revealing a strapless red dress that hugged her body in a way that made me never want to let her out of my sight again. One look at her, and all of my rules about physical contact went straight down the tubes.

Rules? I could barely remember my own f.u.c.king name.

Without a second thought, I leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her cheek, my tongue ever so lightly grazing her skin. Two thin braids wrapped around each side of her head as the rest of her hair fell down her shoulders. She looked like a G.o.ddess. But she seemed tense.

I had to practically pry my eyes away from her. When I did, I immediately regretted it, because it was then that I realized Nina had been sitting across from someone. My head turned slowly to the left, taking note of Ryan's position across from Tarah. My gaze then moved back to the right, to the spot where a tall redheaded guy was sitting opposite Nina-ogling her.

What in the ever-living f.u.c.k.

A primal urge to rip his head off tore through me. My own head was spinning because that seating arrangement looked awfully like a double date, and I was looking awfully like the fifth f.u.c.king wheel.

Nina hadn't known I'd be here. Had I walked in on her date?

Rage was building inside of me. I couldn't even look at her anymore. Instead, I stared straight into the eyes of the ginger dude who just became enemy number one.

Before I could get my head on straight to ask what the f.u.c.k was going on, Ryan started to introduce me to the guy. "This is our roommate, Jake. Jake, this is Michael Hunt, my co-worker."

Michael Hunt.

Mike.

Mike Hunt.

My c.u.n.t.

Douchebag.

I immediately reached out my hand and clenched my teeth. "Mike, is it? Mike Hunt?"

A look of fear was transparent in Nina's eyes. Before anyone could respond to my obvious dig on his name, Desiree walked over to take our drink order. Desiree. Great. This night was turning into all sorts of f.u.c.ked up.

"Jakey...there you are. I thought they said you were in Boston."

"Funny you should point that out, Des. Tarah had told me it was Nina's birthday dinner, so I came home early to surprise her." My stare burned into Nina's. She looked frozen. "Turns out, I was the one surprised." I never took my eyes off Nina as I handed back the menu and said, "I'll take a vodka straight, Des."

My eyes continued to sear into Nina's when Tarah's voice interrupted my trance. "Jake, there is something upstairs I forgot to show you. It's broken, and I don't want to forget to tell you about it. Do you mind...before we order our food?"

She nudged her head repeatedly for me to follow her away from the table.

My chest was rising and falling as we walked out of the dining area through a side door and into the adjacent hallway that also led up to our apartment.

"This isn't what it looks like, Jake."

"You told me to come to this party, and Nina's on a f.u.c.king date?"

"It's not a date. She doesn't even know him."

Spit flew out of my mouth when I shouted, "Who the f.u.c.k brought him?"

"Ryan did. He thought it would be a bright idea to ambush Nina by inviting this guy from work to the birthday dinner. He's apparently trying to set her up with him."

I grinded my teeth in anger. "Anything to get her away from me."

She nodded. "I think so. I'm actually really p.i.s.sed at him, too. He never told me he was inviting anyone. It was supposed to be the four of us. I would have never intentionally put you in this situation."

"Why did she agree to this?"

"She literally only found out right before we came downstairs. She thought I was in on it and got mad at me. I would have never done that to her. I wanted this night to be special. I was hoping you two would finally get your act together tonight."

"f.u.c.k, Tarah. I don't want her near that guy."

"You don't want any guy near her."

"No, I don't."

"You really like her."

"It's so much more than that. You don't know the half of it."

"You two are crazy about each other. You need to tell her how you feel tonight. Whatever it is you're holding back, it needs to end tonight."

"I need to be alone with Nina. Help me make that happen."

"Okay. We'll go back to the table for a bit. Then, at some point, get her alone, and if you guys leave, I'll handle the damage."

"Thank you."

"Come on. Let's go back," she said before leading the way back into the dining room.

When we returned to the table, my shot of vodka was waiting for me. I immediately lifted it to my mouth while Nina watched my every move. The alcohol burned my throat as I downed it all in one gulp, slamming the gla.s.s on the table when finished. My eyes darted over to her. She looked like she was expecting me to erupt in anger. Instead, my mouth slowly spread into a wicked grin. A look of relief washed over her face as she returned it with a smile that told me everything I needed to know about where she stood about me.