Jake was sleeping across my back, his face pressed to my skin, his torso half on me, half on the mattress and his knee bent between my legs.

He shifted, rousing from his contented sleep.

I’d never woken up with Jake after a night of sex and sleeping together. During our eight-month relationship, we’d been too young to have that moment. Feeling myself get stupidly weepy about it, I covered it by grumbling against my pillow, “If you’re going to be settled heavily between my legs, I should at least get something good out of it.”

His chuckle rumbled through his chest and moved against my back in a deliciously intimate way. “Morning to you too.”

“Mmm, morning.”

He let go of my wrist and coasted a hand down my side, his touch shivery soft, as he caressed my bottom and then gently slipped two fingers inside me. I groaned, widening my legs.

“Baby.” Jake’s dick hardened against my outer thigh. “You’re wet already.”

I curled my fingers into the sheets. “Don’t stop.”

He kept gliding in and out of me slowly, torturously building tension as his mouth scattered kisses all over my skin. Stopping his sensual assault, Jake eased off to turn me onto my back. His dark eyes glistened in the morning light as he teased strands of my wavy hair between his finger and thumb. “I missed your hair,” he kissed it, dropping it to pick up my hand so he could press kisses along my knuckles. “I missed everything about you.”

“I missed you too,” I confessed quietly, smiling through the tears in my eyes. “Like a whole lot.”

He smiled back at me before he turned his attention to kissing every inch of me. Spending more time between my legs than anywhere, his masterful use of his tongue on my cl*thad me breaking apart. Loudly. He levered himself up, bracing above me, and as my lower half still shuddered in cl**ax, Jake moved inside me slowly. I sighed in pleasure, and my hands gripped his waist as he rocked into me gently. His head dipped to kiss me deeply, meaningfully, reassuringly.

That morning Jake spent a long time making me come, making me dazed, and making love to me. It was a stark contrast to our fast and furious sex the night before and far, far more beautifully scary.

We didn’t come out of my room until early afternoon, waiting until we were sure my roommates had gone for the day. I’d been pretty loud and was almost a little embarrassed to face them. Especially Gemma, who probably wouldn’t take too kindly to her roommate having loud sex with her friend’s ex-boyfriend.

Pouring Jake a black coffee as he settled on the seats by the kitchen window, I winced as I remembered my attitude the night before. Taking the coffee over to him, I attempted to ignore the hot, satisfied look in his eyes as I approached. It would only distract me and we really needed to talk.

“I’m sorry about my attitude last night,” I told him quietly, handing him the mug. “I know you were just trying to be a good guy.”

Reaching over for the nearest chair, I was about to take a seat in the opposite corner when Jake pulled me onto his lap. It brought me close to him and my nostrils flared slightly at the scent of my perfume lingering on him.

Something primal and possessive rushed through me at the realization.

Jake was mine again.

The breath whooshed right out of me.

“You don’t have to be sorry. No one does. It’s a shitty situation,” he assured me. “But I promise it’s the last time I prioritize her over you. I just … felt I owed her last night. I owed it to be patient and kind with her. I owe you more, though, Charley. I promise it won’t happen again.”

I nodded in understanding. “Does Melissa finally get what’s happening here?”

His eyes dimmed as he nodded. “She’s still pretty broken up. She kept talking around in circles, trying to convince me … I eventually had to just lay it out. I told her I was in love with you and I always would be. I told her I was sorry, but that nothing she said could change my mind.”

I closed my eyes, remembering how awful it was to lose him. “I feel terrible for her.”

He cupped the back of my head, just behind my ear, while his thumb pressed lightly against the pulse in my neck. My eyes popped open as he leaned his face into mine. “You have nothing to feel guilty about, okay? I won’t have that on you.”

A memory of the first time Jake held me like that—on the track at school back home—came to me only to be obliterated by the memory of him holding Melissa like that in the student union.

An ache I thought was gone cut through me and I jerked my head from his grip. “Don’t.”

He frowned, a flicker of unease passing through his eyes. “Don’t what?”

Trying to understand my own reaction, I shook my head. My only guess … I wasn’t quite over what he’d had with Melissa. I’d had a relationship too, so it wasn’t that (although we needed to discuss it and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to telling Jake about the particulars). It was just that I’d never had closeness with anyone but Jake, and Jake … well, he’d definitely been close to Melissa. Despite his declaration of love and my silence on the matter, I realized that deep down, I was worried I was always going to be that little bit more in love with Jake than he’d ever be with me. That didn’t sit well. Not at all.

Shoving the ridiculous notion aside, I shrugged. “I don’t like you holding my nape like that.” I smirked at him, attempting to turn it into a joke. “It’s so alpha male.”

However, Jake didn’t smile. He studied me, growing somewhat grim. “Char—”

The kitchen door swung open, cutting him off. Claudia walked in, chattering to Beck over her shoulder. Beck’s gaze moved to us, drawing Claudia’s attention.

For a moment she just blinked at us and then a sly grin spread across her mouth. “Thanks for the lack of sleep, guys.”

I blushed, groaning into my hand as Jake laughed softly and wrapped an arm around my waist. He gently moved my body where he wanted it to be so I was tucked with my back against his chest, his chin resting on my shoulder.

Claudia shook her head, still smiling. “Look at them, sickeningly cute already.”

I curled a hand around the thigh of Jake’s bent leg, getting comfortable. “For someone who didn’t get much sleep last night, you seem awful cheery.”

She gave Beck a long look and he nodded at her. With a deep breath she turned to me, leaning against the kitchen counter. “I told Beck everything my mom told me about my real dad.”

After the incident with the groupie girl at Milk that first night back, Claudia had cooled off toward Beck, not confiding in him, hanging out with him less. It drove him nuts and he wore her down until she started letting him in again. I didn’t know which one of them I wanted to shake the sense into. All I did know was that I didn’t like the idea of my friend letting a guy—no matter how kind he could be—continually walk all over her feelings. Claudia was a little defensive on the whole subject, so I’d decided to leave her to it and just be there for her when their relationship finally cracked.

Jake stiffened behind me and it suddenly occurred to me he didn’t know anything about Claudia’s family situation. It must’ve struck Claudia too because she informed him far more carelessly than she felt. “Oh, at Christmas my dad dropped the bombshell that he’s not my real dad. Turns out my real dad is this retired artist, Dustin Tweedie. He lives in Barcelona.”

“Shit,” Jake muttered. “Merry f**king Christmas.”

“Exactly,” Claudia replied dryly. “Anyway, I told Beck and he helped me come to a decision. So I called my mom.”

I raised an eyebrow, not knowing where she might be going with this. “Okay?”

She smiled but the smile was shaky, nervous, but excited too. “She’s going to pay for me, you, Beck, and Jake to stay in Barcelona for spring break … so I can meet my real father.”

My mouth dropped open at the news. Jake gave me a reassuring squeeze when he felt my body grow tense against him. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Claudia nodded jerkily. “I need to do it. Otherwise it’s just going to eat at me. And I’d invite everyone, but I don’t want everyone there. It’s too personal. I just need you guys with me. If you’re willing to come along with me, that is.”

“Of course.” I nodded

“I’m happy to come too,” Jake answered softly as my eyes sought out Beck’s. Not sure this was a good idea at all, I kind of blamed him for encouraging it.

I won’t let anything happen to her, he promised me silently.

I narrowed my eyes. That makes two of us.

“Well,” Claudia heaved a sigh, “that’s good news. And it’ll be fun too. I mean, Barcelona,” she smiled, trying to cut the tension. “It’s still a few months away. Something to look forward to. Your parents will be fine with it, right?”

At the mention of my parents, I tensed again. “Uh … yeah.”

Understanding my sudden discomfort, Claudia’s eyes widened. “Oh, you haven’t told your mom and dad about Jake. That should be fun,” she grimaced.

Jake stilled behind me.

“Fuck,” I murmured.

Jake had asked me a few times in the last month about my family and their reaction to us being back together. I’d been deliberately vague about the whole thing because … well … I hadn’t told them. They knew something was up because I’d been somewhat cagey in our conversations, but I just hadn’t been able to bring myself to discuss Jake with them.

The truth was I didn’t know how to discuss it with them, to make them understand, when I was still trying to work out the whole thing for myself.

By the tightening of Jake’s body against mine, I could tell he wasn’t happy about the news. He’d told his family. Apparently they were delighted for him, for us.

Shit.

“Anyway,” Claudia gave me an apologetic smile before continuing on, “Beck and I were just dropping by to grab my purse before we head to the movies.”

“Movies?” I jumped on the idea, suddenly not wanting to be alone with Jake because I knew he was like a dog with a bone and would interrogate me about my family and then ask me about the whole “nape” thing again until I told him the truth.

Claud frowned. “You want to come?”

“Sure.” I twisted around to smile at Jake. “Movies?”

He studied me carefully, and I knew he didn’t like whatever he saw behind my eyes. But he let it go and nodded slowly.

I crawled out of his lap, ignoring the strain between us. Pulling playfully on his hand, I tugged him up off the seat. We filed out of the kitchen after Beck and Claudia, grabbing our coats as we went. Claudia and Beck stepped out into the building hallway and I was just about to follow when Jake’s hand appeared above my head on the door and he slammed it closed.

Whirling around in surprise, I stared up at him as he pressed his body into mine. “What are you doing?”

There was a wary aspect in his eyes as he replied, “I don’t really feel like a movie right now.”

“Oh?”

“I have something far more active in mind.”

Relieved that he didn’t want to talk and also already turned on, I gave him a cocky once-over. “Do you think I’ll find it satisfactorily entertaining?”

“I’m thinking mind-blowing.”

“Mind-blowing?” I arched an eyebrow. “You’ll have to work really hard for mind-blowing.”

He smirked at me, his eyes lidded with desire. “I think I’m up for the challenge.”

“It’ll have to—”

He cut me off but I didn’t care when he did it with such skill. His kiss was lush and earthy and so addictive. I held onto him for dear life as he kissed me breathless. When he eventually came up for air, I panted hard against his mouth. “Mind-blowing could definitely work for me.”

Jake gave me a cocky smile and grabbed my hand, leading me back down the hall toward my bedroom. “Don’t get too comfortable,” he told me smoothly. “Sex first. Issues and answers later.”

My grip tightened in his at his announcement and despite my fear of Jake discovering just how fragile my grasp on our relationship was, I followed him bravely inside.

I may not be ready to let Jake lead me back into the deep, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t willing to let him try …

Sitting in the Library Bar, picking nervously at the soft wood of the table he was leaning on, Jake glanced at the clock above the bar and wondered for the fifteenth time if Charley was actually going to turn up, or if this was a deliberate stand-up. A form of revenge.

For the first time in a very long time, his stomach churned with nerves.

He’d always hoped that he might come across Charley at Edinburgh University, that he’d finally get a chance to apologize for the shitty things he’d said and done, but to actually see her for the first time since Lanton was so much more overwhelming than he’d expected.

The sight of her across the room at Denver’s party had knocked the breath right out of him, and everyone else, including his girlfriend, had disappeared. When Charley had run from him without even saying a word … well, that stung. More than stung.

He’d been a moody bastard for the last couple of days, something that was not lost on Melissa, and she was smart enough to know why. It wasn’t fair to her. He needed to talk this out with Charley, needed the closure so he could move on like she probably had and then make it up to Mel for being such a dick.