Wildflowers and Wide Receivers

32. Jonah

Chapter 32

Jonah

S ince the gala, Sophie and I have spent every moment we can together. This week has flown by, we’ve eaten at two new pizza places, we’ve visited three different dog parks with Vivi and Molly, and every night after Vivi goes to bed, we fall into each other like we’re starved. This thing between us, it isn’t casual, and although we haven’t had the talk yet, I’m certain she knows it too.

It’s now Friday afternoon. At two fifteen, Sophie texts me that she’s leaving work early and heading home. She asks if I’m free to come over, and damn, the girl doesn’t need to ask me twice.

I’ve barely knocked on her door when she swings it open, fists the front of my shirt, and drags me inside.

“Happy to see me?” I ask as my hands wrap around her head and my fingers thread through her hair.

“Very,” she says as she stretches up on her toes, sucks my bottom lip between her teeth, and runs the palm of her hand right over my dick. It’s so unexpected and not at the same time that I moan into her mouth and am immediately hard.

Up and down, she strokes as I taste every corner of her mouth, then she drops to her knees.

“Soph,” I groan, leaning back against the door and looking down at her.

“All day, I’ve been thinking about this,” she says, slipping her fingers under my waistband and dragging everything down.

“Why?”

It’s not that I don’t think about being with her just about every second of the day, because I do, but this . . . it’s surprising.

She tilts her head to look up at me. Long eyelashes wave at me as she blinks and then smiles. My fingers run over the curve of her jaw and her mouth, my thumb dipping right in and rubbing along the inside of her bottom lip. “I was thinking about what you did to me here at this door, and once I started, I couldn’t stop.”

One half of my mouth tips up. “Well, who am I to deny you?”

She smiles, and her eyes drop to focus on the task at hand.

Dragging one finger around the tip, she runs it over the edge and all the way down to the base, causing my stomach muscles to clench. She’s so incredibly sexy; my fingers tangle in her hair in anticipation, and she doesn’t make me wait any longer. She runs her tongue straight up me, her hands up the backs of my thighs, she bites my hip bone, and then takes me fully into her mouth.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” I groan. “But in the best way.”

This doesn’t take long. How can it when the perfect girl is on her knees in front of me? Her mouth is warm, her hands know how to work me in the perfect way, and her hair is so soft as my fingers get tangled and grip her to me.

Instantly needing more, I yank up my shorts and throw her over my shoulder. She squeals as I smack her on the ass and take off for her room. I have to pick Vivi up at five, so we’ve got some time for a round two, maybe even a round three.

“I think I like you getting off work early,” I tell her as I toss her onto the bed and reach for her shorts.

“I think I like you being available whenever I want,” she teases back as she shimmies out of her shirt and her bra.

“Whenever you want, huh?” I ask, leaning over her.

“Yes.” She smiles up at me, then hooks me around the neck to pull me to her and kisses me.

Yanking my shirt over my head, I lie back down on top of her and soak up the feel of her warm skin against mine. She smells like candy, and she tastes just as good.

“What is this scar here?” I ask her, running my tongue over the small silver line just under her jaw.

“Roller-skating, I fell,” she whispers as she pushes my shorts down and hooks her foot into them to drag them off.

“How old were you?” I mumble, moving my lips lower to the middle of her chest.

“Eight.”

“I think I would have liked to have known you when you were eight,” I tell her as I drag my tongue from one breast to the next.

She laughs. “I was a very studious child. Loved to read, and I wore glasses.”

“No glasses now?” I glance up at her.

“No. Lasik,” she says, running one foot over the back of my leg.

“You do have beautiful eyes.” Eyes that are happy I’m here. Eyes that are hungry for what I’m about to do to her.

“So do you.” Her hands wrap around my head, and her thumbs run under each eye once and then over each eyebrow. “Your lashes are so long, I’m envious.”

“You can have them. I’ll go without,” I tell her, nuzzling my face against her skin.

She giggles.

“Come here.”

Climbing up higher, I wrap my hands around her face and do the same to her, under her gorgeous eyes and then over her eyebrows. She’s watching me, and since we’re so close, I swear she can see straight down into my soul.

Her hands run over my lats and down to my butt, where she pushes, trying to get me closer.

“Impatient?”

“Desperate.”

Now I can’t have that. Rocking my hips forward, I push inside, and a small gasp escapes her. She draws her legs up next to my hips, opening herself up more, and I pull back only to sink in farther. She feels so good. My lips drop to hers, and slowly, I mimic the movement of my hips with my tongue. In and out. Deep and shallow. In and out. Deep and shallow. I want her to come undone for me like I have for her. Undone in every way.

“Jonah,” she whispers, and I don’t need to be told anything more. I know what she needs, and I shift to make it happen. With my hands under her hips and my mouth savoring her skin, her whole body sings for me. I listen to her melody. I keep the beat, and as her song crescendos, I do the same. How could I not?

I will never get enough of this.

I will never get enough of her.

With no words being said, I set my alarm. I wrap my body around hers, tucking us in, and almost instantly, the two of us fall asleep.

I’m so content, and I know deep down I’m so in love.

In love with her.

The truth and honesty in these words, there’s a rightness that heals a broken piece of my heart left behind after John, and I feel so blessed to have been given another chance with this girl.

Eventually, the sound of the alarm wakes us. Picking up my phone from the nightstand, I see there’s a missed call from Vivi’s dance teacher. Putting the phone on speaker, Sophie and I both sit up and listen to the message.

“Hi, Jonah. This is Kelli from the dance camp. I just wanted to let you know that Vivi isn’t having the best day. There’s nothing to be alarmed about, but I wanted to call you and let you know she’s more withdrawn and not giving me her usual best. I know she’s supposed to be here until five, but if you’re free to come and get her, I think that would be best.”

“Oh, no,” Soph says, looking at me with large concerned eyes.

“I have to go,” I tell her as I slide off the bed and grab my clothes.

“Of course you do,” she tells me. “Do you want me to come with you?” She scoots to the edge of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her.

“No, it’s okay. Let me go get her and see how she is, and then I’ll call you,” I tell her, pulling on my shorts.

“Okay, well, if I can help, please let me know.”

It takes me less than one minute to get dressed. I lean over and kiss Sophie, then take the stairs two at a time.

Walking through the townhouse, I spot a FedEx envelope on her table and next to it is a navy folder that's open, and a trifold pediatric orthopedic flier sitting on top. I don’t know what has me stopping to pick it up, but I do, thinking it’s from her current group, and I want to see her picture. As it turns out, it’s not from her group but from a group in Minnesota. Why would she have this? And why is it out now?

And that’s when I remember what Reid said weeks ago while we were sitting out on his back deck watching Vivi and Izzy in the hot tub. “Yeah, she’s biding her time and not dating anyone seriously.” For some reason, it just didn’t occur to me that biding her time might not have been here in Tampa, but given her relationship with her dad, I suddenly realize it’s possible.

She also hinted at my house that night that her plan was still to get back to Minnesota.

An ache forms in the pit of my stomach, and my chest seizes. Just like the possibility of her leaving Tampa didn’t occur to me, it also didn’t occur to me that she and I might be temporary. I thought fate was pushing us back together, but maybe I was wrong.

Glancing down at the folder, there’s a cover letter tucked into the right side pocket. The date is from yesterday, and the first line says, “We are excited to offer you a position here at Minneapolis Children’s . . .” The words blur, and I stop reading.

What the fuck.

This can’t be happening.

I don’t even know what to do.

Behind me, I hear Sophie coming down the stairs. She freezes on the last step when I assume she sees what I’m holding. I turn to face her more squarely and hold up the trifold. Silence wraps around us, her eyes grow large with worry, and that’s when it hits me.

“You didn’t go home to just see your dad, did you?”

“No.”

Rocks roll down my throat and land in my stomach.

Painful rocks.

“And they offered you the job?” I ask even though I just saw the proof of it with my own eyes.

“Yes,” she whispers.

My arm drops, and my whole body tingles with adrenaline.

I feel so stupid.

“Right.”

“Jonah,” she says, taking that last step and moving across the room toward me. “I want to talk about this with you.”

But we can’t. Not right now.

Vivi is my priority. She always will be.

And it’s with this thought that the pain I have doubles at what this means for her.

I hold up my hand and let out a shuddering breath. “I need to go pick up Vivi.”

“Okay,” she says, our eyes holding on to each other, but no more words are said.

Slamming mine shut, I drop the pamphlet and turn to make my way toward the door. I don’t even know what to think right now, as every part of my body is recoiling and protesting. Why wouldn’t she just tell me? Does she not trust me? One of the things that stings the most is that I’ve been completely open with her, and it hurts that she wasn’t with me.

But I know I can’t leave like this.

Looking back over my shoulder, I see she hasn’t moved. She’s standing next to the table with tears in her eyes. Are these tears about me finding out? Are these tears because she knows she’s about to break my heart? Or are these tears because she knows she’s about to break her own?

“Sophie”—my voice is hoarse against the lump in my throat—“I do want to talk about this with you too, okay?”

She nods, and with my heart pounding in my chest after one final lingering look, I pivot, walk out her front door, and leave.

If she leaves, what will I tell Vivi?

She’s already suffered a great loss, and she’s finally starting to open up and show more of her personality that used to shine bright. I don’t know if she’ll take this okay or view it as something worse.

Abandonment.

On the entire drive to the studio, the weight of grief, loss, and uncertainty as to what to do or say next nearly make me immobile. But when I walk into the studio and see Vivi sitting by herself off to the side, all my worries disappear, and I focus on her.

“Uncle Jonah,” Vivi says when she sees me, then she takes off running.

Squatting down to her level, I catch her when she throws herself into my arms and starts silently crying. It’s not hard or loud, but just enough so I know that today is a bad day.

Kelli comes up behind her, sets Vivi’s bag down on the floor, and gives me a look that lets me know she’s sad for my girl.

“Come on, Wildflower. Let’s go home.”

I grab her bag and pick her up. She never removes her face from my neck as I carry her out.