Just Pretend

Chapter Thirty-Five

Gwen

I wake Jason up just before seven, having left him to sleep on top of me for the majority of the afternoon, and he opens his eyes blearily; looking at me curiously.

'You have to meet Finn and Howard in a little over an hour,' I tell him quietly and he yawns before rolling onto his back and stretching out; his arms over his head – still on my stomach. Carrie mimics his yawn and ends hers with a soft growl before settling her head back on my legs and wiggling her jaw slightly and falling back asleep.

'What time is it?' he asks and the sound of his sleep-filled voice has me soaked in a second. I curse myself and tell him that it's five to seven, to which he pulls a face and flips back onto his stomach, tucking his arm around me and pinning me to the mattress.

I laugh softly as I run my hand through his hair and he moans happily, snuggling his head into my stomach.

'Tell them I'm not coming. You've barred me from going out,' he whines and I laugh out loud, looking down at him to see him grinning into my shirt.

'I'm telling them no such thing and neither are you,' I say when he opens his mouth and he whines again before moving; bracing his hands on either side of my body and pushing himself up with an exaggerated groan, standing on his knees beside me.

He looks down at me with a playful glare and I raise my eyebrows teasingly, waiting for his next attempt to get out of meeting his brothers-in-law.

'Will you please make me a sandwich while I get dressed?' he asks and I laugh, shifting to cross my legs and to look at him.

'Only because it will decrease your chances of getting drunk,' I say, still meaning my words from earlier this afternoon when he told me they asked him to go out.

He grins and stands, holding his hand out for me to take, and pulls me up when I do; pulling me into his arms and locking them in my lower back.

I lean back and look up at him curiously.

Jason slides one of his hands up my back and rests it between my shoulder blades as I reach up to lock my wrists behind his neck. He leans down slightly to accommodate the position and I can feel the emotional tension build between us, growing stronger with each passing second; building on the remains of the last moment.

There's been a lot of them over the last few months and I know, without a doubt, that I've fallen hard for Jason.

He doesn't say a word before he brings one of his hands around to cup my cheek, tilting my head back, and leaning forward to press his lips against mine softly.

The entire day feels like an exercise to build our romantic relationship further and this is no different as I tangle my fingers in his hair and steps closer to him, running one of my hands to the middle of his back. Jason picks me up off the mattresses, straightening his back, and I wrap my legs around his waist to keep from adding any unnecessary weight to his back.

Jason hugs me to his body, his hand on my cheek leaving it to slide down to support my body from underneath, his lips working gently against mine.

'Jace, I'm not going to be the reason you miss a night with your friends,' I whisper when he moves his lips from mine to my jaw and he groans softly, letting me down onto the mattresses again.

'Alright, but I'm not going to be long,' he says and I nod, knowing not to bargain on that, and he leans his forehead against mine before placing a soft kiss there and letting me go entirely to turn and walk to the stairs, taking them two at a time.

I clean up the living room and make his sandwich before walking up the stairs more slowly, patting my leg halfway up for Carrie to follow me and we walk to the bedroom, where Jason just walked out of the steaming bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around his waist.