[Complete] [18+]
In the picturesque lakeside town, the calm waters mask the storm within Juniper Jenkins' heart. Betrayed and broken by her cheating boyfriend, she flees to the sanctuary of her friend's lakeside house, to work remotely for the summe...
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I've been sufficiently happy and distracted for the last week and a half. I've been with Wells every free second I've had. I told Ellis and Delaney that we had another article to work on together, just to avoid seeming odd for not being at the lake house, especially now that the Wi-Fi is fixed. It's not typical of me to lie to them or anyone really, but I feel guilty for breaking our pact.
So, I've been telling them I'm working at Hansen's Coffee every day. I sit at the counter, working, while he's occupied with his own tasks and making coffee. There's also the part where I coincidentally 'run' by his house most mornings and surprisingly cross paths at the bookstore during his lunch breaks. It seems like no matter where I go, there he is, all the time.
And I'm okay with it. More than okay, actually.
I think I thought maybe it would be like scratching an itch, this tension between Wells and me. I thought that once I scratched it, it would pop like a bubble and then dissipate. Instead, everything feels like it has been amplified tenfold. I just want more. I can't get enough. I can't stop looking at him, or thinking about him, or wanting him.
I tried. I really did. I tried to keep my distance, to remain indifferent, to resist wanting him. But no matter how many times I told my brain this wasn't a good idea my body just wouldn't agree.
I crave him. I've never craved someone before I tasted him.
His face. His smile. His eyes. His smell. His voice.
And then I remind myself—it's just sex. Mind-numbingly great sex. But just sex. There's no cuddling after, no staying over. We haven't even had time to undress completely all the way. It's always too quick, too hurried. There are no deep conversations, even though I so desperately want all of it.
I'm attempting not to let myself go there, though, to that place where I want more than just whatever this is. Because this is what I asked for, and once summer ends, so does this. So do we.
SoI deflect and try to distract myself from thinking about it, just as I am doing right now.
I shake my head and attempt to focus on my laptop screen. My fingers hover over the keyboard, my eyes fixating on the blinking cursor, seemingly mocking my lack of progress.
"Will you stop looking at me like that?" I say, sensing Wells's gaze fixed on me as he works behind the counter at the espresso machine.
"No," he replies, and I lift my eyes from the edge of my laptop, playfully narrowing my gaze at him.
"I can't concentrate when you watch me," I say, forcing my attention back to the screen.
"Then stop looking so pretty," he teases, and I feel butterflies fluttering in my chest, attempting to escape. I try to shove them back into their cage. "And you couldn't concentrate even if I wasn't looking," he adds with a smirk.
