One Deep Breath

Chapter Twenty-Three

Bolting upright, Jolie woke up in a sweat, gasping for air as she tried to make out her surroundings in the dark. Panic riddled her body as she tried to understand why she had woken up so suddenly, trying to recall what dream had spurred an anxiety attack.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," Jesse's voice, thick with sleep, broke into her racing mind. He sat up, rubbing her back with one hand as he rubbed his eyes with the other.

"I, oh. Uh, sorry. I'm sorry," Jolie muttered, her hands going to her face, pressing into her eyebrows willing herself not to cry. She just needed one minute to talk herself out of this panic attack, and the last thing she wanted to do was explain her anxiety to him in the middle of the night, still naked from earlier.

"Bad dream?" he asked, kissing her shoulder.

"Yeah," she mumbled, pulling her self together. She was so embarrassed that she had actually woken him up. "Forgot where I was for a second."

"Come here," he said gently, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her down into him as they laid back into the pillows.

Cuddling into him, Jolie started focusing on her breathing, inhaling and exhaling the way she had been taught by her past therapists. With Jesse spooning her and his scent filling her lungs, she calmed down quicker than usual.

Backed up into his chest she could feel his strong, steady heartbeat under his ribcage and she willed her own to slow down, matching it. It wasn't long until his breathing slowed and the weight of his arms around her increased, letting Jolie know that he was out again.

Paying attention to him distracted her so that her panic attack had subsided, and the satisfaction she felt curled up into him melted away her fears from earlier. Instead of being up for the reminder of the night like she would have been at home, Jolie was fast asleep within minutes again.

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The next time Jolie woke up, it was from the sunlight filling the room through all the oversized windows. Rolling over she saw that she was alone. Taking a few extra minutes to wake up, Jolie stretched out on the massive bed, which was a mess of sheets, pillows and blankets after last night.

As she recalled the events of the night before, she was flooded with varying emotions. She was annoyed that she'd panicked in the middle of the night and embarrassed that Jesse had woken up from it, but she also still felt giddy, excited and wild after the weekend they'd had together. Even aside from their super satisfying tryst, Jolie couldn't help but feel smitten, completely taken by Jesse and falling for him hard.

Replaying the night back in her mind, her face undoubtedly glowing, she decided to let the negative emotions weighing her down go, and focused her energy on reveling in her new love affair.

Getting up, Jolie grabbed Jesse's tee shirt from last night off the floor. Slipping it on, she padded down the hall towards the stairs.

Wandering through the penthouse, Jolie joined Jesse in the kitchen. He was leaning against the kitchen counter scrolling through his phone, his blonde hair a tousled mess and wearing a plain white tee with sweatpants hanging low off his hips.

"Hi," she broke the silence, causing Jesse to turn her way. Jolie knew with one look at his face that he liked seeing her in his shirt, his reaction similar to the one he had Friday night when he'd seen her in it the first time.

"Hey you," he smiled at her, reaching his arm out for her before wrapping her in a big hug. "Sleep okay?"

Jolie looked up at him quizzically, pulling her lip in between her teeth.