10. Archer

Chapter 10

Archer

"Oh, that was fucking fun."

I lie on my back, gasping, one arm flopped above my head, my other hand resting on Jacob's heaving stomach, tickling his happy trail. I'm exhausted in the best possible way. I've been getting a lot more cardio exercise since we agreed to be fuck buddies. A lot more.

It's been two weeks. He always comes to mine, sometimes asking via text, sometimes just showing up, with need in his eyes. I never turn him away. I enjoy sex. I love sex. I love sex with him. Plus, I convince myself that every time will be the last time. Either he'll get bored, I'll get bored, or he'll freak out again.

We've been to dinner with Mum and Barry a couple of times. We're polite to each other in front of them but never too friendly. Well, not obviously so anyway. I can't resist tickling his thigh under the table or playing footsie with him. I can't help it. Flirting with him is as natural as breathing. I don't do anything that will result in us getting caught. I promised secrecy, and I won't break my word.

Mum brought the framed photo over. She insisted on hanging it in my tiny living room. Fine by me. Jacob and I don't have sex in there. He's one hundred per cent a bedroom guy. I'm okay with that. All that matters is that I'm with him.

I'm learning how to push all his buttons, most often with my mouth and tongue. What to do to draw the deepest, dirtiest moan out of him. What to do to make his toes curl. What to do to make him come so hard he goes cross-eyed.

He rolls onto his side, dislodging my hand, props himself on his elbow, and strokes my sweaty hair and forehead. It's moments like this when I can pretend his gaze reflects more than lust. The more we fuck, the more I get to see confident, self-assured Jacob. He knows what he wants in the bedroom and isn't afraid to ask for it. He pecks my lips and kisses me again. He caresses the tip of my tongue with his but then slowly pulls away.

"Can you stay?" I ask.

"If you want me to. I brought work clothes for the morning."

"I do."

"You're not working this evening?"

"Nope. I'm free as a bird." I stroke his jaw and guide his mouth to mine for another longer kiss. Am I addicted to kissing him? Maybe. Do I care? Not one bit.

We lose ourselves kissing, alternating between gentle kisses where our tongues barely touch to deep ones where we try our hardest to tickle each other's tonsils.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

He taps my nose. "You."

"Aside from me. Quick. Give me three random objects."

He widens his eyes.

"Hurry. Tick tock, tick tock. Don't think about it. Say the first three things that pop into your mind."

"Balloons."

I snigger.

"Elephants and mice."

"Huh. Interesting combination. Do you want to go to India?"

He frowns. "Why India?"

"To see the elephants, silly."

"Oh. No. Mum's going soon, though."

"Really?"

"Yeah. With her fabric painting group. They're going to tour various craft centres, learn new skills, and do some sightseeing."

"Sounds amazing."

"I hope so. She needs to do something that stops her thinking about Dad." Jacob stares at my chest.

"I'm sorry."

"You had nothing to do with my parents breaking up."

No, but Mum did.

"She's bitter. But she needs to move on and enjoy her life. I hate seeing her so consumed by anger," he says.

"It must be tough."

"Yeah, it is. Other than being totally blindsided by Dad's affair, it's been the hardest part. I thought they were solid, but they weren't. Sorry. You don't want to hear any of this."

I pinch his chin and coax him to look at me. "I do. If you need to talk, I'm here for you." I let go.

"Thank you." He brushes his lips over mine and kisses me firmly.

"What's your most useless talent?"

He laughs. "What's with the random questions tonight?"

I shrug. "I guess I'm feeling random. Come on. Everyone has one useless talent. This is mine." I touch the tip of my nose with my tongue.

Jacob's jaw drops. "No wonder you're so good at giving blow jobs."

I snigger. "Okay, maybe having a long, flexible tongue isn't useless."

"I can quack like a duck."

"Umm…everyone can."

"No. Really." He quacks. Not the Donald Duck style of quack, but a full-on makes-me-think-there's-a-duck-under-the-bed quack.

"Woah. That's amazing."

"But not useful outside a school talent contest."

"How did you realise you could do that?"

"I practised. Lots."

"Why?"

"For a school talent contest."

"Please tell me you won."

"Nope. Cassie Taylor won. She could play Bohemian Rhapsody on a kazoo."

"Impressive."

"Right? I couldn't compete with that."

I laugh until Jacob presses his lips to mine. Then I moan for the duration of the toe-curling kiss.

"So, you're not fussed about going to India. Where do you want to travel to?" I ask.

"Anywhere with lots to do and see."

"Well, that narrows it down to about a gazillion places."

He chuckles against my lips. "There aren't a gazillion places in the world."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." He kisses me and skims his hands over me until I'm breathless.

"What's the most daring thing you've ever done?"

He tugs his brows together. "Why all the questions?"

"I'm curious." I want to get to know him better. Will voicing that out loud send him running? Does being fuck buddies mean we're not allowed to discover fun things about each other?

"I got ‘volunteered' by my co-workers at the bank to do a tandem skydive for charity."

I slap him playfully across the chest. "No way! Really?"

"Yes. It was terrifying."

"But you did it?"

"Yes. Never again. You?"

"I went parasailing on holiday once. It took ages to persuade Mum to let me do it. It was so much fun."

He strokes my temple. "I can tell. Your eyes have lit up. They're so pretty right now."

"Only right now?"

"Always." Another kiss, this one the softest yet.

"What was your favourite subject at school?"

"Maths."

"Why am I not surprised? You must have to be good with figures to work in a bank."

"Computers take over the brunt of the work, but it helps to be able to do mental maths to double-check the sums. I bet your favourite subject was PE."

I fake gasp. "How did you guess?"

"Have you always been sporty?"

"Yes."

"Was that your mum's influence or your dad's?" He gapes, widens his eyes, and drags his hand over his face slowly. "Shit. I'm sorry."

I frown. "What for?"

"You've never mentioned your dad. I have no idea what kind of relationship you have with him, or even if—" He shakes his head.

I press my hand against his cheek. "It's fine. I don't know who my dad is. Gran loved football. She took me to toddler football classes, and my love of sport grew there."

"You didn't want to be a footballer?"

"No. I prefer solo sports."

"Your gran sounds great."

I smile. "Yeah, she was." I slide my hand to his chest and play with his wispy hair. "I grew up thinking she was my mum."

Jacob stares at me.

"Mum had me when she was sixteen. She wasn't ready to take on the responsibility of having a kid, so Gran raised me. I'm not entirely sure whose idea it was, but I grew up thinking Gran was my mum and Mum was my sister."

Jacob runs his fingers through my hair tenderly. "When did you find out that wasn't the case?"

"When I was ten. Gran got sick. She said she wanted me to know before she—" My voice breaks, and my chin trembles.

"I'm sorry." He pulls me against his chest and rubs my back.

"It's okay."

"Was it hard for Molly and you to adjust to being mother and son?"

"Yeah. She'd never had to discipline me, had always been the cool older sister. Then she was suddenly my mum, and I was meant to do what she told me. And fuck, I was angry because Gran was dying, and they'd lied to me my whole life. I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you this." I sniffle against his chest.

"I'm glad you did."

"Really?"

"Yes." He kisses my hair.

I snuggle into his embrace. "Yay for messy families. I guess."

He chuckles sadly.

"Thank you for listening."

He nudges me away a little and strokes my face. He smiles, which makes me smile. "If you need to talk, I'm here for you."

I stick out my tongue. "I see what you did there."

He pushes me onto my back and lies over me. "Are you done asking random questions?"

I wrinkle my nose. "For now. Why? What do you want to do?"

"Kiss. Fuck. Cuddle."

"Mm. Did you know those are three of my favourite pastimes?"

Jacob laughs. "They're my favourites too."