Page 137 of Ruled Out

Jessie

Are you just going to stand there all night or come over here and kiss me?

Leaning over my shoulder, Tara rests her chin on it. “Does he have a brother?”

I know she didn’t mean anything by the statement, but I can’t help but feel the pang of sadness over Will and on behalf of my boyfriend.

“Only child, like me,” I reply, typing out a message.

Me

What are you doing here, and whose car is that?

Jessie

Get your ass over here, and you’ll find out.

Lifting her chin from my shoulder, Tara sets a kiss on my cheek. “I’d say you should walk that sweet ass over to him because I think he just bought you a car. I’ll catch you tomorrow in class.”

“Let us give you a ride,” I say.

Tara shakes her head and smiles at me. “No way. The campus bus is due in, like, one minute, and whatever Jessie has planned for you both, something tells me it’s meant to be alone.”

My eyes are wide as I take a couple of steps forward and turn over my shoulder to wave goodbye. “You think?”

She quirks a brow. “Living the dream, girlfriend.”

Jessie’s already out of the red BMW Coupe and leaning against the hood, his hands in the pockets of his post-practice sweatpants.

“Come here.”

Opening up his hoodie, he brings me into a hug, wrapping it around us. And when he pulls back the collar of my jacket and sets an open-mouthed kiss against my collarbone, a swarm of tingles unleashes throughout my body.

“Do you like your new car, Sweetheart?” he asks.

I take it in. “You really bought this for me?”

He holds out his hand and wraps his little finger around mine, leading me to the driver’s side. “I’ve been wanting to spoil you, and, well, now, I can buy you everything you deserve without anything hanging over my head.”

The engine is running, and the interior is nice and warm when I take a seat and run my hands along the leather steering wheel, the new car smell mingling deliciously with Jessie’s cologne.

He shuts the driver’s door and jogs around to the passenger side, climbing in next to me.

I turn to him. “This is really nice, Jessie. An amazing surprise.”

He leans across the center console and tips my chin up with his finger, our lips almost touching as his eyes sparkle with excitement. “I have so much to tell you, but first …”

I about double over with laughter as he squeezes his frame between the seats, asking me to join when he finally makes it into the back.

On a smirk, I get out the car and then climb into the back, using the provided rear door.

“Smart-ass,” Jessie jibes, pulling me inside and shutting the door behind us.

He maneuvers me so I’m straddling him in the middle seat, my head almost touching the roof.

“So, what else do you have to tell me?” I ask, twizzling a piece of his hair around my forefinger, our noses practically touching in the small space.

Lifting his hand from my waist, he pulls at the ponytail, and my hair falls around my shoulders.