Page 25 of Anyone But Me

There’s a knock on my bedroom door, but before I have the chance to ask who it is, the door opens. Jax stands in the open doorway with her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing only a robe. My mouth waters as I think about what’s under (or what’s not under) that robe.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I ask, unable to hide the quiver in my voice.

“I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago.” Jax pushes the door shut with her foot and saunters toward me like a woman on a mission.

I swallow hard as she crawls onto my bed. “Wh-what is that?”

“This.” Jax’s body is now on top of mine, and without another word, she brings her lips to mine.

Fireworks erupt behind my eyes as we kiss just like we did at the color run. Except, this time, while we kiss, Jax’s hands touch every part of my body. She’s like a feral animal in heat who doesn’t know where to start.

She moves her lips from mine and starts licking my face.

I grip her ass and try to pull her down. “Lower, Jax, please. I need you.”

I need that tongue to lick down the length of my whole body, but for some reason, she’s stuck on my face. Why won’t she stop licking my face?

“Jax, please,” I beg.

I was awoken by my own voice, and when I opened my eyes, I found Speck lying on top of me, licking aggressively at my face. “Shit.”

Did I really just have a sex dream about Jax? If the pulsing of my center was anything to go by, I most definitely did. I had no idea how I was supposed to get out of bed right now, let alone go about my day as if nothing had happened.

It’d been forever since I touched myself, but desperate times called for desperate measures. My hand slowly moved down my stomach and into my pants. I gasped when I realized how wet I was. All of that from a dream? Damn .

I circled my finger over my already hardening clit and hummed under my breath at my own touch.

I closed my eyes and Jax’s face immediately popped into my mind.

It felt wrong to picture my friend and roommate while doing this, but I didn’t have a choice.

I needed release and this was how I was going to get it.

I ran my fingers through my folds before bringing them back to my clit. As I entered myself with one finger, I brought my other hand up to my breast and pinched my nipple. Jax’s smiling face stared back at me from behind my closed eyelids, causing me to get even more wet.

I summoned the Jax from my dream and imagined that robe falling from her body.

I removed my very wet finger from inside of myself and ran it through my folds again.

I thought about the kiss from the day before as I moved two fingers to my opening and pushed them deep inside.

My mind jumped back and forth between the kiss and Jax in only a robe as I fucked myself with my fingers.

It was such a freeing experience to let loose like this.

As my orgasm built, my mind cleared of all worries.

My body tingled, my toes curled, and my muscles contracted.

My heart rate and breathing picked up as an intense jolt of pleasure shot through me followed by the world’s most earth-shattering orgasm.

“Oh my fucking god,” I whispered under my breath. Did that really just happen?

There was a knock on the door, and I wondered if I was dreaming again.

“Carter? Sweetie, are you awake?” my mama said from the other side.

Not dreaming.

“Yeah, I’m awake.” I hoped she assumed the crack in my voice was from being tired and nothing else.

“Can I come in?”

I wiped my wet fingers on my sheets and shoved my hand underneath my back as if it was hiding in shame. “Yeah. Sure. Come in.”

The door opened a second later, and my mama walked in and sat on the bed next to me.

She looked over at the door, before looking back at me.

“I’m surprised you don’t lock the door when you sleep.

I always do.” She sighed wistfully. “But, then again, your mom and I learned the hard way to always do that.”

I cringed, because unfortunately, I knew exactly what she was referring to.

My mama laughed lightly. “Don’t make that face. We were only kissing when my nana caught us.”

I knew the story all too well. My mom was pretending to be my Uncle Jamie’s boyfriend when she met my mama and they fell for each other.

They were kissing in my mama’s childhood bedroom when my mama’s nana walked in and caught them.

There was one problem with that story. I liked to read, and I read that exact scene in one of Laurel Lake’s books.

Laurel Lake… also known as Kinsley Scott…

also known as one of the people in attendance at my moms’ vow renewal.

It would be quite the coincidence for her to accidentally write a scene that just happened to be very similar to my mom and mama’s experience when she was literally friends with my parents.

The only difference between the story my moms told and the scene in that book was… well, they definitely weren’t kissing.

I laughed along with my mama. “And I am more than happy to believe that version of the story.”

My mama chuckled and placed a kiss on my temple. “I love you, sweetie.”

“Everything okay?” I wasn’t used to my mama coming in to wake me up in the morning, but now that I was no longer in my sex-filled haze and took a look around, I could see the sun pouring in through the windows. “What time is it?”

“Almost ten.”

What? No way! I shot up in bed. “I slept that long ?”

My mama patted my knee. “That just means you needed the rest. Or maybe you were having some extra sweet dreams.”

I choked on my own saliva, which caused me to have a coughing fit. How does she know? I took a deep breath to try to calm my rapidly beating heart. The answer was simple. She didn’t know. She was making conversation, and I was being paranoid. “Maybe, but if I was, I don’t remember them.”

“I just wanted to let you know that Olivia called to tell me they’ll be heading this way in about a half hour, which probably means they’ll leave in an hour and be here in about two.

Ronan and your mom are making a trip to the grocery store soon, so if you have any requests, make sure you let them know. ”

“Thanks, Mama.” When she didn’t appear to be leaving, I figured there was something else she wanted to talk about. “Did you want something else?”

My mama smiled and shook her head. “No, sorry. I’ve just really missed having you close by. I can tell your mom is especially missing your Sunday brunch and book discussions.”

I had to fight back tears. As much as I was enjoying New York, I had really missed my moms. “I miss both of you too.”

My mama squeezed my knee once again. “How is it? Do you like living there? How is the job going?”

I smiled as I thought about living in New York, but it wasn’t my job or the city that I was smiling over.

It was nights spent on the couch with Jax and Speck, sitting in the cafe and sneaking peeks at Jax while I read.

It was all of the things that could be ruined by this crush, which was exactly why I needed to squash it.

Jax kissed me to make Marcie jealous. She was very clear about that.

I was the one who needed to keep reminding myself.

If this was one of my romance books, I’d be yelling at the main character just to talk to the love interest and tell her how she felt, but this wasn’t a romance novel.

This was real life. If I told Jax how I felt, things could become very awkward when she didn’t feel the same way.

She wasn’t only my roommate but also my sister’s best friend.

Even if we eventually didn’t have to live together, I’d still have to see her and constantly face the fact that she rejected me.

I wasted so many years. Marcie’s words popped into my head again.

They did much more than they should after all these years.

I was obviously over her, but I didn’t know if I would ever get over those words.

“That good, huh?” My mama’s voice snapped me back to the present moment.

“New York is amazing. I actually love it. I think this is the happiest I’ve been in years. My job is challenging, but it’s so great. I love the way it pushes me to be better.” And my roommate might be the best kisser in the world.

My mama’s smile brightened. “I’m so glad to hear that. I figured it must be going well. You seem different than the last time I saw you. Not just happier, but also more confident. You hold your head a little higher these days.”

“Do you really mean that?” If other people were noticing a change, maybe the list was actually working. Maybe I really was a New Carter.

“I do.” My mama kissed my forehead. “But just for the record, no matter how you see yourself, I’ve always known you were amazing.

I couldn’t be more proud of you. You’ve always made me so, so proud to be your mom.

” She smirked and lifted both eyebrows. “Now, your brother and sister on the other hand… I’m still up in the air about them. ”

I leaned into my mama. Even though I was an adult myself, my parents still had the ability to make me feel safe and protected. I knew I was lucky. Some people didn’t even get that when they were young. “I love you.”

“I love you so much, babe. Sometimes I still have to pinch myself to remind myself that this is really my life and not just one long dream. You kids. Your mom. When I was just a little bit younger than you, I never believed that this could actually be my life.” She pinched her eyes shut and waved a hand in front of her face.

“But I’m not trying to cry right now, so I’m going to go. I’ll see you downstairs.”