Page 36 of Before You (Reckless Love #2)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Marley
“ARE YOU SURE you’re okay with meeting my family this weekend?” JJ asks, walking out of my bathroom.
“Should I not be okay with it?” I ask, pulling the covers back before climbing into my bed. Everything I’ve heard from JJ about his family makes it clear how much he loves them, and since hearing the phone call when his sister told him about her engagement, I’ve been excited to meet her.
JJ’s gaze is smoldering as he looks at me, shaking his head. “They can just be . . . a lot. They have big personalities, and I don’t want to overwhelm you.”
My heart flutters in my chest, and I smile at him. “I’ll be fine. I’m excited to meet them,” I reassure him, and he studies my face before nodding.
“You’ll let me know if you’re not okay?” he asks, moving closer to the bed.
It’s tempting to roll my eyes, but I appreciate his concern. JJ seems to be the only one who can read me like an open book.
“I promise I will let you know if I’m not. Now will you please get in bed?” I ask, patting the spot next to me. His eyes glimmer, and his fingers skim the bottom of his shirt. What is he waiting for?
“I get hot in my sleep. Is it okay if I take my shirt off?” JJ asks, looking at me with those beautiful eyes of his. I think green might be my new favorite color, but only the exact shade of his irises.
JJ surprises me more than he knows. He’s asking for permission to take his shirt off, but he had no problem telling me to watch him kiss his way down my body in the mirror? It certainly keeps me on my toes.
“Whatever makes you comfortable,” I say, trying not to seem too eager.
I don’t want JJ to think I asked him to stay the night because I have expectations of anything.
Honestly—I want to know what it feels like to fall asleep next to him instead of holding my phone.
It’s really just an added bonus he has a body belonging to a marble statue.
He grabs the back of his shirt, pulling it over his head in a smooth motion, revealing every inch of his perfect physique.
I play with my thumb ring, trying not to gawk, but I’m afraid the sight of JJ will never cease to amaze me.
I didn’t think it was possible for someone to exist with as pure a heart as JJ, who also looks like he belongs on the cover of a magazine.
JJ climbs into bed after turning off the lights, a quiet laugh slipping from his lips as he rolls to face me.
The dim lighting coming through my slanted blinds is enough for me to see his handsome features as the corners of his full lips tug upward into a smile.
“Sorry, I just . . . sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming,” JJ says.
“Yeah?” I ask, mimicking how he’s lying.
“Yeah. I don’t know if I’ve said it, but I’m really happy to have been lucky enough for our paths to cross a second time.”
Maybe I need to pinch myself. “Even though I was dating your roommate at the time?” I ask, and JJ cringes.
“Maybe we can forget about him,” he says, a fuller laugh rumbling from his chest.
“I wish.” I scoot closer to JJ, and his body heat is radiating like a furnace in the middle of winter. His arm wraps around me, tucking me closely to him, our bodies lining up perfectly. JJ hisses through his teeth when my feet brush against his legs.
“Your feet are like icicles,” he says against the curve of my neck, tangling our legs together as a chuckle slips from me.
“Sorry,” I apologize, trying not to laugh as I rest my head on his bicep. I didn’t think I was this tired, but there’s something so relaxing about having JJ’s arms around me.
The subtle fragrance of my body wash lingering on his skin makes me smile as I close my eyes. Lying in his arms feels better than waking to the sound of rain on a spring morning. I wonder if JJ can feel how fast my heart is beating.
There’s a comfort in the silence, simply enjoying the intimacy of letting sleep slowly pull us under together.
Is this what forever feels like?
~
I’m awoken by the sound of banging and the lack of JJ’s body heat as he climbs out of bed.
“What time is it?” I whisper, a pit in the bottom of my stomach as I throw the covers back, moving to follow him.
“It’s almost two,” he says, moving toward my bedroom door as more banging sounds. “Stay here, Marley.”
As much as I want to stay here and hide, I’m not letting him answer the door by himself, and Bria’s here. “No, I’m coming with you,” I insist, and thankfully, JJ doesn’t try to stop me.
“For fuck’s sake, do you have any idea what fucking time it is?” Bria yells through the door as JJ flips the kitchen lights on, illuminating the darkness. The expression on Bria’s face is murderous, but the pounding from the other side of the door doesn’t stop.
“Bria, who is it?” JJ asks, his entire body coiled as he stalks toward the door.
“I don’t know. They covered the peephole with their hand!” Bria smacks on the door a couple times in return. “Fuck off, you fucking coward! I hope you choke on your own dick.”
I’m sure later this will be funny, but at the moment, it feels like my heart has leaped to my throat.
“Should we call the police?” I ask, and JJ falters, seeming to contemplate the suggestion.
“Dial it just in case, but don’t call until we know who it is.
It’s closing time at the bars on a Thursday night.
Could just be some drunk kid thinking this is his apartment,” he says, and it makes sense, even if it doesn’t make me feel any better.
I’m definitely glad Dad had a locksmith change the lock.
“If you call the police it’s because I’m going away for murder. Some of us actually need sleep,” Bria shouts at the door again, and JJ’s hand hovers over the lock as the pounding increases.
“You’re not helping by yelling through the door,” he says, and she scoffs, disappearing into her room to return with her phone in hand.
What if it’s not some drunk guy at the wrong apartment? I just have a bad feeling this is all about to go horribly wrong. A part of me wants to tell Bria to call anyway because it’s exactly what we’d be doing if JJ weren’t here.
He glances back at me, worry twisting his features, and I hold my breath as he flips the lock, opening the door. To my surprise, Trent falls against the opening door, grabbing the frame to catch himself.
“Marley, I’m so fucking sorry,” he slurs, and I gasp in surprise, but he’s also the only person I know crazy enough to do something like this.
“Trent?”
JJ looks at me in shock, clearly not expecting this either.
Trent’s brown eyes find me, then Bria, and I see the confusion in Trent’s expression. My stomach drops when Trent finally looks at JJ, still holding the door partly closed as the muscles in his arms bulge under the pressure from Trent’s body leaning against the door.
“Walker? You’re here?”
Oh shit. This is really not good.
“What the fuck are you thinking showing up here, drunk off your fucking ass to bang on the door where two women live alone? What the hell is wrong with you?” JJ asks, his voice low and trembling with a rage I haven’t heard from him before.
I won’t even argue with him if he tries to say I told you so later—I’m just so damn glad he’s here.
“I want to talk to Marley,” Trent says, rubbing his eyes as his balance wavers.
“No,” JJ and Bria say at the same time.
“C’est bon. Je vais lui parler,” 19 I correct them, stepping forward.
JJ frowns, clearly disagreeing with me. “Je ne te laisse pas seule avec lui quand il est comme ca.” 20
“Please, babe,” Trent pleads from where he stands.
I nod to JJ, silently telling him it’s okay to let him in.
Bad idea, Marley. Don’t do it. I drag my hands over my face, taking a step closer to JJ as Trent stumbles into the apartment.
My nose immediately wrinkles, protesting the smell of booze following him.
Bria pops a squat at one of our barstools, scowling at Trent as she does.
“You wanted to talk to her, so fucking talk ,” Bria seethes, crossing her arms over her chest.
“She’s got a lot of bite, JJ. Watch your dick so you don’t lose it,” Trent says, making the mistake of taunting Bria. I don’t have a chance to see her reaction because I’m focused entirely on how JJ bristles at his comment.
“I’ll chop yours off and spoon feed it to you, Trent,” Bria threatens, and it feels like we’re teetering at the edge of a cliff, and it will only take one more thing to send someone over the edge.
“I’m not here for Bria,” JJ says, moving to stand protectively in front of me. “No offense.”
“None taken, pretty boy.”
Trent looks at me, and then at JJ’s positioning between us, his eyes widen for a moment before he laughs.
“Oh, this is fucking great. I knew you were a cheating bitch, but my roommate ? What’d you do?
Sneak out of my room and go to Walker’s for seconds?
I should have known. While we all thought JJ was just getting busy with his hand, it turns out he was screwing my girlfriend behind my ba—” His hurtful words are cut off as JJ moves faster than lightning, shoving him up against the wall, his forearm pressed against Trent’s throat.
My hands fly to cover my mouth as Trent grunts, trying to move, but JJ has the advantages of being sober and possessing more muscle mass, along with the element of surprise.
“ Watch your fucking mouth. You don’t get to talk to her like that.
You don’t talk to any woman like that,” JJ seethes, and I’m shocked.
“Marley never cheated on you. I knew you were an asshole, but I didn’t think you were pathetic too—showing up in the middle of the night drunk to talk to your ex, only to belittle her when you’re the cheating bitch who couldn’t keep it in your pants. ”
JJ’s arms bulge at the force required to pin Trent as he tries to get free while JJ leans in closer.
“If you come near her again, none of daddy’s money can help you in the draft if my family blacklists you. Don’t look at Marley, don’t speak to her, don’t contact her,” he says, and Trent’s face is turning red. “Do. You. Understand?”
He struggles to nod, and JJ releases him, causing Trent to fall in a heap on the floor.
I don’t spare Trent a second look when my whole world turns around to look at me, nothing but concern showing on his face as tears flood my vision.
His arms wrap around me, pulling me into the safety of his embrace as Trent coughs before the door slams shut a moment later.
Even in the worst moment, it doesn’t feel quite so awful knowing JJ’s by my side. I feel his lips press against the crown of my head, and the feeling of being loved by JJ now makes every moment we spent apart over the last three years worth it.